Green political parties from across Europe made a successful European parliament election this past week. The European Greens gained 11 new seats in the parliament and will now have a total of 46 Green MEPs, an increase with 31%. The Greens/EFA Group is now likely to have 53 MEPS (46 Greens and 7 EFA MEPs).
“To have increased the number of Green MEPs from 35 to 46 is a great success. Our showing is even more remarkable when you consider that we have 11 more seats than before in a parliament with 49 fewer MEPS and that all other groups have shrunk”, said EGP Co-Spokesperson Philippe Lamberts, who has been elected a MEP for the Belgian French-speaking Green Party Ecolo.
In France the green political party Europe-Ecologie gained 16% of the votes and will thus send 13 green MEPs to the European parliament. Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Finland are other countries where the greens will receive more MEPs than from the last EU election. In Greece 3.48% of the people voted for Ecologoi-Prasinoi and as a result Greece will be able to send their first green MEP to the European Parliament.
Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi (more known as brokep) the co-founder of the Pirate Bay, the world’s largest BitTorrent tracker, also wants you to vote green in the upcoming European elections.
The upcoming European Elections are just a few days away. And when it comes to saving the climate this EU election is one of the more important ones. And I believe it’s definitely something you must take part in if you care the slightest about the climate, your children and their future, the environment or just the well state of your country.
Find your country’s green party and vote for it in the upcoming EU election. It really isn’t harder than that! This is our chance to vote for change. Don’t waste it.
The upcoming European Elections are just a few weeks away. And when it comes to saving the climate this EU election is one of the more important ones. And I believe it’s definitely something you must take part in if you care the slightest about the climate, your children and their future, the environment or just the well state of your country.
As you probably already know by now time is no longer on our side when it comes to fighting man-made climate change. We need radical actions now if we are to have the slightest chance to stop the worst doomsday scenarios. That is why this election is so important. Because whatever you like it or not the decisions which are being made in the European Parliament affects all member states. So this is our chance to vote for meaningful actions against climate change that will affect politics and regulations both in Europe and around the world. Don’t wait until the next European Parliament elections in 2014, because then it will be too late.
The environmental footprint per capita in developed countries is more than 10 tones per year. For example, 10,8 tones of carbon is emitted per capita by British, 12,7 per capita by Greek and 22,4 tones per capita by Americans. It takes both governments and the citizens to take measures to reduce the impact of each nation on Earth. Many every day habits need to be reconsidered and altered drastically.
19.312 Kilometers an average car travels per year, producing 6 tones of greenhouse gases. But you would have to travel 150.107 Kilometers by train to produce the same amount of carbon for the same period. At the same time, 18 times more carbon is emitted per mile per passenger in a car than in a bus. Buses emit less carbon per passenger than trains, planes, boats or automobiles (in that order). In 2007, of the European Union’s total CO2 emissions, the 12% was created by passenger cars.
On Saturday the 21st of February, an unusual event took place in the central square of Athens. The Tourist Guide Organisation took a very important initiative in raising public awareness by organizing a unique exhibition.
Using a small part of the square, tourist guides organized a simple but effective exhibition of photographs. The central theme was littering public and historic zones, garbage production and recycling. The gallery included a small tree made of recycled paper, with photographs hanging instead of leaves. Most photographs were about polluted rivers, garbage along coast lines and litters on the streets. Recycle bins were demonstrated and equipment was available for children to draw and write their own green message. Passers-by could get informed about the various consequences of littering and not recycling.
This initiative should be set as an example to all kinds of organizations. Tourist guides realized that litters harm their profession, and decided to draw attention towards that fact. All kind of organizations and professions have problems due to environmental issues. Thus, all different groups can inform about environmental problems and guide other groups of people so as to diminish them. It is crucial that events take place to raise public awareness as to how simple everyday habits hurt both the environment and humanity.
During the past few months, and under high pressure put by the European Union, Greece has started to adopt a greener policy. Among other measures and actions, eco-friendly plastic bags were introduced into the market, bio-eco products were widely advertised and each municipality planted more flowers in their area, also encouraging citizens to ‘green’ their homes.
But one of the biggest issues, reducing the use of cars at the city centre, is still not given proper attention. On the contrary, steps are taken to produce more parking spaces. That measure is totally against all efforts to persuade citizens not to use their cars and prefer the public means of transport.
The worst action of all was the destruction of a park in Athens so as to produce a big parking space. The municipality in charge cut down forty trees of the wide-leaf family, which produce big amounts of oxygen. The park was transformed into a huge flat area for cars.
It has been almost one year since the last big fires were set in Europe. Last summer, many square kilometres of forests were burnt into ashes, with Greece being the most serious example. One year later, authorities have taken no measures to face similar problems.
Fires are rather often in Mediterranean ecosystems, due to the mild winter and the long dry summers. High temperatures and drought, in combination with dead leaves on the ground, often cause fires. But when referring to a natural process, often means every eight to ten years.
Inside the Rainforest – Cape Tribulation – Queensland – Australia. Photo: Rob Inh00d.
Tropical rainforests have the largest biodiversity of all ecosystems on Earth. The soil is rather poor, but it sustains a great variety of plants. It is estimated that 65% of the known plant species are found in rainforests.
During the past three decades, rainforests have been decreasing in size for various reasons, though all of them are connected with human activities. Human populations living near rainforests had the impression that the soil must have been really fertile, as it could sustain such a variety of plants. So, when human started to need more fields for cultivation, they choose rainforests’ earth, and thus they set big fires to get rid of big trees and to obtain space. By the time it was understood that the soil wasn’t suitable for agriculture, many square kilometres of rainforests had already gone.
All developed countries have started taking measures to reduce their bad impact on Earth. Banning incadescent lightbulbs, cars from the city centres, or introducing laws for greener factories and industries. Greece at last followed their example by promoting a greener life in the capital.
After its apathy at Bali’s summit, where the greek spokepersons had no specific proposals or positions, Greece seems to start thinking more about the environment. Such late a start can be partly justified, as the country lacks basic means. Most people are way too indifferent and uninformed about global warming and facilities don’t meet the specifications for major changes (for instance the way buildings had been built makes it impossible to widen the roads and introduce cycle lanes etc).
The following touching text is a letter written by a fireman, some months after the one thousand fires Greece endured last summer, and addresses to people all over the world.
“I would like to forget:
- Those 3-4 sheeps we didn’t make it to save and heard them terrified as the flames reached them.
- Those birds that didn’t make it to leave their trees as the flames circled them, and were falling all over us like leaves in autumn…
- The terrified faces of my colleges when we saw 50-metres-high all around us.
- The panicked voices of other firemen on the phone, telling people got burnt in their houses…
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Photo credit: rockcohen
On Saturday the 21st of February, an unusual event took place in the central square of Athens. The Tourist Guide Organisation took a very important initiative in raising public awareness by organizing a unique exhibition.
