Photo credit: rockcohen

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.

“The Greek Greens’ campaign demonstrated European solidarity as an Austrian-Greek Green stood as a candidate to support the Greek party”.

“What our 31% increase in seats proves beyond any shadow of a doubt is that the Greens are a major political force to be reckoned with and that we are gaining the trust of more and more voters, not only in our traditional areas like the environment and climate policy and human rights, but also economics and social policy“, Lamberts said.

The greens across Europe will together and stronger than ever work hard to gain support in the parliament for their €500 billion new Green Deal which will help solve the economic crisis and save our climate.

EGP Co-Spokesperson Ulrike Lunacek, who was also elected a MEP for the Austrian Greens and managed to maintain their 2 seats despite heavy waves of rightwing populism, thanked all the people who dared to “Think Big, Vote Green”.

“We will fight hard on their behalf for a Green New Deal for Europe, which was at the heart of our common election campaign and obviously appealed to many voters, including many who had never voted Green before,” she said. “The Green New Deal would not only create 5 million new Green-Collar jobs in 5 years but would also help fight climate change as 500 billion Euros of public and private funds would be invested in renewables, energy efficiency and other future-oriented technologies”.

I am happy to see that the Greens has a growing support among the voters across Europe, and that they will with the support of the voters get at least 10 more seats in the EU parliament. And I am happy to see that Sweden (for now) isn’t taking part in the Europe-wide trend of sending far-right extremist, racists and anti-democratic political parties to the European Parliament.

Election Results

The Green election results can be found below:

Watch:

via Vote or Die 2009

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.

But how, when and on who should you vote for? Don’t worry! Green Blog got you covered. You can find out when the deadline for voting is in your country by using this map here. And here you will find a complete list of green political parties that you can vote for around Europe.

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.

Photo credit: rockcohen

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.

How to vote?

If you live in one of the 27 member states of the European Union, and are eligible to vote, you can take part in the election and help save out climate by voting for a green political party. Yes, you read right. I am asking you to vote for a political party that might not be the right party for you personally in terms of your political views or ideology. But this is such an important, almost a once in a lifetime, election for the climate and the future of our civilization which require us to vote for political parties that actually stands for real actions against climate change.

When to vote?

The elections will take place in early June and all member states votes on different dates. For example the UK voting will be on the 4th and in Sweden the voting is not until the 7th. You can find out when the deadline for voting is in your country by using this map here.

Who should you vote for?

Because Europe has so many different political parties it’s hard to tell exactly which party should get your vote. That is why I think the easiest way to decide is to choose a political party that is a member of the European Greens (They have even set up a website to promote their candidates and their new green deal for Europe which will help solve the economic crisis and save our climate).

The following parties listed below are members of the European Greens:

• Albania: Partia e Gjelber
• Austria: Die Grünen
• Belgium: Ecolo OR Groen!
• Bulgaria: Bulgarian Green Party/Bulgarian Greens
• Cyprus: Cyprus Green Party
• Czech Republic: Strana Zelenych
• Estonia: Eestimaa Rohelised
• Finland: Vihreät De Gröna
• France: Les Verts
• Germany: Bündnis90/Die Grünen
• Greece: Ecologoi-Prasinoi
• Hungary: Zöld Demokraták Szövetsége
• Ireland: Comhaontas Glas
• Italy: Federazione dei Verdi
• Latvia: Latvijas Zala Partija
• Luxembourg: déi gréng
• Malta: Alternattiva Demokratika
• Moldova: Partidul Ecologist din Moldova “Aliante Verde” (PEM AVE)
• Netherlands: De Groenen OR GroenLinks
• Poland: Zieloni 2004
• Portugal: Partido Ecologista “Os Verdes”
• Romania: The Green Party
• Slovakia: Strana Zelenych (SZ)
• Slovenia: Stranka mladih Slovenije (SMS)
• Spain: Los Verdes OR Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds (ICV)
• Sweden: Miljöpartiet de Gröna
• United Kingdom: The Green Party of England & Wales OR Scottish Green Party

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.

Photo credit: Taras Kalapun

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.

All these facts demonstrate the crucial need to ‘wean off’ private cars and opt for public means of transport. Such a decision made by the citizens actually alters their everyday life, as new habits are substituting old ones. To help them make such a decision, governments have to rearrange bus, train and metro schedules. They should be frequent, punctual and efficient, so that citizens can rely on them.

But it’s not only about transportation. Overpopulation and consumerism have similarly dramatic impact on the amount of carbon dioxide on the planet.

The British government has set a goal of 60% reduction on carbon emissions by 2050. Renewable sources of energy will be developed, substituting coal. Most governments have not made similar plans. However, all developed countries ought to make a plan for a considerable reduction on carbon emissions.

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.

Photo credit: thienzieyung

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.

Such actions discontinue projects for a greener city. Forty trees may not sound like a big number, but if this action is not condemned then soon it will be another green park and then another. Not to mention that the more parking spaces produced, the more people rely on their private cars. It is not only a matter of how many trees are left in the city- which alone is a major issue- but also a matter of whether citizens are encouraged to use the public means of transport.

It should be added, however, that the majority of citizens were against this action, and demanded that green parks are preserved. This is not enough though, as measures against the environment should be condemned by really boycotting parking conveniences and using the public means of transport.

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.

Mediterranean ecosystems have developed ways of regeneration within less than ten years, because the species living there have adapted themselves to the periodical presence of fire. Most roots, for instance, remain alive and plants grow up again.

But no ecosystem can regain its previous healthy state if human sets fires almost every year. And that is what happens nowadays, for various reasons. Burnt forests provide humans with the space needed for new fields, farms and houses. But the price for doing so is high. Many animals die or lose their natural habitat. Many species face extinction. Moreover, having less plants means that less oxygen is produced.

Consequently, it becomes obvious that measures should be taken so as to protect forests from fires. Stricter laws ought to be passed, and especially against arsonists.

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.

Apart from agricultural reasons, the rainforests are cut down in order to provide wood. Most of the paper, toilet paper or furniture manufactured nowadays is based on wood from tropical rainforests. Deforestation also takes place in order to extend cities and build roads. Increasing human needs, due to overpopulation, lead to mass deforestations all over the globe.

The pace with which it’s been done is so high, that every year an area of the size of half Greece is lost. 50 years ago rainforests would cover double the area they do today. Thousands of species, whether they are animals or plants become extinct and even more face extinction.

Humanity also depends on rainforests. A variety of building materials, food (bananas, vanilla, coffee), and even caoutchouk come from rainforests. Medical science, from the ancient times till today, also depends on substances from plants that grow there.

Quinine, a range of medicine against pain and stress are only some examples of medicine that require substances from rainforests in order to be manufactured. Nowadays, 20% of the medicines found in pharmacies are produced by the use of plants from rainforests.

Researchers have studied less than the 2% of the 100,000 species of plants that grow in rainforests, and are sure that most of them can be really useful in medicine or other fields. Though most of them point out that ”potentials for the future are endless, as long as scientists and pharmacologists reach the rainforests before chainsaws…”

And let us not forget that rainforests produce oxygen. Tropical rainforests produce 40% of Earth’s oxygen. Cutting them down means that oxygen levels decrease, while less CO2 is absorbed by plants and thus increases in the atmosphere, causing the green-house effect. Humanity has to re-examine its needs and reduce them, so that less quantities of substances from rainforests are used. We have to set limits on our activities, otherwise those huge forests will one day belong to history.

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).

On April the 14th of this year, Greece starts promoting green bags made from eco-friendly materials. All major super markets have agreed to heavily promote and sell the bags for no more than what it costs to produce them. As of this writting, the price is still unknown.

The campaign will run for five years using the motto ”I am not a plastic bag” targeting nearly 4.5 million Athenians, or half the population of Greece. It may sound as the minimum that could be done, espacially if it is compared to other countries, where green bags have been available for years. But it is definately a new start that shall teach the people to live and act in a greener way and care more about this planet.

“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…

But I wont forget:
- The people on the helicopters who found us a way to avoid the flames at the very last minute.
- The governments, who let people build houses at places where once stood dense forests.
- That we made it to save a family and their dog, animals and properties from the flames.. it will help me sleep at night…
- THAT I AM A HUMAN BEING, WHO SHOULD BE SORRY FOR ALL HIS LIFE ABOUT THE BIGGEST CATASTROPHIES LIFE ON EARTH HAS EVER ENDURED, DUE TO ITS SPECIES ACTIONS.

My question is:
addressed to all governments and rich people on this planet :What are you going to do with all this money if you can’t see a tree growing near your big cold house?When you won’t be able to breath due to lack of oxygen..?

Just some ash left on our hair…murderes…”

Image credit: NASA.