Robert vanWaarden Photography Journal: December 2008

Climate Ninjas in Poznan, Poland

Some fun with the Fired UP! Media Team in Poznan, Poland

Fired UP! Media - Climate Ninjas from Robert vanWaarden

Cape Farewell Photography - Canadian Geographic

Canadian Geographic covered the Cape Farewell Youth Expedition in their most recent magazine. It features three photographs, interviews and a general synopsis of the voyage. Located in the section called Inside Story, check it out.

Earth

The BBC documentary film, Earth, just played itself out on my computer screen and I feel humbled, awed and inspired. The images, for their sharpness and graphical nature would make even the most talented image makers jealous. I found myself wondering how they managed this or that shot and my mouth was stuck in that open awe pose for most of the film.

Yet, never before have the images of the natural world resounded so deeply within my soul. Coming off a incredible time in Poznan at the UN Climate Change Conference this film particularly urged me to protect the valuable ecosystems and animals of this planet. I have been lucky enough to photograph some of the most beautiful places on earth, and I found the breathtaking imagery hit home on an emotional level. For those of us that are seeking inspiration to continue or join the fight to stop climate change, this film will have a profound affect on you. We have one ‘lucky’ planet, lets clean up our mess and make survival of all nations and life a reality.

Labels: change, climate, documentary, earth, film, image, imagery, photography, video

International Youth Climate Movement - Poznan, Poland

The International Youth Climate Movement takes over in Poznan, Poland.

International Youth Climate Movement COP 14

Too Little to Late?

I have just wrapped up two intense weeks covering the youth movement at the UN Climate Change Conference, in Poznan, Poland, (see youthclimate.org). These young people are the cream of the crop, beautiful, intelligent, dedicated and emotionally invested in Climate Change. They all seem to 'get it', understanding that we are talking about the survival of humanity and an estimated 50% of the world's species if business as usual continues. There should be no debate, but for some reason the governments of the world are stalling, waiting for someone else to lead.

We are faced with less then a year to reach a comprehensive and hard hitting agreement in Copenhagen. Even if we get one, this might not cut back our GHG emissions sufficiently to alter us from our course. Please check out the Guardian article, titled 'Too Late? Why Scientists say we should expect the worst of global warming'

So, it was with great amount of disappointment and a greater sense to act that I left Poznan today. Two weeks of negotiations and the so called 'leaders' of the world failed to take any concrete steps. If I examine the inaction of the governments of the world and the increasingly grim science, it is hard not to be a pessimist about my future. I feel that we are well on the road to disaster. However, when I examine the people that I work with, one can't help but be optimistic that we will win. We have a year to build the largest global movement of social change and force our governments to do adopt serious targets about Climate Change.

In Australia Hundreds of people across the country have held protests against the Rudd government's target of reducing carbon emissions by five to 15 per cent by 2020.

My question, what is it going to take in Canada for the population to wake up? We need a government that will first off acknowledge Climate Change, will work with a base line year of 1990 and throw the intensity based emission targets out the window. Three things that all environment critics of the prospective Coalition government and the leader of the Green Party have personally promised me they will do......

This is the issue of our generation, and how we act on it this year will change the course of the world.