"Sustainable" Mining...any such thing?

I wish I could find an article that talks about Sustainable mining in a believable way. I feel like I am caught in a bizarre "emperors new clothes" scenario...where everyone has spent so much money that they insist it must be true and exist. Either that or its the holy grail of sustainability. Cliche's aside...I would love to hear your opinions? Sustainable Mining -- fact / fiction / myth?

Mining!

Have you thought about the impact of mining? I hadn't. Very very recently I started researching the impacts of mining on forests, the environment and how they are long term (not "short term" as all mining reports claim. This naturally made me start to research sustainable mining but I hit a dead end. It seems that there is no such thing...considering how much earth's population relies on mining...that is sad :(

But its very nature, mining is digging out or stripping what we value from what we undervalue. Economically gold does not have the same price as a living tree in the forest. You can make huge income and profit on the mineral deposits under the ground but not so much from letting what is above that ground alone. I read article after article about governments not wanting to force capacity building on mining companies incase they stop mining there due to the "added cost". Shouldn't someone hold them accountable? Shouldn't that someone be the government? When you are measuring profit in millions, you can't tell me that spending a few thousand on being more sustainable or not raping the environment you leave behind will be a deterrent.

Considering that our planet has finite resources...shouldn't that be more valuable to the global population than the jewelry they wear or more valuable to governments than losing (unlikely) a small number of mining contracts?!?

Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_mining

Rio+20 Anniversary...what has been achieved? A stocktake

I can't believe that just one year ago Rio+20 was over. The 2 years proceeding it had been a whirl of preparations, negotiations, meeting new people and trying to build capacity. It has been tough to keep caring, keep engaged and not give up. Frequently we went without sleep, skipped family mile stones, missed out on real life stuff and we were so lucky at times not to get fired from our day jobs.

Today is one year since that. One year ago we read our final statement. I can still remember the final minutes as I left Rio centro to the background of colleagues (children and youth) frantically trying to squeeze the last few minutes of media attention. I remember feeling slightly detached. Yes, we had achieved a lot but the real battle had not even happened yet. The real battle was trying to get anything implemented.

A week ago, I did a google hangout on the anniversary of Rio+20. It focused on the successes since Rio+20. But what has been achieved? The youth / child movement has gotten weaker and more fragmented. Post 2015 coalition children and youth working group (led by a ngo that is not child or youth led) actually charge its members over 1000 euro to join and constantly tries to undermine the Major Group of Children and Youth. Some member states are trying to actually get rid of the Major Group structure which would live women, children and indigenous peoples most vulnerable. But no one wants to hear the negatives.

This googlehangout focused on how to engage more young people. Let me know what you think?

Huh? REDD+ what?

"REDD plus what?"  A familiar question now that I have started working on this project and preparing to facilitate knowledge sharing from Guyana.

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is a set of steps designed to use market and financial incentives in order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation. Its objective is to reduce greenhouse gases.

 I found this interesting intro video which is a start:

To make things easier...I will be focused on the Guiana shield and specifically Guyana.

The Guiana Shield region contains the largest complex of uninterrupted and intact primary tropical rainforest on earth. It is vital in the global battle against climate change due to its huge storage of carbon dioxide and capacity to absorb CO2. The region contains 10-15% of the world’s fresh water reserves and an extremely rich diversity of plants and animals, most of which are unique to this region.

However, despite the wealth of natural resources in the region, the poverty level remains high. High levels of external debt and weak institutional capacity exert an increasing pressure on governments and local populations to choose economic activities which are beneficial on the short term, but that are often unsustainable, damaging the unique character of the eco-region.

This has led to a lack of land use planning, as well as the production of illicit drugs, illegal mining and logging, ill-planned infrastructure projects, and expansion of the agricultural frontier. All of which are putting an increasing pressure on the ecosystems of this unique eco-region.

#FitchTheHomeless

How shallow has our world become?

Its time for change! I liked this video I recently saw to join the movement:

 Boycott time! Lets give to the homeless... :)

Wake Up call!

Its like suddenly all the different things I have been trying to puzzle out all connected. Today.

I feel like I have been asleep for the last two years. Despite them being the most productive three years of my life...I feel like I spent them wrapped up in chaos, responsibility, procrastination, shyness, lack of confidence and ideas. Today, I realise how far and how little I have come. An old blog entry re-read inspired me: why it’s important to “be a little bit fearless.”

It snapped me back to 2010. It instantly made the last 2 years evaporate. I was so full of hope and cynicism then. I still am but its tempered with a strong dose of pragmatism. But its time. Time to believe again that magic can happen. Time to congratulate us all on pulling off the major moments. I was in awe of all that was achieved but suddenly bursting with hope, ambition, ideas, and plans. I feel shaken up.

Its time for the next great adventure. Its time for the next twist into the unknown! Let the fun begin!

Global Environmental Outlook 5 for Youth

Today we launched the GEO5 for Youth...a short event that flew. But there were so many positives. We came, we spoke, we conquered. It was epic and so swift. As you may not have attended this event. Nick Nuttall (Communications Director and Spokesperson for UNEP) speaks about the GEO for Youth and how you can get involved:

My first video....

Exciting news! today I made my first video...its basic but you might like it!?!?
Let me know what you think!!!