Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:47:00
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 Fenfa Primary School in Shanghai. Photos courtesy of 350.org |
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By Jason Wyman
The history of the Kyoto Protocol – an internationally legally binding agreement between 37 industrialized countries and the European community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – began over a decade ago when most countries joined an international treaty known as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC. The goal was “to begin to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increase are inevitable.”
Leading up to the UNFCCC, 350.org, a non-governmental organization, or NGO, dedicated to reducing carbon emissions to 350 parts per million – the level scientists have identified as the upper limit for carbon dioxide in the environment – and inspiring global action to create a sense of urgency and possibility, organized an international day of action on Oct. 24. The goal was to increase visibility and media coverage about global warming leading up to UNFCCC.
According to 350.org, the 5,248 rallies in 181 countries made this action the largest day of environmental activism in history.
“In some sense, the global warming movement finally went global … ,” said 350.org’s co-founder Bill McKibben. “And there wasn’t a rock star or movie actor in sight — it was ordinary people rallying around a scientific data point to send the message that our leaders actually need to lead.”
Although 350.org is in the news these days, it is only one of several green businesses and non-profits located across the Bay in Berkeley.
Clif Bar is a leading maker of nutritious, all-natural and organic food and drinks. Its philosophy is to be a good neighbor, which includes reducing its ecological footprint through partnerships. One of those partnerships is with Terracycle, which transforms used Clif Bar wrappers into new products like bags and clipboards.
Clif Bar also reduces its ecological footprint by purchasing 23 million pounds of organic ingredients used in its products (accounting for 70 percent of all ingredients used) and by “supporting the communities where [they] live and work.” The company does this by giving back 1 percent of its sales. It focuses squarely on funding environmental organizations such as 350.org. The company motto: “you get … we give … the planet receives.” It is a motto that echoes throughout its workforce.
“The mission of our Climate Action program is not only to reduce our own climate footprint but, first and foremost, to help grow the climate movement,” said Elysa Hammond, Director of Environmental Stewardship at Clif Bar. “350.org is a leader of the grassroots climate movement. They’re aligned with both the spirit and the mission of Clif Bar & Company and the Clif Bar Family Foundation.”
Support for 350.org extended beyond just money. Clif Bar, in the 350 hours leading up to October’s Day of Action, employees resolved to eat only fruits and vegetables grown within a 50 mile radius of their home, recycling old appliances and electronics and doing all shopping by bike of foot.
Partnerships like the one between 350.org and Clif Bar exemplify how corporations and NGOs can work together to impact international policy and action. By creating avenues and mechanisms for citizens of the global community to unite around an issue as far-reaching and vital as global warming, 350.org and Clif Bar not only help achieve a better bottom line for themselves and the planet, they also prove that unity can happen regardless of place, culture, language and history. Rather, those factors become strengths that can add a very real and powerful voice that cannot be ignored by global leaders.
For more information on Clif Bar, visit www.clifbar.com. For information on 350.org, visit 350.org.
For your information
The original United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, held little weight, but paved the way for what would become the Kyoto Protocol.
Adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force on Feb. 16, 2005. At the time, President George W. Bush did not sign nor agree to the protocol. Subsequently, President Obama backs the protocol.
The agreements governing the Kyoto Protocol end in 2012 and require a new international framework to govern the work beyond that date. Thus, the most recent UNFCCC, which took place last month in Copenhagen, Denmark, is an important step in building consensus on what must be done next. More than 170 governmental representatives in addition to NGOs, journalists, activists and others converged in Copenhagen to engage in dialogue with the hope that it would lead to action tackling global warming and reducing carbon emissions. The convention includes the Conference of the Parties – COP15 – which served as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
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