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The Sustainable Hour no. 354
Working with us in the Climate Revolution on 17 March 2021, we have three more solution seekers:
Firstly, with news of the UN International Day for Forests next week, we have asked Melbourne indie singer-songwriter and climate activist Peter Vadiveloo to bring his guitar along. Peter’s gift to the climate revolution is his music – music rich in his passion for social justice. He certainly makes his listeners think and leads us in a very special rendition of his forest anthem ‘Fight for the Trees’. We talk about the many ways in which forests provide crucial environmental services for us, and how clearing them at the rate of a cricket ground every two seconds – as we are in Australia – is absolutely crazy.
Next we have Ecosystem Restoration Camps champion Elly Tucker. She was on the show last year talking about their first restoration camp in Northern New South Wales. Elly has returned to Victoria and is on the lookout for a suitable piece of land for Ecosystem Restoration Camp Number 2. Today is about flagging this project. While she doesn’t have a specific patch yet, she realises the value of collaborating and building relationships with local government as well as key environmental groups in her targeted area in the Yarra Valley. She has organised meetings with these groups and will be coming back on the show from time to time to update us on their progress. We look forward to shining a few extra lumens on Elly’s work. This could easily be a model for others to follow – yet another part of the #ClimateRevolution. You can find the action group Australian Ecosystem Restoration Camps’ on Facebook – or sign up to help on their website. The group has over 400 members already.
Through the magic of zoom, our third guest is John Lefebvre from his home over looking beautiful Vancouver Island in Canada. Like our first guest, John is a singer-songwriter with a strong social conscience. In the early 2000s, he became a millionaire via his involvement in the Internet boom. He then set about spending it. He openly admits that some of his choices at first weren’t all that wise. Along the way, through meeting environmentalists, including David Suzuki, he developed a deeply held desire to do good for our precious environment. This led him to being a director for the David Suzuki Foundation. John’s story attracted a lot of interest. So much interest, in fact, that he was convinced to turn it into a book. ‘Good With Money’ was the critically acclaimed result.
Colin Mockett‘s Global Outlook starts with climate experts expressing their dismay about the choice of Mathias Cormann as secretary general of the OECD. Following this, he gives an update of the Aussie schoolgirls who have taken court action against our environmental minister because of our lack of real action on climate. Next Colin tells of the work that US Climate Envoy John Kerry is doing in London where he recently said that the 20 nations that were responsible for 81 per cent of carbon emissions, must do much more by the next climate summit called by Joe Biden on 22 April to prepare for November’s global climate summit in Scotland. Finally Colin lists those top 20 high-polluting nations – Australia is #16 – then rates all those nations’ pollution per capita. On that list Australia is #3 behind Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan.
That’s it for another week on The Sustainable Hour. We’ll be back with more dynamic solution seekers, and until then, we hope you’ll continue to join us in the #ClimateRevolution and have the courage to be the difference. Already this Friday, many of us will be seeing each other at a local climate strike event.
“ ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune.’ The fossil fuel companies and the billionaires are saying to the government, ‘Unless you look after me, you don’t get your donation.’ The first thing we need to do is ban all donations. End of story. But of course, the major parties are never going to do that, because that would mean they would lose their power. It is baked-in corruption in our Western political model. (…) Who we vote for is the most important thing that we can do to change the structure of our society.”
~ Peter Vadiveloo, singer-song writer and climate activist, in The Sustainable Hour
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Acknowledgement
We at The Sustainable Hour would like to pay our respect to the traditional custodians of the land on which we are broadcasting, the Wathaurong People, and pay our respect to their elders, past, present and future.
The traditional owners lived in harmony with the land. They nurtured it and thrived in often harsh conditions for millenia before they were invaded. Their land was then stolen from them – it wasn’t ceeded. It is becoming more and more obvious that, if we are to survive the climate emergency we are facing, we have much to learn from their land management practices.
Our battle for climate justice won’t be won until our First Nations brothers and sisters have their true justice. When we talk about the future, it means extending our respect to those children not yet born, the generations of the future – remembering the old saying that…
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.”
The decisions currently being made around Australia to ignore the climate emergency are being made by those who won’t be around by the time the worst effects hit home. How utterly disgusting, disrespectful and unfair is that?
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The climate revolution – coming your way
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International Day of Forests
“Forest restoration: a path to recovery and well-being” is the theme for the United Nations annual Day of Forests.
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests in 2012. The day celebrates and raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests. On each International Day of Forests, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organise activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns.
How will you mark the day?
- Watch and share the International Day of Forests video 2021 (English, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish).
- Organize or join events celebrating forests: tree plantings, symposiums, art exhibitions, photo competitions or host a student debate. Don’t forget to tell us about it at IDF@fao.org and send us photos so we can add them to the gallery of events happening around the world.
- Share the logo, banner and posters – available in 13 languages
- Join the conversation on social media using the #IntlForestDay hashtag. Pass on some of this year’s key messages or take a photo of your favourite forest and share it with us and your friends.
The theme for each International Day of Forests is chosen by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests.
→ United Nations: International Day of Forests
Sponsored on Facebook:
→ Peter Vadiveloo: Fight for the trees
Ecosystem restoration
“Ecosystem Restoration Camps is a global movement of people that is creating an abundant earth. We repair broken ecosystems together and, in doing so, provide humanity with hope and a better future. Our big goal is to have one million people come together by 2030 and restore degraded ecosystems in 100 camps around the world.”
www.ecosystemrestorationcamps.org
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Climate Disaster Levy on Export Fossil Fuels
Moreland Council in Melbourne, Victoria, unanimously supported a motion for a Climate Disaster Levy on Export Fossil Fuels at their March 2021 meeting. While this is largely symbolic at this level of government, it contributes to the groundswell for federal action in Australia.
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Germany
The Guardian – 11 March 2021:
Political party set up by school climate strikers takes on German Greens
“Klimaliste is on the ballot for local elections in the state of Baden-Württemberg.”
Denmark
New climate party: Momentum
“We know the problem, we have the technologies, we have the money, but politicians have forgotten that politics is about solving collective challenges that citizens cannot solve themselves. ‘Putting climate first’ also applies organisationally in our party: We intend to spend 70 per cent of our time and energy on climate policy.”
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Events we have talked about in The Sustainable Hour
Events in Victoria
The following is a collation of Victorian climate change events, activities, seminars, exhibitions, meetings and protests. Most are free, many ask for RSVP (which lets the organising group know how many to expect), some ask for donations to cover expenses, and a few require registration and fees. This calendar is provided as a free service by volunteers of the Victorian Climate Action Network. Information is as accurate as possible, but changes may occur.
Petitions
→ List of petitions where you can add your name
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Live-streaming on pause
The Sustainable Hour is normally streamed live on the Internet every Wednesday from 11am to 12pm (Melbourne time), but due to the corona lockdown, the radio station has been closed.
» To listen to the program on your computer or phone, click here – or go to www.947thepulse.com where you then click on ‘Listen Live’ on the right.
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Podcast archive
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