Planet Under Pressure 2012 Conference: Recommendations for Navigating the Anthropocene

The Planet Under Pressure Conference 2012 at its March 24-29 London gathering released this:

Science for Policy:

Recommendations for Navigating the Anthropocene

Nine Policy Briefs to help inform policy agenda in next decade

International science community has published a series of Policy Briefs for the United Nations Rio+20 conference in June 2012.

“Rio+20 is an opportunity for progress. We commissioned these nine briefs to summarise scientific findings relevant to the Rio+20 agenda: the green economy and sustainable development.” says Nobel Laureate Professor Elinor Ostrom, the conference chief scientific advisor. “They cover a variety of topics, but a key feature of all briefs is the need for an interconnected approach to addressing our global challenges.”

The final four briefs for the series, released at the London Planet Under Pressure conference today, focus on energy security, green economy, health and wellbeing. Five Policy Briefs, published in late 2011, deal with interconnected risks and solutions, international governance for sustainable development, water security, food security and biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Key findings overleaf here

All nine Policy Briefs will be officially presented by a high-level scientific panel moderated by Georgios Kostakos, Deputy Director of the UN Secretary General’s Global Sustainability Panel, at the Planet Under Pressure conference, Monday, March 26, 2012, 1.00-1.40pm British Summer Time, Plenary Hall.

A parallel suite of scientific white papers is published in a special issue of the Journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability Volume 4, Issue 1 – selected pp. 1-158 (February 2012).

Note to Editors

The research discussed in the press release, the conclusions drawn and the opinions offered are those of individual speakers or research teams at the Planet Under Pressure conference.

*The Anthropocene

The Anthropocene as a new geological epoch was first proposed in 2000 by Dutch Nobel Laureate Professor Paul Crutzen and US academic Professor Eugene Stoermer (1934-2012). Crutzen, Stoermer and others argued that the vast human enterprise now rivals the great geological forces of nature.

More information about Planet under Pressure Conference

The international science conference will be the biggest gathering of global environmental change specialists in advance of the United Nations Rio+20 Summit: 2,500 scientists, policymakers, industry and media representatives will meet to hear the latest research findings on the state of the planet and discuss concepts for planetary stewardship and societal and economic transformation towards global sustainability.

More information on the web: http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/

Earth Hour 2012 - give Mother Nature an even break at 8.30pm March 31

Turn all your house lights and electrical applicances off
for one hour

 at 8.30pm on Saturday March 31, 2012

Mother Nature deserves a little breathing space
to digest all that greenhouse gas

Don't blame Dallas - former north coast rep on NSW Aboriginal Land Council wants nothing to do with petroleum exploration

Letter to the Editor, The Northern Star

Local decisions

I was the elected councillor representing the North Coast Region on the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) from December 2010 to August 2011.

It has been mentioned to me that people are insinuating that I, as a councillor, was party to the NSWALC decision to apply for the petroleum exploration licences in the North Coast. I deny this.

In my time as councillor it was never mentioned about exploration licences on the North Coast.

My belief is that such decisions should come from the local level and not from the top down.

I personally find it repulsive that NSWALC made the decision they did without having the decency to talk with local Aboriginal land councils and other indigenous stakeholders. Shame on them.

Big brother has again returned to Aboriginal affairs.

I do not have an issue with mining where it is culturally and environmentally okay. The beautiful North Coast is not the place to pillage.

Dallas Donnelly, Grafton

Source: Letters, The Northern Star, 30/3/12

Iluka Road and the Mysterious Case of the Shrinking Petition

This was the Nationals MP for Clarence during his successful 2011 by-election campaign:

Now Mr Gulaptis said he has a 1500-signature petition signed by local residents calling for the speed limit to be raised to 100km/h….

Mr Gulaptis could not answer whether the petition was a recent one, or one launched six years ago in opposition to the speed limit reduction, as he said he hadn't seen it, despite claiming he had it on radio yesterday morning.

This was another Nationals MP for Clarence six years ago in 2006:

The Minister did not answer my urgent letters of months ago and last week. That is why I now raise the matter directly in the people's forum, Australia's first Parliament, along with 800 signatures taken in three days, to show the real community interest there. Labor was quick to slash the speed limit to 80 kilometres an hour on Iluka Road in a misguided attempt to protect emus…..

What do these two quotes tell us about ‘Steve’ Gulaptis’ request to the NSW Roads and Maritime Service for a review of the speed limit on Iluka Road in the Lower Clarence Valley?

Well, they tell us that the petition he was touting was unlikely to have ever contained 1,500 signatures – in fact it probably had a 700 signature shortfall.

They also suggest that he is attempting to use this petition a second time, as the former Member for Clarence had brought the petition to the attention of the NSW Legislative Assembly years ago.

Not rogering strangers in The Territory

Thousands of Territorians having crazed anonymous sex in public?
Naah, the pooches give the game away. If their owner was doing the wild thing in the bushes they would be trying to join in.
Betting that all the bloke on this NT News frontpage is doing is having a quick pee or the pic was posed.

Credit where credit's due

At 9 o'clock last night Chris Gulaptis, Member for Clarence, took the opportunity to make a private members' statement in the NSW Legislative Assembly about the value of the Grafton Agricultural Research and Advisory Station.

Mr Gulaptis concluded his statement with the words, "I offer my unreserved support for the Grafton Agricultural Research and Advisory Station."

Good work, Mr Gulaptis, but will your words do any good? Who was listening to the statement? More to the point, do they care and will they support you?

Earlier this week The Daily Examiner reported, "The once-prominent Grafton agricultural station appears to be dying a death of a thousand cuts. Following the closure of the hardwood forestry research facility and changes to the fisheries research facility, it has now been confirmed there are no beef cattle researchers on site and all stock are to be moved to Glen Innes."

Oh, and by the way, Mr Gulaptis still hasn't managed to get his portrait on the Members' Page on the parliamentary website. C'mon, Mr Gulaptis, get yourself down to the studio and have a happy snap taken - it's only a camera shot, not a rifle shot.

Another call for seatbelts on school buses

Two school buses collided in Maclean yesterday morning, resulting in an 11-year-old child being taken to hospital with suspected neck injuries. Another eight students were treated at the scene.

The Greens transport spokeswoman, Cate Faehrmann, will today give notice of a private members bill in which buses on some rural routes would need to be fitted with seatbelts. The routes would travel on unsealed roads or roads or highways with a speed limit greater than 80km/h.

While it's not clear if the measures proposed would have alleviated yesterday's incident that occurred before school in Maclean, the call is loud and clear: MPs, extract the digit and move to upgrade the safety of school bus travellers now!

Pollies can roll out statistics till the cows come home about how much safer bus travel is compared with other forms of motorised transport but that will not alter one simple fact ... it's only a matter of time!

Good to see Ms Faehrmann's move!

The $64 question locals in the electorate of Clarence will have on the tips of their tongues will be: And what is our local MP, Chris Gulaptis, who resides a stone's throw (okay, okay, so he lives over the hill and a few streets away from the site of yesterday's crash) prepared to do about improving bus safety by having school buses fitted with seat belts?

Mr Gulaptis, it's over to you.

Sources: The Daily Examiner, The Sydney Morning Herald

Pic credit: The Daily Examiner