NEWS
22 January
China increases its consumption of global resources
21 January
Order your cool T-shirts here to spread the word - click on a design, then choose the shirt
21 January
Vietnam is short of water, and climate change won't help
20 January
Ocean acidification
New study shows that increasing CO2 in the atmosphere leads to increasing ocean acidification, . This threatens marine ecosystems.
20th January
Is "Vertical Farming" one small answer for 21st century living?
10 January
Environmental refugees move to swell mega-cities in the developing world
5th January
Food security becomes an issue of serious concern in the UK
21st December
Copenhagen - what really happened at the biggest and worst climate conference ever?
19th December
The Telegraph newspaper describes the post-Copenhagen global leadership challenge |
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Challenge to Change is a British NGO supporting poor communities in Asia to build more resilient livelihoods and to adapt to the impact of climate change.
We work primarily in Vietnam - in Quang Tri Province, where typhoons and floods are occurring with greater frequency and intensity; in three coastal cities - Quy Nhon, Da Nang and Can Tho - where poverty combined with risks from climate change can lead to disasterous consequences; and in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, where the livelihoods of poor ethnic minority communities are increasingly effected by flash-floods and mud-slides which destroy their villages and their basic food supplies.
Complementing our assistance to the victims of climate change overseas, we campaign in the UK against over-consumption, and in favour of initiatives for environmental protection. We engage in development education programmes, and we promote local sustainable development and the use of renewable energy. |
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Since 1900, the world economy has expanded 20-fold and world population has increased four-fold. But while the economy is growing exponentially, the earth's natural capacities, such as its ability to to supply fresh water, forest products and seafood, have not increased. Humanity's collective demands probably first surpassed the earth's regenerative capacity around 1980, and by 2009 global demands on natural systems exceed their sustainable yield capacity by approximately 25%. This means we are meeting current demands by consuming the earth's natural assets, setting the stage for decline and collapse. We are crossing natural thresholds that we cannot see and violating deadlines that we do not recognise. Nature is the time keeper, but we cannot see the clock. *
Every society clings to a myth by which it lives. Ours is the myth of economic growth. For the last five decades, the pursuit of growth has been the single most important policy goal across the world. This extraordinary ramping up of global economic activity has no historical precedent, and is totally at odds with our scientific knowledge of the finite resource base and the fragile economy on which we depend for survival. A return to business as usual is not an option. Prosperity for the few founded on ecological destruction and persistent social injustice is no foundation for a civilised society. The current economic crisis presents us with a unique opportunity. To sweep away the short-term thinking that has plagued society for decades. To replace it with considered policy capable of addressing the enormous challenge of delivering a lasting prosperity. **
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Challenge to Change is a non-political, non-religious, non-government, non-profit organisation.
We promote equal rights and opportunities for all. Our daily work is based on our fundamental convictions that:
- climate change needs to be urgently addressed by governments and people, by all means
- the world economy is running contrary to the world's environment and natural resources
- equality is the most effective basis for stability, security and development
- not only the poor but we all now face a momentous challenge to change.
* Lester R. Brown, "Plan B 3.0", Earth Policy Institute, New York, 2008
** Tim Jackson, "Prosperity without growth?", Sustainable Development Commission, UK, 2009
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