{"id":100,"date":"2009-11-04T13:59:38","date_gmt":"2009-11-04T13:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/?p=100"},"modified":"2012-10-01T14:02:02","modified_gmt":"2012-10-01T14:02:02","slug":"before-the-summit-in-copenhagen-greenpeace-and-wwf-screen-the-age-of-stupid-in-syntagma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/2009\/11\/04\/before-the-summit-in-copenhagen-greenpeace-and-wwf-screen-the-age-of-stupid-in-syntagma\/","title":{"rendered":"Before the Summit in Copenhagen, Greenpeace and WWF Screen the Age of Stupid in Syntagma"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Greenpeace estimates the annual cost of environmental catastrophes around the world at $1.25 trillion. This is why the organization considers cutting green house gas emissions a global priority. And, to make its point, its screening of the film Age of Stupid <\/em>in Syntagma Square on October 22 literally cost the environment nothing, said the organizers of the event.<\/p>\n

Directed by Franny Armstrong, Age of Stupid <\/em>features Pete Postlethwaite\u00a0as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn\u2019t we stop climate change when we had the chance?<\/p>\n

All needs for energy during the projection were covered through the use of renewable energy sources and recyclable materials. This means that the projection\u2019s carbon footprint, which is the amount of carbon produced in tons by an activity, was zero.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe energy demands for the projection of the film are covered entirely by the use of photovoltaic panels that were set up here in Syntagma square throughout the day,\u201d said Dimitris Ibrahim, responsible for Climate and Energy campaigns for the Greek Greenpeace.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the amount of carbon annually produced is striking. Greenpeace reports that every Greek citizen is responsible for the emission of 9. 6 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Every American is responsible for 19. 6 tones and every Chinese person for 3. 9.<\/p>\n

The screening of the film was a way to mobilize people and push for strong representation of the Greek government at the world summit of Copenhagen, the greenest city of the world, which starts December 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our best chance to avoid the worst,\u201d said Ibrahim. \u201cWe must make people care if we want to see progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

But \u201cwe can\u2019t persuade politicians on our own,\u201d said Dimitris Plitharas, responsible for the environmental policy campaign of WWF-Greece. \u201cWe need people\u2019s help to make an impact and sign the appeal directed to the Greek government to press more over climatic changes; today alone, 7,000 people signed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most significant thing to come out of the summit for Greenpeace is that it will be the renewal of the 1997 Protocol of Kyoto, which has been ratified by 184 members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and was put in force in 2005.<\/p>\n

The major distinction between the protocol and the convention is that while the convention encouraged industrialized countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the protocol commits them to do so. The Copenhagen summit aims to commit members to stabilize the emissions of carbon until 2015 and to start reducing them thereafter.<\/p>\n

Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current GHG levels after 150 years of industrial activity, a heavier burden is placed on developed nations under the principle of \u201ccommon but differentiated responsibilities,\u201d said the UNFCCC\u2019s Kyoto text.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time we expect world leaders like the U.S. and China to step into the agreement and leave behind their interests for the common good,\u201d said Plitharas.<\/p>\n

The most notable non-member of the protocol is the\u00a0United States, which is a signatory of UNFCCC and was responsible for 36.1% of the world\u2019s 1990 emission levels, according to emission ratings by the UNFCCC.<\/p>\n

The Age of Stupid<\/em> will be screened at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in November. Copies are also available at www.ageofstupid.net.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greenpeace estimates the annual cost of environmental catastrophes around the world at $1.25 trillion. This is why the organization considers cutting green house gas emissions a global priority. And, to make its point, its screening of the film Age of Stupid in Syntagma Square on October 22 literally cost the environment nothing, said the organizers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/web.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106,"href":"https:\/\/web.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100\/revisions\/106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.acg.edu\/web\/observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}