Ok, now seriously:
“The oceans and seas are a source of life on our planet. They cover almost three quarters of the Earth’s surface and contain some 90% of the biosphere. Their protection is essential to the future of our planet. Pollution of our seas and destructive fishing practices are anathema to that. Our oceans and seas also play a strategic role in sustaining climate and weather patterns, distributing solar energy, and absorbing carbons.” (Commissioner for the Environment Stavros Dimas)
Three quarters of fishing grounds are almost depleted. Rising water levels inflicted by global warming are threatening sensitive corals and low lands. Now I won’t blog more about it as others can do this better. Here a good overview by a member of the Ocean Project and here more on the topic by the following organisations UN, the European Commission or GreenPeace. You can sign a petition with GreenPeace on protecting 40% of the world’s oceans as marine reserves.
The Ocean Project has a list of events around the globe, nothing though for Belgium. However, Sunday June 7th is la Fête de l’Environnement 2009 organised at Parc Cinquantenaire by Bruxelles Environnement, where you can meet actors of the environmental field. The Brussels Aquarium will also have a stand there. In the evening there will be a free concert.
When I arrived at the end of rush-hour all the Foe-members in the station-hall were in conversation with people passing by, mainly explaining the aims of the campaign. Above the general stairs you could see a big screen showing the Big Ask Film .
Some passengers took time to see the film. Afterwards they asked the Foe-members what The Big Ask stands for. A lot of people filled in the Big Ask postcards (more than I expected!), which FOE will send to the decision making Belgian politicians concerning climate issues.
Politicians from right and left-wing parties came especially to this event in order to talk about the aims of the campaign. On the picture below you’ll see the co-chairman from Ecolo Isabelle Durant, together with members from mother Earth, the Flemish FOE-movement. Another Ecolo politician who took time to talk about the aims and strategies of The Big Ask campaign was Evelyne Huytebroeck, the environment minister in Bxl we met on the ecoloj meeting in march. Other parties present were the flemish socialists (SP-A) and the Flemish Liberals (VLD).
It takes my interest as the campaign is focussing on a clear legal pressure towards politicians on national and EU level.
A few weeks ago I went on a night walk with the local group of Friends of the Earth in Brussels. The activity was organized in the spirit of Earth Hour 2009 – an action initiated by WWF on March 28th 2009.
This was the core message of the campaign:
Our walk in Brussels went on for 3 hours through the local forest area Forêt de Soignes. 3 hours in the dark in the middle of a forest; looking at star signs with a group of like minded environmentalists – What’s a better way of spending the ‘earth hour 2009′?
The walk in any case was a success and it would be a surprise if Friends of the Earth Brussels would not continue organizing enjoyable walks and awareness raising events here in Brussels. Thank you for the nice evening. › Continue reading
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