The world blogosphere rallies on the occasion of the Cancun climate change summit

CANCUN CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT

One year after the failed Copenhagen Summit, the international community is meeting once more in Cancun, Mexico. The aim being to reach agreements on ways to combat global warming. Despite enthusiasm aroused by the continuing negotiations, the blogosphere remains mobilised to urge world leaders to reach a consensus.

British NGO, ‘One World’ has created a site allowing net users to follow and comment upon debates live. A platform via which they can also ask questions to experts, who will be invited to talk on this web-TV channel.

This UN conference also boasts an official YouTube channel, broadcasting, for example, this video message from Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, who, as host of the event, expresses his hopes for the summit. A Facebook page invites net users to take part in discussions, making their voices heard.

The ‘Adopt a negotiator’ site unites a dozen activist bloggers, who have gone to Cancun to monitor the activities of their respective country’s negotiators. In his latest message, the French representative describes the atmosphere in Cancun and does not seem optimistic about the chance of this summit reaching an agreement.

But many net users worldwide are keeping their faith alive. Over seventeen million of them are thought to have signed this online petition since the start of the campaign last year, urging their leaders to reach a consensus to curb climate change.

ECUADOR: CLEAN QUITO CAMPAIGN

The city council of Quito in Ecuador have declared war on dirt in the capital and in particular on the thousands of pieces of chewing gum scattered across the old town’s pavements. An initiative entitled ‘Quito Limpiecito’ (Clean Quito), widely broadcast online.

A video campaign has also appeared online. Several video clips such as these are circulating on share sites and encourage inhabitants to become more aware of the issue. The message being conveyed is that everyone must join forces and stop considering the street as a tip, if the project is to succeed.

Quito old town blog explains that the clean-up operation has already begun. Eight hundred children from the city’s schools have helped count the number of pieces of chewing-gum stuck to the pavement, which they circled with chalk to aid removal. Over 200,000 pieces of chewing-gum have already been counted.

A tedious project according to this net user, who declares here that the clean-up could take four months. He explains that the city council should also take steps to prevent the problem reappearing in the future. Those throwing chewing-gum on the floor can now be fined up to twenty four dollars.

Meanwhile, the company in charge of the clean-up has supplied a list of priority areas, which in theory should become ‘chewing-gum free zones’. It also recalls that this operation is highly costly to the city, which spent 50,000 dollars last year dealing with the same problem.

POLICEMEN EXPRESS THEIR ANGER

Suicides, police custody issues, statistics policies…For over a week, these videos of French police officers denouncing their working conditions have been circulating online. But these highly professional videos are in fact part of a viral campaign promoting the book ‘Cops- it’s not fiction’, written by a former police constable, turned blogger. The testimonies remain authentic nonetheless. Apart from the uneasiness felt by police, the initiative also aims to open the debate on the right to discretion, which until now forced police officers to remain silent.

MEA MEDICA

A drug grading platform open to net users. Based in the Netherlands, where the site was launched in 2008, Mea Medica allows patients to give their opinion on all kinds of drugs, using criteria such as their efficiency or the gravity of their side effects. A team led by a pharmacist will be responsible for moderating the messages, recalling that it is indispensable to consult a doctor before choosing a drug.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Here is a video which may give ideas to parents looking for original Christmas gifts. A little American boy is lucky enough to have a DIY loving dad, who has made him an incredible marble roll around the walls of his bedroom. The site Instructables.com gives all the instructions needed to create this type of construction for children at home.