Two weeks after its crane protest in Quatre Bornes, Mauritius, AzirMoris strikes again!
The operation with code name RAY of LIGHT, scheduled at 9:00 am by activist group AzirMoris on 21st February 2013, aimed at deploying a 5m x 15m banner down the Albion Lighthouse a few metres away from the CT POWER 110 MW plant site, in the North Western part of the island, 10 minutes from Port Louis.
When AzirMoris got on site, the group found a welcoming comittee made up of 100 policemen. Although they didn’t get the opportunity to get into the lighthouse, they managed to deploy their banner banner in front of the building.
AzirMoris decided then to apply its plan B and moved to secondary objective, the Old Sydney-Styled Bridge in Grand River North West. Six activists climbed to the top of the 30ft metallic structure to deploy the NO TO COAL banner. They were on top of the structure from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm with police presence but, no arrests were made.
This action aimed at building awareness about the coal issue threatening Mauritius. The action was well received by passers-by and shared through social networks.
AzirMoris has vowed to keep up and intensify the pressure with a series of punctual actions and public meetings in various towns of the country, with the aim of organising a massive demonstration later during the year.
February 26th, 2013 | No Comments » | lushendrie
The No to Coal Crane Protest Action took place more than 100ft above ground, in Quatre Bornes, Mauritius on Monday, 4th Feb 2013.
The Operation with code name LEV LATET (Chin Up) was conducted by activist group AzirMoris, to raise awareness about the coal issue and to pledge against the construction of a 110MW Coal Plant (CT-POWER) located close to residential areas and a popular touristic spot Albion, in the north western part of the island approximately 10 minutes from Port Louis.
Three activists, Anshika Sawaram, Alain Bertrand and Jameel Peerally, who stood ground from 5:00 am until 5:30 pm, were arrested and then released on parole around 9:00pm that night. On Tuesday, 5th February, they were found guilty under an old slavery law, rogue and vagabond and fined MUR 1000.
AzirMoris has vowed to keep up and intensify the pressure with a series of punctual actions and public meetings in various towns of the country, with the aim of organising a massive demonstration later during the year.
February 6th, 2013 | No Comments » | lushendrie
I had the pleasure of co-facilitating a media and climate change workshop earlier this month in the Egyptian city of Fayoum alongside Amena Adel – International DEMENA Youth Climate Ambassador and 350.org volunteer in Cairo.
Therefore, it gives me great pleasure to share this blog post which Amena wrote about the workshop (cross-posted from http://www.climateambassadors.net/ )
On January the 3rd 2013, 18 media enthusiasts from all over Egypt came together in Zad Al Musafer in Tunis- Fayoum to explore possibilities of communicating climate knowledge. From Sinai in the east to Alexandria in the west, and from governorates all over Egypt, they had each experienced the indirect and in some cases the direct impacts of climate change. With the help of Frank Thor Straten, Danish media and communication consultant, Mostafa Hussein, trainer in the field of Environmental professions, the Egyptian DEMENA team and 350.org volunteers, they went through a 3-day workshop to sculpt their skills and utilize them to encourage citizen journalism on Climate Change.
The global climatic crisis is the most demanding issue facing humanity in this era of environmental oblivion, and that’s why there’s a need for strong Media products communicating the issue, the ramifications, the consequences and the solutions.
Egypt is one of the countries most vulnerable to Climate Change, even though the river Nile passes through Egypt, in a lot of places water is an extremely scarce resource. Egypt’s share of the river Nile water has been 55 million cubic meters since 1995, which wasn’t enough for the entire population then, and it sure is not enough now that the population tripled. Add to that rising water levels of salty sea water submerging parts of the Nile Delta, and salinating massive parts of agricultural land and submerging parts of the coastal cities. Other than water issues, Egypt faces a lot of health challenges as a result of deteriorating air and water quality and escalating energy insufficiency issues.
The current political and economic scene in Egypt is very turbulent, which gives very little space for climate change and environmental issues in the public arena. But if we fail to draw the connection between environmental issues and economic issues then we fail to solve either problem, Egypt has recently changed from a gas exporting to a gas importing company, which will take an incredible toll on the national economy and clearly shows that our dependency on conventional energy resources no longer works.
There’s a grave need for localized climate solutions in Egypt including spreading environmental awareness, which pushed for having a Media workshop, and Fayoum was the best place to do it. Fayoum is an Agricultural governorate overlooking Qaroun Lake, a salt water lake. An extremely peaceful Tunis city in Fayoum was definitely an inspirational and resourceful place to hold a workshop to spread the word about environmental problems in Egypt. Participants went through a 3-day training and brainstorming to come up with the best topics to tackle and the methods to tackle them with, and here’s what they came up with!
The enormity of the problem makes it surprising how simple the solutions are. Mobilizing local communities towards a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly ways of living would soon enough change national tactics. And what is the world but a community?
January 27th, 2013 | No Comments » | sarahrifaat
A two day sensitization lecture was organized by Forward in Action for Conservation of Indigenous Species (FACIS) on the 20th and 21st of November in Bauchi. The aim was to educate community members at rural level the connection between low yield of farm produce, heavy rain falls resulting in floods, excessive heat and cold weather to changes in the climate.
Farmers from 3 villages were invited to share in their experiences of heavy rain destroying many of their farm lands and agriculture.
December 19th, 2012 | No Comments » | lushendrie
Genny Ndayisenga, journaliste et organisatrice de 350 au Burundi partage ici un article publié dans Burundi Eco sur les timides progrès des énérgies renouvelables au Burundi.
Au moment où les abonnés de la REGIDESO (Régie de Production et de Distribution d’Eau et d’Electricité) sont soumis à un système de délestage répétitif, les énergies renouvelables représentent une alternative réelle mais leur coût demeure élevé pour la majorité des habitants.
Obscurité, travail ralenti et baisse de production, telles sont les conséquences liées au délestage dû à la pénurie du courant au Burundi.
Heureusement, certaines compagnies et multinationales commencent timidement à proposer des solutions énergétiques à leurs clients et partenaires. C’est le cas du Groupe Ladak. Il y a deux ans, il a commencé à distribuer une variété de produits à énergie solaire pour alimenter aussi bien les ménages que les entreprises. Read the rest of this entry »
December 6th, 2012 | No Comments » | landry_ninteretse
