Climate change is no longer in dispute. It is here. Even the climate change deniers can no longer justify themselves. We must learn to adapt, and quickly, if our food and energy supplies are to be maintained.

The Met Office have announced that 2012 was the wettest year on record for England and the third wettest for Wales, with four of the five wettest years on record occurring since the beginning of this century. The UK as a whole had 15% more rainfall than average during the year

Pippa Bartolotti, Wales Green Party Leader said: "Extreme weather means that rivers are flooding more often, and unseasonal droughts will occur more often. The first thing we must do is stop building on flood plains. The second thing we must do is change our building design so that every household can collect rainfall and harvest solar energy. It is not rocket science. The technology is already in use."

"Scientists widely predict that the planet will warm by 4 degrees Centigrade, and that will impact on our food supply in a way that we can barely imagine. Therefore, the third we must do is to ensure that our local farmers are empowered to adapt their crops to the changing climactic conditions.

She added, "It is very late in the day to mend the troubles caused by over-industrialization, but it is still possible. Eliminating our dependence on polluting fossil fuels is essential, and with an abundance of natural resources, Wales can more than satisfy its energy needs from sun, wind and wave. But we need to move fast."

The Green Party, as well as tirelessly arguing for clean energy, are keen to bring water supplies back into public ownership so that an integrated water harvest and supply strategy can be implemented and the effects of drought and flood minimised, particularly for the farms.

The Met Office have disclosed preliminary evidence suggesting the UK could be getting more annual rainfall and it may be falling in more intense downpours. The official forecasters said the country was getting wetter,

Professor Julia Slingo, chief scientist at the Met Office, said: "The trend towards more extreme rainfall events is one we are seeing around the world, in countries such as India and China, and now potentially here in the UK.

Pippa Bartolotti is the Leader of the Wales Green Party

The scale of rape in the UK, as in the world, is the tip of an ugly iceberg of violence. Rape often comes as part of a package of abuse. Institutional abuse, cultural abuse, domestic abuse. Rape is violence, rape is a tool of warfare, rape is the sick subjugation of the abused by the oppressor and it is not to be tolerated for even one single moment, under any circumstances whatsoever, by any individual, institution or government.

The figures below represent a holocaust. A women's holocaust without end.

• 1 out of every 3 women in the world has been raped, beaten or abused
• 30% of people in the UK think that violence against women is OK.
• 50% think it should be kept behind closed doors
• More than 100 million women are missing from the world's population - a result of discrimination and female infanticide.
• Two thirds of the 774 million adult illiterates worldwide are female
• At least 60 million girls worldwide are forced into marriage before the age of 18.
• An estimated 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk of female genital mutilation each year.
• A third of teenage girls in a relationship suffer an unwanted sexual act.
• A quarter of girls suffer physical violence, such as being slapped, punched or beaten by their boyfriend.
• 1 girl in 16 is raped
• 64% of students know women whose boyfriends or partners have hit them
• 25,000 men in England and Wales move from one relationship to another, serially abusing their partners

Everyone in society is responsible for these figures (from Amnesty International) by either looking away, or feigning blindness. And society will not change until each one of us changes. True equality means real respect. You do not beat or rape a person you respect, and you respect your equals.

We must remove the shame and stigma from rape victims and honour those who are raped. Only by applauding the bravery and resolve of the abused can we turn the tables on these cowardly oppressors.

Rape is the ultimate crime of an unequal world.

Against Violence and Abuse
http://www.avaproject.org.uk/our-resources/statistics/society%E2%80%99s-attitudes-to-violence-against-women.aspx

A report to John Griffith, Welsh Minister for the Environment, from Lord Deben, Chair of the Committee on Climate Change, makes depressing reading.

Having now made the subtle change from avoiding climate change, to preparing for climate change, it is clear that there is no more appetite to reduce CO2 – now at an alarming 394.39 part per million in the atmosphere – than there ever was. One of the only factors which will reduce the amount of CO2 we put in the atmosphere is economic hardship – and that is bad news for the majority of people in Wales who are seeing their living standards eroded and their jobs balanced on a knife edge.

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Green Party in Wales said: “This Labour Government is sleeping on the job. There is so much government could be doing both to support industry and households. Far too many houses are not heat efficient, wasting almost as much energy as they use. And industry needs access to top notch specialists who can assist in reducing emissions and improving processes.

“Climate change is upon us, and the medicine doesn’t have to be bitter. It can be positive and productive. We are supposed to be reducing CO2 emissions by 3% a year, and we could do more. But without strong and clear strategies from the Wales Government individuals and business will just muddle on as before, making the effects of climate change even worse.” Climate change means problems for many, many people. For example flooding, which we know is on the increase, is being exacerbated by irresponsible building on flood plains. This report tells us that one-fifth of floodplain development occurred in areas currently at significant risk of flooding. This means far too many new houses are still being built which will cause untold misery to their occupants from rising waters due to climate change.

Pippa Bartolotti added:” The report also asks for an assessment to be carried out on the emission reductions from transport. It is almost criminal that this hasn’t already been done. Wales stands no chance of meeting its 2020 emissions reduction targets with this kind of lackadaisical attitude in a Labour government.”

1. Reducing emissions and preparing for climate change in Wales: 2013 Progress Report

Cumbria County council has given a resounding 'No' to creating an underground nuclear waste dump in the Lake District.

This has massive implications for the construction plans in the pipeline for new nuclear in areas in the Wales 'fall out' zones of Wylfa B on Anglesey and Hinckley C just 20 miles from Newport.

Pippa Bartolotti, Wales Green Party Leader said today, "The Cumbrian decision means that there is now nowhere in the UK to store these dangerous by-products of the nuclear process -- toxins which will remain highly volatile for many thousands of years before being considered safe.

"The people of Wales don't want to store these highly radioactive wastes. No-one does. Cumbria was the only county in Britain prepared to entertain the idea, and now they have decided against doing so.

"We call on the Welsh government to withdraw all support for a new nuclear plant at Wylfa. If our commitment to sustainable development is meaningful, then let's get on with it and start putting serious funding into true renewables such as those being developed in the University of Glamorgan at Baglan Energy Park where solar energy is being converted to hydrogen which is already powering cars and buses in Swansea."

Pippa Bartolotti is Leader of the Wales Green Party

The badly devised Prosiect Gwyrdd plan to bring incinerators to Wales has taken one more step into the darkness.

Whilst Veolia in Newport has been dropped from the project in favour of Viridor in Cardiff, this does not spell good news for the residents of Newport, because the prevailing westerly winds will bring pollution from the stack in Cardiff onto households and land in Newport.

Said Pippa Bartolotti, spokesperson for SNIC, the Stop Newport Incinerator Campaign, "Incinerators are being shut down in Europe due to overcapacity. People are recycling more and producing less rubbish. A large scale incinerator South Wales will be redundant well before the end of the 25 + year contract period, yet Welsh taxpayers will be forced to pay more than £1billion for it anyway.

Robert Hepworth, Chair of SNIC, said, "The people and wildlife of the Gwent Levels in Newport are probably safer as a result of today's announcement. But families and farms in Gwent are still threatened by an incinerator in Cardiff which will cost taxpayers the earth, pollute the air we breathe and undo all the good work we have done in recycling waste.

"If an expensive incinerator will save Wales £18million, the savings which could be made from safer, greener and cheaper technology such as Mechanical & Biological Treatment would be far, far greater. The campaign now moves on to the Welsh Assembly debate on incineration next Wednesday.

"We also have to make sure that the rejection of Veolia's planning application at Llanwern is upheld at the Public Enquiry next July. I hope we can finish the job and keep South Wales truly green and healthy."

Pippa Bartolotti added: "A total rethink is required, and quickly. It is high time the Welsh Government stopped looking at waste as something to be landfilled or burnt. Waste should be seen as a valuable resource to be ploughed back into the economy. We may not have a big burner in Newport, but big burners anywhere are the wrong idea. We will now take our fight to the Welsh Assembly."

Newport City Council turned down planning permission for an incinerator in July this year.

The overall authority for Prosiect Gwyrdd is the Wales Government. Prosiect Gwyrdd had shortlisted 4 incinerator companies. 2 have withdrawn from the process, leaving Viridor in Cardiff, who have already started building work, and Veolia in Newport which is currently appealing its planning permission refusal.

Pippa Bartolotti is also Leader of Wales Green Party

At 2.00 pm on Thursday 21st February Pippa Bartolotti of the Wales Green Party will be handing in a petition of 40,440 signatures to John Griffiths, Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, asking him to outlaw the use and sale of neonicotinoid pesticides in Wales. These products have been increasingly implicated in the decline of honeybees and wild bees over the past decade.

Simultaneously, Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, will hand in a similar petition to Westminster. This is the first time a social media petition has been hand delivered to a Minister in this way, and to further protect the environment it will be handed in on a memory stick, saving almost 10000 sheets of paper.

In France, Italy and other countries these insecticides have already been restricted. In Britain and the USA however, their use continues.

Malcolm Higginbottom, Chairman of Good is Planet Earth, said: "This petition is a timely step in the right direction. The hand in will be prior to The European Food Standards Agency meeting on February 25 2013, which follows a Dutch delegation calling upon the European Commission to take action. A number of member states support the proposal, including France, Poland and the Czech Republic.

"Italy has introduced restrictions on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, Slovenia has already imposed a full ban, and some national retailers in the UK including B&Q and Home Base have acted to remove neonic related products from their shelves amid growing public concern of pollinator collapse and potential food shortages. "

A study commissioned by Friends of the Earth finds that having to pollinate crops without the help of bees would cost the UK almost £2 billion a year in higher food prices. This huge annual bill amounts to what it would cost to hand-pollinate crops if bees died out in the UK .

Pippa Bartolotti, Wales Green Party Leader added, " In parts of China they are hand pollinating hundreds of thousands of fruit trees. All the natural pollinators were killed more than 10 years ago because of indiscriminate use of pesticides, and they have not returned. It is a disaster now, and an even greater disaster will follow if we continue to use these deadly pesticides. We call upon the Government of Wales to ban these products immediately."

Lord Jones of Cheltenham said in a debate in the House of Lords (January 10 2013), the "population decline of bees and other pollinators needs to be treated as a National Emergency."

"A study led by Stirling's Professor David Goulson showed that growth of bee colonies slowed after the insects were exposed to "field-realistic levels" of imidacloprid, a common neonicotinoid insecticide. The production of queens, essential for colony survival, declined by a massive 85 per cent in comparison with unexposed colonies used as a control.

"In another study, a French research group also investigated the impact of a different neonicotinoid, thiamethoxam, on the number of bees able to make it back to the colony with food. Calculations showed that cognitive impairment of forager bees at sub-lethal doses was bad enough that colonies would be severely compromised.

"BeeTheChange, a Facebook based Social awareness group, run by Goodisplanetearth.org have submitted evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee and other consultations, calling on the UK government to take preventative action to protect pollination species."

Some insecticide products have been increasingly implicated in the decline of honeybees over the past decade, and there is serious concern that they pose unacceptable risk to wild bees and pollinators. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that of the 100 crop species that provide 90% of food worldwide, 71 are pollinated by bees(1).

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Green Party in Wales said, "Bee-keepers and petitioners are anxious to hear how the Secretary of State has not failed in his duty of care to bee protection. By failing to act swiftly, he has allowed the seed crop for this spring to be impregnated with pesticides linked to the weakening of bee colonies, thus prolonging the harm being done. This is beginning to look like negligence."

Today, the Wales Green Party wrote a strongly worded letter on behalf of petitioners and bee-keepers to David Jones MP, Secretary of State for Wales asking that he urgently carries out his duty under provision of the 1980 Bees Act to protect bees, as well as ensure the UK does not fall foul of European law.

Pippa Bartolotti said, "There are more than 40,000 concerned people who urgently need to know what the position of the Secretary of State is on this matter, for the sake of bees and other pollinators, Ministers should have no qualms in making bee survival their top priority. We do not understand why the Minister is dragging his feet.

"The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Wales, are responsible for ensuring bees are not at risk from insecticides. The law requires that insecticides are robustly tested prior to authorisation being granted, and where risk assessment has not been finalised, we believe products should be immediately withdrawn from the market."

Research at the University of Sterling found that colonies of Buff-tailed bumblebees exposed to the neonicotinoid Imidacloprid, produced 85% fewer queens than control colonies(4). The success and survival of new bumblebee queens is essential to ensure the viability of future bumblebee populations. Pesticide risk assessment requires tests on very few species including the honey bee, which are meant to be representative for invertebrates as a whole(5). Neonicotinoids are systemic insecticides that permeate the whole plant, and residues of some neonicointoids may remain in the soil for at least 2 years(6).

Last year, EFSA, the European Food Standards Agency, had identified significant flaws in regulatory risk assessment guidelines for testing pesticides on honey bees, and highlighted a need for consideration of wild bees within the regulatory system(2). Upon further investigation of three neonicotinoids, EFSA scientists identified areas of high risk to bees from flowering crops, as well as a number of data gaps that would have to be filled to allow further evaluation of the potential risks to bees from clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam(3).

On Thursday 21st February, Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Wales Green Party handed in a petition of 40,440 signatures to John Griffiths, Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, asking him to outlaw the use and sale of neonicotinoid insecticides in Wales.

Further information:

EU Regulation 1107/2009 (Annex II, 3.8.3.) states: "An active substance, safener or synergist shall be approved only if it is established following an appropriate risk assessment on the basis of Community or internationally agreed test guidelines, that the use under the proposed conditions of use of plant protection products containing this active substance, safener or synergist: will result in a negligible exposure of honey bees, or has no unacceptable acute or chronic effects on colony survival and development, taking into account effects on honey bee larvae and honey bee behaviour."

(1) EFSA: Bee health http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/beehealth.htm

(2) Scientific Opinion on the science behind the development of a risk assessment of Plant Protection Products on bees (Apis mellifera, Bombus spp. and solitary bees) http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/2668.htm

(3) EFSA identifies risks to bees from neonicotinoids http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/130116.htm?utm_source=homepage&utm_m edium=infocus&utm_campaign=beehealth

(4) Neonicotinoid Pesticide Reduces Bumble Bee Colony Growth and Queen Production - Whitehorn et al, Science 20 April 2012: 351-352.Publ: 29 March 2012 [DOI:10.1126/science.1215025]

(5) Chemicals Regulation Directorate "DATA REQUIREMENTS HANDBOOK"- Version 2.2, June 2012

(6) "Behaviour of Imidacloprid in Fields.Toxicity for Honey Bees"; Bonmatin et al.

Members of the Stop Newport Incinerator Campaign are ecstatic that the company planning to build an incinerator in Newport have today withdrawn their appeal.

Year of hard work by local campaigners have gone into making this decision a reality.

Robert Hepworth, Chair of SNIC said "This is a victory for SNIC and the whole local community in beating off a waste incinerator at Llanwern, which would have scarred our health and environment for the next 30 years. We are joyful but would still like to see the entire Prosiect Gwyrdd "scam" given the red card it deserves by the new Minister and the Welsh Auditor General.

My thanks to you and all others who have joined together over the last 2 years as a united force in Newport and Monmouthshire. We all hoped this day would come, and at last it has."

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Wales Greens added , "Our happiness at this decision is marred only by the fact that the people of Cardiff will be forced to host a polluting incinerator. The Wales Government must end its love affair with burning. The waste should not be burned. It is a valuable resource which will be needed more and more as the cost in terms of environmental degradation and in terms of hard cash make mining and drilling less desirable.

These mega incinerators are a frightening drain on the taxpayer , and we are very concerned that improper financial and democratic behaviour has been a large part of Prosiect Gwerdd. That is why the matter is now in the hands of the Wales Audit Office."

“We must do the right thing, and not worry about whether or not we will be successful. For if we do not do the right thing, we will be part of the problem, not part of the solution”.  Schumacher

C02 in the atmosphere this month has reached the 400 parts per million level. This means the atmosphere has more C02 in it since the dawn of humanity. If we look at C02, as many scientists do, as the proverbial canary in the mine, then it is about to fall off it’s perch.

As C02 rises, so does the sea, so does precipitation in already wet climates and so does the heat in already hot lands. Food production is threatened alongside a rising tide of hungry mouths. Demand could soon outstrip supply and this is not a pretty thought.

The World Bank is now telling us that without urgent and radical cuts in emissions, global temperatures will rise by 4C or more by the end of the century, resulting in “devastating” environmental impacts for all of us. The case for political action becomes clearer by the day.

Tinkering with the deficit will not help. Neither will bedroom tax, immigration debates or baying into the wind for economic growth. Growth of the type we used to have is not the solution. The government know this, but do not act. Fatigued by their own rhetoric, they are the problem.

Those who believe that technology will solve our problems had better start investing in it fast. Without sizable investment in the technologies of the future, how can technology possibly come to the rescue.

We need the doors of finance opened to innovation, and now is not soon enough. This tired old world needs new ideas. For example, digging up the ground for fuel seems almost Neanderthal when above us shines an almost infinite supply of clean energy. It is ironic then, that the more fossil fuels we burn, the less the sun seems to shine, and the less the sun shines the more fossil fuels we burn. We are being forced by bad government policy and multinational corporations to pick up a shovel and dig our own graves. The future is being ConDem-ed.

We need to plough money – not into banks – but directly into research and development, innovation and universities, to solve the problems of our time.

We need a dynamic economy to surge ahead and overtake the old. We need to let the old economic order die. We need to apply green economic thinking and seek out the benefits of a steady state where constant innovation continually moves us forward to the goals we seek. Goals such as enough food for all, enough energy for all, democratic energy and full employment.

The pressing needs of today are climate change, energy and food. To have these needs equally distributed requires new thinking – Green thinking.

It is not enough to carry on the way we are and hoping something will turn up. It won’t. 400 ppm of C02 in the atmosphere is too much, and nothing can be heard from government on the subject but a resounding silence. This government is presiding over the biggest mistake humanity has ever made. It is condemning the future.

Shortermism and bankers bonuses will do little more than make rich people even richer. Every thinking citizen knows there is a better way forward. It has never been said that Greens are part of the problem. We are a huge part of the solution and we are ready to apply it.

Whilst politicians of almost every hue are trying to persuade us that growth will be the salvation of all our ills, the RSPB, together with 25 other partner organisations, has shown us exactly what growth has achieved.

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of Wales Green Party, said, “Growth has brought us pollution, pesticides and unnatural farming methods. It is devastating many species such as skylarks and butterflies to name but two in a long, long list of threatened wildlife.

This is a holocaust on nature, and the outlook is that it will get worse. “Growth for the sake of growth is harming us. No, we do not need to grow the economy. It is big enough, fat enough and greedy enough already. The rape and pillage of the natural world is harming prospects for us all, with pollinators in steep decline and the once common garden sparrow now a rarity. Today it is even hard to find the humble hedgehog.

The environment is not a luxury, it is an essential, and we have an obligation to care for it for future generations.

David Attenborough states in his foreword, “ This important document provides a stark warning: far more species are declining than increasing in the UK, including many of our most treasured species. Alarmingly, a large number of them are threatened with extinction.”

Pippa Bartolotti added,” What we do need to do is to stop and take stock of where we have gone wrong, and put it right quickly. Monoculture farming is causing huge problems for meadow dwellers, and the use of pesticides is indiscriminately killing much of the wildlife we have come to love. Growth of the type we have had in the past will make this worse. We have plenty of wealth and resources. What we need to do now is share out what we have more fairly.”

60% of species have declined over the last 50 years and 31% have declined strongly. For 155 conservation priority species for which we have suitable data, including many of our most threatened and vulnerable species, overall numbers have declined by 77% in the last 40 years, with little sign of recovery. Of more than 6,000 species that have been assessed using modern Red List criteria, more than one in ten are thought to be under threat of extinction in the UK. A further 885 species are listed as threatened using older Red List criteria or alternative methods to classify threat.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/science/stateofnature/index.aspx

The latest document on Energy from Waste from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) puts the entire subject of large incinerators in doubt. The report backs up the concerns of campaigners who have been worried that burning is not the best way of dealing with waste.

Pippa Bartolotti, Wales Green Party Leader said, “Defra, like the Greens, are concerned that large burners, like the one planned in Cardiff, will depress recycling. What we need is more flexibility. Metal, plastic and paper are readily recyclable, and there are good markets for them. Food waste is easily compostable, and provides nourishment for the land from which it originally came.

“As we learn to prevent waste, and start to value materials by reusing and recycling increasing amounts of what used to be called rubbish, large incinerators will become redundant. What concerns me is not only the outrageous amount of public money which will go into keeping these big burners going over their 30 year lifespan ( £1.1 billion for the Viridor plant in Cardiff), but also the very real threat of sending perfectly good recyclable materials for burning.”

The report says: In an ideal world all waste would be prevented.… Where waste does exist it is usually best to reuse it if possible, and if not, to recycle it. (Defra, 2013 p.2)

Waste infrastructure has a long lifetime and care needs to be taken at the start to ensure systems can adapt to potential long term change and drive waste up the hierarchy, not constrain it. Flexibility of the overall approach to future change should therefore be another key consideration in any proposal." (Defra, 2013 p.3)

Pippa Bartolotti added “Campaigners have long been pointing out the discrepancy between increasing recycling rates and the building of mass burn incinerators. We already have too many large incinerators in the planning system. Building yet another inflexible mass burner makes a mockery of the time and effort diligent householders have been putting into doorstep recycling.”

In 2012, Wales recycled an average of 54%, with some areas up to 70%.

In 2010 Austria achieved 70% recycling (including composting); Germany achieved 62% recycling and Belgium achieved 62% recycling.

Defra (2013) Energy from waste: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181831/pb13892-energy-from-waste.pdf.pdf,

What kind of Labour Party would people like to vote for?  The latest suggestions for a Labour manifesto put forward by John Walton sound very familiar. In fact, almost without exception they are long standing Green Party policies. Whether its repealing the coalition's disastrous NHS leglislation, bringing the railways back into public ownership, abandoning the grossly expensive (to the taxpayer) PFI and ending the privatisation of public services, or scrapping Trident and ending fracking, these are all policies the Greens have long expoused.

Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery, but in truth the best way to see these policies realised is for the people who support them to vote for the party already signed up to them - the Greens.

More than a million people voted for the Green Party in the last European elections, and a recent YouGov poll for the Electoral Reform Society pu the Greens 12% AHEAD of the LibDems and on course to win four more seats at the Euro elections next year.

We don't need a new radical and progressive political party, because we already have one. What we do need is a fairer electoral system so that the radical and progressive political party we have - The Green party - can break through in the next general election and give a louder voice to these views. Under proportional representation there would be no need for 'splits on the left', because progressive parties could work together in the best interestes of everyone who wants to see a socially just and environmentally sustainable future

Today the IPCC published its long awaited report on climate change. This is the most comprehensive report on climate change ever, and leaves little doubt that greenhouse gases are causing the world to heat up. 95% of scientists now agree that humans are responsible for climate change.

The report tells us there is no doubt that sea levels have risen, snow and ice have diminished and the concentrations of Greenhouse gas have increased. It goes on to document that ice sheets have diminished and glaciers have continued to shrink.

Pippa Bartolotti, Wales Green Party Leader said, “We are burning fossil fuels like there is no tomorrow and this report tells us we must stop. It is essential that this ostrich government pulls its head out of the sand and moves quickly to implement progressive Green policies and drastically cut emissions. That means switching investment away from fossil fuels and moving it quickly to clean renewables to prevent further global warming.

The leader of the Wales Greens added “The Green Council in Brighton did not wait for this report to reduce emissions. They rolled up their sleeves and got right on with the job as soon as they were elected. 2 years later Brighton has become the world’s first One Planet City. The IPCC report tells us to act quickly, and if we do act quickly, most people will barely notice a difference in their lifestyles. But we must follow Brighton and act now.”

The IPCC is a small organisation, run from Geneva with a full time staff of 12. All the scientists who are involved with it do so on a voluntary basis, much like members of the Green Party.

The report has 840 main authors recruited from 38 of the IPCC's 195 member countries, with British and American scientists making the biggest contribution.

A total of 209 Lead Authors and 50 Review Editors from 39 countries and more than 600 Contributing Authors from 32 countries contributed to the preparation of Working Group. 

http://www.ipcc.ch/

http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/environment/sustainability-city/one-planet-city

There will be a public display of mourning at 12.00 on 5^thOctober as hundreds of Newport residents gather in John Frost Square to mark the demolition of one of the city’s historic landmarks. Attendees are requested to wear black.

On 3^rd October Newport City Council took the decision to demolish the much loved Chartists Mural leading off from John Frost Square just 2 days before a mass protest action was planned to prevent it.

Many thousands of people had petitioned to have it preserved and re-sited.

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of Wales Green Party, and Newport resident said: “Newport City Council could not have painted themselves in a worse light. I watched the ruthless demolition of this symbol of human dignity for which many good men died, and found myself shaking with disgust.

“To utterly destroy the Chartist Mural in favour of a development by multinational corporations symbolises the dire state of our society. The Labour administration of Newport City Council have abandoned all pretence of representing the people who put them there. Just like the Tories before them, they have hung taxpayers honest money on a massive retail emporium. The terrible irony is that increasing austerity will mean that few will have the money to spend in it.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/chartist_01.shtml

https://www.facebook.com/events/574464395950610/?ref=ts&fref=ts

The risk of putting a pound sign on priceless ecosystems is too high. Whatever the cost of building the M4 across the Gwent Levels – it’s too high.

Building a wall of concrete and tarmac across this delicate ecosystem will change it irrevocably. At a time when the uncertainties of climate change are poised to devastate the natural world as we know it, building anything which make it worse is, at best, stupid.

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of Wales Green Party states, “It is said that people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Well, I would like to remind them that the Gwent levels are more than priceless.”

History proves that building new roads does not ease congestion. It encourages it. The M25 was built to ease congestion. It is now known as London’s car park.

“The plight of the wetlands is right up there with fracking in the front line of climate change. This is where we make the decision to either continue polluting, or take responsibility for the legacy we leave the next generation, and clean up our act.”

The Wales Leader added, “The Welsh Government tells us that the M4 around Newport gives uncertain journey times. I would like to remind them that all car journeys have a degree of uncertainty in them, whereas a bicycle, bus or tram journey gives far superior journey certainty.

Sustrans, who promote cycling, walking and sustainable transport in Wales, say lack of information is one of the biggest barriers to sustainable travel. Most people simply do not know the times of the buses from their nearest bus stop, nor do they know where the nearest safe cycle route is or where it connects to.

The M4 consultation ends on December 16th http://www.m4newport.com/ http://www.sustrans.org.uk/wales/what-we-do/communities

At 1.00pm on Saturday 2^nd November Cor Cochion (The Red Choir) will be singing outside the Westgate Hotel in Newport to raise money for the New People’s Mural as a replacement for the Mosaic Mural which was destroyed by Newport City Council on 3^rd October.

The event will be hosted by the People’s Assembly Newport.

Pippa Bartolotti said, “Many in Newport see the wilful destruction of the Kenneth Budd mosaic as a symbol of all that is wrong in Newport, and people are pressing – not just for their own mural – but to take their city back from the years of mismanagement by party political councillors who are more interested in working against each other than working for the good of our city.”

This is the first fundraising event to be held, and the proceeds will be split between the Chartist Mural fund and the burgeoning People’s Assembly Newport, who are also hosting the Chartists Survival evening on December 7^th at Le Pub where locals can share the open mic sessions and have their say.

Pippa Bartolotti added, “The Chartist mural may have gone, but the Chartist spirit lives

The Green Party fully supports the People’s Assembly and all efforts to raise funds for the People’s Mural, which, it is hoped, will incorporated the saved fragments from the original.

https://www.facebook.com/PeoplesAssemblyNewport?fref=ts

www.peoplesassembly.org.uk

http://wales.greenparty.org.uk/news.html/2013/10/04/the-chartist-spirit-lives/

Greens have reacted strongly to a decision by Planning Minister Carl Sargeant, which deliberately puts money before animal welfare.

The planning application for a 1000 herd dairy farm in Powys had previously been refused by both the local council and the Planning inspector, who had recommended that consent should not be given on several grounds, including animal welfare.

Pippa Bartolotti, Wales Green Party Leader said, “This is a very sad day for democracy, and sad for all those who have fought against this horrible plan, but most of all it sad for the poor cows who will be pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, and never see a blade of grass. Carl Sargeant falls into that dark pit which puts money before everything. If an economic argument takes precedence over animal welfare, what sort of society will we become?

“This industrial scale dairy is a bad move. It will lead to the demise of smaller and more environmentally sustainable farms at a time when many farmers are already struggling to make ends meet.”

Grazing is natural for cows. A large number of scientific studies have shown that cows kept on pasture are healthier. With Fraser Jones’s cows eating no fresh grass, there are major animal welfare concerns about this proposal.

There are also major environmental concerns because the cows will instead be eating food grown on land that could have been used for food production for people. Cows not eating grass are fed GM fodder which then enters the human food chain.

Food production systems are now seen as part of a globalised market, where the trend is for more industrialisation. This puts the profits of multinationals before the health of people, animals, and the quality of food we eat.

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The terrible events in the Philippines have prompted thousands to send money, and that is good. But really the best way to help these people, and so many millions like them facing the effects of climate change, is for each and every one of us to take stock of our living habits and reduce our fossil fuel consumption.

Wales Green Party Leader, Pippa Bartolotti said, “People really do have the power to help those in such desperate need in the Philippines. In fact people have the power to help those facing hardships caused by climate change everywhere. It starts at home by decreasing fossil fuel consumption such as switching off lights and car sharing. It starts by looking at your own energy provider and making sure they are 100% green.”

Cheap and abundant fossil fuels have cemented bad energy habits, especially in rich countries. Most methods of producing, distributing and using energy are massively inefficient. These inefficiencies run across all production and use of energy, from the power plants to the everyday use of cars, heating, air travel and stand-by power. In a detailed study, the International Energy Agency (IEA) found that from 3% (Switzerland) to an alarming 13% (Australia) of all residential electricity used in OECD countries was standby.

Pippa Bartolotti added, “Now is the time to stop taking energy for granted. We could close 24 coal-fired power stations by just unplugging chargers and switching off domestic appliances instead of putting them on stand-by. Sending money to the Philppines will not stop climate change, burning less fossil fuels will. The future of many people is in our hands.”

Science tells us that climate change will mean more intense tropical storms. As the Earth warms up, that would include the oceans. The energy that is stored in the waters off the Philippines will increase the intensity of typhoons and more destructive storms will be the new norm. The Philippine Government’s representative to the UN climate talks in Warsaw is currently on hunger strike until agreement on a climate pathway can be reached.

The UK Government has yet to take a stance on the international regulation of carbon dioxide emissions. In light of the recent IPCC report, The Green Party urges the government to extend its concern for environmental protection beyond national perimeters

The Wales Green Party has announced today that their Leader, Pippa Bartolotti, is their candidate for the upcoming European Elections to be held next May.

The Euro candidate said, “I want everyone in Wales to be inspired to go out and vote, because it’s the only way to make sure the most representative candidate for Wales is chosen. “That’s why I’m standing for A Green Wales in Europe. Some issues are just too big for Wales to fight alone, such as energy, climate change, environment, terrorism and security. On all these things there needs to be a joined-up approach, because one small country working in isolation can achieve very little.”

The Green Free Alliance in Europe is 74 strong. Enough to make a real difference. Europe is important because it’s the largest single market in the world – 500 million people. Laws made in Europe set the highest standard and have ensured generations of peace and stability – an aspect of the EU which is often overlooked.

Pippa Bartolotti added, “Greens have been committed for more than 40 years to stabilising a safe environment, and know that sound social and economic platforms are needed to support these firmly held values, which more and more people now recognise are vital to a productive future.

“Many Welsh people see that Greens are occupying a place in politics for the common good.”

The Welsh Greens have been consistently increasing their vote in every election. Almost everyone in Wales knows something good about the Greens, and many are actively thinking about voting Green in the next election.

The Wales Green Party campaign ‘A Green Wales in Europe’, starts early in the New Year. Election day is 22nd May 2014