Hi Aubrey I would like to add my endorsement of carbon contraction and convergence as the only fair way that we can globally deal with the threat of climate change and peak oil. The developed countries must take responsibility for their past emissions and support emerging economies to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, whilst understanding that they may need to increase emissions in the short term. I have been a big fan of your approach since hearing you at De Montfort University in the late 90's - Good Luck! And if I can help.... Helen Helen Chadwick | Sustainability Consultant 1989 Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society (FRMetS) 2011 Associate of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) 2010 Trustee for Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire (GWLL) 2011 STEM Ambassador Hi Helen I remember you were one of the 250 people who co-signed this letter to the Independent way back in December 1999. This was before COP-6 in the Hague in 2000. How time flies. Letter for your co-signature originally from GCI to the UK's Independent newspaper, published 24th December 1999): Dear Sir The debts that the wealthy countries have recently forgiven their poorer neighbours are as nothing in comparison with the amount that these countries already owe the rest of the world for the increased global warming they have caused and are still causing. Inevitably there are links between this and the rising frequency and severity of storms, floods, droughts and the damages these are causing in many places across the world. While debts worth roughly $3 billion have just been conditionally written off by the UK, the cost of the infra-structural damage done by the recent floods in Venezuela alone has been put at $10 billion. In addition, tens of thousands of lives have been lost there. Is anybody brave enough to put a monetary value on these? Moreover, the greenhouse gases the energy-intensive countries have discharged into the atmosphere in the past two centuries will stay potentially even beyond the new century, causing death and destruction year after year. The debt relief, on the other hand, is a one-off event. Fifty-six countries were affected by severe floods and at least 45 by drought during 1998, the most recent year for which figures are available.  In China, the worst floods for 44 years displaced 56 million people in the Yangtze basin and destroyed almost five per cent of the country's output for the year, for which climate change was one of the causes. In Bangladesh, an unusually long and severe monsoon flooded two-thirds of the country for over a month and left 21 million people homeless.  Paul Epstein of Harvard Medical School has estimated that in the first eleven months of 1998, weather-related losses totaled $89 billion and that 32,000 people died and 300 million were displaced from their homes. This was more than the total losses experienced throughout the 1980s, he said.  The rate of destruction will accelerate because greenhouse gases are still being added to the atmosphere at perhaps five times the rate that natural systems can remove them. By 2050, annual losses could theoretically amount to anywhere between 12 per cent and 130 per cent of the gross world product. In other words, more than the total amount the world produces that year could be destroyed and life as we know it could collapse. For the industrialized countries, the damage could be anywhere between 0.6 per cent and 17 per cent of their annual output, and for the rest of the world, between 25 per cent and 250 per cent.  Michael Meacher, the UK Environment Minister, has recognised this. He recently told the Royal Geological Society that, "the future of our planet, our civilisation and our survival as a human species... may well depend on [our responding to the climate crisis by] fusing the disciplines of politics and science within a single coherent system."  "Contraction and Convergence" is such a system. As Sir John Houghton, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently told the British Association for the Advancement of Science, global greenhouse emissions need to be reduced by at least 60% in less than a hundred years. When governments agree to be bound by such a target, the diminishing amount of carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases that the world could release while staying within the target can be calculated for each year in the coming century. This is the contraction part of the process. The convergence part is that each year's tranche of this global emissions budget gets shared out among the nations of the world in a way which ensures that every country converges on the same allocation per inhabitant by, say, 2030, the date Sir John suggested. Countries unable to manage within their allocations would, within limits, be able to buy the unused parts of the allocations of other, more frugal, countries. Sales of unused allocations would give the countries of the South the income to purchase or develop zero-emission ways of meeting their needs. The countries of the North would benefit from the export markets this restructuring would create. And the whole world would benefit by the slowing the rate at which damage was being done.  Because "Contraction and Convergence" provides an effective, equitable and efficient framework within which governments can work to avert climate change, even some progressive fossil fuel producers have now begun to demonstrate a positive interest in the concept. Consequently, as Jubilee 2000 and Seattle have shown, governments and powerful interests are helped to change by coherent coordinated pressure from civil society. Yours sincerely Aubrey Meyer - Global Commons Institute (GCI) Richard Douthwaite - Author of the Growth Illusion, Ireland Mayer Hillman - Senior Fellow Emeritus Policy Studies Institute, UK Titus Alexander - Chair Westminster UNA/Charter 99 Tom Spencer - Secretary General GLOBE Council David Chaytor MP, Chair GLOBE UK All Party Group. Andrew Simms - Global Economy Programme, New Economics Foundation Annikki Hird - Student Cincinnati Ohio USA George Monbiot - Journalist UK J N von Glahn - Chairman, Solar Hydrogen Energy Group Nick Robins - Director, Sustainable Markets Group IIED John Whitelegg - Eco-Logica Ltd Nicholas Hildyard - The Corner House, UK Helen N Mendoza - Haribon Foundation and SOLJUSPAX, Philippines Sam Ferrer - Green Forum Philippines Ramon Sales Jnr. - Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement Larry Lohmann - The Corner House, UK Daniel M. Kammen - Associate Professor of Energy and Society, Director, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) Energy and Resources Group (ERG) University of California Berkeley, USA Hans Taselaar - Association for North-South Campaigns, Programme Manager ESD, Netherlands Anil Agarwal - Director Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, India Dr Frances MacGuire - Climate Change Policy Coordinator Friends of the Earth (England Wales and Northern Ireland) Matthias Duwe - Student, SOAS, London, UK Krista Kim - Student, UC Berkeley, CA US Agus Sari - Executive Director Pelangi, Indonesia Patrick Boase - Chairperson, Letslink, Scotland Joerg Haas - Germany Tony Cooper - MA DipStat MBCS CEng GCI Thomas Ruddy - Chairperson and editor "Computers and Climate" Paul Burstow - UK Mark Lynas - Co-ordinator, Corporate Watch, UK Philippe Pernstich - Global Commons Institute Rohan D'Souza - Yale University, USA Boudewijn Wegerif - Project Leader, Monetary Studies Programme Jyoti Parikh - Senior Professor Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, India; National Project Coordinator, Capacity Building Project, UNDP; Chairperson, Environmental Economics Research Committee EMCaB; Worldbank Aniko Boehler - Chairperson, Senso Experience & Projects Marc van der Valk - Barataria, Netherlands Charlotte Pulver - UK Charlotte Rees - UK Paul Ekins - Forum for the Future, UK Lara Marsh - Tourism Concern UK Angie Zelter - Reforest the Earth, UK Peter Doran - Foyle Basin Council (Local AGenda 21 Derry) Paul Swann - Global Resource Bank Adam Purple - Zentences Martin Piers Dunkerton - Director Paradise Films UK Alan Sloan - GRB Ecology Department UK John Thomas - Energy Spokesperson Calderdale Green Party UK Rick Ostrander - Relax for Survival USA Christopher Harris - US Carol Brouillet - Founder- Who's Counting Project, CA US John Pozzi - Acting Manager Global Resource Bank Icydor Mohabier - Georgia State University US Christopher Harris - US David Thomas - UK Christopher Keene - Globalisation Campaigner/Green Party of England and Wales Piet Beukes - Industrial Missionar, ICIM South Africa John Devaney - International Co-ordinator, Green Party of England and Wales Jama Ghedi, Abdi - Msc&MA - Gawan Environmental Centre, Somali NGOs Julie Lewis - Centre for Participation, New Economics Foundation Juliet Nickels - UK Dr Caroline Lucas MEP - Member of European Parliament, Green Party Dr David Cromwell - Oceanographer, UK, author "Private Planet" Colin Price - Professor of Environmental and Forestry Economics, University of Wales, Bangor Patrick McCully - International Rivers Network Berkeley, California USA Samantha Berry - Post-graduate student (PhD) Caspar Davis - Victoria, BC Canada David J. Weston - Monetary Reform Group UK Joseph Mishan - Stort Valley FOE local group Ryan Hunter - Center for Environmental Public Advocacy, Slovak Republic Dr. Elizabeth Cullen - Irish Doctors Environmental Association Tom Athanasiou - Writer, USA Jamie Douglas Page - UK Rosli Omar - SOS Selangor, Malaysia Michal Kravcik - People and Water, Slovak Republic Daphne Thuvesson - Trees and People Forum, Editor/Forests Trees & People Newsletter,  SLU Kontakt Swedish Uni. Agricultural Sciences Chris Lang - Germany Sarmila Shrestha - Executive Secretary, Women Acting Together for Change Narayan Kaji Shrestha - Volunteer, Women Acting Together for Change Wong Meng-chuo - Co-ordinator, IDEAL Malaysia Amanda Maia Montague - international spiritual activist Soumya Sarkar - Principal Staff Writer, The Financial Express Sujata Kaushic - Editor Wastelands News, SPWD, New Delhi, India Xiu Juan Liu - student Department of Geography University of Sydney, Australia Ross Gelbspan - Author 'The Heat Is On' and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barry Coates - Director, World Development Movement UK Aubrey Manning - UK Andy Thorburn - Composer, Pianist and seed potato inspector, Scotland Mike Read - Mike Read Associates, Australia Shalmali Guttal - Focus on the Global South, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok THAILAND Jennie Richmond - Policy Officer Christian Aid Lavinia Andrei - Co-ordinator Climate Action Network Central and Eastern Europe (Romania) Dr. Ing. Joachim Nitsch - DLR, German Aerospace Center; 'System Analysis and Technology Assessment' Karla Schoeters - Co-ordinator Climate Network Europe Sibylle Frey - Researcher UK Dr Ben Matthews - Global Commons Institute Wolfgang Sachs - Wuppertal Institite Germany, IPCC TAR WG3 Lead Author Bernd Brouns - University of Lüneburg Germany Jindra Cekan, PhD - American Red Cross, Washington DC USA Rohan D'Souza - postdoctoral Fellow, Agrarian Studies Program Yale University John Tuxill - School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University Olav Hohmeyer - Prof. Dr. University of Flensburg Grant Harper - Victoria, Australia Frances Fox - Asst. Manager, Global Resource Bank Ernst von Weizsaecker, MP (SPD) - President, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment & Energy, Germany Marci Gerulis- Graduate Student, Boston, Massachusetts, USA András Lukcas - President Clean Air Action Group, Budapest, Hungary Srisuwan Kuankachorn - Director, Project for Ecological Recovery, Bangkok, Thailand Devinder Sharma - journalist and author New Delhi, India Ryan Fortune - journalist, Cape Times, Cape Town, South Africa Emer O Siochru - Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability (FEASTA) Ireland Anne Ryan - National University of Ireland, Maynooth David O'Kelly - Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability (FEASTA) Ireland Youba Sokona - Executive Secretary for International Relations of ENDA-TM, Dakar, Senegal Jia Kangbai - Managing Editor, The Propgress Online, Sierra Leone James K. Boyce - Economics Dept University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA Judit.Halasz - Green-Women, Hungary Dr.Saleemul Huq - Executive Director Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies Dr. Jean-Michel Parrouffe - Association Québécoise des Énergies Renouvelables Guy Dauncey - Author Victoria, Canada Dr. Alex Casella - Prof.& Director of Energy Studies, University of Illinois Michael R. Meuser - Clary Meuser Research Associates, Santa Cruz, CA USA Arthur H. Campeau Q.C. - Ambassador for Environment and Sustainable Development Professor Jack Dymond - Oregon State University Donald L. Anderson - Biologist,USA (Maine) Douglas G. Fox, Ph.D. - President, Fox & Associates, Former President, Air & Waste Management Association & Chief Scientist, USDA-Forest Service USA Clive Hamilton - Executive Director, The Australia Institute Emilio Sempris - Coordinator, National Climate Change Program (Panama) Michael Roth - Queensland Transport, Australia Carrie Sonneborn - Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Renewable Energy, Western Australia Ali Bos - Postgraduate student, Canberra, Australia Ilona Graenitz - Director, GLOBE Europe Sungnok Andy Choi - Student/The Graduate Institute of Peace Studies James Robertson - Prog. Mgr., Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research, Japan Thomas Bernheim - Expert Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium Julian Salt - Project Manager, Natural Perils, Loss Prevention Council UK Yves Bajard, D.Sc.- Secretary, National Centre for Sustainability, Victoria, BC, Canada Winona Alama - South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) Fatu Tauafiafi - Information and Publications Officer, South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) Maria Lourdes 'Pinky' Baylon - University of Cambridge UK Ying Shen - student of environmental chemistry Oklahoma City, US Susan Engelke - student Sacramento, California, US Pierre-Jean Arpin - France Dr. Muawia H. Shaddad - Sudanese Environment Conservation Society Christer Krokfors - University of Uppsala, Finland Jesus Ramos-Martin - MSc Ecological Economics Keele University, UK Lelei LeLaulu - Counterpart International John Vandenberg - Resource Planning & Development Commission, Tasmania, Aust. Pervinder Sandhu - ART Paul Gregory - Researcher Eleanor Chowns - Co-Ordinator GLOBE UK Jurgen Maier - Forum Umwelt & Entwicklung, Germany Grace Akumu - Executive Director Climate Network Africa Robert Engelman - Vice President for Research, Population Action International Tim O'Riordan - Associate Director, C-SERGE, UK Ted Trainer - Author 'Developed to Death', Austrialia Barry Budd - Australia Tim Lenton - Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK Tony Whittaker - retired solicitor, founder member Green Party Lesley Whittaker - writer, consultant and member of Devon County Council, founder member Green Party Freda Sanders - research psychologist and finance director, founder member Green Party Dr. Michael Benfield - ethicist, development consultant and investor, founder member Green Party Oras Tynkkynen - climate campaigner, Friends of the Earth Finland Prof David Crichton - Environmental Consultant to the Association of British of Insurers Teddy Goldsmith - Editor The Ecologist Special Issues Simon Retallack - Deputy Editor, The Ecologist Special Issues Ian Meredith - Canadian Association for the Club of Rome Peter Dinnage - London UK Jeremy Faull - Ecological Foundation, UK Alistair Neill Stewart - Student Canada Alina Averchenkova - PhD student, University of Bath, UK Lars Åke Karlgren - member of regional parliament Västra Götaland, Sweden Ferdinand - Researcher, Centre for Economic and Social Studies Environ. Kathrin Eggs - Germany Mrs Deirdre Balaam - UK Dr John Kilani - Environmental Adviser, Chamber of Mines of South Africa Jennie Sutton - Co-Chair "Baikal Environmental Wave" Irkutsk, Russia Javier Blasco - Information officer - Carrefour de Aragon (Spain) Alistair Neill Stewart - student, Canada Dilip Ahuja - ISRO Professor of Science & Technology Policy, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science Gerald Leach - Senior Research Fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute Prof Neil E. Harrison - Executive Director, The Sustainable Development Institute, University of Wyoming Robert L. Randall - President, The RainForest ReGeneration Institute, Washington, D.C. USA Brian Grant - Director, Geonomics Association of BC Paaniani K Laupepa - Reggie Norton - Association of Artists for Guatemala Dr Alberto di Fazio - Astrophysicist, Director Global Dynamics Institute Rome Lewis Cleverdon - interdependency researcher, GCI, UK Prof. Edita Stojic-Karanovic - President,International Forum "Danube -River of Cooperation" Alina Congreve - Local Gov campaigner Herts FoE Donna Andrews - Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) South Africa Richard Sherman - Earthlife Africa Johannesburg Nick Drake - Southampton UK Miguel Castellon - President Nicaraguan Development Association Truls Gulowsen - environmental camapigner Norway Helena Paul - the GAIA Foundation London John Mead - Independent consultant Catherine Budgett-Meakin - Freelance consultant Richard Loxton-Barnard - UK Emily Shirley - Green Party UK Ulrich Duchrow - Kairos Europa William C.G. Burns - Co-Chair, American Society of International Law - Wildlife Richard Page - UK Dr. Lennart Olsson - Director of Centre for Environmental Studies, Lund, University, Sweden Alex Begg - UpStart Services Ltd John Dougill - London UK Richard Parish - Churchill Community School UK William J. Collis - Fisheries Scientist, Ecosystems Sciences, Bangladesh Danielle Morley - UNED Forum UK Michael Roy - Community Management Consultant, Bangladesh Richard J.T. Klein - Senior Research Associate, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany Sarwat Chowdhury - Ph.D. candidate, University of Maryland, USA Helen Chadwick - IESD, De Montfort University UK Ritu Kumar - Director, TERI-Europe, London UK

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