UU-UNO Climate Action

The UU-UNO's Climate Change Initiative is carried out by the Climate Change Task Force and the Climate Advisory Group. The Climate Portal you are reading is the main vehicle for communication.

• UU-UNO Climate Activities - Overview
  

• UU-UNO Climate Events in 2011

• UU-UNO Climate Events in 2010

• PEOPLE

• UU-UNO PUBLICATIONS

• ENVOYS
  

• Climate Initiative REPORT

• SUGGESTIONS FOR UU CLIMATE ACTION
  

• UU-UNO joins the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association)

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UU-UNO Climate Activities - Overview

• The UU-UNO acts in conjunction with organizations at the UN, in particular, the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development, CoNGO NY. This committee produced the document "Climate Change: A Discussion Paper" which was hand-delivered to leaders at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Conference, presented at the Klimaforum, and supported by over 100 NGOs. The paper was updated for the Cancun and Durban Conferences and distributed.
  

• The UU-UNO acts to "Counter the Contrarians". The UU-UNO Climate Initiative produced one-line responses to contrarian arguments, published HERE on the popular website skepticalscience.com
  

• A major part of the Climate Initiative has been the construction of this UU-UNO Climate Portal, with extensive information on a wide range of topics collected from reliable sources. 

• The UU-UNO has a goal to get climate "back on the front page" with the specific goal of UUs implementing the UUA 2006 Statement of Conscience: "Threat of Global Warming/Climate Change". The UU-UNO participates in collaborative efforts with other UU environmental groups. Members of the UU-UNO Climate Initiative give climate talks at UU congregations and at UU-UNO climate program events. The UU-UNO has made suggestions for unified action on climate change by UUs.

• The UU-UNO had representatives at the 2009  Copenhagen Climate Conference. Here is the direct Copenhagen reporting blog. Go to the blogs list for the Cancun and Durban Climate Conferences.
  

• A number of talks on climate change have been given at faith-based, environmental, and university groups, for example see HERE.

• The UU-UNO is a signatory to many letters and petitions on climate change issues with other faith-based and environmental groups, including other UU organizations. For example, here is a letter to the US Climate Envoy to the Copenhagen Conference. Here is an Interfaith Declaration. Here are two letters to Sen. Barbara Boxer, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee:  letter #1 and letter #2. Here is a letter to senators. 

• The Interfaith Declaration on Climate Change endorsed by the UU-UNO was presented to Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, at the 2011 Durban Climate Change Conference.
  

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 UU-UNO Climate Program Events in 2011

The 2011 Intergenerational UU-UNO Spring Seminar Empower Women for a Better World (see HERE) had a panel on Women and Climate Change. The presentations were by Kim Lovell (Conservation Organizer, Global Population and Environment Program, Sierra Club), Tuya Goulden (International Travel Liaison, Asia Center, Academy of Natural Sciences), and Dr. Jan Dash (UU-UNO Climate Initiative Chair). 

The final seminar statement contained these points related to climate:

Whereas: ... Global climate change exacerbates war and gender disparity;

We hereby resolve to: ... Encourage women to educate, advocate, and organize to support sustainable living.

Here is Jan Dash's presentation:

Women and CC, DASH, UUUNO Seminar 2011

Here is Kim Lovell's presentation:

Kim Lovell UU-UNO Presentation

Here is Tuya Goulden's presentation:

Tuya Goulden_UUUNO_Presentation

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2011 Greeley talk on Ethical Aspects of Climate Change

The 2011 Dana Greeley Award for this talk is HERE, as described HERE.

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UU-UNO Climate Program Events in 2010

1. The intergenerational UU-UNO Spring Seminar was held April 8-10.  HERE is a one-page introduction to climate change. Seminar presentations are HERE. The final Seminar Statement was delivered to the UN Secretary General, and can be read HERE.

2.  A UU-UNO-sponsored climate talk on "Who Owns the Arctic" by Dr. M. Byers was held at the Canadian Unitarian Council's annual conference, May 21-24 in Victoria, BC. 

3. Another UU-UNO climate change event was a panel on Sustainability and Climate Change at the UUA General Assembly in Minneapolis on June 24. The delegates passed a resolution "Green Revolution in Religion".

4. UN Sunday on October 24 with the UU-UNO suggested theme: Ethical Aspects of Climate Change, especially "Ethical Aspects of a Climate Treaty".  Watch, read, or listen to UN Sunday sermons by Pamela V'Combe, Catherine Onyemelukwe, Kent Price, and Jan Dash.

Click to listen to talk on Ethical Aspects of a Climate Treaty, by Jan Dash

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PEOPLE

The UU-UNO Climate Change Task Force carrying out the UU-UNO Climate Initiative is comprised of former UU-UNO Board members Dr. Jan Dash (Chair), Pamela V'Combe, Kent Price (former Board VP), Larry Danos, and Steve Wade in addition to UU-UNO Executive Director Bruce Knotts. Biographies are HERE and HERE. The wider UU-UNO Climate Advisory Group also includes Prof. Tony Broccoli (Rutgers University, our scientific advisor) and Dr. Paul Dash (our climate/health advisor), Ana Nicole Collins, Guy Quinlan, Doug Stewart, Elaine Walker, Joel DeWitt, Natalie Shuttleworth, Robin Nelson (Environmental Stewardship Director, UUA), Rowan Van Ness, and Kim Lovell (Sierra Club). Our Youth Co-ordinator is Ryan Dash.

Following the merger of the UU-UNO with the UUA on 1 July 2011, the UU-UNO Board of Directors dissolved. There is now a UU-UNO Advisory Board. The UU-UNO Climate Initiative continued unaffected.

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UU-UNO PUBLICATIONS

The UU-UNO publishes Window on the World that has information on the UU-UNO Climate Initiative. For example, click HERE and go to page 17.

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ENVOYS

The UU-UNO has an envoy program that distributes information to UU congregations for targeted action on climate change in which the UU-UNO participates. 

Envoys: CLICK HERE for the Envoy Climate Resource Page

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 Climate Initiative REPORT July 2010

Here is a UU-UNO Climate Initiative Report. If there is a streaming error, just click on the link below.

UU-UNO Climate Initiative Update July2010

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SUGGESTIONS FOR UU CLIMATE ACTION

If there is a streaming error, just click on the link below.

Suggestions for UU Climate Action in 2010

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By Donald E. Skinner
in General Assembly 2011
June 25, 2011 at 3:46 pm

The report of the Unitarian Universalist-United Nations Office was presented to the General Assembly Saturday by Bruce F. Knotts, executive director. Knotts highlighted his organization’s role in bringing LGBT, peace, climate change, and womens’ and childrens’ rights issues to the attention of UN delegates.

“This is the kind of thing that our office can do with your support,” Knotts said. The UU-UNO and the UUA will be working even closer together starting next week. As of July 1 the UU-UNO will become a part of the UUA’s Office of International Resources, headed by the Rev. Eric Cherry.

Earlier this year UUA President the Rev. Peter Morales noted that having the office under the UUA’s umbrella would prove advantageous. “The big moral issues of our time tend to cross national borders, whether it’s about climate change, LGBT rights, such as in Uganda, or immigration. To put these issues in an international perspective is appropriate and really the only reasonable way to approach it.”

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