I’ve just been reading a blog by my colleague Anne Allmeling, who’s currently at the conference in Doha. She’s working on a story about ngos at the conference, which I hope we’ll be able to read tomorrow.

Amongst the activists braving the Arctic chill of the air-conditioned conference centre, Anne came across Swati Jangle from Greenpeace’s Save the Arctic campaign.

Ice blog regulars, DW fans and Living Planet listeners in particular may remember I visited one of their events in Bonn earlier in the year. It’s a very active campaign. Think global act local in practice here.They are campaigning to stop oil drilling and industrial fishing in the Arctic and are aiming to collect 3 million signatures and are currently at  2,217,626. Long way from Doha to the Arctic? It is in fact a very small world.

Greenpeace Save the Arctic campaigners in Bonn earlier this year

My friend asked me on the phone last night how our climate conference coverage was going. I was not surprised – but somehow disappointed – when she said “from what I hear in the media, it’s a waste of time anyway”. More power to all the volunteers from organisations all round the world who brave the crowds and bureaucracies of these mega-events and the pessimism that so easily takes hold in a lot of mass media to keep drawing attention to what we CAN do.

Arctic landscape with palm fronds?

I am in Brussels at the moment for a symposium being held by the International Polar Foundation looking at future scenarios for the Arctic. It has been an interesting day with representatives from the Arctic countries giving their perspectives on Arctic change and what consequences it is likely to have. With the future of energy resources as one of the key topics, it is hardly surprising that Greenpeace were demonstrating outside the conference venue this morning, drawing attention to their campaign to save the Arctic from oil drilling.

Renewables and countryside - conflict unavoidable? (I took this pic at Whitelee windfarm in Scotland)

The transition to renewable energy here in Germany has sparked off a discussion about the electricity grid. A similar discussion has been going on in the UK. One of the challenges is to get power from areas where it is produced – wind or marine energy from the coast, for instance – to the industrial and population centres, where it’s needed most. When this means new power-lines in areas enjoying nature protection, for instance habitats for particular plants and animals, or even just areas of great natural beauty, there is bound to be conflict. Germany’s federal economics minister and leader of the German Liberal Party the FDP Philip Rösler made the headlines this morning calling for environmental protection legislation to be temporarily shelved in some cases to make way for a quicker extension of the grid.  I think this is a conflict we are going to face more and more often as the effects of climate change become more evident and the need to switch to renewables ever more urgent. Would it be too cynical to suggest some industries might want to put off the transition and benefit from a relaxation of environmental standards as the politicians become more desperate to meet emissions requirements? Perhaps. The Economics Minister is certainly laying himself open to criticism by conservationists who accuse him of taking advantage of the climate problem to help industry get round environment legislation. The German ngo NABU says Minister Rösler risks losing public support for the energy transition by suggesting this sort of course. They also stress that there is a “European Grid Declaration on Electricity Network Development and Nature Conservation in Europe“, signed by grid operators and ngos from across the continent.

Interesting times ahead.

The World Bank has been running a short film/video competition on the subject of the Social Dimensions of Climate Change.
Cara Augustenborg from Ireland is in 9th place with a short film she made on the Inupiat in Barrow, Arctic Alaska. (Sound familiar? Yes, she was one of the Climate Change College ambassadors I accompanied to Arctic Alaska, the birthplace of the Ice Blog).
Social Responsibility competition, with the short-listed filma

Cara (green do-it-your-selfer in the green helmet)with Aart and Erika, filming for their projects in Alaska
And here’s a link to Cara’s site

Your Ice Blogger has been in Antalya in Turkey for a few days. Turkish Radio TRT organised an international radio contest for programmes on climate change. The 10 finalists were invited to take part in the radio festival, listening to each other’s work and adding their views to those of the “Grand Jury”. I am honoured to have been awarded the 2nd prize for the 2nd part of my “Climate College in Alaska” series: “Meeting the Inupiat”.

Interviewing a young Inupiat eskimo Kajan, featured in the programme. The photo was taken by Marc Cornelissen of the Climate Change College.
All about the Climate Change College

This was the series which led to the Ice Blog.
The Alaskan Arctic Series – audio features and photos

Thank you TRT, firstly for putting climate change in the limelight by making it the subject of the competition. And thank you for giving international radio broadcasters the chance to discuss the issue with one another and learn from each other. Congratulations to our Greek colleagues, who won 1st prize, Dutch colleagues who got the 3rd and Korean colleagues who won the innovation prize. And thanks for honouring DW with the 2nd prize.
All about the TRT Turquoise 2008 Climate Change Radio Contest and the Finalists