NEW YORK: From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, people from 80 countries will come together around the world for the largest ever global debate on climate change.
The “World Wide Views” meeting is a unique experiment in simultaneous civic participation, hearing opinions from more than 10,000 people in more than 80 countries in one day, from 10am to 5pm.
Organisers hope that, by bringing ordinary citizens to a table previously dominated by bureaucrats and lobbyists, they can help break the long-running deadlock in UN talks to find a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
WWViews says its day-long event – held from dawn in Fiji to dusk in Arizona – is neither a campaign nor is it about telling people what they should think on climate change.
“It is about asking them what they think and about making an effort to involve policy-makers and stakeholders in a dialogue about citizens’ views,” said Björn Bedsted of the Danish Board of Technology Foundation, global co-ordinator of the event and based in Copenhagen, scene of a UN climate conference debacle in 2009.
Participants have been chosen to reflect the demographic diversity in their country or region and have received information packs detailing all sides of the debate on climate change and energy policy. They will watch identical introductory videos, debate the issues, and vote on identical questions.
Pakistan to get $3b loan from Islamic Trade Financing Corporation
ISLAMABAD: Islamic Trade Financing Corporation (ITFC) to provide Pakistan with a $3 billion loan, according to an official statement released...
