December 10, 2010

Citizen Solutions in Cancún

Photo credit: <a href="http://news.clarku.edu/news/2010/12/01/clark-labs-to-unveil-forest-saving-tools-at-cop16-event-in-cancun/idrisi-cop16-cmp-2/">Clark University</a>

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


The international climate change summit in Cancún wraps up tomorrow, and envoys are jostling over draft agreements into the eleventh hour. Cancún has been almost as disappointing as Copenhagen, but this week I came across a number of citizen-organized solutions that offer a glimmer of hope. They aren’t silver bullets. Still, definitely worth noting.

  • Climate Progress for the People, by the People: While the debate over transparency has tied up negotiations (see MoJo correspondent Kate Sheppard’s reports for more), the World Resources Institute has partnered with research institutions around the world to create the Open Climate Network, which pools brain power from Tsinghua University, Sciences Po, and TERI—to name a few—to churn out peer-reviewed assessments of national climate progress, all accessible to the public. WRI will publish the first report in late 2011.
  • Google Earth for Climate Nerds: Google Labs‘ latest product, Earth Engine, is a treasure trove of planetary satellite images going back 25 years. Translation: Anyone who is curious or nerdy enough can now look up how the Earth’s surface has changed over time. (For example, you can see the Congo’s forest cover loss over the last decade.) In the realm of climate finance, these images can help track progress on reforestation projects—making transparency look like yesterday’s conundrum. The best part? It’s online and free.
  • Maps That Crunch Numbers: A team of Clark University geographers has put together two digital map tools that will help analyze REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) projects, which aim to tackle deforestation while drawing foreign investment and generating economic gains. The first tool can estimate greenhouse gas emissions resulting from disappearing forests; the second tool helps calculate how much bang you are getting for each REDD buck. Both will make saving trees easier.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate