06 December 2007 - Dublin,
Ireland — The Irish Government, announced
today what will be in effect the EU's first
ban on energy-wasting incandescent lightbulbs.
This simple but historic step comes as governments
meet in Bali to discuss next steps on tackling
the global climate emergency.
Over the past year, a number of EU countries
have talked about similar bans, but Ireland
is the first to act.
The UK has preferred to leave the question
to retailers, seeking voluntary agreements
to take wasteful incandescent bulbs off the
shelves by 2011. Last month, French President
Sarkozy, declared his support for a 2010 national
ban but concrete proposals have not been published
yet. The Dutch Environment Minister Cramer,
a former Philips employee, announced initial
support for a 2011 incandescent lightbulb
phase-out, but then reversed her opinion.
Cramer now supports the manufacturers' call
for a prolonged phase out lasting until 2019.
"Today Ireland has taken a lead in banning
energy-wasting lightbulbs, by as early as
January 2009," said Greenpeace Campaigner
Eoin Dubsky. "We hope that Ireland’s
decision will light the way for the EU and
the rest of the world."
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Habbo survey - 'Generation C'
05 December 2007 - International — According
to conventional wisdom (oh all right the tabloid
press to be more precise) all teenagers ever
think about are themselves. So it may come
as a surprise that a global survey of almost
50,000 teens released today reveals that they
have many other concerns - and that they worry
more about dangerous greenhouse gases than
drugs, violence or war.
As governments meet in Bali to thrash out
a coordinated response to the challenge of
climate change, 74 per cent of those polled
through the online Habbo community see it
as a serious problem. In fact, 56 per cent
see it as the greatest threat facing the world
today, even greater than terrorism (46 per
cent). And they think that governments which
are more concerned about terrorism than climate
change have got things the wrong way around.
Two thirds of those polled believe climate
change will have a negative effect on their
lives. And who do they think is responsible?
North America comes in for the strongest criticism,
with 39 per cent of teens citing the continent
as the source of the majority of greenhouse
gases, followed by Europe (24 per cent) and
Asia (19 per cent). Despite teens in every
country pointing fingers at North America
for the crisis (except in Asia where they
blame themselves), a quarter of North American
teens are still not sure if global warming
is even a problem.
On the up side, 64 per cent believe that
we can control global warming, provided that
we act now. Many are planning to promote Saturday's
climate day of action by holding events and
demonstrations within their virual communities.
They see themselves as 'Generation C' - the
generation who will have to bear the brunt
of dealing with climate change over the coming
decades. And their message to the Bali negotiators
is clear - there is no more important challenge
facing mankind than this.
Let's hope that this message, together with
the many others flooding in to Bali from around
the world, will get through.
About the survey
The research was conducted within the virtual
world, Habbo, and the total amount of respondents
(after data cleaning) was 49,243. The research
was conducted in November 2007. 18 countries
were surveyed and statistical weighting was
employed to give all participating countries
an equal weight in the global results.
About Habbo
Habbo is a richly colorful, multi-dimensional
virtual community and game environment for
teens. Users join by creating a fully-customized
online character called a Habbo. From there,
they can explore many public hang-outs, play
a variety of games, connect with friends,
decorate their own rooms, and have fun through
creativity and self expression. Currently
there are Habbo communities in 31 countries
on five continents. To date, over 82 million
Habbo characters have been created and 6 million
unique users worldwide visit Habbo each month
(source: Google Analytics).
