By Suzanne York, HowMany.org Rio de Janeiro — Some of the biggest names in the population and women’s empowerment movement weighed in at Rio+20 on successfully promoting these topics at the UN conference and beyond. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former president of Norway and now the UN Special Envoy on Climate Change who has been around
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By Suzanne York, HowMany.org Rio de Janeiro — My first Rio+20 side event was titled “From Rio to Cairo to Rio…and Beyond”, but for me it was actually from San Francisco to Charlotte to Rio…and even beyond to Rio Centro, site of the UN Rio+20 conference, far from downtown..  So quite a trek just to get
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By Suzanne York, howmany.org, June 14, 2012 The past month or so has seen the release of several reports and studies focused on the state of the planet. The timing coincides with the run-up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20 Earth Summit. Most of the publications are on the increasingly dire
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By Suzanne York, HowMany.org “Time is running out. You still have much work to do – perhaps too much work. But you must persevere. The stakes are very, very high – for people and the planet… for peace and prosperity.” ~UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, in his address to delegates finalizing the Rio+20 Earth Summit
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  By Suzanne York, HowMany.org In less than a month the world, or at least the environmentally-inclined members of the world, will be in the throes of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), or Rio+20. Despite the official summit focus on the green economy and sustainable development, there are many groups and individuals working
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By Suzanne York, HowMany.org, May 30, 2012 During a week spent ensconced in the depths of the concept of degrowth at the Degrowth in the Americas conference, it was encouraging to find that population issues were interwoven  into plenaries and workshops throughout the week.  The issue is often viewed as taboo and/or the elephant in
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Editor’s note: This interview with was originally published by Antoinette Siu at Wiser.org on May 24, 2012. Are you going to Rio? Do you have specific expectations? Hear from Suzanne York, from Howmany.org on what someone like her might expect from Rio. Antoinette: What will you be focusing on and looking to get out of Rio? Suzanne
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By Suzanne York, HowMany.org, May 16, 2012 Many topics were under discussion at the second full day of Degrowth in the Americas Conference: finance and degrowth, transition towns, resilient communities, public banking, and much more. The topic that most resonated with me, most likely because of their perspective on living in harmony with nature, was
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By Suzanne York, May 15, 2012 A full agenda was on tap here at the first main day of the Degrowth in the Americas conference. Below is some of what was discussed at the morning session, which set the stage for this week-long event. It kicked off with a showing of the film Journey of
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By Suzanne York, HowMany.org, May 14, 2012   People and the Planet a report by the U.K.’s Royal Society, does not break any new ground, but it does a good job of putting some important and overlooked issues back on the international agenda.     Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society, says in the
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