350.org

350

File:350 organisation logo.png
Formation	2007
Type	NGO
Purpose	cut CO2 emissions 80% by 2050
Headquarters	Berkeley, California, USA
Founders	Bill McKibben, Jamie Henn
Website	www.350.org

350.org is an international environmental organization, headed by author Bill McKibben, with the goal of cutting atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions to 80% by 2050, from 2006 baseline emissions of 9,180 million tons of carbon. 350.org takes its name from the research of NASA scientist James Hansen, who posited in a 2007 paper that 350 parts-per-million (ppm) of CO₂ in the atmosphere is a safe upper limit to avoid a climate tipping point. The current record level is 389 ppm of CO₂, an almost 40-percent increase from the pre-industrial revolution level of 278 ppm. In 1988 the earth's atmosphere surpassed the 350 ppm mark.

The group reports that they organised the world's "most widespread day of political action" on Saturday October 24, 2009, reporting 5245 actions in 181 countries.

Origins

350.org demonstration

350.org-organised activity draws attention to the 350ppm goal

The organization was co-founded by Jamie Henn and author Bill McKibben, an American environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the need for more localised economies. McKibben promotes the organisation, for instance by writing articles about it for many major newspapers and media, such the Los Angeles Times and The Guardian.

The organising effort drew its name from climate scientist James Hansen's contention in winter 2008 that any atmospheric concentration of CO₂ above 350 parts per million was unsafe.

If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO₂ will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm, but likely less than that.

— 5px, in James Hansen, NASA, 5px

McKibben's first started to organize against global warming with a walk across Vermont, his home state. His "Step It Up" campaign in 2007 involved 1,400 demonstrations at famous sites across the United States. McKibben credits these activities with making Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama change their energy policies during the presidential campaign. Later, the meltdown of the polar caps pushed him into starting 350.org, based on Hansen's 2007 book Climate Code Red.

Rajendra Pachauri, the U.N.'s "top climate scientist" and leader of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has come out in favor of reducing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to 350ppm. McKibben called news of Pachauri's embrace of the 350ppm target "amazing". Some media have indicated that Pachauri's endorsement of the 350ppm target was a victory for 350.org's activism.

The organisation had a lift in prominence after founder McKibben appeared on The Colbert Report television show on Monday August 17, 2009.

The organisation disseminates its message through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Goals

The 350 movement is treating the 350ppm cap as a rallying cry for the 2009 COP15 international treaty. 350 member Alec Appelbaum stated that "We need global compacts to enforce carbon caps, because emissions change the climate whether or not they come from regulated sources. But we also need ingenious businesses to make those caps meaningful. That’s true because no matter how severely we warp the climate, we have to go on living." The overall goal is to influence governments to adopt policies that would lower carbon dioxide emissions.

Activities

International Day of Climate Action

An "International Day of Climate Action" on October 24, 2009, was organized by 350.org to influence the delegates going to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting in December, 2009 (COP15). This was the first global campaign ever organized around a scientific data point. The actions organised by 350.org included gigantic depictions of the number "350", walks, marches, rallies, teach-ins, bike rides, sing-a-thons, carbon-free dinners, retrofitting houses to save energy, tree plantings, mass dives at the Great Barrier Reef, solar-cooked bake-outs, churches bell ringings, underwater cabinet meetings (Maldives), and armband distributions to athletes. The organization reported that over 5,200 synchronized demonstrations occurred in 181 countries on the day.

General activities

Apart from special events, like the International Day of Climate Action, 350.org organises actions on an ongoing basis to promote its message. These activities include tree plantings (350 trees in each instance), promoting the term "350", publishing adverts in major newspapers calling for the target level of carbon dioxide to be lowered to 350ppm, conducting polls on the subject of climate change, educating youth leaders, lobbying governments on the issue of carbon targets, and joining a campaign to establish a .ECO top-level domain or "tld". In December, 2009, the group petitioned U.S. EPA to set national limits for greenhouse gases using the Clean Air Act, asking the agency to cap atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide at 350 parts per million.

Membership

350.org is allied with 300 organisations around the world and has enlisted "350 messengers" who have publicly allied themselves with the organisation or its goal to spread the 350 movement, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bianca Jagger, and David Suzuki.

See also

• Conservation (ethic)
• List of environmental issues
• Environmental movement
• Politics of global warming

External links

• Official International page, including English
• Flickr 350.org photo stream and more examples of activities.
• Climate change: Global issue spurs global protest