Lin Yang Straits Times 10 Oct 10;
Environmental groups worldwide rallying to work for climate change solutions today are trying to rebrand their image and recharge the excitement lost since the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last December.
Spearheaded by two global activist networks 350.org and 10:10, the events this year have an overarching aim to get activists working on sustainability projects within their own communities.
From installing solar panels in the Maldives to showcasing urban farming in Singapore, more than 6,600 events have been registered on 350.org's website alone.
In the run-up to the Copenhagen conference last year, the same groups triggered demonstrations around the world to put pressure on governments to agree to binding CO2 emissions reductions.
What came out of Copenhagen was a set of soft, non-binding reduction targets that disappointed many in the activist community.
Mr Wilson Ang, who is president of Eco Singapore and coordinates 350.org events locally, recalls his frustration with last year's outcome: 'A lot of young people showed up in Copenhagen, and the result was nothing.
'Now, instead of waiting for governments to act, we want people to take action on their own.'
Yet, until now, the movement had overlooked the disconnect between science and public will.
Even though scientific evidence points overwhelmingly to the existence of climate change, the general public, and many governments, have scoffed at committing to cuts in emissions out of fear that doing so would raise energy prices and slow economic growth, especially in the current economic climate.
Instead of broadcasting a message of hope, environmental groups have also used fear, explains researcher Nic Marks of London-based New Economics Foundation.
They 'have scared everybody with images of the worst-case scenario, and any psychologist will tell you that denial of taking action is the natural human protection against fear'.
Mr Marks suggests that countries like Singapore must cast energy conservation and sustainable lifestyles as positive measures for social progress, or else people will avoid doing anything and go down the road of Western-style consumerism.
Mr Howard Shaw, executive director of the Singapore Environmental Council, agrees.
Public will is low because Singaporeans have enjoyed good environmental management by the Government.
'We have been environmentally pampered since day one,' he says.
So it becomes easy to 'aspire to have the latest gadgets or the biggest car', without putting much thought into what those actions do to the environment.
After Copenhagen, a strategic consensus emerged among activist groups that the public needs positive messages on how to change their lifestyles and build a new, more sustainable world.
As a result, 350.org came up with 'Global Work Party' as this year's theme, while 10:10 tagged their event with the phrase 'A Global Day of Doing'.
The challenge is to get people 'to realise that it is within their ability to effect change with their everyday actions', explains Mr Ang.
'Hopefully, by showing these real actions, governments will start doing something.'
Headlining today's events in Singapore is a group that embodies this shift.
The Ground-Up Initiative organises Singaporeans to grow herbs and vegetables at Bottle Tree Park near Yishun, as well as plant community food gardens around the island.
The group wants Singapore to become more sustainable by growing more food locally.
Group members are coordinating a carnival to showcase their work, and have invited more than 50 other vendors to demonstrate their sustainability initiatives.
The group's founder, Mr Tay Lai Hock, wants to create a platform where Singaporeans can change their lifestyle and appreciate a closer relationship with the Earth.
'You can't address climate change without talking about consumerism, along with organic farming and living a simpler life. It's all inter-related,' he says.
