If we need creativity to combat climate change, 1minutetosavetheworld, APE, OpenPlanetIdeas and Competition Proud Partner Google are up for the challenge. Google Earth has created a series of tours and videos to address the issue of climate change in anticipation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 16) occurring this week and next in Cancun, Mexico.

One featured video, “Coping With Climate Change” is narrated by Kofi Annan. The video highlights people who are actively fighting climate change and those who already must cope with global warming. Annan offers concrete advice on ways to pursue a green revolution, focusing on groups like the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Other videos in the Google series include a 3D flight over tree canopies and an exploration of Mexico’s mangroves. Many of these presentations will be incorporated into workshops that Google is putting on at COP 16.

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On Thursday, 25th November, 2010 at 16:00 GMT (4 pm GMT) 1minutetosavetheworld partner OpenPlanetIdeas will be conducting a bit of an experiment to start moving their concepts to the next level, to attract new skills and ideas to the community and to show-off some of these remarkable concepts to the people which may not have seen them or the challenge yet. We’ve got a short video below from their team to explain it briefly.

When you think about erosion, you usually envision environmental degradation, shifts in the way our surroundings appear, sometimes naturally cyclical, sometimes induced by man. Europe’s leadership in climate change is however also being eroded by slow action and a lack of implementation of policy, according to a report out today from OpenPlanet creator and 1minutetosavetheworld partner WWF International and analysts Ecofys.

The Climate Policy Tracker for the European Union looks at key climate change policies covering energy, building and transport efficiency, and support for renewables across all countries.

While support for renewables has been the most widely implemented across Europe and is making progress, improvements in energy efficiency, transport and industry are lagging behind, he says.

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China has stepped up its efforts to rein in global warming by implementing rules that will cap emissions of greenhouse gasses from its domestic industry, the chief climate negotiator for the United Nations said.

“They have actually not just performed to the level of their target, but they have outperformed,”Christiana Figueres, the UN diplomat leading climate negotiations, said in a webcast press conference from Bonn.

Figueres said she is “optimistic” that the annual climate talks beginning Nov. 29 in the Mexican resort city of Cancun can reach an agreement. Her comments were aimed at boosting momentum for the discussions involving more than 190 nations after last year’s effort in Copenhagen stalled.

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Uganda has taken a continental lead in tackling change, setting a stellar example for what contemporary science tells us is perhaps our most pressing global issue. A three-year project to increase forest cover and help local communities in eastern Uganda adapt to climate change has been launched.

“The planting of one million trees has started to sustain an area of tropical forest in Africa the size of Wales,” said John Griffiths, counsel-general of the Welsh Assembly, which is supporting the project. “These trees will not only absorb carbon but provide shade for crops.”

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OutlookIndia.com reports that India will on Tuesday release its first assessment report on the impact of climate change on four sectors, including agriculture and water, in the country’s four climatic hot spots like the Himalayas and the North East.

“The first 4×4 assessment report will be released on November 16. Prepared by Indian Network of Climate Change Assessment, it will assess the impact of climate change on four sectors of the economy – agriculture, water, health and forests — in the four regions of the country,” Ramesh said at a function here.

The four climatic regions are the Himalayas, Coastal India, the Western Ghats and the North East.

He said North-East region is of the utmost importance as it has the country’s 25 per cent of forest cover and will be most severely affected due to climate change.

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South Korea’s Lee Myung-bak administration last year set an ambitious goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below “business-as-usual” projections through 2020 under its low-carbon, green growth vision.

Shin Hyon-hee documents in the Korea Herald that the voluntary target, announced on the sidelines of United Nations climate talks in Copenhagen last December, is deemed very challenging regarding Korea’s fastest emissions growth rate among OECD countries.

Korea is the world’s ninth-largest polluter. Its growing economy has seen carbon dioxide emissions rise by more than 100 percent over the last two decades.

The government has devised a five-year plan under which the country will invest 2 percent of gross domestic product annually into research and development on new green infrastructure.

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Mayors from some of the world’s major cities today vowed to do their part in curbing the carbon emissions blamed for global warming, ahead of a major UN climate meeting later this month.

Mayors from New York, Johannesburg and Toronto — part of the “C40” group — were among those in Hong Kong discussing ways to tackle the problem, including making buildings energy efficient and putting more electric-powered vehicles on roads.

The “C40“, launched in 2005, is an initiative of more than 40 cities which work together to reduce carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency in large cities around the world.

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The Southern Youth Film Festival (SUFF) in partnership with the Minor Foundation for Major Challenges, DigiCape, NUFF, Tvibit and the Bart’s African Foundation is proud to announce that the Call for Entries for the Youth Film Competition 2010 is officially open.

SUFF International Short Film Festival is one of South Africa’s fastest growing festivals and consistently delivers a colourful celebration of the best in local and international short filmmaking made by Youth filmmakers.

Read on for more specific details on SUFF 2010!

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Open Planet Ideas have now entered concepting phase and we are inviting designers, techies, environmentalists and anyone else interested in helping the planet – to submit your ideas.  The challenge question has been identified as “How can today’s technology help us make the most of our planet’s resources?”

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Brazilian born artist Vik Muniz is internationally recognised for his series of works made from discarded materials including rubbish and food. Documentary maker Lucy Walker (Blindsight) accompanies Muniz on a recent project in the film ‘Wasteland‘, debuting at the London Film Festival on October 15th, where he aims to give something back to Brazil’s poorest people by creating art in collaboration with garbage pickers at Rio’s Jardim Gramancho, the world’s largest rubbish dump.

Muniz works with several catadores (‘pluckers’), including Tiao, who has organised the pickers to defend their rights; Irma, who cooks them a daily meal from dumped but still edible food; and Zumbi, whose salvaged books provide a local library. While Muniz enlists his subjects to help orchestrate his large-scale photographs, Walker takes us into their homes, building a series of character studies of her own.

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