Prince Charles: 100 months to save the world
The Prince of Wales is to issue a stark warning that nations have "less than 100 months to act" to save the planet from irreversible damage due to climate change.
Prince Charles will say that the need to tackle global warming is more urgent than ever before and that, even in a global recession, the world must not lose sight of the "bigger picture".
His warning will be delivered on Thursday in a keynote speech in Rio de Janeiro.
Aides believe it will echo one he gave in Sao Paulo in 1991 at the start of the last recession, when he warned that caring for the world's long term welfare must not become a "luxury".
The intervention will help to put the environment at the top of the political agenda ahead of the meeting of G20 leaders in London next month.
The Prince starts a ten-day tour of South America today during which he will be playing an elevated role as an international statesman working on behalf of the Government to support British interests on key issues.
Senior sources have revealed that Gordon Brown's Government wants to make more use on the foreign stage of Prince Charles's experience, expertise and contacts, particularly on climate change.
Government officials believe that the Prince's passion to protect the environment is hugely respected abroad and that he can play an increasing important role as he inevitably moves closer to becoming king.
Some believe he is an "asset" that has been underused in the past and they want to use him more in a role of "soft diplomacy".
In Thursday's speech, the Prince will warn that a failure to act in the next eight years will have catastrophic effects for the planet.
In the country that is home to the world's largest rainforest, Prince Charles will urge world unity to combat deforestation in the run-up to the UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen in December this year.
He will say there is not necessarily a clash between the needs of big business and the environment. He will argue that being green can be good for businesses and can create jobs.
The Prince will say that tackling deforestation in the 3.5 billion acres of rainforest on the planet is a key priority.
According to royal aides, Prince Charles will tell business leaders that he is in South America to "listen and learn" and that he believes that Brazil and other neighbouring countries must lead the way in moves to save the rainforests.
The Prince will also visit the Amazon rainforest, the world's largest rainforest, on Saturday.
The Prince's tour to Chile, Brazil and Ecuador (including the Galapagos Islands), when he will be accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall, will see a greater emphasis than ever before on him becoming involved in talks with prime ministers, presidents and senior politicians, in a move aimed at promoting British interests abroad.
It is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), not the Prince himself, which chooses the location for his royal tours and South America is considered the ideal platform for his views.
One Government source said: "The Prince's visit to South America is very much in tune with the priorities that we have.
"Given both the Prince's position as a future head of state and his personal commitment to protecting the environment, we believe he can have a real impact abroad"
In a possible sign of his elevated role, Prince Charles will meet Barack Obama when the new US President comes to Britain next month for the G20 London summit.
They will meet at, or even before, a Buckingham Palace reception when the Prince is expected to raise climate change issues with the President.
Royal aides have welcomed the opportunity for the Prince to expand his role on behalf of the Government. One senior official said: "It could be argued that he has already established a role as an international statesman, especially on green issues.
"This is one of the reasons why Government has asked him to go to South America. He will be conducting Government business and one of his roles is to support the UK's environmental objectives."
This is the major royal overseas tour for the first half of the year. He will be meeting the presidents and heads of governments in each of the three countries for talks.
"In Chile and Brazil, he will host a "round table" meeting for corporate leaders aimed at encouraging businesses to do more to tackle climate change.
"This is about soft diplomacy," said a senior aide. "The Prince of Wales is not a politician who sits down with a world leader and hammers out an agreement.
"But what he can do is show support and get over the message that Britain wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with these countries in the fight against climate change, and bring his own experience and knowledge to bear."
Courtiers at Clarence House dislike suggestions that the Prince of Wales, who was 60 last year, is a "shadow king" keen to take on duties from his mother, who is 82.
However, one Government source said: "There is no plan for Prince to take over specific duties from the Queen but common sense dictates that as she gets older her diary will be tailored accordingly."
The Prince is likely eventually to take on more of the long, arduous overseas tours stand in for her at more investitures.
One senior FCO official said: "We are hugely supportive of this visit. The Prince's commitment to sustainable development is very much in line with one of our main priorities.
"The Prince's visit will advance that agenda in terms of both UK interests and the engagement of other countries in pursuing it.
"The real personal commitment that Prince Charles has to environmental issues and his interest in sustainable development really resonates with people, both at Government level and ordinary individuals."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/4952918/Prince-Charles-we-have-100-months-to-save-the-world.html
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Showing posts with label rio de janeiro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rio de janeiro. Show all posts
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Fashion Rio – Eco Survivor Chic Rules
Anyone who suggests that Brazil has little to add in the global world of style should have spent Monday in Rio de Janeiro, where two cleverly crafted and artfully staged shows spoke loudly about our generation’s obsession with ecology and the threat our own species represents to the planet on which we live.
There were two contrasting collections, one by Redley, chock full of prints and staged in a tropical rainforest and the other print-free and austere by Mara Mac presented in the tented city of Marina Gloria, where all but four of the shows in this season of Fashion Rio are staged. But both spoke about our greatest modern fear – even greater surely than the specter of unemployment in the current downturn – and that is what life will be like if or when the polar ice caps melt.
Neither of these labels could be described as “designer brands,” i.e. an international label embodying one individual’s taste, which made the performances by these high-street brands all the more impressive.
Redley’s creative director Jurgen Oeltjenbrun's vision is surprisingly upbeat. Judging from this Fall 2009 collection, he expects people to party hearty after the ecological apocalypse and, more importantly for fashionistas to look good while doing so.
Staged before noon under the dappled light of the Tijuca rainforest, located, remarkably, as close to Ipanema Beach as the George Washington Bridge is to the West Village, the collection was a wonderfully counter cultural happening inspired by the novel “The Alternative” by William Hedgepeth, a cerebral commentary on Sixties optimism and communal living. Yet the looks that strutted along the leafy catwalk were all about survivor chic: people finding the residue and rags of a civilization and yet still managing to make them into cool clothes.
Made of macramé cuts and rustic fabrics mixed with eco graffiti prints, this show was an optimistic interpretation of the future in a country whose Amazon Forest is the lungs of our globe.
“It’s all about sustainability,” commented Oeltjenbruns, a German whose Portuguese language skills may be limited, but whose sense of what’s relevant and commercial are very much spot on.
Seven hours later before the local fashion top-hitting nomenclature - rival TV style hosts Lilian Pacce and Gloria Maria - Mara Mac presented more survivor's chic but for folks who expect to be able to attend classy dinner parties after global warming has turned the Alps into a muddy hill.
In the half light as the show was starting, one correspondent wondered out loud, “Is this Max Mara or Marky Mark?” But, what hit the red Formica catwalk was neither, but a darkly subtle view of how elegant women can throw together looks from simple fabrics like jersey, cotton felt and wispy wool. Shown in various shades of gray and off-white, the clothes had an international ethnic feel – with lots of drop crotch yet slinky dhoti pants and cunningly well-cut coat dresses, decorated with Japanese texts and symbols.
Arran sweaters so small they looked like scarves and elongated ballet slippers on models that weaved between mini mountains of wood pulp added to the quirky panache of a show that seemed both contemporary and, above all, relevant.
http://www.fashionwiredaily.com/first_word/fashion/article.weml?id=2343
There were two contrasting collections, one by Redley, chock full of prints and staged in a tropical rainforest and the other print-free and austere by Mara Mac presented in the tented city of Marina Gloria, where all but four of the shows in this season of Fashion Rio are staged. But both spoke about our greatest modern fear – even greater surely than the specter of unemployment in the current downturn – and that is what life will be like if or when the polar ice caps melt.
Neither of these labels could be described as “designer brands,” i.e. an international label embodying one individual’s taste, which made the performances by these high-street brands all the more impressive.
Redley’s creative director Jurgen Oeltjenbrun's vision is surprisingly upbeat. Judging from this Fall 2009 collection, he expects people to party hearty after the ecological apocalypse and, more importantly for fashionistas to look good while doing so.
Staged before noon under the dappled light of the Tijuca rainforest, located, remarkably, as close to Ipanema Beach as the George Washington Bridge is to the West Village, the collection was a wonderfully counter cultural happening inspired by the novel “The Alternative” by William Hedgepeth, a cerebral commentary on Sixties optimism and communal living. Yet the looks that strutted along the leafy catwalk were all about survivor chic: people finding the residue and rags of a civilization and yet still managing to make them into cool clothes.
Made of macramé cuts and rustic fabrics mixed with eco graffiti prints, this show was an optimistic interpretation of the future in a country whose Amazon Forest is the lungs of our globe.
“It’s all about sustainability,” commented Oeltjenbruns, a German whose Portuguese language skills may be limited, but whose sense of what’s relevant and commercial are very much spot on.
Seven hours later before the local fashion top-hitting nomenclature - rival TV style hosts Lilian Pacce and Gloria Maria - Mara Mac presented more survivor's chic but for folks who expect to be able to attend classy dinner parties after global warming has turned the Alps into a muddy hill.
In the half light as the show was starting, one correspondent wondered out loud, “Is this Max Mara or Marky Mark?” But, what hit the red Formica catwalk was neither, but a darkly subtle view of how elegant women can throw together looks from simple fabrics like jersey, cotton felt and wispy wool. Shown in various shades of gray and off-white, the clothes had an international ethnic feel – with lots of drop crotch yet slinky dhoti pants and cunningly well-cut coat dresses, decorated with Japanese texts and symbols.
Arran sweaters so small they looked like scarves and elongated ballet slippers on models that weaved between mini mountains of wood pulp added to the quirky panache of a show that seemed both contemporary and, above all, relevant.
http://www.fashionwiredaily.com/first_word/fashion/article.weml?id=2343
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Christmas Tree of Bradesco Seguros e Previdencia
The Biggest Floating Christmas Tree in the World,
is Inaugurated in Rio De Janeiro
Event brought together thousands of people at the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Nov 29, 2008 The inaugural event of the 13th consecutive edition of the Christmas Tree of Bradesco Seguros e Previdencia, the biggest floating Christmas tree in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records, brought together thousands of people this Saturday (November 29, 2008). Considered the third greatest event in the city of Rio de Janeiro, after Carnaval and New Year's Eve, the Tree brings something new for 2008 in the form of "A melody of peace for the Brazilian family." The spectacle of lights and colors has taken on a musical touch. An electronic carillon, imported from Italy and similar to the one used in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, has been installed within its structure to reproduce Christmas carols with bells played manually by professional bell-ringers. There are also fireworks scheduled for every Saturday.
The programming of the inaugural event, with a live television broadcast in real time by the Tree's hot site included a concert given by popular Brazilian artists such as singers Elba Ramalho, Joao Bosco, Roberta Sa and guitarist Turibio Santos, as well as the Choir of the Bradesco Foundation, made up of 112 young students. The American soprano Carol McDavit, who has been settled in Brazil for the past 20 years, also made an appearance.
The project has become the largest event sponsored by a single private company in Brazil. This is the 13th edition of the Christmas Tree of Bradesco Seguros e Previdencia, which for the first time will have thirteen flashing sequences of different images to dazzle the public. At the top of the 85- meter Tree, the star is now accompanied by two angels representing peace. The 52 kilometers of lighted strands are to evoke the Christmas theme, and 1,600 flashing lights are to evoke twinkling stars.
Certification in the Guinness Book
The second certification in the Guinness Book of Records, as the "largest floating Christmas tree in the world," was obtained because of the height of 85 meters in 2007 and recorded in the recently published 2009 edition. With its launching in 1996, the Tree was 48 meters high and up until the 2006 edition, 82 meters. The first certification in the Guinness book was awarded in 1999, when this symbol of Christmas measured 76 meters.
Technology and the Environment
For the past three years, the Christmas Tree of Bradesco Seguros e Previdencia has had generators fueled by biodiesel to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere. For the third year, to ensure rationality in the consumption of fuel, the generators will be controlled by a computerized system.
Neutralization of Carbon
Emissions of carbon gas into the atmosphere produced by the assembly, display and dismantling of the Tree will be neutralized by the planting of trees in regions of the Mata Atlantica rainforest.
WWW.ARVORENATALBRADESCOSEGUROS.COM.BR/FOTOS
is Inaugurated in Rio De Janeiro
Event brought together thousands of people at the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Nov 29, 2008 The inaugural event of the 13th consecutive edition of the Christmas Tree of Bradesco Seguros e Previdencia, the biggest floating Christmas tree in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records, brought together thousands of people this Saturday (November 29, 2008). Considered the third greatest event in the city of Rio de Janeiro, after Carnaval and New Year's Eve, the Tree brings something new for 2008 in the form of "A melody of peace for the Brazilian family." The spectacle of lights and colors has taken on a musical touch. An electronic carillon, imported from Italy and similar to the one used in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, has been installed within its structure to reproduce Christmas carols with bells played manually by professional bell-ringers. There are also fireworks scheduled for every Saturday.
The programming of the inaugural event, with a live television broadcast in real time by the Tree's hot site included a concert given by popular Brazilian artists such as singers Elba Ramalho, Joao Bosco, Roberta Sa and guitarist Turibio Santos, as well as the Choir of the Bradesco Foundation, made up of 112 young students. The American soprano Carol McDavit, who has been settled in Brazil for the past 20 years, also made an appearance.
The project has become the largest event sponsored by a single private company in Brazil. This is the 13th edition of the Christmas Tree of Bradesco Seguros e Previdencia, which for the first time will have thirteen flashing sequences of different images to dazzle the public. At the top of the 85- meter Tree, the star is now accompanied by two angels representing peace. The 52 kilometers of lighted strands are to evoke the Christmas theme, and 1,600 flashing lights are to evoke twinkling stars.
Certification in the Guinness Book
The second certification in the Guinness Book of Records, as the "largest floating Christmas tree in the world," was obtained because of the height of 85 meters in 2007 and recorded in the recently published 2009 edition. With its launching in 1996, the Tree was 48 meters high and up until the 2006 edition, 82 meters. The first certification in the Guinness book was awarded in 1999, when this symbol of Christmas measured 76 meters.
Technology and the Environment
For the past three years, the Christmas Tree of Bradesco Seguros e Previdencia has had generators fueled by biodiesel to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere. For the third year, to ensure rationality in the consumption of fuel, the generators will be controlled by a computerized system.
Neutralization of Carbon
Emissions of carbon gas into the atmosphere produced by the assembly, display and dismantling of the Tree will be neutralized by the planting of trees in regions of the Mata Atlantica rainforest.
WWW.ARVORENATALBRADESCOSEGUROS.COM.BR/FOTOS
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