She started a movement that has so far planted 40 million trees in her native land. She’s been to jail for her activism. She’s won the Nobel Peace Prize. Now, at the Copenhagen climate talks, Wangari Muta Maathai accepted her new status as the twelfth UN Messenger for Peace.

“I will give my all to ensure that I succeed in this mandate,” the Kenya native said to an applauding audience.

But more than anything, Maathai showed the world what a crucial role women play in the climate change debate.

I know it seems like we’re always throwing one horrifying stat or another at you, about the way the world is going to heck in a handbasket. But when I heard that 600,000 people died directly because of extreme weather related events in the last ten years, it got me thinking.

With all the focus on emissions targets for 2050, what if we’re losing sight of the urgency of the action we need to take? We only need to look at the world RIGHT NOW to see that it really is “adapt or die” for many developing nations, especially the island nations, the ones on the front line.

We really enjoyed this letter sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Environment Minister Jim Prentice by Make Poverty History supporter Larry Lalonde from Grimsby, Ont.

While everybody expected scuffles in Copenhagen's climate talks this week, a proposal leaked to the Guardian, apparently formulated by Denmark, the U.S. and the U.K., suggests a battle between rich and poor.

Ok, so I admit to momentary heart failure when the stories first started coming in… ….climate change scientists exposed as frauds…secret emails…doctored stats…. and suppressed evidence ….the world not warming after all.

We had just pressed “send” on our e-action alert asking Canadians to urge our reluctant Prime Minister to make a Real Deal in Copenhagen.  Dennis Howlett, our co-ordinator had just sent in a heart-wrenching blog from Kenya where he was learning first-hand about the devastating effects of climate change on poor farmers in that country.

Could we all have been wrong?  Were the naysayers right?

The stories I’ve heard first hand from Africans on a recent visit to Nairobi, Kenya make it very clear that climate change is undermining their efforts to reduce poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

(Alyshah Hasham is a journalism intern at Make Poverty History)

Hey there! I’m one of the 2/3 of Canadians who believe global warming is the defining crisis of our time. But our Prime Minister appears to believe that Canada should no longer set an example to other countries in setting meaningful targets for carbon emissions. Not unlike a little kid who points to his friends and says, “if they won’t do it, why should I!” And in fact, our government goes a step further and obstructs other countries from making climate change agreements.

Every so often a number just boggles the mind....I clicked on this article in The Huffington Po

Pittsburgh

Well, this is my second G-Summit – and there are still more hard lessons to learn. Harder to swallow too, since life for the world’s poorest has become even more wretched since last July’s G8 in Italy.

It’s an even tougher slog here, getting the needs of the neediest on the media’s agenda, let alone the attention of 20 of the world’s most powerful leaders – emerged and emerging. 

Everyone’s obsessed with whether or not there should be some kind of cap on bankers’ bonuses.  Ok..hurrah..we’re all for that here in the anti-poverty ranks…but it ain’t likely to happen kiddo - even if Obama himself chastised Wall St for paying out over $18 billion in bonuses while the economy was tanking.   Pretty galling when you realize that $16 billion is what’s needed to provide education for all.