Sarah James, Council of Athabascan Tribal Government, insisted that protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is part of fighting climate change and called for reducing oil use and disseminating alternative energy.

Vivian Felts, Saving Our Selves (SOS), described consequences of global warming such as recent hurricanes in the Alabama, Mississippi, and the Louisiana Gulf Coast and increases in oceanic and atmospheric temperatures. She emphasized the vulnerability of coastal populations to climate change.

LaTosha Brown, SOS, emphasized the human context of climate change through the lens of hurricane Katrina and subsequent tropical storms. She noted the ongoing effects of Katrina and underlined the vulnerability of low income communities.

Ansje Miller, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative, emphasized the need for climate change solutions to address social and environmental justice, as well as create mechanisms to protect vulnerable communities, other than those under the Kyoto Protocol.

Alexey Kokorin, WWF Russia, said Russian priorities are economic and political, not environmental. He said Russia could achieve Kyoto targets depending on whether bureaucratic inertia or creative approaches dominate the process of developing a climate policy.

Harold Winkler, Energy Research Center, South Africa, said actions on sustainable development policies and measures should take priority over setting climate change targets.

Terry Townshend, DEFRA, provided an overview of a recent UK climate conference called “Climate change: A business forecast”.

Mark Kenber, The Climate Group, noted that climate change is not only a risk but also an opportunity and that businesses have a chance to profit.

Fanny Calder, University of Cambridge, illustrated how businesses are engaging with the climate change issue through the formation of the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change.

Daniel Gagnier, ALCAN, emphasized that there are a number of low-hanging fruit in terms of climate change abatement technology.

Jeff Passmore, Iogen Corporation, illustrated his company’s initiatives in the production of cellulose ethanol fuel that provides emission reduction benefits.

Kirsty Hamilton, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, UK, presented the findings of a study on UK business views on international climate and energy policy.

Discussion: participants discussed energy security issues as a driver for renewable energy development and the need to promote alternative fuel vehicles.

Dean Cooper, Promoting Access to Carbon Equity, noted that barriers to small scale African CDM projects include high cost and lack of awareness. He urged building independent African CDM capacity and outlined his organization’s activities, including lobbying and project development facilitation.

Collins Olisa-Emeka Gardner, Presidential Implementation Committee on CDM, Nigeria, noted that the African Development Bank has not been as active a supporter of CDM projects as its Asian counterpart, and that the CDM should be private sector driven.

Johannes Chigwada, Zero Regional Environment Organization, Zimbabwe, described a pilot project testing a wind-powered community electricity grid.