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GreenFacts Newsletter - Winter 2007 - 2008Table of contents
“We were very excited that something as prestigious as the Nobel Peace Prize would go to a goal we had been connected to: building and spreading knowledge about climate change,” Publication Manager Stephanie Mantell said. An official observer of the IPCC, GreenFacts joined hundreds of scientists at the four conferences of the U.N. panel in 2007, in Paris, Brussels, Bangkok and Valencia. Working with some of the same scientists receiving the peace prize, the editors at GreenFacts spent most of the year poring over the panel’s three landmark reports and producing reader-friendly versions of each of the roughly 850-page reports in four languages. Read our 2007 Climate Change Update Reaching readers in China and across the world As a complement to the website, over 100 000 leaflets of GreenFacts digests in English, French, Spanish, Dutch and even Chinese have been produced for worldwide distribution. These paper versions are increasingly used as educational materials by teachers and as communication tools at international conferences. View our Leaflets Latest publications: from biodiversity loss to nanotechnologies
What’s next? Upcoming publications In the coming months GreenFacts will release digests on
In 2008, GreenFacts will continue to work for the European Commission on hot topics related to health and consumer protection, such as mobile phones and indoor air pollution. Many people are convinced mobile phone signals are hurting them. They complain of headaches, ringing ears and chronic fatigue. Some have even filed lawsuits, claiming the signals gave them brain cancer. GreenFacts will address the safety of mobile phone signals in an upcoming co-publication based on a study by the European Commission Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks. Moreover, an assessment by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) an agency of the World Health Organisation, is expected to be released early next year and could form the basis of a GreenFacts digest. Other topics for which reference documents are expected to become available shortly include fighting cancer, malaria, and tuberculosis. Joining COM+ Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development GreenFacts has joined the COM+ Alliance as associate partner, becoming part of the global network whose members include organizations such as IUCN, the World Bank, Reuters Foundations, the WBCSD, and UNEP. The addition of GreenFacts as an associate partner represents an added value in the goal of integrating a global clearinghouse for communications on sustainable development. “GreenFacts has made an enormous contribution in decoding scientific information into plain and understandable English and other languages without oversimplifying the concepts. They have done an excellent job in explaining global warming, ecosystem management and other complex issues in a down to earth way. Their job has made easier the work of thousands of journalists around the world. It is a great addition to the complus family”, says Sergio Jellinek from the Steering Committee of COM+. The COM+ Alliance is a partnership of international organizations and communication professionals from diverse sectors committed to using communications to advance a vision of sustainable development that integrates its three pillars: economic, social and environmental. By offering a platform to share expertise, develop best practice and create synergies, COM+ hopes to actively support creative and inspiring communications across the world. GreenFacts team welcomes new general manager In May, GreenFacts announced the appointment of Dr. Patrick G. Poty as General Manager. He took over from GreenFacts Co-founder Jacques de Selliers, now Vice President. Formerly Mr. Poty was the CEO of BMD, a French company specializing in advanced biological diagnostics. “After a fruitful career in the commercial sector, I am pleased to be able to devote myself to a non-profit organization in the area of health and the environment,” Mr. Poty said. “This field always appealed to me.” Mr. Poty also previously served as Vice President and General Manager of Noveon Inc. (formerly BF Goodrich Performances Materials) for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India. Mr. de Selliers had been General Manager since GreenFacts was founded in 2001. In his new role as Vice President, he is focusing on boosting the organization’s international development. In another addition, Cindy Roberts joined the GreenFacts team as Science Editor in September. Roberts has a science background and extensive experience as a journalist and editor, mainly in international news. The entire GreenFacts team would like to take this opportunity to thank its readers for their interest and support and to wish them all the happiest of holidays.
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