The first realization of the problem originated about three decades ago when the first signs of scarcity became obvious.The main reasons for this are the increase of population and the use of water per capita as well as the profligacy and mismanagement of the world resourses.

Water contains the essence of life and its shortage should be regarded as one of the most serious environmental problems that affect every aspect of our lives. Governments should take action for the conservation of water and sustainability. Moreover, developed countries should inform their citizens that this isn’t a remote problem or a problem of certain countries but a real issue that should be dealt with innovative ideas and stricter regulations in national legislation.

Still protecting the available water should be of everybody’s concern and each should learn what to do so as not to waste water in vain because our right to use water comes with responsibilities to preserve and protect. There should also be an improvement in the efficiency of present uses domestic, agricultural and industrial. Countries should focus on taking measures that will promote the awareness of people and the production of alternative sources for main areas that water still is the first fundamental derivative.

Finally, I believe that we should all start treating water as a resource and not as a nuisance.

The Internet is a powerful tool that has revolutionized virtually every aspect of our lives, including how we socialize, creating the so called virtual communities through the social networks.

Nowadays more and more people discover these networks and acquire their personal profile. This popularity maybe derives from lack of communication and the loneliness that lead us to share certain things with other people. I think that the key ingredient to the success of these social networks is simply the alienation of the past decades, people don’t even know their neighbours but they seem ready to share all kind of information with someone holding the same beliefs or common interests even if he/she is in the other side of the world.

This new trend is far from safe especially as far as it concerns to younger people who sometimes driven from the enthusiasm of meeting new people they don’t fully realise the danger of sharing certain information with people that might not be who they tell they are.

My personal opinion is that parents should learn about their children activities online not by demanding but by asking them in a way that it could gain their trust .They should also express their concerns and advices in a positive manner so that they won’t oppose to them.

When it comes to adults it’s pretty much obvious what factors to consider and understanding the implications of the decisions they’re making. To sum up with aall people subscribed to these networks should be fully aware not only for the benefits but for the feedbacks as well and the owners of these pages should create safer privacy settings.

As a teenager I used to play lots of online games but I would always hide my true identity which in later life came as a habit in every communication tool I was using. I was trying to protect my privacy. Throughout that period I met a lot of people, some were considered ‘friends’, some were provocative with their behaviours, others would deliberately hurt you. Indeed this side of the Internet can be scary.

There’s no mistaking that if a troubled or introverted teenager encounters such people which can pose a potential threat then his emotional world is at sake. In fact there are many examples of young teenagers who put their lives in danger because they had either trusted people when they shouldn’t have or lost confidence in who they were or what they were doing.

Since then I have realised that it is not possible to truly find a friend in the internet, even if I have many friends who are now in a relationship or friendship with people they’ve met on the internet. In order to accomplish this I believe it is important to have strong values, be confident and lucky. For me however, the internet is only a place where I talk to people that I have already met and know them well and believe I can share information with.

It is not easy to distinguish the boundaries between privacy and safety. It is also quite common to trust people with personal information or even worse to twist personal information in order to show that you are older for example. This may be a powerful tool to protect your privacy but if it is used for a wrong purpose it can be dreadful tool which can lead to many dangers such as child pornography, rape, death. It is important to understand that if it is not possible to truly trust everyone you meet in every day life how can you trust someone whose name may not even be known to you?

How many times have you thought of the word privacy when using Facebook, allowing other people to see what’s going on in your private life? How many times have you been aware of the risks involved in sharing informations, photos, thoughts with the rest of the world?

Internet and the social network made a lot in our lives: they connected us with those we don’t see, with those we would like to keep in touch with, or simply with those likeminded people we need to share our beliefs with. But something had to be sacrificed: PRIVACY.

Who to blame for that? No one really, as we internet users allow this to happen anytime, everyday. I think it’s not so uncommon to see today people very young (age range 8-12) who are already using Facebook together with very old people ( my grandpa is not an exception, who at the age of 83 wanted to use this new invention called Facebook).

A huge contradiction? Fact or Fiction? None of them actually, simply the reality of our 2010, full of social network and a new feeling of ‘’global village’’. But, can we really draw the line between privacy and safety? Not really. I very much doubt there might be an effective policy about safety for internet users. Even the FB’s CEO seems to be quite unsuccessful, as people are clearly not aware of the risks involved with the privacy settings.

There is a clear distinction to make when it comes to sharing informations: what is taken for granted by a youth might be potentially very dangerous for the privacy of a worker. So, personally i might share anything which doesn’t affect my academic life or working life, like photos of friends and so on. But definitely not up to share personal informations about my family, my economic status or my private life.

These are the rules of the game. Accept it or you are out. At least today, in 2010!

Christmas and December were white in most of the European countries but we could hear more about the colour green as the eyes of the world watched Copenhagen and the outcomes of the global environmental conference. Unfortunately, the summit did not fulfil the expectations. There was no radical outcome and solution. The problem remained the same, at the least the question got enormous publicity and it became clear that we have serious problems and we are not able to deal with them properly.

As I see it, the NGOs and local initiatives can help the situation. Informing the public, promoting new ways of thinking and acting; teaching even the youngest ones how to be environment-friendly might bring a real change.

Currently I live in Germany as an exchange teacher and I think Germany is a good example of green marketing oasis. They promote all kinds of green activities, green products and buying bio products is very popular. Although, I must say these products are more expensive, too…Recycling and environmental friendly behaviour have long roots in the country. Lots of people riding bikes and you can hardly find any rubbish on the streets. I think being ‘green’ is very common here and it is good to see that it can also work well.

Although I am not convinced, that this system works so well in every European country. For example in Hungary, we are only at the beginning of green awareness. The public need some more years to be brainwashed and to follow a more environment-conscious life. I am sure the government, the NGOs and the schools could do a lot more to raise awareness.

The climate change is a proven fact and I think there is no doubt that the planet is crying out for help.

Green hype is a more “recent trend” promoting certain green policies or products such as biocars, biologic food, usage of environmentally friendly materials etc.

As far as it concerns to whether there is or not a green-hype it has to do with the way that each issue is presented.

About the so-called green policies most of them proven to be temporary and misleading and these attempts fall far short of the claims made.

Companies use labels such eco-green or environmentally friendly to serve other purposes. Moreover there is no evidence that the necessary requirements are followed and that’s why there isn’t a common evaluation system.

In recent years more politicians seem determined to follow green policies and take further actions but sometimes no matter how good are their intentions they stumble into other obstacles mostly economic imposed by some of the companies claiming to promote green issues!

To sum up with the most effective strategy is an intervention from the states focusing upon investment in public transportation, housing and renewable energy as well as setting binding rules that all companies should follow but that in an ideal world so we should keep in mind that we can play our part trying to protect the environment………SO GREEN UP!

Greenwashing wasn’t invented by Europeans, it appeared in the USA much earlier than Climate Change mania swept our continent. And the idea behind this phenomenon under conditions of capitalism could be the only one: to sell more – to earn more. Though not a specialist in this sphere, I suppose that the idea of customers was not to save the planet but to save money. E.g. energy saving is also good for money saving. But the richer society becomes the more it thinks about “not-only-money” issues.

That is why modern greenwashing appeals not to wallet but to conscience. “Going green” is not bad in its origin, but there is a huge field for speculation as well. Making wonderful installations during Copenhagen Summit and preparing organic snacks is not making the planet greener or our everyday life healthier.

“Green” is a fashion today. As well as “lazy help”. Not many people are ready to go to Africa. But one feels proud buying “fair trade” chocolates. The world is getting closer and we let other continents and other people to come into our lives but clicking-donating.

But sometimes I have this feeling that what is selling as natural is synthetic. E.g. when you see a multipage booklet with beautiful images on good paper saying about saving forests; or when you see bunches of old calendars promoting green life printed by green NGO but not distributed properly. Huge sums of money are spent on “green” ads. So huge that “green” sooner means the colour of dollars. Absolution of the sin to live in modern world costs a lot.

That is good we are becoming more conscious but let’s stay logic. E.g. a car cannot be a friend to environment, even if its ad says it is. It may be just less hazardous than others.

And instead of reading carefully labels or donating by clicking we should also leave our laptops and do real things by ourselves – to start with planting a tree or walking instead of going by car.

Being a youth nowadays is a real hard job, especially with all the deadlines set by Climate Change! 2009 ended a tragic period in which we have witnessed an astonishing number of facts around the world which clearly show that the planet earth is massively affected by pollution. But, Fiction or Fact?

Copenhagen was clearly an Epic Fail which brought many false promises and many politicians around a table eating expensive food and debating about something they do not consider vitally important. On the other hand though, it’s important to give importance to the new trend of new generations, more and more focused and committed towards the climate change fight as time goes by. Big events like COP 15 and the project i am involved in, CEHAPE EUROPE & WHO demonstrates that young people care a lot about their future.

I do not believe in a green hype. And, even if there was one, it would be no harm in going green and doing as much as we can to save this world. Climate change exists and although many solutions are not feasible or not even effective, I wouldn’t be too cynical to say it’s all about a fiction. If it was a fiction, billion people wouldn’t mobilizing for a fake cause. Politicians include Climate Change in their agenda because many see it as an appealing incentive to get more votes and to raise among public opinion a sense of safeguard of the environment. Although politicians do not understand basically nothing about these issue and being ‘political animals’, many, especially at the EU level are taking the issue at a serious level.

Going green is important now more than ever. I wouldn’t say that green products are not green and they are just a hype to get more votes at the political level or a smart gimmick for the companies…but being suspicious towards the products companies and industries are selling us is always advisable!

Green policies and green practices should definitely be promoted not only through government tools but also NGO’s and individuals. Climate change may be part of the normal environmental cycle but what anthropogenic factors can cause may have terrible effects on the environment. Green policies and enterprises should aim for a better and healthier lifestyle too, however exaggeration to the matter should not be allowed.

For instance producing and buying locally might help reinvesting the money to the community but it can damage the advantages of sharing and exchanging products with other countries. Environmental policies should never be disguised as methods of protectionism and trade barriers. Subsidising farmers may boost the economy but it should be limited practiced as this can affect people from less favoured nations. Nonetheless, green washing and other similar practices which mislead consumers shouldn’t be allowed. Consequently, governments should aim at raising awareness about the issue by providing information and special guidelines should be introduced into enterprises.

Pollution is one of the highest risks of our future. Therefore, we can ask the question, who is responsible for the damage? The ‘idea of sharing of responsibility between developed and developing countries’ sounds me quite unrealistic as the developing nations do not have the same background and means as the developed. Hence the reason why these nations cannot fulfil those requirements, that the developed nations can allow.

The developing countries have to face diseases, malnutrition, social and economic difficulties; there is a long list of problems they have to tackle. Therefore, pollution and carbon dioxide emission is on the bottom of this list. They do not have the same means to fight against pollution and reduce emission if it means the decline of productivity. They simply cannot afford lower emission rates. On the other hand, the developed countries can also be blamed for this situation. They are not interested in equal sharing and responsibility as these countries provide them cheaper labour and cost of production, the rules are less strict and it worth producing there. It is also important to mention the sale of CO2 quotas. Until the developed countries purchase the emission quotas of the less developed ones, we cannot talk about equal responsibility as it is not the interest of any sides.

As I see it, a certain level of development and social security is required to deal with this problem. All in all, I think the role of developing countries in the question of emission demands not only global dimensions and solutions but also global diplomatic cooperation and understanding.