Executive Director Mia MacDonald has joined the Board of Directors of Green Belt Movement International-North America. Founded in 1977 by Nobel Peace Laureate and Brighter Green colleague, Wangari Maathai, the Green Belt Movement (GBM) promotes a bottom-up, holistic approach to development and environmental conservation.

The piece by Mia MacDonald, originally published in "Sanctuary," the newsletter of Farm Sanctuary, makes clear the connection between animal agriculture and environmental degradation, and spotlights city-level "green food" resolutions.

Presentations from Brighter Green and the Green Belt Movement's Copenhagen side event are now available. Click to view PDFs from Brighter Green's Mia MacDonald, Dupoto Forest and Wildlife Association's Samwel Naikada and The Green Belt Movement's Fredrick Njau. Interested in more? Here's Mia's blog on the side event.

Richard Greene, host and producer of a daily show on Air America, interviewed Mia MacDonald last night at the Klimaforum about "Meat World: China" and Brighter Green's work on the globalization of industrial animal agriculture.

Brighter Green's screening of Meat World: China took place last night at the Klimaforum in Copenhagen. The turn out was great, with the venue filled to capacity, and a lively discussion taking place afterwards. Read more about the event in Mia MacDonald's blog.

Citing parts of Samuel Naikada's presentation at the "side event" co-sponsored by the Green Belt Movement and Brighter Green on December 11 at the Copenhagen climate summit, the COP 15 Post (a daily paper on the summit proceedings in English) has published an article on Wangari Maathai, and climate change in Kenya.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development's Reporting Services has picked up on Brighter Green's and the Green Belt Movement's side event on Livelihoods, Forests, Livestock and Climate, at the Copenhagen climate conference. Read the full article here.

In addition to posting here, Brighter Green's Executive Director Mia MacDonald is also blogging from the Copenhagen climate talks for Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement. Read her blogs here.

Brighter Green has posted three new draft summaries (PDF)—of Ethiopia, Brazil, and India—of its forthcoming papers on the challenges to public health, environmental conservation, and animal welfare faced by these countries as they attempt to increase their production of meat and dairy.

Fall is winding down, and Brighter Green is getting ready for the UN climate talks in Copenhagen, beginning on December 7th and running for two weeks. Executive Director Mia MacDonald will be at the climate summit in Copenhagen, beginning on December 10th. Brighter Green was approved to attend as an "observer organization" (UN speak for NGO attendees). Read on to learn about our what we're planning for Copenhagen and our current projects.

Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling new book Eating Animals cites as a reference Brighter Green's policy paper "Skillful Means".

Brighter Green Research Associate Justine Simon is back from the Massachusetts Climate Action Network, and her presentation on the climate impacts of our diets - particularly in terms of meat and dairy consumption - is now available in PDF form.

Brighter Green Associate Stella Zhou's presentation from the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival is now available in PDF form. At the conference, Stella discussed China's embrace of factory farming and the missing role of farm animals in present-day public health discussions.

Stella Zhou was interviewed by the International Herald Tribune about her experiences in China for an article on meat consumption and its impact on climate change.

Mia MacDonald, Executive Director of Brighter Green, describes the effects of intensive animal agriculture on climate change and fossil fuel use in a video of a powerpoint lecture at New York University, convened during Climate Week NYC, September 25, 2009.