Khuu - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

We asked to meet our guide before we began the trip. Mainly because the hostel we booked the trip with were cagey about their ability to provide someone with sufficient English skills for translation purposes. As soon as Khuu (pronounced 'hoo') entered the room and said hello we knew she'd be great. Her English was fantastic and, as we would soon find out, her sense of humour was wicked. She's from Southern Gobi region but now lives in the capital, working as a guide to help pay for her sisters' education.

Khuu in the doorway of a (typically) solar-powered gerr

On the second day of the trip, with the backdrop of the incredible 'White Cliffs' in the Dundgov province, South of Ulaanbaatar, our conversation drifts towards climate change. Khuu tells me about how she can see the climate changing and its effect on the landscape. It's getting drier each year and Khuu discovers more rivers have vanished from her tourist trail each new season, as she makes the long trips around the country with van-loads of adventure-seekers.

Emma (with pickles) and Khuu at the White Cliffs

The elders talk about how they used to be able to predict the seasons and the weather, particularly when there would be a good or a bad year, but this is no longer possible. Even the rain falls differently now. It comes in shorter and more intense bouts that doesn't get absorbed by the land.

These changes have had a dramatic effect on wildlife. The land used to be graced with many herds of wild sheep, gazelles and donkeys. The lack of rain has meant there's no longer enough grass or water to support them.

Khuu teaching Emanuel & Emma to make camel meat dumlings

According to Khuu, everyone in Mongolia is aware of climate change as a global problem too because they have radios and some have televisions. She also tells me that looking after the environment is deeply embedded in the Mongolian psyche and promises to tell me the old folk tale, which warns Mongolians as children about the dangers of wronging the earth that supports us.

Khuu beating us all at the traditional Mongolian game of anklebone shooting

She tells me that she thinks the nomadic lifestyle will die out and that most Mongolians want to leave the country because they think they can have a better quality of life abroad. I fear she is mistaken though. We may have more money but we are demonstrably no happier for it. Rather than exporting our disfunctional and self-destructive Western ways, in the name of so-called 'development', perhaps we should show a little more humility and learn what we can from societies like Khuu's before we obliterate them completely.

A Russian Climate Story

Russia has a lot to lose from climate change. A recent study by the World bank reported that the country is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to its ageing infrastructure, environmental damage caused by the Soviet regime and extreme weather patterns. In the 50 years the largest territory in the world can look forward to severe storms, heat waves and flooding, which they are ill-prepared to cope with. Herders in the north of the country are increasingly under threat from the melting permafrost.

St Basil's Cathedral, Moscow

Russians refer to an out of place building as a rotten tooth. With the USA and China both now taking climate change more seriously will Russia end up being the 'rotten tooth' in climate negotiations? This is looking less likely than it once was. Russia at last seems to have stepped up to take its important role in the grand political narrative of climate change.

Crumbling church gate, North West of Moscow

And when Russia does decide to take action on climate change mitigation, its socialist structures still in place will make it their achievement easier. For example energy efficiency in buildings will be easier to enforce because freehold of buildings by local government is far more common. In the UK the government has trouble persuading people to install measures like cavity wall insulation, even when it makes financial sense to do so.

So what do real people think about climate change in Russia? The ones I spoke to are by no means a representative sample but their views do provide an interesting insight into how Russians relate to climate change.

Traditional Russian wooden house

With varying degrees of seriousness, everyone jokes that the weather will be more amenable because of climate change. I'm no There is unanimity that the weather has changed in recent years, with much milder winters than they are used to.

There is a feeling that other countries have much to lose from climate change but I'm not sure the connection to increaed natural disasters and global food supply, and the potentially disastrous implications for Russia as a net food importer, have really been made. At least not in the eyes of individuals yet. Many of the people I spoke to believe that it will take a natural disaster, like Hurricane Katrina in the USA, for Russians to take climate change seriously.

Beautiful Lake Baikal, which is under threat from climate impacts

Much fuss is made over how readily Russians have embraced consumerism and how bad this is for climate change, amongst other environmental problems. A few days after my first interview with the six young people from Moscow, I speak again to the most skeptical member of the group, whose first baby is due next spring. He tells me that although some people want only for their children to be rich, he would rather his grew up to be happy. An unusual individual decision or a sign of things to come?

I was particularly struck by the words of Masha from Irkutsk, when she told about the Russian word ABOCb, pronounced avoss, which is roughly equivalent to saying “what the hell, I know something bad might happen but I'm just hoping it will be ok anyway” that is found in their folklore and fairy tales. I wonder just how important the stories we're taught as children are to the lifelong relationship we have with our environment.

Emma with the carriage boss on the Trans-Siberian

The Russia I found was a country of extremes and contradictions. There is a clear deep love of the natural world embedded in the Russian psyche, yet the countryside is liberally strewn with broken vodka bottles. The people I spoke to, although concerned themselves about environmental issues, held little hope for their fellow Russians. Despite the pessimistic attitude for which they are justifiably famous, there is also a sense of possibility, that things can change quickly, in this vast country with an ideological scale to match. 56% of Russians think there government should take stronger action on climate change. Russia seems, at last, to be waking up fast to the realities of climate change and their strong leaders, for better or worse, can implement change at a lightning pace.

Vidana, irkutsk: what does climate change mean to you?

Masha, Irkutsk: what does climate change mean to you?

Masha of Irkutsk

I like Irkutsk right away. It may be the crisper, colder air that gives the city a light feel about it. I am also pleased by the energy efficient light bulbs in the cafe we go to for breakfast but less impressed with the food which remains dominated by meat dumplings.

Masha is twenty three and works at the relaxed and friendly Baikaler hostel. We are shocked to find ourselves thrown into traveller culture for the first time on our trip. I find myself drawn more to talking to our host rather than to other travellers though, and not just for Climate Stories purposes.

Masha & friend Seema enjoying a relaxing Vodka

Masha is the first person I've met who strongly states that climate change is a big problem for Russia. She laments the lack of even basic recycling in her country, or even an awareness that such a thing is possible amongst Russians.

She believes the government must take responsibility for tackling the problem, which is looking much more hopeful these days. She agrees sadly with the Russian saying that you get the government you deserve though and doesn't have much hope they will do enough.

She doesn't think that Russian people are aware enough of climate change. She tells me that things will only change in Russia because that is the way the rest of the world is going, she thinks the nation follows, rather than leads with such matters.

Will & Emma enjoying the view of the beautiful and vulnerable Lake Baikal

The Russian word ABOCb, pronounced avoss, which is roughly equivalent to saying “what the hell, I know something bad might happen but I'm just hoping it will be ok anyway”. She tell me this way of looking at the world is thoroughly embedded in Russian culture, so much that it's a common part of the folklore and fairy tales.

Masha claims to be a realist but talks more like an optimist. She says she expects the worst but hopes for the best. It's difficult to argue with her.

Katia, Yekaterinburg: what does climate change mean to you?

Katia in Yekaterinburg

For some reason I arrive in Yekaterinburg with a little trepidation. Perhaps it's because we've been so lucky so far in meeting some truly lovely people and I'm wondering when our luck might run out. Or maybe it's because I've been reading about Yekaterinburg's bloody history. The last Tzar of Russia was murdered here.

Will debates with some well known Yekaterinburg intellectuals.

We have trouble finding the hostel we've booked. It's definitely not at the X we've marked on the map. However, I already suspect this might be a serendipitous kerfuffle. And I'm right. The charmingly named Meeting Point hostel was recommended to us at a chance meeting with an English girl studying in Kazan and I immediately wanted to go there instead.

Katia, who runs the hostel is in her early twenties, vegetarian and speaks excellent English. She is effervescent in character, with an endearing coughing idiosyncrasy when she speaks. She shares the apparently common Russian love of nature, believes that climate change is caused by human activities and that it's everyone's duty to do something about it.

Emma & Katia

She thinks we need to return to a more natural way of living. She confuses me by saying she isn't prepared to make big sacrifices in her life for any cause but goes on to tell me she turned down a well-paid job with an oil company because she couldn't square it with her conscience. The conversation gradually drifts off onto other things but not before we've agreed that sometimes things can seem like a sacrifice and unexpectedly end up being a wonderful thing.

Alina the Tartar

We leave most of our belongings in the left luggage facility at the station in Kazan, the capital of the autonomous Muslim region of Tartarstan. It was warm when we arrived so when a chill wind brought rain later in the day, we regretted not bringing more sturdy clothing. We spent a miserable hour or so wandering about in the rain, Will looking rather beautiful in my purple cardigan, looking for an internet cafe.

Kazan ... before the rain.

When we finally find one, it's full and we can't work out the infuriatingly incomprehensible queuing system. We're soggy, bedraggled, feeling a little sorry for ourselves and (unfairly) not highly impressed with Kazan, when something wonderful happens. A girl with an American accent asks us if we need help. Alina is a native Muslim Tartar from a village outside Kazan but has been living in New York for the last three years, working and studying English. She takes us to a great cafe that has wifi and delicious cakes.

Alina is always thinking about climate change. She's noticed that it's much warmer than it used to be and believes it to be mainly caused by cities and their polluting industries. She tells me she buys energy efficient products, tries not to use more paper than necessary and gets angry about littering and the pollution of the waterways that is common here.

Alina & Emma

Alina's father works in the oil industry and he has told her that there will be enough oil for his generation and the next (i.e. Alina's) but that the next will have to find alternatives. She worries that so many of the things we rely on are made from oil at the moment.

Echoing other Russian opinions we've encountered so far, she thinks that climate change will affect animals worse than humans and this concerns her greatly. She believes everybody must think about the issue because it's coming whether we like it or not. She thinks we all needs to change the way we live but thinks that human beings are adaptable creatures and is therefore optimistic that we can.

Dennis, Moscow: what does climate change mean to you?

Namik from Azerbaijan

We meet Namik on the overnight train from Moscow to Kazan. Along with our other cabin-mate, as well as half the train it seems, he is on his way to his military school reunion. He's originally from Baku in Azerbaijan and his parents never wanted him to go to military school. They warned him he would be 'married to the army'.

Will & Namik

He tells me the Western world pays more attention to issues like climate change because people from the East are more worried about today. People here are more concerned about their job and their basic needs. He says that 70% of people in Russia are not able to meet their basic needs, although from what I can gather, this may be an exaggeration.

He thinks the government here only talk about climate change because it's an issue for the West, not because it's an issue for Russia. Perhaps also, because it's less of a contentious issue than food shortages.

He tells me he's noticed that the weather is changing though. He visited a place in the North of Russia recently and was told it would get dangerously cold there but it never did. The people there said they had been used to temperatures of 35 degrees centigrade below zero but for the last four years it hadn't got anywhere near that cold.

The Russian military men ... and a gallon of brandy

It's now one thirty in the morning and it's at this point that six burly ex-military Russians stumble into our cabin with a gallon of home-brewed brandy, insisting we help them drink it. The booze is surprisingly pleasant and so is the company. The interview is over but our first night on the trans-Siberian railway has just begun.

Last night in Moscow

My last night night in Moscow we do something we'd been a little disappointed to have avoided so far. We drink vodka. Lots of it. I manage to interview two more people, both in their mid-twenties, before I am completely inebriated. Tanya works for a cosmetics company in a swanky office next to a contemporary art gallery and has the most sparkling smile in Moscow. Dennis works at a cool young TV station that shows mainly cartoons for teenagers, of the Southpark ilk.

Tanya, Emma & Dennis

Tanya isn't familiar with the term climate change as related to global warming is and admits that when she first heard about the Climate Stories project, she thought we were documenting how the weather changed through the regions we're visiting. Having clarified that we're referring to the global environmental problem, she confides she hasn't really thought about it much. She is a massive animal lover though and worries about what impact it will have on wildlife. She is disturbed by the idea that climate change may wipe out up to 50% of all species by the end of the century.

Dennis, Vova, Emma, Tanya & Will

Dennis carries that slightly distant air about him that deeply creative people often do but he is immediately likable. I'm surprised to learn that he is a teetotal, non-smoking vegetarian, which must surely be a rarity in Russia. He is concerned about climate change and thinks that it's everyone's job to fix the problem. He thinks it will take a natural disaster to make people in Russia wake up to the reality of the issue. I tell him this is not a Russian state of mind but a human one and remind him that the US became a lot more concerned about global warming after hurricane Katrina. He high fives me at the end of the interview and I leave Moscow with more hope for the future than I arrived with.

Climate Stories wins award!

As our Facebook or Twitter followers may already know, Climate Stories has been given the Climate Community Citizen of the Week Award! We'd like to thank Dan at the Climate Community, not only for the award but also for his continued support for the project.

Here's what Climate Community has to say about the project:

"Emma and Will our our third winners from Europe. They are from the UK - but are currently on an amazing adventure across Russia and into Asia to discuss Climate Change at the truly grass roots level - with the people in these countries, cities, and towns."

We will be donating the prize money to the Avaaz campaign, which is raising funds to unleash a massive global day of action on 12th December that world leaders cannot ignore at Copenhagen.

More Moscow Minds

Unfortunately I am a complete idiot, somehow managing to delete the video recordings most of my Moscow interviews and some later ones too. I have some notes but I'm really kicking myself for relying so heavily on what I should have known would prove to be unreliable technology.

My last day in Moscow is spent running around the city interviewing to three people, all a generation above the group of young people I first spoke to. I speak to Boris at Focus Media, a public health and social development foundation, and Olga and Lyobov at the Agency for Social Information. I hugely appreciate the time all of them have taken to speak to me. At their offices I get the impression there is always more work to be done.

Boris, like me, used to work for a national agency on climate change issues and has the tired, defeated look that I wish I saw less commonly in older environmentalists. His English isn't perfect (though obviously much better than my Russian!) but he has prepared a statement, which he reads to me. He says that global anthropomorphic climate change is happening right before our eyes and that the potential impacts are frightening. He compares the human race to a greedy crowd of rabbits that destroys itself through over-consumption of natural resources. It's difficult to disagree with him.

Olga seems shy but my interviewing technique is far from polished, which probably doesn't help. She knows climate change is a problem for Russia and wishes her contemporaries took it more seriously. She says her teenage son and his friends are much more aware of environmental issues than her generation. I am also informed that the vodka in Russia is much better in the countryside than the city.

Lyobov has twinkling eyes and a bubbly personality. Like Olga she is modest about her ability to provide an interesting interview but goes on to be absolutely fascinating. She worries about the Russian attitude to the environment in general. She is angry that any areas of natural beauty in the country are spoiled by her littering countrymen. She thinks Russia needs more awareness raising on climate change but remains optimistic about the future.

These three are all deeply concerned about climate change. They tell me that they are taking action in their lives but that the majority of Russian people are not. This sounds little different to a conversation I could have with most educated, middle-class people of their generation in the UK. Caring about the environment, and more specifically tackling climate change, may not be in the forefront of everyone's mind but there are clearly not so few people who are willing to ignore the evidence of climate change that now appears plain to all but a few dwindling 'flat earthers'.

PS Today is Blog Action Day, an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Get involved.