Another world is possible, Dakar, Senegal. The March, Feb. 2011 By Pambazuka News
"We are at an unprecedented time in the history of the world - a time at which we must act urgently, with unprecedented unity and clarity, to defend life and our Mother Earth. We face a growing set of crises with climate change at the core, caused by a system that is designed and dominated by elite interests and fundamentally opposed to the interest of people everywhere and to the harmony and integrity of our Mother Earth.
"The movements of women and men, farmers and rural communities, fisher-folk and coastal communities, indigenous peoples, formal and informal workers, climate migrants, youth, and urban poor; and many others from all regions of the world meeting at the World Social Forum in Senegal, Dakar; have a crucial role to play in mobilizing for survival and climate justice."
Excerpts from "THE NEED FOR MAJOR MOBILIZATION TO DEFEND LIFE AND MOTHER EARTH, "February 2011, World Social Forum, Dakar. Visit PanAfrican Climate Justice to Download the Entire Report link
Networking for the Environment by David Millar
from Environmental Networks by David Millar
"At the center of this crisis is the fundamental destabilization of the Earth's climate. Climate· change is unequivocally upon us. Worsening famines in Africa. Fires in Russia. Extreme weather, flooding and devastation in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Australia and numerous other locations worldwide. These are not isolated events but mounting evidence of a growing climate crisis that threatens lives and livelihoods everywhere.
"Climate change is proceeding faster than predicted by the world's scientific body on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in its Fourth Assessment Report. The Earth's climate is "tipping" off balance and we must act swiftly to stabilize it within a range fit for human life and human wellbeing."
WSF Dakar By fdmillar
Climate Bytes from Patrick Bond: Featured Climate Justice News in run up to COP17
DLF CALLS FOR SUSTAINED MOBILISATION FOR 1 MILLION CLIMATE JOBS AND AGAINST UNEMPLOYMENT....
The meeting also discussed the growing lawlessness of the South African state, the inadequacy of the announcements by President Zuma to address the unemployment crisis, and the forthcoming COP17 conference (the 17th Conference of the Parties for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) to be held in eThekwini from 28 November to 9 December 2011.
Revolutions in the Maghreb
The meeting saluted the martyred Mohamed Bouazizi whose self-immolation sparked the historic Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions for people’s power and against the combined failure of dictatorship and neo-liberal economic and social policies. The DLF expresses its full solidarity with the people’s movements and struggles of Tunisia, Egypt, the entire Maghreb region and the Arab world. Their struggles are not just for a representative democracy but represent a global wave of popular struggle against oppression, repression and anti-poor policies promoted by global capitalism over the last several decades. Their struggle is part of the common struggle of humanity for social justice, equality, genuine people’s democracies and freedom of expression. The DLF will now work with other organisations to consider hosting a solidarity visit to South Africa by activists from these countries, which would include a speaking tour, activist forums and a possible solidarity conference.
Bolivia & The Fight Against Climate Change
Zahra Moloo interviews Pablo Solon [mp3], Bolivia’s ambassador to the UN in New York. Solon talks about Bolivia’s stance on climate change before and during the Cancun climate negotiations in December 2010. Bolivia is calling for all countries that signed the Kyoto protocol and other climate engagements to comply with their commitments. He discusses the meaning of sustainable development and suggests a framework of development that is based on humans and nature, rather than humans alone. Solon also mentions the upcoming Rio+20 Earth Summit in 2012 and the development of ‘green capitalism’. Before the summit, Bolivia is to hold a gathering on climate change and mother earth’s rights, to mobilise progressive forces in the fight against climate change and green capitalism.
Say NO to ‘climate loan’
Referring to the current ongoing discussions on climate finance and climate justice, Nepal is one of the recipient countries of the World Bank funded ‘Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR)’ programme. Of the total USD 110 million, USD 50 million is in the form of grant and USD 60 million is a loan offer. In relation to this funding negotiation, we are concerned about the willingness of the Government of Nepal to accept the loan. Contrary to its position, we urge the Government of Nepal to stand by with its positions on climate finance and NOT TO ACCEPT ANY LOAN ON CLIMATE CHANGE. We also oppose the World Bank on pledging of loan for adaptation and resilience to the nations that needs immediate financial support to adapt to adverse effect of climate change. This is intended to devalue and defame the ongoing climate funding process under the UNFCCC mechanism.
The Government of Nepal, recognizing the Nepalese peoples’ rights and sentiments, and its position in international negotiation on behalf of least developed countries group, must consider the following points while agreeing on any decisions related to loan on climate change.
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a.NO LOAN for climate related activities. All the climate finances for the countries of the South must be in the reparation mode.
WSF Dakar By fdmillar
U.S. Says a Binding Climate Deal ‘Not on Cards’ This Year
Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- A legally binding accord to combat
climate change “is not on the cards” at a December summit,
because developing countries such as China, Brazil and India
won’t commit to it, according to U.S. negotiator Todd Stern.
With developing countries unlikely to commit to reducing
greenhouse gases by set targets, the U.S. will push for non-
binding agreements to slow global warming, which will eventually
result in a comprehensive and binding deal, Stern, President
Barack Obama’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, told reporters
in Johannesburg today.
The U.S. would be “perfectly comfortable with a legal
agreement provided it’s legally binding with respect to all the
major players and that includes China, India, Brazil, South
Africa, Indonesia etc,” Stern said. “Our pretty strong
impression is that it’s not on the cards yet. China, India and
others are not prepared to take on that legally binding
agreement yet.”
Permafrost Melt Soon Irreversible Without Major Fossil Fuel Cuts
Once the Arctic gets warm enough, the carbon and methane emissions from thawing permafrost will kick-start a feedback that will amplify the current warming rate, says Kevin Schaefer, a scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado. That will likely be irreversible.
And we're less than 20 years from this tipping point. Schaefer prefers to use the term "starting point" for when the 13 million square kilometres of permafrost in Alaska, Canada, Siberia and parts of Europe becomes a major new source of carbon emissions.
"Our model projects a starting point 15 to 20 years from now," Schaefer told IPS.
The model used a 'middle of the road' scenario with less fossil fuel use than at present. Even at that rate, it found that between 29 and 60 percent of the world's permafrost will thaw, releasing an extra 190 gigatonnes of carbon by 2200. The study is the first to quantify when and how much carbon will be released and was published this week in the meteorological journal Tellus.
"The amount of carbon released is equivalent to half the amount of carbon that has been released into the atmosphere since the dawn of the industrial age," Schaefer said.
HOT SPOTS: The Link to Mass Social Movement & the Climate Justice Movement
Iceland, Denmark, Tunisia, Egypt, and Climate Justice
Abstract: This article looks at how the national mass protests against neoliberal regimes in Iceland, Tunisia, Egypt and other African and Arabic countries and the Wisconsin in the US are linked with the climate justice movement. Both national protests and the climate justice movement are developing unevenly. National protests in some hot spots, the climate campaigning more even all over the world. By looking at how countries like Denmark and its organized civil society acts it can be possible to understand how the struggle both for defensive goals and constructive solutions can strengthen each other by what lacked in Denmark but exists on the global level. That is solidarity against repression and building resistance which enables solutions uniting antineoliberal struggles in general and specific areas. This is important both at transnational level and in countries that are more advanced in this struggle as well as those lagging far behind their objective potential like Denmark or Sweden. The challenge is how to combine the strength of the workers movement lacking a global democratic organization representing the working class also in the South and peasants, environmental, women and indigenous people who have established such global democratic organizations. The argument is that the key lies in combining the workers movements strength in defending the common interests with the offensive constructive program promoted by popular movements that have established global democratic organizations and organize solidarity against repression of all popular movements.
Resources on the Climate Justice Movement
Towards an eco econony
Durban mobilization
Rapdakar.blogspot.com and here
Platform for Climate Justice
Workshop at WSF2011: Peoples' protocol on climate change, Copenhagen, Cochabamba, Cancun ... and now?
Pambazuka News
PanAfrican Climate Justice Alliance