2/24 Copenhagen Report Back in Berkeley, CA

Conversations from the Frontline of the Climate Justice Movement
Wednesday, February 24, 7–9pm
(9–11 pm After-party with DJLN)
at David Brower Center-Goldman Theater
2150 Allston Way, Berkeley CA
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Engage in conversation with leaders in the climate justice movement to discuss strategies and pathways toward achieving a global agreement on climate change. Read more »

2/16 Copenhagen Report Back in Washington, D.C.

Movement Generation and allies host
Evaluating Copenhagen:
What it Means for Ecology, Economy, and Equity
Tuesday, Feb. 16, 7-9 pm
at the Jewish Community Center Theatre
1529 16th St. Northwest, Washington, DC 20036
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This free event will provide alternative perspectives on the Copenhagen summit, reinforce the critical need for a UN climate process, and point to possible ways forward for the December 2010 meeting in Cancun. Read more »

Taking Stock & Looking Forward: Building Climate Justice in 2010

WHEN: Wednesday, January 20, 6:30-9:00 p.m.
WHERE: Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice, 1440 Broadway, Suite 301, Oakland, CA 94612

Much of 2009 was defined by the visibility of Climate Justice organizing throughout the world, and the Bay was no exception. Mobilization for Climate Justice-West, led some of the strongest CJ organizing in the country leading up to Copenhagen. As we close out the year with the Failed Climate Negotiations, what next for Climate Justice organizing in the Bay Area and beyond?
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For a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth

Evo Morales proposed it last April, and now the United Nations has agreed to discuss it. Will humanity adopt a new declaration, one that defends our planet and its biodiversity from extinction? Also, a People’s Assembly on climate change will take place on Mother Earth Day April 22, 2010 in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

January 2, 2010 (Reposted from Bolivia Rising.)

by Pablo Solón and Comrac Cullinan

For Bolivia, December marked an important and historic step forward in climate change politics. We are of course not referring to Brokenhagen, where we saw the worst of intransigent, undemocratic and cynical tactics from the world’s largest emitters of carbon dioxide. The interesting action happened in a completely unreported event in New York when on 22 December, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution which put the issue of Mother Earth rights as an item on the UN agenda.

This might sound rather esoteric, when you consider that in Copenhagen, it was the failure of rich nations to set ambitious and binding specific targets that led to the conference’s rightly discredited conclusion. For Bolivia, which is already facing unprecedented droughts, disappearing glaciers and water shortages, the difference between a target of 2 degrees or 1 degree is a matter of life and death for many. But we also believe that even if we had succeeded in achieving consensus on these important issues, we would still have left with a flawed agreement.

This is because the UN climate change framework does not deal with the root causes of climate change and the wider problem of environmental exploitation. Climate change is like a fever that is symptomatic of an underlying disease which must be cured before the fever will dissipate. The underlying cause is the belief that humans are separate from, and superior to, nature and that more is better. These beliefs have fueled the misconceived and doomed attempts of industrialized, consumer-based societies to achieve lasting human well being by exploiting and damaging Earth.

Bolivia’s proposal for Rights for Mother Earth is therefore about tackling these fundamental underlying issues. For centuries indigenous communities have warned that if human communities are to remain part of the Earth community they must behave as respectful members. We call our planet Pachamama, Mother Earth, because we know we cannot live without her. This understanding is supported not only by ancient spiritual traditions but also by contemporary science which continues to reveals the complex interdependence of life on earth. These perspectives are coming together in what is known as “Earth jurisprudence.”

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Towards a Coordinated and Powerful Climate Justice Movement in the US!

by Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan,
December 18, 2009 (updated 12/21)

The Copenhagen round of the UNFCCC 15^th Conference of Parties has ended in failure  It is essential for the future of life on this planet that we achieve a global pact based on sound science and equity soon.  But given that the U.S. and its key allies were not willing to consider a fair and binding agreement, it is highly encouraging to see that social movements and many third world nations successfully united behind the slogan, “No deal is better than a catastrophic deal.”

Sadly, the US has been unwilling to put forth real solutions with the speed and scale needed. Instead, Hilary Clinton arrived on Thursday trying to extort an unfair deal by offering a vague package of $100 billion that would amount to a new climate colonialism. At the same time, a UNFCC analysis was leaked showing that the combined offerings of the US and other countries would amount to at least a 3 degree Celsius rise.  This would mean the eradication of whole island nations, dire drought for Africa, and massive displacement from increasing storms and flooding in South Asia.
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