Oslo - Governments must confront risks that the UN's Kyoto Protocol for fighting climate change will collapse because of splits about a successor treaty, the UN's top climate official said on Monday.

Koenigswinter - Outgoing UN climate chief Yvo de Boer shot down expectations of a climate treaty this year, saying on Monday that a major UN conference in December would yield only a "first answer" on curbing greenhouse gases.

COP-15 was a failure waiting to happen.

Hardly any of the disagreements between countries on major issues that the two-year Bali Roadmap intended to resolve were bridged, in time to conclude with a full set of agreements in Copenhagen. Coming into the summit, almost everyone knew that a final deal could not be reached. As the deadline closed in, leaders downgraded expectations for the summit’s presumed outcome to a “political agreement”, something that can at least provide a framework for details to be filled in as negotiations extend for another six to twelve months. This, despite the science pointing to the need for urgent and drastic action, particularly as emissions continue to climb and as changes in the climate continue to overshoot earlier projections.

From 7-18 December 2009, the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. In this event, 192 nations with 115 heads of government gathered to work on a framework for climate change mitigation beyond 2012.

Climate change has already claimed millions of victims. Not where we live, but in the South. Farmers, cattle breeders and fishermen are complaining that seasons seem to have a mind of their own, downpours and cyclones that destroy everything, drought that scorches the earth and a lack of sweet water. Ever-increasing poverty is making many leave in search of a nice, pleasant place to live…

Climate Chaos in the South/Caos climatico en el Sur is a documentary film which is available in four languages (Dutch, English, French and Spanish). This project is an initiative of NGOs which aims to provide voice of the victims of climate change in the South.

Please visit www.caosclimatico.be to watch the trailer and to find other information on this film.

This primer traces the roots of the climate crisis as well as other social crises

to the dominant economic paradigm and the prevailing socio-economic system in the world today -- a system that has proven capable of generating unprecedented wealth for some at the same time impoverishing the majority of the people and devastating the planet. It shows the limits and adverse implications of profit-oriented technological fixes and market-based solutions being promoted by corporate and elite interests who are determined to maintain the status quo.  It points to the need for a radical change in the distribution of wealth and power within societies and between countries in order to arrest climate change and shift towards sustainable human development.  The primer concludes by identifying urgent tasks for social movements fighting for a just and sustainable future.

Download here

Source: www.EndDuchenne.org

Marking World Water Day, Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Monday he has decided to ask the United Nations to make access to potable water a "universal human right."            

Morales, known for his environmental advocacy, said the declaration would put political backing behind necessary actions to deliver safe drinking water as a basic service to the more than 1 billion people worldwide who do not have access to safe water.            

[Evo Morales, Bolivian President]:
"Declare access to potable water and basic sanitation a universal human right so that states and the UN move forward in respects to this right and use progressive national and international measures to universally apply it."          

In mostly indigenous El Alto, a sprawling lower-class satellite city north of the country's administrative capital La Paz, 9-year-old Orlando Lanchipa Guarachi collects water in these containers to bring back to his family's home.            

Despite recent government efforts to provide clean water to all citizens, it is estimated that 30 percent of Bolivians lack access to potable water.            

[Alicia Lanchapa Guarachi, Mother]:
"We don't have water. Many of us struggle with water. Recently we have been sending the kids to school dirty because there is not enough water."

by ACT for Climate Justice

Two environmental activists appeared in court today accused of terrorism-related offences during the Copenhagen climate summit in December.

Please visit this link for details.

By Leonardo Boff

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb (IPS) There is no political formulation of the interests of humanity or mother earth that protects their nature and cultures. For centuries we have lived under the jurisdiction of nation states and their assorted forms of sovereignty and autonomy. But as all problems become increasingly global, this political model is proving incapable of offering the solutions needed by humanity and the planet as a whole.

The United Nations would be the right organisation to perform this function, but it is completely demoralised and the only part of it
with real power is the Security Council, which is controlled by the veto-wielding, five major powers, led by the United States.

There is no world social contract that sets global political practices, nor is there a collective reference to build consensus and settle conflicts. This is one of the reasons for the failure of international meetings on global affairs, like the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference or the World Trade Round in Doha.

Simultaneous civil society protest rally both in London and Dhaka,
Call on the eve of BDF meeting

Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, Mobile : +8801711529792
Equity and Justice Working Group Bangladesh

Dhaka, 15th February 2010. Today twenty one civil society organizations (CSO), in a rally
and human chain in front of national press club, called upon the developed country representatives and donors, who are participating in Bangladesh Development Forum BDF, to pay their carbon debt as compensation. Speakers from the Human Chain said that Bangladesh is facing most catastrophic caused by climate change, which is the result of high carbon emissions historically by the developed countries.

They also claimed that developed countries are indebted to the people of Bangladesh and they should pay their carbon debt. The rally blamed that, developed countries are not keeping their commitment in supporting the climate change affected countries; they remind them to keep their commitment. Mustafa Kamal Akanda of EquityBD moderated the rallywhere Badrul Alam of La Via Campesina, Feroz Ahmed of Lead Trust, Prodip Roy of On Line knowledge Center, Shamsuddoha  and Rezaul K. Chowdhury of EquityBD also spoke.

from Bretton Woods Project

Leaked documents reveal that the World Bank is anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Copenhagen Accord on climate change and is optimistic that it will play a leading role in future climate finance. Meanwhile, the looming gap in finance left unresolved in Copenhagen are turning attention to proposals for innovative sources, including those that involve the IMF.

To read the rest of the article please click here.

On 19 November, the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi received some unusual visitors. Even the police and security personnel stationed in the heavily-guarded Chanakyapuri area of Delhi where Norwegian and other embassies are located could not figure out the purpose of these visitors. Though they were Indian citizens, ethnically they belonged to a distinct tribal minority group called Dongria Kondh. Dressed in their traditional attire, these tribal representatives came all the way from the remote Niyamgiri hills of Orissa to express gratitude to the Norwegian government for removing UK-based Vedanta Resources Plc from its investment portfolio. What was even more perplexing was that instead of protesting with placards and banners, the tribal representatives quietly met officials at the Norwegian Embassy and handed over a letter of thanks besides gifting them two photographs depicting the natural beauty of their habitat. So, in many ways, their visit was unusual.

Technology transfer is one of the four key topics being discussed under negotiations on Long-Term Cooperative Actions in Copenhagen (the others are mitigation, adaptation and financing). The inter-governmental negotiating text that is under discussion contemplates various measures for accelerating the diffusion of technologies. It will most likely create an ?Action Plan? as well as a ?Technology Body? and various technical panels or innovation centres that will prove influential in the coming years in deciding which technologies get financial and political backing. We need to make sure the right technologies get the support they need and the wrong ones are discarded. That won?t happen without a comprehensive social and environmental assessment process.

Sign on: http://www.etcgroup.org/en/node/4956

Geneva, 8 Feb (Meena Raman) -- Thirty-nine developed countries, referred to as Annex 1 Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), have submitted their national pledges for emissions reductions (in percentage by 2020 from a base year of 1990 or 2005), and have expressed their association with the Copenhagen Accord.

[This article is coming out with the EDM Magazine November-December issue. EDM is being produced by IBON International.]

After Copenhagen, Danny Chivers offers some thoughts on what comes next – complete with positive suggestions and glimmerings of hope.

Mr. Tony Tujan, Jr., IBON International Director, was recently interviewed by Redaktion E+Z/D+C on the challenges facing the international community after the failed UN climate summit (COP 15).

The climate negotiation in the Fifteenth Conference of Parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen has come to a sour end. The world's high expectation for a meaningful and binding agreement is doused with icy cold water by a non-binding deal dubbed as "Copenhagen Accord" - a deal primarily brokered by the most powerful and leading polluter country in the world - the United States.

Below is a link and photo of the Dec.7 protest action for the COP15 opening. This was taken in front of the US Embassy in Manila where protesters held a program after marching from Taft Avenue. Police officers blocked the protesters from getting near the embassy gate.

Copenhagen, 21 December (Meena Raman) - During the final hours of the Copenhagen climate conference, after a decision to "take note" of the Copenhagen Accord, high drama and intense exchanges continued among Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change as developed countries attempted to stretch the meaning of "taking note" into forming some kind of a plurilateral agreement among Parties who had agreed to the Accord.

Copenhagen, 21 December (Meena Raman) - Parties at the Copenhagen climate meetings have requested the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex 1 Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) to continue their work and present results by the next meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) and the COP serving as the Meeting of Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) in 2010.

Copenhagen, 20 December (Martin Khor) -- The Copenhagen Climate Conference ended in disarray because a secretive meeting of leaders of 26 countries held within the conference centre and convened by the Danish Presidency of the conference was seen as undemocratic by many developing countries, and the Copenhagen Accord arising from that meeting was thus only "noted" and not adopted.

Copenhagen, December 18 (Meena Raman)- In the last remaining hours of the Copenhagen climate conference, turmoil prevails and whether there will be any outcome is uncertain.

Copenhagen, 17 Dec (Meena Raman) -- The basis of negotiations at the climate conference would be texts that are outcomes of the Working Groups that had worked until Wednesday and not any texts prepared by the Danish Presidency.

Copenhagen, 16 Dec (Hira Jhamtani) - In an unexpected move, the Danish Presidency of the Copenhagen Climate Conference made an announcement that it intends to table a draft Copenhagen outcome consisting of two texts based on the prior work by Parties.

Copenhagen, 16 December (Chee Yoke Ling) -- The United States has strongly reiterated its rejection of the Kyoto Protocol and any decision from the Copenhagen climate conference that may imply a structure like the Protocol that sets out legally binding greenhouse gas emission reduction targets backed by a system of measurement, verification and reporting.

Copenhagen, 16 December (Meena Raman) - Developing countries launched a revolt in the opening of the Copenhagen high-level segment against an attempt by the Denmark government to introduce new texts of its own as the basis for negotiating the final outcome in the Climate Change Conference.

Copenhagen 15 Dec (Hira Jhamtani) -- Late afternoon of 15 December sees no light yet at the end of the tunnel in the conclusion of the second commitment period of developed country Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

Copenhagen, 15 December (Meena Raman) - Confusion reigns over the negotiations at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen as the Ministerial-level process led by the Danish Climate Minister Ms. Connie Hedegaard which started on Monday interfaced with and clashed with the negotiators' processes in two working groups.

Copenhagen, 15 December (Meena Raman) -German Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen co- chaired the informal consultations on the work of the Ad-hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol with Indonesia's former environment minister, Rachmat Witoelar, who is now head of the National Council for Climate Change.

Copenhagen, December 14 (Meena Raman)- The climate conference in Copenhagen appeared to have slipped into a crisis on Monday as developing countries insisted that the process, that now includes Ministers, give top priority to developed countries committing themselves to emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol and its second commitment period.

Wahu Kaara of the Kenya Debt Relief Network and member of the Peoples' Movement on Climate Change appeared in the December 15 broadcast of Democracy Now!, and was quoted in an article in the Guardian.

Copenhagen day of mass protest passes without major incident
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/16/copenhagen-protest

Wahu Kaara, a Kenyan member of the People's Movement for Climate Change, said direct action was vital after the failure of the talks so far. "Sovereignty of the people is the only solution to the climate crisis. Negotiators in the rooms make deals for profit at the expense of people's lives."

Copenhagen, Denmark (15 December 2009) - The Peoples' Movement on Climate Change (PMCC) staged a protest action yesterday condemning developed countries for their unjust positions and obstruction of progress in the UN climate talks. The group showed their condemnation by throwing shoes at a mural of G8 leaders.

Copenhagen, 12 December (Meena Raman) - The future of the climate regime hangs on a fine balance as the clash between developed and developing countries over the survival of the Kyoto Protocol prevails at the Copenhagen Climate Conference.

Copenhagen, 14 December (Martin Khor) -- More than half way through the UN Copenhagen climate conference, the fate of the meeting lies in the balance between partial success and outright failure.

Copenhagen, 11 December 2009 (Meena Raman) - There was an important turn of events at the Copenhagen Climate Conference on Friday when the Chairs of the two main working groups issued draft texts early in the morning which they proposed for negotiations among the Parties.

Copenhagen, 11 December 2009 (Meena Raman) - The fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) was suspended yesterday over an agenda item relating to the consideration of proposals by Parties for amendments to the Kyoto Protocol (KP).

Copenhagen, 10 December (Hira Jhamtani) -- The discussion on emission reduction commitments by developed countries under the Kyoto Protocol almost went into a crisis on Wednesday when two developed countries said the announcement of pledges made by their government was not done in the context of their obligation under the Protocol.

Copenhagen, 10 December (Chee Yoke Ling) -- The second meeting of the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was suspended on Wednesday when there was no consensus among the Parties to set up a contact group on proposed new protocols under the Convention.

Copenhagen, 9 December 2009 (Meena Raman)-- A major issue that has grabbed the attention of delegations, civil society and media alike at the Copenhagen Climate Conference has been news of a leaked draft document called the "The Copenhagen Agreement" for adoption by the Conference of Parties at its conclusion, as Parties were engaged in negotiations in the various processes under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

Copenhagen, Tuesday 8 December 2009 (Josie Lee)--Developing countries on Tuesday reiterated their concerns over the Global Environment Facility, while also stressing again that more finance needs to be provided for the implementation of adaptation and mitigation actions in their countries.

Copenhagen, 8 December(Meena Raman) - The G77 and China said that during the past two years of the climate negotiations, developing countries faced proposals from developed countries that are incoherent and inconsistent with the principles and provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Copenhagen, 8 December (Hira Jhamtani) -- Developing countries reiterated their position that ambitious targets by developed countries for the second and subsequent commitment periods for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol is the basis for a successful outcome of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, which opened here on Monday, 7 December.

Copenhagen, 8 December 2009 (Meena Raman) - At the opening sessions of the Copenhagen Climate Conference, the developing countries warned the developed countries not to continue to attempt to shift their responsibilities in the global effort to combat climate change onto the developing countries.
The G77 and China said it rejected attempts by the developed countries to push for a new legally binding instrument that would revoke the principle of common and differentiated responsibilities. The Africa Group said Kyoto Protocol must survive and continue to function as the most important implementing instrument of the Convention. It was opposed to the re-negotiation of the UNFCCC, which could lead to the complete collapse of the fight against climate change.

PMCC network members from different countries launch national activities in support to the Peoples' Assembly on Climate Change and other people's actions at the KlimaForum in Copenhagen during the UNFCCC COP 15.

The Peoples' Movement on Climate Change endorses the People's Declaration from Klimaforum09: "System change, not climate change". PMCC encourages its members, networks and friends to endorse the Declaration as well.

Kindly sign the name of your organization, and the Peoples' Movement on Climate Change. For example: Asia Pacific Research Network/Peoples' Movement on Climate Change.

Sign on here

Download and read the Declaration in English, Francais, or Español.

Copenhagen, Denmark (11 December 2009) - The Peoples' Movement on Climate Change (PMCC) called on US President Barack Obama to earn his Nobel Peace Prize by paying America's climate debt. The statement comes a day after Obama collected his award in Oslo, Norway, and on the fifth day of the UN Climate Change Conference.

Kenya has released a four-part video of their recently concluded national climate change assembly. This event was held at Huruma Grounds, Nairobi on December 9, 2009. This event is part of the many national assemblies held in support to the Peoples' Protocol on Climate Change.

Watch the first video here. The other parts of the video can be found in our video gallery.

The Philippines came out with videos of two actions on climate change in the Philippines.

First is on a multi-sectoral action on the climate crisis was organized by Kalikasan, BAYAN, the Philippine Climate Watch Alliance from 9am to 12nn in December 7, 2009. The march started from Plaza Salamangka (cor. TM Kalaw - Taft Ave.) to UN Ave. cor. Roxas Blvd. fronting the US Embassy.

Second is on a Speak Out! event organized by IBON Foundation in Quezon City, Philippines on 9 December 2009.

Copenhagen, Denmark - On 9 December 2009, representatives and leaders of grassroots organizations from across the South gather for the Peoples' Assembly on Climate Change to demand a people-centered response to the global climate crisis. The Assembly comes as world leaders meet for the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will decide the fate of the climate and the planet.

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (10 December 2009) - On Human Rights Day, the Peoples' Movement on Climate Change (PMCC) demand negotiators in the UN Climate Change Conference to make human rights the center of their negotiations for a global climate deal.

"Climate change causes human rights violations at every turn, from new health risks, to mass migration, to falling food and water supplies, to the disappearance of shelter, land, lives, livelihoods, and cultures. And those worst affected are the same ones whose rights protections are already precarious - the poor in developing countries, women, farmers, coastal and island dwellers, and indigenous people," says Wahu Kaara of the PMCC.

09 December 2009, Chiang Mai, Thailand - All the way from Copenhagen, Santa Claus joined Buddhist monks with the people of Chiang Mai for a bicycle rally on December 9, 2009, and delivered not toys, but the people's messages and demands for climate justice, particularly lesser greenhouse gas emissions and accountability from first world countries.

Manila, Philippines - As 15th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 15) enters its third day, cause-oriented groups and progressive educators in the Philippines hit the US and other developed countries for refusing to take responsibility for global warming.

Copenhagen, 7 November (Martin Khor*) -- This year's biggest global event - the United Nations Copenhagen climate conference - begins today.

Copenhagen, 7 November (Martin Khor)* - The lead up to Copenhagen saw a flurry of activities by some world leaders to give impetus to the highly anticipated conference on climate change, after gloom cast on it when it was made known that there would be no legally binding agreement to be expected from it.

Copenhagen, Demark - Climate activists and people's organizations gather in front of the Bella Center on December 9, Wednesday, for the Peoples Action for Climate Solutions. The protest action comes on the third day of the 192-country UN Climate Change Conference, which is expected to conclude with a strong agreement for global action to address climate change.

As world leaders meet for the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), people's groups in different countries including the Philippines hold protest actions to demand a people-centered response to the global climate crisis.

The Coastal Development Partnership (CDP) is organizing the National Peoples' Assembly on Climate Change for Bangladesh. This will be held on 6 December 2009 at Rabindra Sarobar, Dhaka at 10.30 am-12.00pm.

On the occasion of holding the 15th session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Changes (COP15) in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December 2009, the Forum of Alternatives Morocco (FMAS) and the Portal of the civil society Maghreb Mashreq E-Joussour in collaboration with the Forum Social Maghreb, the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (OMDH) and the Right to Water Forum in the Arab Region (RWFAR), organize an outreach and advocacy on climate changes on 7 December 2009 in Rabat.

Ethiopia has successfully held its national assembly on climate change on December 3 in Addis Abbaba. Dubbed the National Ethiopian People's Assembly on Climate change, the event was attended by 38 representatives of pastoralists, farmers, consumers, academia, CSOs/NGOs, youth, women, government bodies, and the private sector drawn from seven regions out of nine.

{mosimage}The Story of Cap & Trade is a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the leading climate solution being discussed at Copenhagen and on Capitol Hill. Host Annie Leonard introduces the energy traders and Wall Street financiers at the heart of this scheme and reveals the "devils in the details" in current cap and trade proposals: free permits to big polluters, fake offsets and distraction from what's really required to tackle the climate crisis. If you've heard about Cap & Trade, but aren't sure how it works (or who benefits), this is the film is for you.

The Story of Cap & Trade from Story of Stuff Project on Vimeo.

The film story of Cap and Trade will be ready for release by December 1. A trailer has been released. Watch it here: http://storyofstuff.com/capandtrade/

The Peoples' Protocol on Climate Change has been translated into the Ethiopic Amharic language and writing by the Ecological Consumers' Association (ECOYM). Read and download this translation here.

The Peoples' Protocol on Climate Change is the result of a 2-year global process of awareness-raising and movement-building among affected communities and peoples in the South and in the North.

Community 350 climate pledge: Community people affected by coal ash dumping and coal fired power plant expansion made a 350 climate pledge.

A fisherfolk action that was held around noon in September 29 in front of the UNESCAP building in Malaysia. The picket was meant as a symbolic action to raise the concerns of the fisherfolk on the ongoing climate negotiations.

The Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific will host an international conference entitled “Confronting the Food Crisis and Climate Change” to be held from the 27th-29th September at the Copthorne Orchid Hotel in Penang, Malaysia. The conference will feature over 100 participants representing countries from the Asia Pacific region, Africa, North America and Europe.

An African workshop on the climate change crisis led to the formation of the Africa Peoples' Movement on Climate Change (A-PMCC), which issued their declaration and calls in confronting the climate crisis.

Various civil society networks and organizations are gearing several actions on climate change issues in parallel with the UNFCCC-COP intersessional meeting in Bangkok from September 28 to October 9.

In April 2009 EquityBD, along with its campaign members, launched a campaign to realize the rights of climate change induced forced migrants, who are incorrectly termed as ‘climate refugees’ or ‘environmentally displaced persons'. EquityBD launched this campaign calling global leaders to develop a new legal instrument under a Protocol to the UNFCCC to ensure social, cultural and economic rehabilitation of the ‘climate change induced forced migrants’ through recognizing them as ‘Universal Natural Persons’.

Click for the position paper "Climate Change Induced Forced Migrants".
To Sign on the call please click here.

Global Europe and Sustainable Development: Implications for Climate Change and Agriculture

The report examines the EU trade policy ‘Global Europe’ and the trade negotiations being conducted with a range of developing countries in Latin merica, Africa and Asia, where a large proportion of the world’s poorest people live. The partner organisations of the Swedish Society for ature Conservation on various continents contributed to this report.

The report analyses how trade policy and the various trade agreements can affect the possibilities for developing countries to pursue a sustainable evelopment policy and thereby adapt themselves to global warming and strengthen their agriculture. The report also examines Sweden’s attitude nd contribution to EU trade policy.

You can find the report on
http://www.naturskyddsforeningen.se/In-english/Climate/global-europe-and-sustainable-development/

TWN Info Service on Climate Change (Nov08/04)
21 November 2008
Third World Network

On 18 November 2008, US President-elect Barack Obama sent a video message to conference on global warming organized by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California.

Below is a transcript of Obama's video speech, as prepared by the Obama transition office. 

 “Judging from the Summit’s communiqué  on the environment and climate change released yesterday, the G8 countries are not ready to commit to fulfilling their responsibilities in mitigating climate change. While they reconfirm the significance of the IPCC report and recognize the need for a 50% reduction in global emissions by 2050, no definite timeline, plans and actions are being agreed on,” says Maria Theresa Lauron of the Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN), composed of 50 research organizations from 19 countries in the Asia Pacific region.

 Worse, Lauron adds that the Summit has been manipulated by the US, UK, Japan and World Bank in pushing for market-based mechanisms and solutions long criticized by CSOs, academics and even by a number of Southern governments to be unsustainable.

 In particular is the G8’S support for the World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds including the Clean Technology Fund and the Strategic Climate Fund which basically seek to scale up public and private finance to deploy cleaner energy technologies to developing nations, in addition to supporting adaptation.

 Syamsul Ardiansyah of the Institute for National and Democratic Studies in Indonesia, member organization of APRN, questions the irony, “Why will you allow an institution with a horrible record of supporting fuel extraction to manage climate fund?” Ardiansyah, citing figures from EndOilAid.org, adds that WB’s support for fossil fuel extraction has increased 93% in 2006 compared to 2005, its lending for fossil fuels increased at a rate exceeding that of lending for renewable technologies.

 US President George Bush is pushing for clean technology and domestic oil production as solutions to climate change, which critics argue, is a way of justifying his administration’s plan to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling and oil exploration. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a site that is home to a number of protected species.  In addition, the Bush wanted China and India to make the same commitments to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

 Aside from clean technologies, the G8 countries are promoting market mechanisms such as tax incentives, performance-based regulation, emissions-trading and taxes and consumer labeling. Alarming is also the fact that these wealthy nations are aggressively advancing the use of biofuels. Lauron states, “It is ironic that the global food security is one of the issues discussed and yet, even the WB reports that biofuels production has actually forced global food prices to increase by a staggering 75%, in addition to displacing farmers and indigenous peoples from their lands and compromising their health and livelihoods”.

 Lauron acknowledges the importance of technological fixes and funding support as short-term solutions. In the long run, the real solution to the climate crisis is a sustainable economic framework, which is the basic demand of grassroots in the South, as reflected in the People’s Protocol on Climate Change, which is a Southern initiative to bring forth to the climate change negotiating table the concerns and demands of peoples who are worst-affected and yet are the least empowered to adapt to climate change.

 Lauron concludes, “The G8 climate vision is a distorted view of the whole climate change issue. The masquerade is over. The large and numerous protest actions against the G8 summit from all over the world could only mean that the people will not be fooled into all the greenwashing by the G8 nations. People’s movements are now building their strength towards a climate friendly future based on the principles of people’s sovereignty, social justice, respect for the environment and common but differentiated responsibilities”.

For more information on the People’s Protocol on Climate Change Campaign, please visit www.peoplesclimateprotocol.aprnet.org

Contact: Maria Theresa Lauron at secretariat@aprnet.org

Telefax: +6324251387

BAGUIO CITY — Indigenous peoples (IPs) zoom in the problem of climate change as   one major issue   endangering their very existence.

This was emphasized in the press conference of the recently concluded Asia Workshop for the Promotion of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) here Tuesday. 

Bangkok, 3 April -- World Bank initiative to establish climate funds of $5-11 billion has come under heavy fire from the Group of 77 and China and individual developing countries during a meeting of the UN Convention on Climate Change.

 “There are monies and funds outside the UNFCCC that undermine the efforts at the Convention on financial resources,” said Bernarditas Muller of the Philippines and coordinator of the G77 and China in the ad hoc working group on long-term cooperative action, which is tasked with following up on the Bali Action Plan adopted at the climate conference in Bali last December.

By Walter Brandimarte

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Bolivian President Evo Morales on Monday criticized "some South American presidents" for supporting the use of biofuels, which he said are responsible for high food prices and global hunger.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080420/sc_afp/foodbiofuelsclimatewarming

In the hopes of agreeing on a roadmap towards a Kyoto II agreement, representatives from 180 countries, together with CSOs and intergovernmental organizations, gathered in the “land of the gods” –Bali, Indonesia- from December 3-14, 2007.

As the COP13 and CMP 13 meetings droned on inside the Bali International Convention Centre, CSOs gathered outside to express their demands and frustrations over mechanisms that floated during the negotiations- the Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) and the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)- which were criticized to lack teeth in curbing greenhouse gas emissions necessary to prevent climate change.

Numerous parallel activities were held such as the activities at the CSO Forum and the People’s Protocol on Climate Change campaign. A discussion with tribal leaders was held in the mountain area of Sumber Klampok in East Java and came up with the Sumber Klampok Declaration. The declaration states the indigenous groups’ commitment to help solve the climate change problem by protecting the environment through local wisdom. The declaration also listed their statement of principles which rests on sustainable development and demanded the government to protect their rights and ensure their welfare in coming up with mitigation and adaptation measures. The document was incorporated into the draft People’s Protocol.  And on December 8, around 80 participants took part in a People’s Workshop in Denpasar, the capital of Bali, which became the venue to discuss and debate on the Bali negotiations and to critique the draft Protocol. The workshop was sponsored and organized by IBON and hosted by a number of Indonesian organizations.

December 9 was the International Day of Action and on December 10 –international human rights day- a nationwide rally was held in 14 key cities in Indonesia and participated by five thousand people calling for people’s sovereignty on natural resources and supporting the call for a People’s Protocol on Climate Change.

From the speech Evo Morales made at the recent United Nations Permanent Forum of Indigenous Peoples on climate change

Consume only what is necessary, avoid extravagance, waste, luxury and the desire to get rich.

President Evo Morales told the United Nations that in order to save the planet, we must eradicate the capitalist model, and the North must pay its ecological debt.  This was the first of Ten Commandments presented by the leader during the inauguration of the VII Indigenous Forum of the United Nations during a long speech that received high acclaim by those who attended the annual encounter.