What's
missing from the climate talks? Justice!
Press Release -
Bali, Indonesia, 14 December 2007 -
Peoples from social organizations
and movements from across the globe brought the fight for social,
ecological and gender justice into the negotiating rooms and onto
the streets during the UN climate summit in Bali. [1]
Inside and outside the convention
centre, activists demanded alternative policies and practices that
protect livelihoods and the environment.
In dozens of side events, reports,
impromptu protests and press conferences, the false solutions to climate
change - such as carbon offsetting, carbon trading for forests, agrofuels,
trade liberalization and privatization pushed by governments, financial
institutions and multinational corporations - have been exposed.
Affected communities, Indigenous
Peoples, women and peasant farmers called for real solutions to the
climate crisis, solutions which have failed to capture the attention
of political leaders. These genuine solutions include:
* reduced consumption.
* huge financial transfers from North to South based on historical
responsibility and ecological debt for adaptation and mitigation
costs paid for by redirecting military budgets, innovative taxes
and debt cancellation.
* leaving fossil fuels in the ground and investing in appropriate
energy-efficiency and safe, clean and community-led renewable energy.
* rights based resource conservation that enforces Indigenous land
rights and promotes peoples' sovereignty over energy, forests, land
and water.
* sustainable family farming and peoples' food sovereignty.
Inside the negotiations, the rich
industrialized countries have put unjustifiable pressure on Southern
governments to commit to emissions' reductions. At the same time,
they have refused to live up to their own legal and moral obligations
to radically cut emissions and support developing countries' efforts
to reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts. Once again, the
majority world is being forced to pay for the excesses of the minority.
Compared to the outcomes of the
official negotiations, the major success of Bali is the momentum that
has been built towards creating a diverse, global movement for climate
justice.
We will take our struggle forward
not just in the talks, but on the ground and in the streets - Climate
Justice Now!
Notes
[1] Many social movements and
groups that came together in Bali have agreed to establish a coalition
called Climate Justice Now! in order to enhance exchange of information
and cooperation among themselves and with other groups with the aim
of intensifying actions to prevent and respond to climate change.
Justice must be at the heart of tackling climate change, and must
in no way be sacrificed.
Members of this coalition include:
Carbon Trade Watch,
Transnational Institute;
Center for Environmental Concerns;
Focus on the Global South;
Freedom from Debt Coalition, Philippines;
Friends of the Earth International;
Gendercc - Women for Climate Justice,
Global Forest Coalition;
Global Justice Ecology Project;
International Forum on Globalization;
Kalikasan-Peoples Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE);
La Via Campesina;
Members of the Durban Group for Climate Justice;
Oilwatch;
Pacific Indigenous Peoples Environment Coalition, Aotearoa/New Zealand;
Sustainable Energy and Economy Network;
The Indigenous Environmental Network;
Third World Network;
WALHI/ Friends of the Earth Indonesia;
World Rainforest Movement
International press contacts:
Walden Bello, Focus on the Global
South. Mobile: +62 852 387 14793 or +66 81 935 0633
Henry Saragih, La Via Campesina.
Mobile: +62 816344441
Joseph Zacune, Friends of the
Earth International. Mobile: +62 81 338969955
Tamra Gilbertson, TNI +62 8174779110
Sandy Gauntlett, Global Forest
Coalition. Mobile: +62 81 338938574
Janet Redmann, Sustainable Energy
and Economy Network. Mobile +81 338984882
Dr. Michael Dorsey. Mobile +62
81 338 950482 or +1734 945 6424
Indonesian press contacts:
Farah Sofa, WALHI/ Friends of
the Earth Indonesia. Mobile: +62 81 1194773
