messages of solidarity

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• Find out how you can join the Flood for Climate Justice
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Today in solidarity with Africa Friends of the Earth International held an action in support of African delegates’ insistence that developed countries commit to new, strong binding targets. Delegates and observers were invited to join a human shield against the killing of Kyoto targets and instead urged to promote at least 40% emission reductions with no offsets by 2020.

Kamese Geoffrey of NAPE/ Friends of the Earth Uganda warned:

"Rich countries are attempting to dodge their legal and moral responsibilities to reduce emissions. Developing countries and communities have historically had practically no fault in the creation of climate change, yet they will be the first to face the devastating impacts of climate change."

Millions of people are already being affected by climate change impacts such as floods and droughts.

Line Kirk of Young Friends of the Earth said:

"The world needs those responsible for climate change legally bound to act. Rich industrialised (Annex I) countries are proposing the replacement of a legally binding instrument with a voluntary pledge system, which will almost certainly spell disaster for the planet and all people. We demand our future is secured through strong new targets for rich countries - without offsetting - under the Kyoto Protocol."

further reading

Young Friends of the Earth Europe are also in Barcelona. Read their blog here

Read Kate Horner's blog from Friends of the US

It's been a fairly acrimonious two weeks with possibly the highest level of mistrust and tension between negotiating parties in recent years.

In the past two weeks there has been a notable display of innovation: though not at all of the kind of innovation we need, such as declarations to keep the oil in the soil, the coal in the hole and the tar sands in the land - but innovative redefinition of what it means to be historically responsible for climate change.

In attempts to get the US into the climate agreement, developed countries are proposing to junk the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (the only international legally binding treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions) and arguing that this is the only way to get an effective action on climate change.

After South Africa proposed a means to limit the amount of offsetting that developed countries could use in meeting emissions reduction targets, the New Zealand government was quoted as saying "but if we put limits on offsetting, we would have to move our target to zero".

developed vs developing

A member of the Australian government delegation proposed that we "smooth over" the distinction between developed and developing countries.

After fielding critical questions about the USA government's refusal to enter into an agreement with stringent international compliance; one of their lead negotiators responded with "China has not agreed to any international compliance in last 20 years."  [there is the minor level of compliance required in TRIPS and trade agreements for one....]

Developing countries have offered sharp retorts to developed country proposals which also deserve recognition:

In response to developed countries proposals to expand offset markets, the
government of Venezuela on behalf of several Latin American countries
responded "It is simply unfair, unreasonable and unhelpful to hide the conflicting economic interests of developed countries behind efforts to reenact olden days 'land- grabs' by modern days 'sky-grabs'."

In response to developed countries refusal to accept proposals that will required them to finance the mitigation, adaptation and technology transfer needs of developing countries, through new democratic financial institutions rather than the World Bank; the government of Philippines on behalf of the G77+China offered developing countries "Capacity building on how to fulfil Convention obligations."

So, one of the inspiration outcomes of the Bangkok climate talks is the force with which developing countries are refusing to accept the backtracking of developed countries to meet their legal and historical obligations.

Next stop Barcelona. Find out more.

• Watch all the videos on the Friends of the Earth website
  

• Watch all the videos on the Friends of the Earth US website

Our civil society debates, demonstrations and forums coincide with the UN climate talks - the fourth gathering of the year in preparation to the climate summit in Copenhagen this December.

The civil society program has included daily mobilisations demanding the repayment of the climate debt, the exclusion of the World Bank and other international financial institutions from climate finance, and the rights of indigenous peoples, fisherfolk and women to be protected.

The forums have focussed on articulating how we can achieve climate justice - real solutions to climate change that don't risk either people or the planet.

official talks

Meanwhile the official climate talks have been significantly undermined by the regressive position of wealthy industrialised countries, particularly the US, who are failing to meet their obligations to accept emissions reduction targets and financing for developing countries in line with what science requires.

This is wearing thin the patience of many developing countries who are now questioning whether an agreement in Copenhagen is possible with such limited political will of the developed countries.

nnimmo bassey

In his interview with Time magazine Nnimmo talks of how a massacre in 1990 by Nigeria's armed forces prompted him into championing the environment and rights of the people around him.

"We realized that if people don't have a safe environment to live in, then they don't have literally any other rights," he says.

He talks about the work of Friends of the Earth Nigeria in documenting the environmental abuse caused by the oil companies, his efforts to educate people on their rights and the fact that his work often puts him on a collision course with the authorities.

"Oil has been the destruction of the Nigerian economy," says Bassey. "It destroys the relation between the people and the state" he says.

Read Nnimmo's interview

Syeda Rizwana Hasan

Rizwana, who is also a member of the Friends of the Earth International board, has been nominated for her legal work in advocating for tighter regulations for the country's environmentally devastating ship-breaking industry

Ship breaking is a big employer in Bangladesh - last year over 150 ships were decommissioned - and the authorities often turn a blind out to the immense harm it causes.

Rizwana sees it differently, "It's better to be jobless than to have a job that gives you cancer" she says.

In March 2009, the Supreme Court laid down strict regulations on the industry, resulting in the closure of 36 ship breaking yards operating without environmental clearance.

The government has since appealed against the ruling but Rizwana and her team will fight on.

"I don't want the outside world to think of Bangladesh as a dumping site," she says. "It is against my dignity. It is against the dignity of my nation and the dignity of the people."

Read Rizwana's interview

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) applauds the return to Honduras of its legitimate president, Manuel Zelaya, who has taken refuge in the Embassy of Brazil in Tegucigalpa. At the same time we note with grave concern the siege on the Brazilian Embassy and the increase in repression following the return of President Zelaya.

Friends of the Earth International denounces the gross human rights violations in Honduras perpetuated by the illegitimate government. This repression violates international norms and cannot be accepted under any circumstances.

The people of Honduras have stood firmly by their legitimate president and have not wavered since the day the unfortunate usurpation of power took place on 28 June 2009.

Friends of the Earth International calls on the international community to pressure the illegitimate authorities in Tegucigalpa to step aside for dialogue and for the completion of term of the legitimate president. Specifically, Friends of the Earth International calls on the Security Council of the United Nations to take immediate actions to stem the rise of violence in Honduras.

We also assure the peoples of Honduras of the continued support and solidarity of our 77 groups and 2 million members spread around the world.

Nnimmo Bassey
Chair, Friends of the Earth International

• Find out more about our response to the coup and donate to the solidarity fund
  

“Have you ever been inside an empty stadium? Try it sometime. Stand in the middle of the field and listen. There is nothing emptier than an empty stadium. There is nothing more silent than the stands with nobody in them”.
Eduardo Galeano

For the last five centuries the West and the hegemonic power of multinational colonization have been stealing the essence of life and the aroma of our Honduran lands. They were violent centuries, with massacres of the first peoples. Centuries of immolation and lies, in the name of the cross, “the idea of civilization” and weapons. Centuries antagonistic to the dreams of Lempira, Morazán, Bolívar, Valle and Martí. Centuries of resistance in historic unity by the peoples of Our America.

We were prisoners in the mining and banana enclaves. Wealth at the expense of hunger and misery. The forests were cut down. The mahogany was used to beautify the mansions in Europe, and adorn the doors of the White House in Washington. Agribusiness, agri-combustibles and the loss of alimentary sovereignty increased the treasures of Wall Street, and international financial capital. Honduras was born during the decadence of the old world and the emergence of the Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny. Invaded by marines and modern pirates, who sang in unison the chorus “In God We Trust” - in God and in the World Bank.

At the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, the 1954 banana workers' strike took place. The army, guardians of the banana plantations, controlled by the Pentagon and the CIA, put an end to the workers' movement and participated in the overthrow of the government of Jacobo Árbenz in Guatemala.

In the 80s there is a military occupation of Honduras. The principal strategist, John Dimitri Negroponte, strengthened the National Security Doctrine. The disciples of the School of the Americas put into practice the torture and physical disappearance of people with the acquiescence of the state judicial apparatus.

Since 1956 until the present century, there have been: seven military coups, signifying seven plagues against national progress. The stigmas: “Banana Republic”, “Country for Rent” have injured the national soul. They are damned names that mask a history of crime, corruption and the negation of a people that have always struggled for liberation.

At the end of the 20th century we were hit by Hurricane Mitch; made worse by transnational financial capital that bribes the powers that be, sells territory to the mining companies, textile sweatshops, banana plantations, energy plants, that increase climatic injustice and social poverty.

Over all these centuries, of coups, blows, *paquetazos and trancazos*(economic packages and beatings), to the mother and fatherland, they have accumulated and assimilated their own experiences and those of other peoples. Unity is constructed in the honey of practice of the social being and in the hell of the condemned of mother earth.

We learn to reject the lies against the people and governments of Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Venezuela, El Salvador, Nicaragua and the very government of Honduras presided over by Manuel Zelaya; because there is no bigger truth than the generous testimonies of unconditional solidarity in health, education, economy and transport; that we have received from these sister nations.

The Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) is the most concrete expression of human cooperation and fraternity in the face of the unequal trade agreements with the United States and Europe.

In the first decade of the 21st century, June 28th of 2009; the first political, economic and military coup in Latin America takes place, carried out by an armed, religious, political, ideological and media alliance of local powers in tandem with world imperialist powers.

The de facto regime celebrated its repressive power in the patriotic festivities of September 15. The festivities reminded us of our infancy when we were forced to march in the parades. As children we were dressed in uniform and transformed into “infantry”. We gathered in the stadiums to be passive, tolerant listeners to the despot of the moment. These were like religious rites, football and military rituals, with their generals, captains, bishops, reverends and chaplains and somehow a bad imitation of the carnivals of New York or California.

The lead soldiers marched, the uniformed robots without their masks of crime, the tanks and the canons burned gun powder and shot false canon balls. The speeches were rusty and cheaply patriotic. They debuted manoeuvres
in F5 planes, the parachute show of a parachute government.

The aerial noise did not scare the vultures that share the misery of the children living in the garbage, vultures that fly making fun of the war planes. It was a Neronian circus with forced students and teachers, beaten and threatened. The horses and the cavalry greeted with honors their great perfumed chiefs in ties. The popular protest could never be heard in a sports stadium empty of all popular warmth.

The National Resistance Against the Military Coup marched challenging the de facto government; rejecting the electoral farce, demanding the return to constitutional order and of president Zelaya. The popular clamor was for a Constitutional Assembly, The Second Independence, and the re-founding of the State of Honduras.

Recognition was expressed of the solidarity of all the peoples and governments, social movements, parties, ecclesiastical communities, women´s organizations, gay groups, human rights organizations, social communicators, worldwide fast, Vía Campesina, Friends of the Earth of Latin America and International Friends of the Earth.

On September 15th millions of Hondurans marched against the military political coup. The popular joy announced a dawning of justice. The hummingbirds jumped for joy and bathed in the dew of the ALBA and savored the nectar of the dreams of liberation. The march was the Biggest Embrace in History, with which the people, poets of liberty, have become poets for all the people of the world.

Tegucigalpa, September 15, 2009

The drama-documentary follows an old man living in the devastated world of 2055, asking himself the question, "why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?".  The incredibly provocative and powerful film has helped bring about important discussion around climate change ahead of the Copenhagen Summit in December of this year.

• Find out where you can watch the film

The premiere of The Age of Stupid will take place worldwide on September 21/22 for International Day of Climate Action and is expected to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous screening ever. 

Global support for the film is quickly bolstering, and celebrities and politicians are lined up to take part in the premiere across the globe.  The New York premiere alone will feature Kofi Annan, Gillian Anderson, Moby, The Age of Stupid's oscar-nominated star Pete Postlethwaite and filmmakers Franny Armstrong and Lizzie Gillett. 

Many other A-list celebrities will be arriving to the Big Apple premiere by sailing boat, bike, rickshaw, electric car or skateboard before walking down the green (not red!) carpet, and Radiohead's Thom Yorke is scheduled to play a song for the global audience via satellite linkup.

There will be a global digital screening of The Age of Stupid plus highlights from the New York premiere on September 22nd at 19:00 (CEST). 

For information about where the film will be showing in your country, go to The Age of Stupid website.

The Conference aims at presenting solutions and developing policies that will result in reducing greenhouse gas emissions (for the oil and gas industry), conserving energy, reducing environmental pressure across chains of production (fossil fuels) and making sustainable use of natural resources (oil and gas).

It will bring together representatives of civil society from European and developing countries including communities affected by the industry operations, the European Commission, the European Parliament, industry, international organisations and the media.

Speakers include the Friends of the Earth International Chair, Nnimmo Bassey, our economic justice coordinator Paul de Clerk and many more. 

location, time and further information

European Parliament, Room ASP
Brussels, Belgium
09.30-17.00

Friends of the Earth Europe can reimburse travel and accommodation costs for a limited number of civil society participants.

Find out more and register for the event

The Asian Peoples' Solidarity for Climate Justice was formed to prepare the civil society program in parallel with the United Nations climate talks, September 28 to October 9, 2009, Bangkok.

In addition to a dynamic and extensive schedule of events, we invite you to participate in a peaceful and public demonstration of our collective demand for climate justice.

We demand immediate cuts: cut the carbon, cut the foreign debt, cut the false solutions, cut the World Bank and the corporations out! We demand recognition and full respect for peoples' rights, reparation for climate debts and peoples sovereignty NOW!

Join with us in the streets of Bangkok with your banners and flags to create a colourful, vibrant, energetic peoples march for climate justice. There will be a program of events at the conclusion of the march including speakers from across civil society and music.

Support the Asian Peoples' Solidarity for Climate Justice!

More details to follow shortly.

Asia Peoples' Solidarity for Climate Justice preparatory meeting was hosted by the Thai Working Group on Climate Justice in Bangkok 18-19 July 2009.

The following organisations participated in the meeting: Jubilee South-APMDD, Freedom from Debt Coalition,  SEAFISH/ Tambuyog, SAAPE Earth Rights, IESR-Indonesia, GAIA, Christian Aid, Oxfam Great Britian/Thailand, 350.org, NGO- Forum on ADB, Assembly of the Poor, AIPP, Chang Mai IKAP network/ IPFCC, Thailand AIPP, IBON Foundation/ PMCC, APWLD, ECOT, CEC/ PCWA, BIOTHAI, Friends of the Earth International, NGO-COD, Thai TERRA, GCCA- Asia, Focus on the Global South, OWINFS, Oxfam International, Third World Network, ETC Group.

2009 is the pivotal year for climate change. In December the worlds’ governments will meet in Copenhagen to negotiate measures to stop climate change. Act Now!

CLIMATE CONFERENCES IN DUBLIN, BERLIN, MALMO AND MONTPELLIER

If your are young (age 18 – 29), motivated and believe that our time has come to act, we invite you to join one of the four regional youth climate conferences that Young Friends of the Earth are organizing all over Europe.

From October 8 – 11, Act Now conferences will take place in Berlin, Toulouse, Malmo and – from Oct. 15 to 18 – in Dublin.

To apply, go to www.actnow09.eu

At these European youth climate conferences, you, and more than 200 young Europeans will learn the latest news about climate change and the status of international climate politics, discuss with elected politicians and be trained how to run climate actions, do media work and motivate more young people to join the movement.

Finally, you will find out how to come to Copenhagen in December and we will jointly plan peaceful yet powerful actions to influence this crucial climate change conference.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY!

To apply for one of the four conferences go to www.actnow09.eu

Applications for all four conferences are open until September 10th.

We, 62 young people from 27 countries, meeting in Croatia for a Young Friends of the Earth Europe gathering, express our solidarity with the people of Honduras resisting the coup d'état.

We demand an end to this undemocratic situation and we also demand that people's human rights are respected.

We highlight and value the role of young men and women in the mobilisation
to reclaim civil liberties. We learn from their strength and their courage.

Croatia, 19 August 2009

Signed by:

Lithuania - Norkutė Milda, Uktveryte Jolanta
Norway - Jacob Malin, Gran Eirik
Belgium - Roose Annelies, Dehasse Aline, Couckuyt Hanne, Guns Robin
Malta - Debono Christian 
Greece - Stavroulaki Eirini
Netherlands - Vasen Ellard, Linssen Suzanne, Engel Marijn, Dingemans Luut, Bruil Janneke
France - Huck Noémie
Sweden - Wu Lina, Lensell Erik
Hungary - Török Márton, Takács Tamás, Bortnyák Vera
Austria - Keller Roland
UK - Schneeberger Kirsty, Manson Sophie, Schrammar Chris
Germany - Holzamer Gertrud
Australia - Long Stephanie, Grainger Laura
Ukraine - Yeliseyeva Ganna, Datsiuk Inna, Viter Daryna
Spain - Gonzalez Alejandro, Torres Marta
Switzerland - Mettler Silvia
Italy - Iaffaldano di gregorio Jonas, La Rosa Mario
Cyprus - Panayiotou Stella, Kameris Petros, Agathangelou Melios
Croatia - Nožina Rina, Rumenović Tina, Krajnović Dora, Stipić Filip, Radovanovic Hrvoje, Tomac Luka,
Zokovic Ivan, Kanic Katarina, žučko Jelena, Prša Marija, Međugorac Vanja
Serbia - Anastasov Danijela, Poucki Jelena, Jankovic Nikola, Jadranka Ilic
Bosnia - Crnkovic Natasa, Perać Draško
Macedonia - Draganovski Jovan, Gileva Katerina
Argentina - Salvático Natalia
Indonesia - Ahfi Ahfi
South Africa - Mthembu Bongani
Brazil - Lamas Pucci Larissa

Keep updated on the response of civil society organizations in Honduras including that of Friends of the Earth Honduras on Real World Radio.

The Honduran people continue to risk their lives and livelihoods demonstrating in support of democracy in Honduras.

• Read some of their stories here and donate to their cause.
  

Thanks

Friends of the Earth Malta is launching an international photographic exhibition and competition on the effects of climate change. The theme is: 'Climate Change: the change is already here.'

Science shows that the present state of our planet will not improve any time soon if we do not take action now. The biggest impacts will be on poor and developing countries, especially small island states. The biggest culprits of greenhouse gas emissions are developed countries.

FoE Malta is looking for photos illustrating damage caused by climate change - photos which capture what is being changed, damaged and lost both in the natural and human world.

They're looking for photos that illustrate the effects of climate change already influencing natural processes on our planet, affecting the lives of millions of people, disrupting animal habitats and eco-systems.  And photos that show human beings as an integral part of the impact of climate change (i.e. ice-melting; flooding; desertification, drought) will be appreciated. Use your imagination when shooting and processing photos.

The deadline for the competition is August 9, 2009.

Contact Christian Debono for rules and more information about the contest.

• Read our July 8 statement in full here and donate to the Honduras solidarity fund
  

This marks the start of a new state in the struggle for sovereignty and the peoples' rights, as well as the incipient democratic processes in the region. These events lead to a call to strengthen and radicalize the actions in support of the Honduran people.

The coup d'état in Honduras should be understood not only as an action against a certain people or country, but as an attempt against the social victories that have been achieved by the popular struggles determined to end hunger and injustice in the region. These violent attitudes are motivated by the interests of groups and corporations who see their political and economic privileges collapse. They don't even care to challenge the international community represented by oranizations like the OAS or the UN, which have condemned the coup in Honduras.

FoEI's mission had planned to enter Honduras by land, or by air, but in both cases we were unable to do that, so we stayed in Managua holding meetings with La Via Campesina, planning the solidarity and sovereignty strategy for the region. We urge you to increase the pressure in your own countries to publicly reject the military coup and the de facto government, and to start emergency fundraising to support Madre Tierra.

• Read their statement on the climate, energy and natural resource management crisis.