messages of solidarity

Greetings from Nicaragua, the land of Sandino, Rubén Darío and Fonseca, where we are right now in a Friends of the Earth International Mission, called for by Vía Campesina, with whom in addition to thousands of other voices, we condemn the brutal coup d´etat perpetrated in Honduras, which reminds us of the worst times of military regimes which violated human rights and have caused so much pain and blood in Latin America.

As FoEI members, we are proud to represent a federation which remains faithful to its mission, principles and values, which is completely committed to express and realize solidarity with the brothers and sisters of Madre Tierra (Friends of the Earth Honduras), together with the most impoverished sectors of Honduran society people are demanding justice. It is urgent, in the face of the attitude of the perpetrators of the coup, to be alert in order to protect the lives of Juan Almendares and all members of FoEI in Honduras and our allies in the popular movement.

All of us in the federation should consolidate our unity and mobilize in the defense of life and the rights of the peoples, since this moment is decisive for the present and future of our continent because the achievements reached by the popular struggles in other countries and regions are also threatened by the military force. These struggles show the ways that need to be walked in order to achieve sustainability and justice.

The situation in Honduras is worsening increasingly. The refusal by the coup perpetrators to negotiate a way out with the Organization of American States (OAS) is proof of their determination to continue and deepen this historic injustice against the will of the Honduran people, and to continue insulting the international community. Breaking into hotels, persecuting foreigners that are being accused of indoctrination and instigation to violent actions, shows an ideological-military offensive against the international solidarity, which is raising in support of the people and the organizations of the Honduran social movement. The analysis we can carry out from here indicates that we must continue looking for the best way to mobilize solidarity and the constant support from foreign countries and inside Honduras.

At the time we are in Managua. We have to remain alert, let´s raise the flags of solidarity, let´s create a support fund for the struggle of the Honduran people, let´s establish support networks, let´s not allow the dictatorship to disguise or to become legitimate. Let´s demand a breaking of the diplomatic ties with the coup perpetrators.

Today the debate is on the Crisis of Civilization and Research for new Paradigms. The day began with a presentation by Roberto Espinoza of the Coordination of Native Andean Organisations. He spoke about the recent resistance in Peru and noted that some of the underlying factors were the privatization of land for agrofuels production as well as moves in the destructive mining sector. The people resisted because their livelihood was being made impossible by the pollution of their waters, land and air. 6000 communities were affected and half of these have their coastline impacted by mining. He mentioned also that oil corporations have appropriated up to 15 million hectares of forest area for their activities.

Roberto stressed that the struggle of the people is not for a mere of government but for a fundamental constitutional review to defend the collective rights of the peoples’.

Speaking further on the subject of today’s debate, he said that the multiple crises the world is faced with today go beyond being a crisis of neo-liberalism. According to him, this is a crisis of civilization with soft words such as climate change being used to describe its manifestations. Man has gradually been separated from nature and consumerism is driving humanity towards destruction. He noted that oil and mining remove the soil on which the peoples depend and that the people need soil not oil!

Human wellbeing cannot be constructed on increased consumption and competition but on solidarity. Everything cannot be a commodity. Commodification leads to expropriation and control. We must defend our diversity in every sphere.

A commentator from Italy noted that what the nation (Italy) was facing is a challenge of democracy and that this is the case with other European nations. He agreed with Roberto that cultural, social and other crises all affect the peoples’ way of life and builds uncertainties and uneasiness. This uneasiness creates fears and tensions and does not create a path for the future. What is needed is a joint project that would pool resources together to effect a radical change in the way we do things. This new path must lead away from free trade, which dissipates nature. This new path must help the people recover their sovereignty from market forces.

He called for cultural change and a new discussion of the very concept of modernity. This must include the recovery of the imagination in a lifestyle that recognises human interdependency with nature.

Another high point of today’s debate was the contribution of the mayor of Iglesias. He captured the multiple crises as one of identity. He rooted his contribution to the historical realities of colonialism and neo-colonialism in Sardinia within the Italian context.

According to the mayor, the local people had over the years got to depend on what they are told was right for them rather than discovering their own realities for themselves. He regretted that today, our world views are framed by what we see on television and unfortunately the medium is largely controlled by those whose desire is to keep us under their control!

The major talked about how an agriculturally prosperous region had their livelihoods disrupted by promises of a better life through mining. While they moved to the mines all they got in return was polluted environments, health problems and a rapacious appropriation of their resources. Even coastlines that served as touristic magnets became damaged by a culture that sees concreting as a measure of development and progress.

An activist or community person from any nation in the global South could have made the mayor’s presentation as they mirrored the exact situation of things today in those climes. We saw in this presentation the clear fact that struggles of the peoples of this world can find common grounds if we are true to our sense of perception and the realities we face.

For those who do not know, Iglesias is a town in Sardinia, an island province in the south west of Italy.

I will pause here.

We are working on the outcome document or declaration for the debates on the post carbon economy. That document will be my final post on the Gsott8.

Saturday, July 4, 2009 was devoted to debates on food sovereignty and the important need for support to be given to smallholder farmers and agro-ecological approaches.

For a large part of the day I was engaged in brainstorming on the massive threats of tar sand/bitumen mining. Specific focus was on the situation in Congo DR where ENI, the Italian oil company, is involved. We particularly looked at the looming dangers to communities and their environment as well as what needs to be done to mobilize them and build resistance.

Lessons were also drawn from the situation in Canada. The moves towards bitumen mining in Nigeria were mentioned including the fact that a committee was set up in 2008 by the government (of Nigeria) to handle the process of bidding for 3 bitumen blocks.

We agreed that sharing of information and experiences would be a good way to move forward.

I should have mentioned that there are three of us here from the FoEI family. Anne-Sophie Simpere of Les Amis de la Terre, France is here. Also here is BAsilo Tzoy Grijalva of the Council for the Protection of the territory of Indigenous people, Guatemala. His organisation related with FoE Guatemala.

Today’s events are organised in panels and will conclude at midnight after the screening of La Ricaduta, a documentary on irresponsible extractions in the Niger Delta.  There will also be a special testimony by a citizen of Abruzzo – the earthquake region where ENI wants to extract crude. The people of Aruzzo don’t want crude extracted from their territory.
As already mentioned in my earlier post, today’s panels are focusing on oil/gas, mining and tar sands. Tomorrow the focus will be on food sovereignty matters. The three cardinal objectives of these sessions are the phasing out of oil economy, keeping the oil in the soil; community control over their resources; new frontier of resource exploitations. The idea is also to strategize on how to find allies and build alliances for the struggle. 

The first panel opened with Tom Kucharz of Ecologistas en Accion, Spain interviewing Ivonne Yanez of Accion Ecologica, Ecuador. The thrust of the discussion was the Ecuadorian Yasuni proposal in which a civil society driven process led the government to state readiness to leave the billion barrels of crude oil in the soil at the protected Yasuni Park. Ivonne traced the history of the campaign and noted that although the government was initially seeking payment for leaving the oil in the ground in a way similar to the carbon trade arguments, this has changed to the demand for solidarity funds to avoid drilling for oil in the area.

The purpose of the Yasuni proposal is to commence a process of breaking the world’s dependence on fossil fuels, and by so doing reduce carbon emissions and directly tackle climate change. She revealed that just a fortnight ago Germany offered to contribute $1Billion to Ecuador at the rate of $50 million per year over the next 20 years – towards leaving the oil in the ground at the Yasuni Park.  This proposal has thus become very concrete.

Nicholas of Corner House interviewed me on the second panel. The thrust of our discussion was our proposal to leave new oil in the soil of the Niger Delta. This proposal is similar to the Ecuadorian proposal but with some key unique aspects. The similarities basically include simply leaving the oil in the soil, defending the environment from degradation related to oil spills and gas flares and also directly tackling climate change. 

I traced the historic struggle of the Ogoni under the leadership of Ken Saro-Wiwa who was executed in November 1995 with the active connivance of Shell. Since 1993 direct oil activities in Ogoni ceased with the expulsion of Shell; and the land has from after the post expulsion conflicts known a measure of peace.

The key demand is that there should be no new oil field developments in Nigeria for the following reasons. Nigeria can easily meet a 3 million barrels production right if the Niger Delta knows some peace. Currently the nation’s production quota stands at 2 million barrels per day with another estimated 1 million barrels of crude stolen on a daily basis. The government has plans to increase daily production to 5 million barrels per day from the year 2015. We propose that Nigerians can contribute funds to keep those additional 2 million barrels per day in the soil. This comes to only $156 per year for each Nigerian. We note that not all Nigerians (for example the children) can make this contribution. But, there are many who can buy multiple units. There are businesses who can but muliple units and there are concerned citizens, organisations and governments of the world who would be willing to contribute to this fund.

The direct implication of keeping new oil in the soil would manifest in reconnection of Nigerians to the national economy. This would raise accountability and transparency in governance. It would also directly move the nation from dependence on one source of revenue and lead to a diversification of the economy in a productive way. FoE Nigeria schedules to present this proposal formally to the federal government of Nigeria by November 2009.

The other panel that shows the people resisting new oil is in Abruzzo, Italy. This is the region where a devastating earthquake occurred recently. Speaking on this was Maria Rita D’Orsagna of the Abruzzo Movement Against Oil Extraction. She said that when the idea of oil production in the area was first announced to the people the general understanding was that it would be the production of olive oil! A strong resistance is building with the realization that it is crude oil that is to be drilled for here.

The struggle against the Shell Pipeline in Ireland was presented by Nessa  Ni Chasaide of Action From Ireland (AFRI) in a day that was loaded with stories of resistance and mobilizations from several countries. The stories of tar sands in Canada and the degradation of indigenous areas were brought by Ben Powless of the Indigenous Environment Network. The mining situation in the Republic of Congo; the situations in Zambia, Guatemala, Philippines and Indonesia all took centre stage. 

The last session of the day was a panel that spoke on alternatives. The ideas that came from this panel were mainly on what people and communities can do to show that alternatives exist and that others can be constructed. The vital need to build movements was stressed. The transition to a post carbon civilization will not be easy, but must be planned for and made to happen. The need for reduced consumption and the need to change from the current fossil fuel intensive agriculture were also brought forward forcefully. Other alternatives included building designs using locally available materials and skills thereby being climate sensitive and reducing dependence of materials transported over long distances.

It was agreed that REDD was not a solution to forest protection or for climate change. The need to reframe the climate debate towards climate debt, equity and justice was emphasised.

The day ended at midnight with the screening of a documentary “La Ricaduta” – a story of irresponsible behaviour of oil companies in the Niger Delta with a special focus on ENI (AGIP).

A statement will emerge from the sessions on extractives. It is in the forge at the moment!
4/5 July will focus on Food Sovereignty issues. La Via Campesina and other groups are driving this section.

It is the 1st of July and we were on our way to the Southern tip of Italy. Getting to Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, was a fascinating experience. From the aircraft seat, the runway below was clearly in sight but the pilot went a circuitous path before finally touching them smoothly. As we came in, you could see the entire breadth of the Sardinia Island, its rugged mountains and some of its population centres. On this flight were four of us heading for the GSott8: Luca of CRBM, Zakir Kibria of Praxa  Bangla, Bangladesh, Nicholas Hildyard of the Corner House and yours truly.

The welcome party was warm and soon we were on our way to Iglesias…town name and not a bunch of churches, if you get what I mean. The ride ended in a restaurant at the city centre where we did not only dine and wine but began to talk about the events of the next days. By midnight a bunch of us were on our way to Casa di Nonna, a Bed & Breakfast at Villamassargia…,which I thought was a massage home! But it was not…

2nd July broke with a bright sunlight hitting my tightly shut eyes from long before 6 AM. A quick breakfast and we were on our way to a trip to the mines at Monteponi….  Soon helmeted, we entered the belly of the earth though tunnels dug by men from 1882 and from which zinc, copper and lead were mined until 8 years ago. The mines and related infrastructure now serves as the Faculty of Mineralogy of the University of Cagliari where studies are focussed on the mining and other engineering studies.

The mine is as interesting as it is instructive.  Most of its equipment and spare parts were manufactured on the location and once installed were expected to stay in the belly of the earth “for ever.” The mine starts from 150m above sea level and goes down 200m below sea level and required a massive water pumping works to keep the water out of the tunnels and allow the extraction of the vital minerals.

Why was the mine closed? This is the point that is so instructive: the entire operations were so expensive that it did not make economic sense to invest so much resource on it. In other words, it was cheaper to import the zinc, lead and copper that this mine offered than to keep tunneling here. On account of this, and although there is still copper, zinc and lead underground, the mines are shut dues to economic exigencies. On result of this is that the huge labour force that was once employed in the mines were suddenly thrown into the labour market and the towns that grew around the mines are now a shadow of the ebullient selves they must have been in the hey days of hard helmets, picks and hammers.

Lesson learned: just because you have a resource does not mean that you must extract it. Thinking about crude oil: if the true cost of oil were paid, everyone would have left the resource in the soil! But because the crude is extracted from communities of the voiceless, the environmental costs, human rights abuses and the works are conveniently ignored and the world remains stuck on model of civilization that has dragged humanity into a blind corner.

Leave the oil in the soil, the coal in the hole and the tar sand in the land! The day ended with an opening event at the centre of Carbonia, a carbon town or a city built to service coal mines that have also been shut. Leaders of the municipal authorities who also welcomed all to the G8 Underground attended the opening event. This was followed by denunciations of the G8 and a condemnation of the subversion of the democratic systems of Honduras.

3rd July and the G8 Underground is set to focus on oil, gas and mining. We just concluded two interview panels...the first featured Ivonne Yanez of Accion Ecologica, Ecuador  while the second had me on the hot seat and I was interviewed by Nick of the Corner House ... More to come…

• For live streaming visit www.gsotto.org

We, the women and men of Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific (FoE APac), defend and uphold human dignity and the universal sanctity of human rights. We believe in a just society where sovereignty and social justice can only be attained through genuine democracy.

As a continent that has been ravaged by dictatorships and oppression, we oppose dictators and the military in their fascist attempts to suppress the sovereign rights of peoples. We continue to fight and stand together with masses of people, with communities and with movements in pushing for genuine democracy.

We cannot remain silent when our sisters and brothers across the oceans are blatantly denied their genuine democracy and are being abused for exercising their rights.

Therefore, our nations in the Asia Pacific, stand together with our sisters and brothers in Honduras and in Latin America who are opposing the fascist coup d'etat staged against the Honduran people and the government of Honduras which led to the kidnapping and exile of President-elect Manuel Zelaya.

We reject the installation of Roberto Micheletti as Honduran President and condemn the Congress, the military forces and their elitist powerful cohorts in protecting an installed leadership in Honduras which is not the popular will of the Honduran people.

We denounce the blatant abuse of power and the human rights violations committed against the right of the Honduran people to demonstrate against the perpetrators of the coup d'etat, where hundreds were beaten and seriously wounded. We oppose the repression, intimidation, persecution and silencing of our comrades and leaders of social movements.

We denounce the crack-down on freedom of speech and the closing down of broadcast media where national television stations and radio stations were taken off the air following Sunday's military-led coup d'etat. We condemn the corporate mass media in promoting Micheletti and the Honduran oligarchy in their efforts to stop popular will and peoples' democracy by justifying and supporting the coup d'etat.  

We, therefore, demand:

1. The immediate and unconditional reinstatement of Manuel Zelaya as the President elect of Honduras;
2. The protection and respect towards Manuel Zelaya upon his return to Honduras;
3. That freedom of speech be respected and that the crack-down on broadcase media immediately ceases;
4. That Honduran Armed Forces immediately cease to protect the interest of the powerful and the elite, and instead fulfil their duty to serve and protect Honduras and its people;
5. That activists and leaders of social movements are respected and not harmed while exercising their right to freedom of speech; and
6. That an immediate investigation be conducted on the human rights violations that have been committed against demonstrators, activists and social movements and that justice will be attained for those who fought for genuine democracy

We call on the international community to continue to be vigilant and support genuine democracy in Honduras.  Say NO TO FASCIST MILITARY RULE! NO TO DICTATORSHIP! NO TO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS!

In solidarity, the women and men of Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific, stand united with our sisters and brothers in Honduras.

Friends of the Earth Australia, BELA – FoE Bangladesh, WALHI – FoE Indonesia, FoE Japan, SAM – FoE Malaysia, ProPublic – FoE Nepal, PENGON – FoE Palestine, CELCOR – FoE Papua New Guinea, LRC/KsK – FoE Philippines, KFEM – FoE South Korea, CEJ – FoE Sri Lanka and HABURAS – FoE Timor Leste

Rivera Moreno, has been one of the main activists and opponents against the presence of mining companies in Cabañas. He campaigned against the harmful effect the mining operations were having on the environment and human health.

In recent years church groups, environmentalists and civil society leaders in the region have maintained strong opposition to the operations of the companies involved urging the government to take a similar position.

In El Salvador, 6% of the territory has been acquired by large organizations for the mining of gold, silver and copper. The Canadian company Pacific Rim is one of the largest players in the country.

CESTA  are calling on the authorities to launch a thorough investigation into the disappearance of Gustavo Marcelo Rivera Moreno. In addition they express there sympathies with relatives, social organizations and environmentalists that work and fight to prevent the continued destruction of the environment in the area.

take action

There will be a period of mobilization and protest starting today until next Sunday in Central Park, San Isidro, Cabañas, El Salvador.

• Find out more on the Friends of the Earth El Salavador website
  

For a large part of the official G8 summit world leaders will be discussing climate change. Whereas they will be talking about market based solutions and the World Bank's role in bringing about a low carbon economy the alternative summit will be discussing how this transition must be managed in a way that does not harm the poor by limiting energy access or the right to develop, and adds to the empowerment of local communities to make decisions about local resources.

• Find our more about the alternative G8 and watch the discussions live
  

Here is some text you can use or sample for your email or letter.

• Find your nearest Honduran embassy here
  

Subject:  Reinstate President Manuel Zelaya.

Date: xxx

To:  The Embassy of Honduras in xxx

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to express my deep concern about the current situation in the republic of Honduras and my unreserved condemnation of the illegal detention and expulsion of the constitutional President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya.

I join with the international community in demanding that the Honduran Armed Forces immediately re-instate Mr Zelaya and re-establish respect for all elected authorities.  We condemn any persecution or repression of activists in grassroots movements and organizations by the sectors promoting the coup. 

We insist that the Honduran Army respect the physical integrity of all Honduran social movements, organizations, the demonstrators who are defending the institutional order and we will be watchful for human rights abuses.

We want the Honduran Army to know that we are fully aware of the current stage of repression and have photographic evidence of what is happening in the streets of Honduras.  The removal of President Zelaya was an illegal action and we are watching closely to ensure that social peace is restored in Honduras.  We demand that the democratic process, and the will of the Honduras people, be respected.

In solidarity with the Honduran people,

Sincerely,
 
Your Name Here

Friends of the Earth International is deeply worried about the current situation in the republic of  Honduras and expresses its unreserved condemnation for the illegal  detention and expulsion of the constitutional president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya by the armed forces.

Friends of the Earth International demands the restoration of the Honduran president and the unconditional respect for democracy.

Friends of the Earth International expresses its solidarity with Friends of the Earth Honduras / Movimiento Madre Tierra and all the forces struggling for democracy in Honduras.

The entire international community must demand the return of the democratically  elected president.

Friends of the Earth International invites citizens worldwide to protest and send letters to the embassies of Honduras worldwide, demanding the restoration of the elected Honduran president and the unconditional respect for democracy. The will of the Honduran people must be respected at all times.

More information

• Watch an interview with Dr Juan Almendares, Director of Friends of the Earth Honduras.
• Read the statement from Friends of the Earth Latin America and Caribbean 
• Read the statement from Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific
  

take action

Please write to your nearest Honduran embassy and demand the restoration of the elected President and the unconditional respect for democracy.

• Find a sample letter/email here
  
• Find your nearest embassy here
  

Almost a week has passed since I returned from Bonn; the dust has settled and hopefully the majority of the FoEI delegation, like myself, have returned to a normal working schedule – although I know a few who travelled directly to the FoEE AGM in Lenzen, Germany.

The weekend provided an opportunity to process and evaluate everything that had happened in Bonn, and I remain impressed and inspired by the FoEI presence.

On returning to the office a colleague informed me that a friend who had been to the talks had asked her “how much money do Friends of the Earth have!? You were everywhere.” And I agreed, although not because of money, but due to fantastic coordination, dedication and hard work from the FoEI and Young FoEE delegations.

Asad Rehman, Senior Campaigner from Friends of the Earth England Wales and Northern Ireland summed it up perfectly:

“We were plugged in at every level, from government delegations to NGO and movement groupings. It was a real example of what an inside and outside strategy can accomplish.” And, the strategy looks set to develop and continue in Bangkok, Barcelona and finally Copenhagen.

The evaluation of the talks themselves: industrialised countries are still not showing leadership. The Climate Justice Network! And FoEI press conference can be watched here:

• http://unfccc2.meta-fusion.com/kongresse/090601_SB30_Bonn/templ/ovw_page.php?id_kongressmain=76

In short, US, Japan and the EU put forward inadequate reductions targets, continued to push offsetting, and ignored historical responsibility and calls to pay back their ‘climate debt’ – to compensate for the damage that pollution from excessive greenhouse gas pollution over the past 200 years has and will cause in developing countries.

The Alliance of Small Island States called on developed countries to commit to higher greenhouse gas reduction targets, Bolivia demanded repayment of the developed world's climate debt and El Salvador and Paraguay stood strong to
protect Indigenous Peoples rights.

For a more detailed overview go to:

• http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2009/us-holds-u.n.-climate-negotiations-hostage

Thanks for following, and thanks to all those who were in Bonn, look forward to seeing you all in Copenhagen at the latest.

At the Bonn climate talks Japan announced their incredibly low target of a 15% reduction in carbon emission from 2005 levels, equivalent to 8% reductions from 1990 levels.

Reacting to the targets, Yvo de Boer - Executive Secretary of the climate talks - comment that "for the first time in two and a half years in this job I just don't know what to say."

Left: Prime Minister Taro Aso stands aside models of large carbon emitters such as air travel and heavy industry.

Below: Shirobe the polar bear lets the Prime Minister know, in no uncertain terms, he's not a happy bear.

Wednesday was a manic rush to get the action materials ready for Young FoEE’s action on Thursday, before I had to leave Bonn at 2pm. I had worked late into the night to prepare the templates for the school reports, and now had to fill it with content. I arrived at the FoEI meeting with draft action materials in hand in preparation.

The biggest news of the day seemed to be that Japan was set to announce their incredibly low targets to the Japanese press at 11am – a 15% reduction from 2005 levels, equivalent to 8% reductions from 1990 levels. Reacting to the targets, Yvo de Boer - Executive Secretary of the climate talks - would later comment that "for the first time in two and a half years in this job I just don't know what to say." 

• View the report card in full [pdf]

Rumours had been circulating around the Maritim, with plans discussed the previous night in the Youth camp, that the Japanese delegation would be boo-ed upon announcing the targets in the plenary session. Whether the Japanese delegation heard these rumours or not the 11am announcement never happened, and the Japanese delegation chose instead a closed session with the press later in the day.

Outside of Bonn, the results of the meeting in Luxembourg of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, Ecofin, were brought to the table at the FoEI meeting – the opinion seemed to be that it was disastrous. Offsetting was included in financial contributions to developing countries, and the EU again failed to show leadership, potentially influencing the talks in Bonn.

Straight after the meeting I continued with the action materials. The idea to give a school report to delegates with a simple pass or fail mark awarded to each country. This would coincide with a banner outside and the area where the Flood banner was previously suspended to be converted into a blackboard, again with the results. With a much reduced Young FoEE team, from 35 to five, preparations began and text for the materials began to come in.

I had to leave before everything was finished and took the work with me, with the intention of working on the train. I sat down, booted my computer and promptly fell asleep, to wake in Brussels three hours later. I returned to the office and with the action team on the end of the phone, finished the materials, returning home finally at 10pm, but considering myself lucky: I knew the action team would be working hard long into the night, and would be up at the break of dawn.

The first signs of exhaustion set in on Tuesday morning: I jumped on the bus, which I maintain left from the same bus stop, with the same number, at the same time, and failed to notice for several stops that I was going in completely the wrong direction.

Needless to say I was late for the 8am FoEI meeting. I arrived half way through the updates from the previous day. We discussed collecting all the blogs from various FoEI members during the two weeks in Bonn.

Here are a couple of links to those that I have not previously mentioned:

Video blogs from Friends of the Earth US:

• http://foe.org/video-blogging-bonn
  

Linda’s blog, Friends of the Earth Netherlands:

• http://www.milieudefensie.nl/klimaat/activiteiten/kopenhagen/weblog/linda-in-bonn/

I popped outside to photograph the Anti-nuclear action, protesting against the possible inclusion of nuclear activities under the clean development mechanisms, before joining the remaining Young FoEE in discussion over a further action – an end of week school report, and continuation of the previous detention action’s theme.

The evening was spent at the Secretariat’s reception, where after again being fooled by public transport we found ourselves 30 minutes late. We missed the speeches, but thankfully not the free dinner and wine, of which I suspect the majority of the punctual attendees were deeply jealous.

I spent some time doing my best to mingle, but too tired to speak decided instead to stand and observe lobbying in its informal setting. I was slightly disgruntled that after 20 minutes nobody tried to lobby me, but figured my green t-shirt with a bicycle logo betrayed my NGO status.
 
It also struck me that I recognised the majority of people, and that we had all been sharing such a small space for what felt like weeks: the Maritim bubble (the conference venue). I realised that the talks offered a really fantastic opportunity for NGOs to influence the direction that countries would take to tackle climate change in the future, and ultimately a fantastic opportunity to influence the future full-stop – through lobbying and action.

I mentally congratulated the FoEI and Young FoEE team for their dedicated work over the last days. Ready for bed, I accompanied a genuinely lost and confused member of the Secretariat to the train station. At one point during the walk she remarked “oh, what is this lovely place?” to which I responded, “Bonn”.

After the first week of actions and media work, and with the majority of Young FoEE either leaving or already gone, my main Young FoEE responsibilities ended and I was thrown abruptly into the world of policy. The day began with the FoEI meeting, where the policy experts discussed the daily agenda and brought updates from the previous day to the table.

Outside the conference venue - the Maritim Hotel - a collection of organisations, three trees and a number of dancers where protesting against deforestation, with a minute’s silence held for the Peruvians who lost their lives in the protests against free trade agreements and encroachment of industry on land in the Amazon.

This was mirrored by a minute of silence in the plenary halls for the Belarusian delegate, who, on Saturday afternoon, had collapsed and died on the very sofas in the Maritim foyer that would be filled with revellers the same night.

I spent the day trying to catch up on everything that had been happening behind the doors of the Maritim halls, harassing as many colleagues as possible. The general feeling was still one of frustration; the talks do not appear to be going well. Rich industrialised countries are still failing to put forward sufficient emissions reduction targets, with Japan failing to put forward any at all, and offsetting and other false solutions still feature prominently. But, there are glimmers of hope, with progress in REDD, and Bolivia, Paraguay and El Salvador pushing on FoEI’s behalf; using the FoEI language.

There was an interesting development in the Kyoto Protocol Working Group: the Micronesian delegate called for 45% emissions reductions by 2020, which would mean keeping carbon dioxide below 350 ppm (parts per million), keeping global temperature increase below 1.5 degrees, but in essence ensuring survival for many of the islands in this area of the South Pacific.

She compared the EU’s target of 30% reductions to the equivalent of playing Russian roulette with their lives. It struck me as profound that with so many climate change sceptics out there, here inside the walls of a rather modern, shiny but bland hotel next to a motorway in Bonn, an entire subregion of Oceania was battling to keep their tropical islands above water.

Further policy discussions with colleagues continued in the Maritim restaurant, where we were forced to eat expensive salads due to the lack of options. It was either an intentional decision by the UNFCCC to only provide expensive food within the Maritim so as to starve out NGO workers, or it was subtle ploy to make sure everyone went to side events – where food was provided.

Needless to say we fell for it, and found ourselves at the Copenhagen Climate Treaty side event, where the NGO community were putting forward their proposal for a Copenhagen agreement. I found myself struggling to keep up with the figures, and was relieved at the comic interlude when the speakers introduced a new acronym, LCAP (Low Carbon Action Plan), bringing the total in the document to 82. In general it seemed a decent proposal, but more discussion and analysis is needed to find where it coincides and clashes with FoEI policy.

• The document can be found here

More comments to come. With the Q&A over, we left our seats, and dived into the snacks...

The hour and a half long movie details the current state of the earth and the environmental challenges we face as a consumerist society.  

Amidst breathtaking images, Yann explains that although our civilization has to change the way we live and save our planet.

The price to pay is high, but it is too late to be a pessimist: humanity has barely ten years to reverse the trend, become aware of the full extent of its spoliation of the Earth's riches and change its patterns of consumption.

• Watch Home now and get inspired to save the earth.

Photo: © HOME – a co production with ELZEVIR FILMS / EUROPACORP

With most nursing either sore heads or sore backs, depending on where they had spent either their time awake or asleep respectively, the final evaluation session rounded off the week of very intense work from the Young FoEE delegation.

We had collectively achieved a huge amount in a very short space of time: two actions, two teaser actions, meetings with delegates, regional planning sessions, blogs, films, participation in further actions, policy meetings, press work, a march... I could go on.

Everyone was exhausted, but, I think it’s fair to say, inspired. I was definitely inspired. This was my first experience with Young FoEE, and I am left with nothing but respect for a force of very dedicated, intelligent and motivated people. I have no doubt that they have the capability to play an important role in the negotiations in Copenhagen, from inside and out, and have no doubt that each and every one of the participants will return to their countries and inspire more to join.

The trainers themselves did a fantastic job coordinating and developing the participants and deserve huge respect for the work that they have done and will continue to do. In five days we had gained ourselves a reputation both inside and outside the walls of the Maritim hotel, even challenging the UNFCCC action policy, and it was all thanks to the energy and dynamism of the Young FoEE team.

I personally spent Sunday in a form of stupor trying to remember why at 4 am the previous night we had thought it would be a good idea to check out the nightlife of Bonn, and also question how we had achieved so much. It was my first opportunity to really sit and assess.

Here is a short list of sites where you can see for yourself the movies, images and blog posts from the week:

• www.flickr.com/photos/actnow09/
• www.actnow09.eu/
• www.youtube.com/user/YFriendsOfTheEarth

A few of the Young FoEE-ers will continue the good work through the week, but the majority leave today, to meet again in Sholta, Croatia for the summer training camp. Then, if everything goes to plan, the Young FoEE force meet again in Barcelona: so watch out!