Tag Archives: cop-15

New Trial Begins Against Copenhagen Climate Activists

Note: Stine and Tannie are good friends of Global Justice Ecology Project.  We got to know them through the year and a half of organizing meetings under the “Climate Justice Action” umbrella in preparation for “Reclaim Power” action at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.  We deplore the fact that they are being scapegoated and charged under Danish anti-terrorism laws.  Stine and Tannie are participants in our New Voices on Climate Change Program. We stand in solidarity with Stine and Tannie and echo the demand that all of their charges be dropped.  We will post updates and action alerts as we receive them.

–The GJEP Team

From the Climate Collective

With the beginning of the new trial, Climate Collective expresses once again its solidarity and support to the climate activists Stine and
Tannie that are facing charges in relation to the ‘Reclaim Power! Pushing for Climate Justice’ action that took place during the protests
against COP15 in 2009. Stine and Tannie acted as spokespersons for the Climate Justice Action (CJA) network, communicating and explaining the Reclaim Power! action to the media. Reclaim Power was built and planned on consensus in open, international meetings that took place before and during COP15 in Copenhagen. Climate Collective finds it outrageous that two activists are made responsible for the actions of an entire movement.

After being sentenced to four months on probation, yesterday the appeal case started at the second court level. Climate Collective support Stine
and Tannie’s position and demand once again for all charges to be dropped. The trial will continue until mid next week and it is not yet
clear when a final verdict will be announced.

Updates on the court case will be posted on climatecollective.org in the coming days.

More info on the previous court case can be found at these links:
http://www.climatecollective.org/post/118
http://www.climatecollective.org/post/151

In solidarity,
Climate Collective

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15

Global Justice Ecology Project’s 2009 Annual Report is now online.

An Indigenous participant speaks during the REDD Capacity Building Training for Indigenous Peoples. The REDD training took place on May 30th in New York City and was organized by Indigenous Environmental Network and Global Forest Coalition. Global Justice Ecology Project gave a detailed powerpoint presentation about the social, environmental and health threats posed by GE tree plantations. Photo: Langelle/GJEP-GFC

Global Justice Ecology Project’s 2009 Annual Report is now online.  You can find the link to download the 10 page by clicking here.

What You Will Find in Our 2009 Annual Report:

• GJEP’s Climate Justice Program: Accomplishments at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark; and building the climate justice movement in North America

• Updates on the STOP GE Trees Campaign and our work in support of the rights of Indigenous and forest-dependent communities

• Media Support work: The Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change

• New Voices on Climate Change: Fall Tour and G20 Protests in Pittsburgh

• GJEP’s Visual Impact: the photography of Orin Langelle

• GJEP’s work in Vermont

• Global Forest Coalition

• 2009 Financial Report

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Filed under Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15

Call for Solidarity actions with the accused COP15 activists

Two of the most recent additions to Global Justice Ecology Project’s New Voices on Climate Change program, Stine Gry Jonassen and Tannie Nyboe were arrested preemptively during the UN climate conference in Copenhagen last December (COP15) and were detained for up to a month. Stine and Tannie are accused of charges including planning violence against police, systematic vandalism and serious disturbance of public peace and order. Some of these charges are drawn from the Danish terror package and the penalties are strenghtened by the new Danish anti-protester laws introduced just prior to the COP15. The charges they face are unfounded, but can still potentially result in years in prison.  Additionally Stine was officially accredited to the UN climate conference by Global Justice Ecology Project.

Please spread in all your networks:

Call for Solidarity actions with the accused COP15 activists

On the 18th of August there will be a solidarity demonstration in Copenhagen to mark the trial of the first two people accused of ‘organizing’ the protests around the COP 15. We urge everyone to spend the day or the following days on demonstrations and statements of support and solidarity – demonstration and manifestations outside Danish embassies, press work and articles – all are welcome and appreciated.

During the climate summit in Copenhagen, around 2000 people were arrested preventively and held in custody while they were trying to get their voices heard. These people along with thousands of other activists from around the world were trying to set a different and more just political agenda in the climate debate.

Approximately 20 people were detained for up to a month, out of which four people are faced with trials this autumn.* These people are accused of charges including planning violence against police, systematic vandalism and serious disturbance of public peace and order. Some of these charges are drawn from the Danish terror package and the penalties are strenghtened by the new Danish anti-protester laws introduced just prior to the COP 15. The charges they face are unfounded, but can still potentially result in years in prison.

During COP15 thousands of people from around the world gathered in Copenhagen to challenge the farcical political negotiations at the Bella Center and demand just solutions to the climate crises. We demonstrated for solutions that are not only favouring the rich western world. We protested for real solutions which are challenging the capitalist system, because this system has a  constant focus on growth and profit that is obviously not able to solve the  climate problems.

This dawning climate justice movement was met with antipathy and arrogance of power from the Danish government, which was reflected in the form of a massive police repression. During 2009 the Danish government and the Danish police carried out an intense scare campaign
in the media to demonize protesters and activists. Police were given extra power and economic resources for the COP 15. This led to thousands of preventive arrests, month-long surveillance of telephone and raids of private homes and accommodations, and grotesque and unnecessary detentions.

The police actions were completely out of proportion and a clear violation of our democratic rights. Their actions attempted criminalization of our right to organize ourselves politically. It was made clear that any movement that dares to challenge existing power structures and demand political changes are not welcome in Denmark today. Instead of listening to the massive criticism of the negotiations, the Danish government revealed a hypocritical lack of
interest in solving the climate problems. And now the Danish state is trying to make four individuals responsible for a whole movement’s collective decision-making and collective protests.

In our view – the right to protest and everyone’s right to be heard, is an essential element in a democracy – even if you are speaking against the existing capitalist system. We therefore call on everyone to show solidarity with the accused and make the criticism of the ongoing
processes visible.

We would like to receive information and documentation of any actions you take to collect on our website.

The coming trials is not just about the fact that innocent people might be convicted, but about everybody’s fundamental right to demonstrate, protest, take action and organize politically. It is important that we do not sign away these rights, but continue the fight.

In Solidarity – The Climate Collective

www.cop15repression.info or www.climatecollective.org
email: cop15repression@climatecollective.org

* The four accused are: Natasha Verco, Noah Weiss, Stine Gry Jonassen and Tannie Nyboe. Natasha and Noah’s trials are on the 24th, 25th and 31th of August, and Stine and Tannie’s trials  are on the 6th, 27th and 28th of October. The prosecution case against the Danish state about the preventive arrests are on the 23th and 30th of August and the 1st of September.

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Filed under Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15, Independent Media, Media

From New Voices Speaker Ben Powless: The road from Copenhagen to Cochabamba passes through the Amazon – Part I

Published on rabble.ca (http://rabble.ca)

The road from Copenhagen to Cochabamba passes through the Amazon – Part I
By Ben Powless Created Apr 14 2010 – 1:21pm

Soon thousands will meet in Cochabamba to talk climate justice. It is the voices of the Amazon we should listen to. A report from the Amazon.

The Amazon, it is often said, functions like the lungs of Mother Earth. The dense forest and undergrowth absorb much of the carbon dioxide that we manage to pump into the skies –- an ever more important and taxing effort in light of the threats to our climate.

Rio Wawas, Amazonas, Peru

In December, countries around the world gathered in Copenhagen to reach an agreement to protect the climate, even if purely face-saving, and failed. With that sour taste gone, Bolivia has invited governments, social movements, Indigenous Peoples, politicians, really anyone who cares, to attend the so-called World Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth [3]. The conference will be held the 19th-22nd in Cochabamba.

Ahead of that trip, I’ve flown into Lima, Peru to head back into the Amazon. It has been almost a year since the tragic day of June 5th, 2009 left over 30 people dead in the worst violence Peru has seen in modern history. The dispute was over a series of laws the government wanted to push through to open the Amazon to foreign companies, an effort linked to the Free Trade Agreement Peru’s President Alan Garcia signed with Canada and the United States. Amazon Indigenous Peoples resisted the laws with a blockade outside the town of Bagua, on the outskirts of the Amazon, and the government’s decision to send in armed forces still reverberates here. You can see my coverage from Peru last year here [4].

Bagua at Night

Indigenous groups here and elsewhere have maintained that their role in protecting their lands, their resources, their ecologies is paramount, and also serves the rest of humanity. In this case, the Awajun and Wampis peoples were concerned about the entry of oil companies into their lands, ultimately polluting the waters, the flora, the fauna, everything, as has been the case so many times in other parts of the Amazon.

A walk through the jungle outside Wawas, Amazonas, Peru

Bagua today is a much different place than in those tense days after June 5th, when military patrols roamed the streets, and a curfew kept people in hiding. Now, the only sense of tension was between teenage boys and girls in the plaza, whistling and blasting around on motorbikes. As they say, calm waters run deep, and the Amazon has a long memory.

I managed to catch up with Salomon Awananch, who since I ran into him last year, had been elevated to the position of Amazon Leader from his position leading the protests. He understood the protests had forced the government for the first time to seriously consider Indigenous cosmovisions. In order to further make the point, Amazon leaders had recently gathered to pass a resolution rejecting all transnational corporations from their lands, which has yet to be released. They are also heavily investing in an education plan which aims to keep Indigenous knowledge like traditional medicinal plant in use.

Salomon Awananch

At one point, I asked him about the film Avatar. He laughed a bit, admitting he really enjoyed the film, despite having lived a similar experience in the “Baguatar” episode last year. His demeanour hardened. “But if that happened again, it would be a complete war, the end of all dialogue. We have been open to dialogue this whole time, but the government hasn’t had the will (voluntad) to talk. Next time we won’t be protesting on the roads, we would be in the forests and mountains, where we couldn’t be defeated.”

The main threat now? It’s a Canadian mining company, Dorato Resources [5]. Dorato is looking for gold, one of the world’s oldest plunder-able resources, and Peru has much to offer as the 8h largest producer in the world. This mine would be unique, however, situated at the headwaters of the Cenepa River, in the Condor Mountain Range, a very sacred area to the Awajun and Wampis peoples who live downstream. For them, “you can’t touch this hill, you can’t interfere with it,” according to Edwin Montenegro, Secretary of the organization representing Indigenous Peoples of the north Amazon, ORPIAN.

Edwin Montenegro, explaining the Amazon river systems

“This mountain is very important to us. If it is destroyed, if the water is polluted, it is the end of all the Indigenous Peoples along the Cenepa,” continues Montenegro, from his office in Bagua. They also point out that this river flows into the Mariñon River, which flows into the Amazon – and any contaminants, such as mercury, would end up poisoning the Indigenous Peoples of all five water basins that make up the area. They even have a website [6], with a well-produced video overview, all in English.

“We need to do our own Environmental Impact Assessment to study the impacts. There are many understandings of man, territory and the forests. There exist great trees that have energy in them, and that force, that unity is lost when they are cut,” recounted Awananch. Even the mayor of Bagua has taken a stand against the mine. For the Awajun and Wampis, though, the stakes are much higher. “We’re ready to defend the land until the last consequences, and we have an agreement across the five basins of the Amazon to support our demands.”

Violeta, Widow of last year’s violence

I took a side trip to visit the Awajun communities of Wawas and La Curva, hours down the road from Bagua, where the families of victims of the 2009 violence lived. I had gone to drop off some photos to family members and other people in the community, but wasn’t expecting the results. Passing from community to community, by boat and jungle trail, we learned the loss of a community member had divided the community and many families, which was seen as the government’s fault, if not intention. After some unexpected conflict resolution, I was able to share the photos, which brought up many heartbreaking emotions from loved ones, and will hopefully help the children to remember. I also received testimony from Roman Jintach Chu, 45, who was also shot in the violence. In the end, Jintach’s family decided to honour me by naming a newborn baby after one of my family members.

Roman Jintach Chu

As I arrived in Lima on Monday, April 5th, a mining related protest [7] left six civilians dead and dozens wounded. Peru under Alan Garcia in particular has shown itself to be allergic to dialogue, and more than comfortable resolving disputes with a gun. This government is not alone in using force, when needed, to force compliance with corporate and governmental interests.

But it is the community members of places like Wawas and La Curva that must live with the consequences in the long term, and they are on the frontlines of protecting their rights, their environment, and in the end, all of us from the very activities that lead to climate calamities – loss of rainforest, oil refining, water poisoning. It is these very communities whose voices should be elevated and respected when pretending to be able to deal with a problem such as climate change while ignoring its predatory causes.

Community of Jaez

I left Bagua en route to Lamas, San Martin province, where Amazonian Kichwa communities were toiling to be recognized by the government and stop a biofuel company from taking their land. To be continued…

More photos will appear on Flickr [2].


Source URL (retrieved on Apr 16 2010 – 2:59pm): http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/ben-powless/2010/04/road-copenhagen-cochabamba-passes-through-amazon-part-i

Links:
[1] http://rabble.ca/taxonomy/term/2686
[2] http://www.flickr.com/photos/powless/sets/72157623729448987/
[3] http://pwccc.wordpress.com/
[4] http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/ben-powless/2009/06/massacre-peru-trip-amazon-brings-answers-and-more-questions
[5] http://www.doratoresources.com/s/Home.asp
[6] http://odecofroc.blogspot.com/
[7] http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50952
[8] http://rabble.ca/print/blogs/bloggers/ben-powless/2010/04/road-copenhagen-cochabamba-passes-through-amazon-part-i#comment-1133599
[9] http://www.ninosdelaamazonia.org
[10] http://rabble.ca/print/blogs/bloggers/ben-powless/2010/04/road-copenhagen-cochabamba-passes-through-amazon-part-i#comment-1133874
[11] http://rabble.ca/user
[12] http://rabble.ca/user/register

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Filed under Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15, Indigenous Peoples

Copenhagen Report Back with Anne Petermann

Listen to Executive Director, Anne Petermann, give a 28 minute report-back on Copenhagen in a radio interview with Kellia Ramares from Broadcaster at Large: Challenging the Assumptions We Live By, which is also being broadcast through the Women’s International News Gathering Service (WINGS).

Click here for the website and then Click on “Podcast – Climate Justice” in the menu on the left side of the screen.

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Filed under Copenhagen/COP-15

Petition!

Stine and Tannie are out, but they are still charged for shouting Push on the 16th of December.

Sign this petition to show that there were many of us shouting push on that day. If Stine and Tannie are charged, then all of us should be charged!

I too shouted PUSH at the Bella Center Dec. 16th:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/shoutpush/

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15

Climate Agreement Reached (or not…)

Below are my initial impressions upon listening to Barack Obama’s announcement about the so-called agreement reached in Copenhagen.  Tune in tomorrow for a full analysis of the negotiations and the outcomes.

Initial reactions:

* This was a total subversion of the UNFCCC COP process.  The Obama Administration succeeded in throwing aside the legally binding Kyoto Protocol, and the two track process agreed in Bali.

* The agreement reached is not only undemocratic, it is not legally binding, it is voluntary, and its commitments made on a country by country basis.
* Obama made an agreement with “key players” in the game and essentially flipped off the rest–especially the ALBA countries.  The African countries were outraged by the backroom dealings with Ethiopia by Obama and by France–which were carried out in the name of all of Africa without their consent.
Is Global Justice Ecology Project shocked at these developments?  Nope.  It is business as usual, as predicted.  This was the reason we participated in the founding of Climate Justice Action and the organizing of the Reclaim Power action that brought together social movements around the world to begin to discuss what the new world we know we need will look like.
More tomorrow,
Anne Petermann
Executive Director

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Filed under Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15, Posts from Anne Petermann

REDD – Camila Moreno and Miguel Lovera on Democracy Now!

Camila Moreno and Chief Paraguayan Negotiator on Democracy Now!

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Filed under Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15, Indigenous Peoples