Daily Archives: December 7, 2015

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Canada shocks COP21 with big new climate goal

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Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna in Paris last week. Photo by Mychaylo Prystupa.

By Mychaylo Prystupa, reposted from the National Observer, Dec, 7, 2015

Sunday night, Canada surprised a world of nations and negotiators in closed-door climate talks in Paris by endorsing a bolder, more ambitious target for cutting greenhouse gases than the UN climate change summit is officially aiming for.

Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna told a stunned crowd that she wants the Paris agreement to restrict planetary warming to just 1.5 Celsius warming —not two degrees. It was the first time she has made such a statement.

In the room was former CBC meteorologist Claire Martin, a Green Party observer at the talks. “I was freaking out,” she said. “I was writing it all down like a nut.”

Reading from her notes, Martin reported the minister’s remarks like so: “‘We want to send a strong political signal.’ The necessity, that she sees, is one in which we transition sustainably.”

“But she was quite clear —‘I support the goals of 1.5’— and echoed the comments of another party about human rights and indigenous peoples. Canada supports legally binding provisions, and we are committed to following through.”

“She wants a five-year review, and it must be ‘ambitious’ and ‘accountable.'”

“Adaptation is ‘incredibly important’ and she has full support for the ambitious nature of this agreement,” Martin added, about the minister’s remarks.

McKenna’s office confirms it

Minister McKenna’s spokesperson confirmed Monday that she supports “including reference in the Paris Agreement to the recognition of the ‎need to striving to limit global warming to 1.5, as other parties have said.”

“Canada wants an agreement that is ambitious and that is signed by the greatest number of countries possible.”

And crucially, “the most important thing is that each country should be legally required to submit a target. And to report on progress on that target on a regular basis.”

This is not the same as legally binding countries to reach their target, as many reports have noted. Countries’ targets will still be outside the agreement. But McKenna’s office added:

“There should also be a legally binding requirement in the agreement that countries improve their targets regularly.”

Ontario Minsiter Glen Murrary and Elizabeth May Green leader Paris COP21 - Mychaylo Prystupa
Ontario Minister of Environment and Climate Change Glen Murray and Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth at COP21 forum on Thursday in Paris. Photo by Mychaylo Prystupa.

‘I am over the moon’

Green leader Elizabeth May said: “I am over the moon. It’s fantastic news!”

“It creates a very ambitious trajectory for reduction of emissions, but it’s what’s required. If we’re going to keep low-lying island states from going under water, that’s what’s required.”

“If we want to have a reasonable prospect of not having the Greenland ice sheet create five- to eight-metre sea level rise, it’s what’s required.”

“It’s a safer zone than two [degrees], which represents a lot of irreparable, irreversible damage to large parts of the world. So 1.5 is good.”

Video of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaking to the UN COP21 climate summit last week in Paris. Produced by Zack Embree for the National Observer.

The moves come just one week after Prime Minister Trudeau promised the world in his speech to the UN climate gathering that climate change would be a “top priority” for Ottawa.

But this latest statement about aiming for 1.5 Celsius has environmentalists —who haven’t been in the habit of congratulating their federal government after nine years of Harper rule —rushing to issue happy-with-Canada press releases.

“This is an incredibly promising signal that Canada really is ready to lead when it comes to ambition and securing a strong global climate deal. Now Canada has a chance to leverage this leadership across key pieces of this agreement and this is what we hope to see over the coming days,” said Steven Guilbeault of Montreal’s Équiterre in Paris.

Likewise, Karen Mahon, of ForestEthics, said: “Action and a strong deal in Paris will help Canada as it returns home and works closely with provinces to develop a plan that puts Paris promises into action.”

“Canada is redefining itself in Paris, but it will need to take its leadership home to prove that they really are back.”

Dale Marshal, of Environmental Defence, added Canada would confirm its climate leadership if it put in a “credible financing package” for a developing-country “Loss and Damage fund,” and continued work to get an ambitious mechanism that allows reviews of targets and financing before 2020.

Trudeau: ‘no time to waste’

It remains to be seen if the world’s nations agree to Canada’s urging to cap dangerous global warming at 1.5 C.

But praises for Canada come on top of heaps of laudings from Canadian First Nations leaders for backing the inclusion of Indigenous rights in the climate treaty process too. It’s a move opposed by the European Union and United States over fears it could leave them liable for climate damages.

Prime Minister Trudeau said last week in Paris: “Indigenous people have known for thousands of years about how to care of our planet. The rest of us have a lot to learn, and no time to waste.” SOURCE

 

Preventing Ecocide, solutions, Politics, Activism, climate science

Paris climate talks: day six

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by Emma Howard and the Guardian team in Paris, Dec 7, 2015
>Here in Paris, negotiators are feeling the heat. As the conference enters its final crucial week, ministers are arriving, greeted by young volunteers from local neighbourhoods, electrified transport and recycled art.

Negotiators were working into the early hours over the weekend to produce a 48 page draft agreement. Published on Saturday, it was 252 pages shorter than at this point during the disastrous Copenhagen talks in 2009. But within the agreement lie more than 900 square brackets, signifying areas of disagreement.

Laurent Fabius, president of COP21 and the French foreign minister, summed up the challenge ahead:

“We’re talking about life itself…I intend to muster the experience of my entire life to the service of success for next Friday,” he told the conference.

But many developing countries are now worried about parts of the agreement, which they say could put pressure on them to provide climate finance, alongside rich nations. Some even say that the text is an attempt to change the UN’s convention itself.

So can the negotiators find the right compromises, delete the brackets and come to a consensus by 6pm on Friday?

We’ll be here to find out.

With hope,

Emma Howard and the Guardian team in Paris.

Here’s today’s reading list:

 

RELATED:

The Leap Manifesto

 

 

Preventing Ecocide, Ecocide, Politics, Fascism/Corporatism, Sustainability, climate science, Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein: We need a bigger leap than Paris talks

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The deal struck at Paris will be “inadequate and not enough to keep us safe”, said Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein at the sidelines of COP 21. The global community needs to make a radical leap towards a sustainable and just economy.

naomi klein madrid
Naomi Klein speaking about her new book, This Changes Everything, in Madrid earlier this year. She is one of the actors behind The Leap Manifesto, a set of policy recommendations to transform Canada’s economy into a sustainable and equitable one. Image: Adolfo Lujan, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

By Vaidehi Shah, reposted from Eco-Business, Dec 7, 2015

Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein has called on the global community to make a “leap forward” to embrace policies that simultaneously tackle climate change, economic inequality, and human rights, among other pressing issues.

Speaking at The People’s Climate Summit in Paris, a civil society-led conference held in parallel to the UN climate summit this week, Klein told the 500-strong audience that “the deal that will come out of this summit will be inadequate, and is not one that can keep us safe”.

This is not only because it will fail to limit global temperature rise to the level deemed safe by international scientists, it also won’t be legally binding and have no penalties for countries that fail to stick to their promised cuts, she said.

While activists will continue to lobby for stronger climate action, Klein suggested that governments implement policies that promote a just and sustainable economy.

While contemporary economic systems feature extensive natural resource extraction, fossil fuel burning and labour abuses, the economy of the future “is based on caring for one another and the earth,” noted Klein, author of ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate’.

A panel discussion at the People’s Climate Summit in Paris, France, on Sunday. Among the speakers are Naomi Klein, author and activist and Kumi Naidoo, executive director, Greenpeace International. Image: Eco-Business

A vision of how Canada would look like under this new system is outlined in the ‘Leap Manifesto‘, a policy document jointly created by groups from the environmental, labour, anti-poverty, gender equality, indigenous rights movements, and more.

Launched in September, the document presents recommendations to shape a Canada which is sustainable, equitable, prosperous and socially just, said Klein.

It recognises that indigenous communities are crucial caretakers of the planet, and that their knowledge is valuable to sustainable resource and land management.

A global transition to renewable energy is also essential, said Klein, who noted that renewable energy creates more jobs than fossil fuels. A study by the UK Energy Research Centre last year showed that new renewable power projects create 10 times more jobs than similar fossil fuel investments.

But even as these jobs are created, workers’ rights must be protected and those who lose their jobs in polluting sectors should receive assistance in finding new, clean jobs, she noted.

A green economy also entails expanding the sectors of society that are already low carbon, said Klein. Occupations such as caregiving, teaching, and the arts are low-carbon, climate jobs.

She suggested that even as austerity measures in many countries threaten to cut funding for these essential services, green policies such as a carbon tax or increased royalties on fossil fuel extraction can provide the funds necessary to support these jobs.

 

It is possible to have policies that solve racism and inequality, all while radically bringing down emissions. Naomi Klein, author and activist

The Leap Manifesto also recognises climate change as one of the key drivers of involuntary migration, and urges the Canadian government to welcome refugees and migrants escaping unliveable conditions.

“We live in a time of multiple crises,” Klein said. “Different social movements have to share a coherent vision, with climate at the centre of their agendas”.

“It is possible to have policies that solve racism and inequality, all while radically bringing down emissions,” said Klein. “We have a roadmap, and this is the work to be done after COP 21”.

She shared that the Leap Manifesto is named after the extra day added to the calendar every four years. This extra day, introduced to sync the Gregorian calendar with the Earth’s rotation, is a good metaphor for how human systems must change to adapt to nature, she added.

Klein urged people to craft similarly ambitious manifestos for their own countries, and launch them on February 29 next year.

Also speaking at the event, Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International, echoed the need for individuals and communities to voice the need for sustainable change.

For example, if workers’ trade unions were invested in fossil fuels, they could ask them to divest and support renewable energy projects, he said.

But governments must also do their bit to scale up climate targets, said Naidoo. For one thing, the 2 deg C target might save countries in Europe and North America, but still lead to widespread damage in the low-lying island states of the Pacific and Caribbean, as well as poor countries like Bangladesh and African nations.

“We urge policymakers to use a target of 1.5 deg C instead,” said Naidoo. “The agreement also needs to be reviewed every five years with the possibility of scaling up ambition”. SOURCE

RELATED:

The Leap Manifesto

 

Preventing Ecocide, Ecocide ALert, Politics, Activism, Fascism/Corporatism

Indigenous Leaders In Paris Issue Declaration Calling For The End Of Fossil Fuel Extraction

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CREDIT: NATASHA GEILING/THINKPROGRESS

BY NATASHA GEILING, reposted from ClimateProgress, Dec 6, 2015

PARIS, FRANCE — The sound of drums and chanting rang across the Bassin de la Villette— Paris’ largest artifical lake — on Sunday as representatives from indigenous tribes stretching from the Arctic to the Amazon demonstrated against the extraction of fossil fuels and the omission of indigenous’ rights from an international climate treaty. A group of about 25 activists gathered in canoes and kayaks on the lake, displaying flags emblazoned with traditional symbols, while others joined from above, hanging banners off of a nearby bridge.

Following the demonstration on the water, six indigenous leaders spoke about their desires for a climate agreement that respects their territorial rights and traditional lands. Together, the leaders released three declarations: one signifying the creation of a coalition between all indigenous women of America, one asking that sacred Amazon forests be legally protected, and one asking for an end of fossil fuel extraction and subsidies.

File_005
CREDIT: NATASHA GEILING/THINKPROGRESS

“We are here to call upon the governments of the world that they must respect the rights of Indigenous peoples,” Faith Gimmel-Fredson, executive director of REDOIL and a member of the Neets’aii Gwich’in people, said during a press conference. “No more false solutions. We don’t have time.”

Indigenous peoples, who are often still dependent on the land for subsistence and cultural traditions, are some of the first communities to feel the full force of climate changes. In the Arctic, the Gwich’in people, who depend on the Porcupine caribou herds that migrate from the Alaska’s coastal plains down into Alaska and Canada, have seen their food security threatened as changing climate impacts the caribou’s migration patterns.

“Alaska is ground zero of climate change,” Gimmel-Fredson said. “The ground we walk on is literally melting beneath us.”

In addition to climate change, fossil fuel companies looking to launch exploratory drilling in the Arctic also threaten the Gwich’in peoples’ food security and traditional way of life. Alaskan politicians, including Gov. Bill Walker (I) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), have consistently called for the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — a crucial birthing ground for Porcupine caribou and a sacred place for the Gwich’in people — to be opened to oil and gas exploration.

“We kicked Shell out of the Arctic,” Gimmel-Fredson said, but noted that her people still face the “assault of our traditional territories by the fossil fuel extractive industry.”

File_000 (3)Despite their proximity to the consequences of climate change, indigenous communities have had to battle simply to be included in the international climate agreement that is expected to come out of the Paris talks next week. As late in the talks as Thursday — two days before the draft of a climate deal was sent to ministers to use as basis for upcoming negotiations — it seemed as if any mention of indigenous communities and indigenous rights might not make it into the agreement. As of Saturday, it appears as though references to indigenous rights have been reinserted into the text.

“It is key that we are here as indigenous communities because we are the frontline communities,” Dallas Goldtooth, of the Mdewakanton Dakota and Dińe peoples, said. “Our relationship to Mother Earth is being impacted, and our way to live our lives is being destroyed.”

The Keep It In The Ground Declaration garnered support from over 150 leaders in the environmental and justice communities, with organizations like 350.org, Center for International Environmental Law, Food & Water Watch, and Friends of the Earth backing the declaration.

File_000 (4)

Casey Camp-Horinek, an environmental and native rights activist from the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma, spoke of the changes she has seen as hydraulic fracturing has boomed across the state. Since 2009, Oklahoma has seen an intense spike in earthquakes, becoming the most seismically active state in the lower 48 in 2014.

She likened the spread of fracking throughout Oklahoma to the original “environmental genocide,” caused by European settlers bringing smallpox and colonizing indigenous peoples’ land.

“Now, they come with refineries, with fracking, and with pipelines,” she said. “They kill the air, they kill the Earth, they kill the water.”

SOURCE

solutions, Politics, democracy, reconciliation

Romeo Saganash says treaties should be included in new members’ oath

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‘That will change the discourse,’ says Quebec MP, who included treaties in oath

Northern Quebec MP Romeo Saganash is suggesting the oath new members of parliament take when they enter office should include an allegiance to the nation’s treaties.
Northern Quebec MP Romeo Saganash is suggesting the oath new members of parliament take when they enter office should include an allegiance to the nation’s treaties. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

By Trail’s End, reposted from CBC News, Dec 3, 2015

NDP MP Romeo Saganash’s oath to the Queen last week was a little different than his fellow newly-elected MPs.

When Saganash, the MP in the northern Quebec riding of Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou, took the oath to the Queen, he added a line of his own: “And I solemnly affirm, that in the carrying out of my duties, I shall honour and respect the treaties signed with indigenous peoples.”

Saganash, who is Cree, says the idea came to him after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report, which included a recommendation that new citizens swear to respect the treaties when they take their oath.

“I said to myself, if that’s applicable or that’s fine for new citizens, I think it should be more so for MPs,” Saganash says. “So that’s why I suggested to the clerk of the House of Commons that we need also to consider changing that oath.”

Saganash says he’s received a lot of support for his idea, and he put it forward to the other aboriginal MPs in parliament.

“I wrote a couple of days ago to all of the other nine MPs and suggested an aboriginal caucus and how we can work together multi-partisan,” he says.

Saganash believes adding the treaties to the oath will be more than just symbolic.

“When you pledge to honour and respect treaties in this country, when you get up in that House of Commons, you need to remember that,” he says.

“That will change the discourse. That will change the way we approach many of the issues on aboriginal questions in this parliament. It will change a lot in the minds and thoughts of many of the MPs.”

Oath should be flexible

Michael McLeod, the Liberal MP for the N.W.T., made the standard oath to the Queen two weeks ago.

Michael McLeod NWT Liberal candidate
‘The oath should be flexible enough to include whatever the MP feels is important to him,’ says N.W.T. Liberal MP Michael McLeod. (@MMcLeodNWT)

“I certainly take pride in protecting and preserving and honouring the treaties,” he says. “It’s something that we use as a basis for a lot of what’s going on in the Northwest Territories.”

McLeod says Saganash’s suggestion would put the treaties in a new light.

“It’s also interesting that Romeo has taken this way to bring attention to the treaties, it’s a really important document that we all use.

“The oath should be flexible enough to include whatever the MP feels is important to him.” SOURCE

Preventing Ecocide, Ecocide ALert, Cultural Ecocide, Politics, racism, Cultural Genocide

Indigenous Rights on Chopping Block of UN COP21 Paris Climate Accord

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By , reposted from IndigenousRising, Dec 6, 2015

Immediate Release

December 4th, 2015

Press Contacts:

North America Dallas Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network, [email protected], 1-708-515-6158

EU Suzanne Dhaliwal, Indigenous Environmental Network, UK Tar Sands Network [email protected] +447772694327

Paris – Saturday – December 5th – On Friday December 4th, Indigenous Peoples from around the globe demonstrated inside the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC/COP21) convention centre at Le Bourget. The protest was carried out to highlight objections to the proposed removal of language pertaining to both the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights from Article 2.2 of the draft Paris Accord, ending the first week of negotiations. Norway, the UK and the EU have been key players in this removal of the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Despite such vocal objections from Indigenous Peoples and their allies, the operative text of the Paris Accord, as it stands today, has had the rights of Indigenous Peoples language/clauses removed, and there is now a proposal to have ‘Human Rights’ removed as well. At present, this leaves the rights of Indigenous Peoples only reflected within the preamble – which is purely aspirational text, and not legally binding or enforceable in any way.

“The inclusion of the rights of Indigenous Peoples text, in addition to Human Rights text is crucial. A Western, non-Indigenous evaluation of Human Rights does not necessarily adequately protect our rights as Indigenous Peoples,” states Princess Daazhraii Johnson, REDOIL Alaska spokesperson.

“Many of our Indigenous peoples still live off the land, living a subsistence-based lifestyle. And given that many of the world’s fossil fuel reserves are on or adjacent to Indigenous lands, we must protect our collective rights to self-determine our relationship to Mother Earth by rejecting false solutions to addressing climate change,” concluded Ms. Johnson.

In addition, many countries do not recognize the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples as Human Rights. The Western international human rights system is oriented towards individual rights, and so a general reference to human rights does not adequately protect the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“At the moment the rights of Indigenous Peoples all over the globe are being violated by ‘green climate projects’ – such as hydropower dams – in the name of ‘climate mitigation’. If such violations are happening now, imagine what will come with a legally binding document, where the rights of Indigenous Peoples are not guaranteed,” stated Eriel Deranger, member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

Positions against both the exclusion of Human Rights and Indigenous Rights in the operative text are said to be based on concerns about potential legal liability, if climate change is judged to have violated those rights.

With the draft Paris agreement heavily focused on voluntary market-based technological solutions – such as forest and conservation offsets – Indigenous Peoples are gravely concerned that without concrete Indigenous Rights language (and safeguards from privatisation) codified in the operative text, they will be further displaced from their lands. Green economy schemes (like the World bank REDD+) provide financial mechanisms for industrialised nations to justify expansion of fossil fuel regimes – such as Canada’s controversial Tar Sands giga-project in Northern Alberta, or offshore drilling in Alaska’s outer continental shelf. This disproportionately impacts Indigenous Peoples of the North, all the while simultaneously privatising Indigenous Peoples lands in the South for the purposes of laundering Western carbon pollution, via the above mentioned forest and conservation offsets.

“Our fight to get Indigenous Peoples Rights included in the operative text, is non-negotiable,” states Crystal Lameman,Treaty Coordinator and Communications Manager for the Beaver Lake Cree Nation.“We belong in this treaty, we have a place in this discussion. Our future and the future of our children is not up for negotiation. The removal of operative Article 2.2 is the erasure of our existence as People of Color, Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities because we surely will be the first to experience climate catastrophe”

As we enter the second week of negotiations of the Paris Accord, Indigenous People will continue to lobby and challenge those who oppose the inclusion of Human Rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples into the operative text.

“We cannot negotiate a climate agreement at this critical time without the recognition of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, who are on the front lines of the impacts of climate change and the innovators of solutions we need to stabilize our climate. For the benefit of all human beings, we are fighting for a meaningful outcome from these negotiations, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples MUST be included in Article 2.2 of the Paris Accord,” stated Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network.

Draft of Paris Agreement from December 5th 2015 DOWNLOAD

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‘Indigenous peoples’ cut from main text in draft global climate change deal

 

 

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Council of Canadians organizer Diane Connors at COP21 in Paris

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By Brent Patterson, reposted from The Council of Canadians, Dec 6, 2015

Diane Connors at COP21
Council of Canadians organizer Diane Connors.

Edmonton-based Council of Canadians organizer Diane Connors is at the COP21 climate summit is Paris.

She is there as a member of the Canadian Youth Delegation. As noted on their website, “The Canadian Youth Delegation is a voice of the Canadian youth climate movement at international United Nations climate conferences. Made up of dedicated and inspiring leaders from across the country, the delegation represents the demands of a generation working to create a just, safe, and livable future for all. This year the Canadian Youth Delegation at COP21 has representatives on the Canadian Government delegation, inside the conference as a negotiating body and outside working with other civil society groups.”

In an interview with Edmonton’s Vue Weekly magazine, Connors explains, “We’re targeting the Canadian government and pressuring them to implement the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and also demanding for a just transition from fossil fuel dependence. We’re rallying for Zero Emissions by the year 2050. Outside the conference, we’re participating in targeting oil companies, or companies with big interests in the negotiations, and trying to be part of a movement that urges the UN to not accept those special interests over the interests of the common person.”

But despite having representation on the Canadian government delegation, they have been snubbed by the prime minister.

CBC reports, “On a day that was supposed to celebrate the contributions of youth at the Paris climate conference, a group of young Canadians stood before the world’s cameras and publicly called out their new young prime minister. Youth want to be heard, not just seen’, they chanted, each holding up at least one placard that both hid their face and showed one of their demands. …Trudeau did not make time while here to meet the youth delegation, despite repeated requests. The resulting complaint from the 20-somethings on Young and Future Generations Day mocked Trudeau’s proclivity for selfies — hence the slogan.”

Connors notes, “We requested a meeting with Trudeau, not only because he’s our Prime Minister, but also because he’s the Minister of Youth. Unfortunately, we didn’t get much of a response. Part of our messaging going forward is on the importance of listening to youth. We’ve found that a lot of the politicians love the idea of taking their photos with us and having us at the conference—almost as a token—but not actually listening to our voices.”

She has also highlighted, “The general feeling is that [Trudeau’s] statements on climate change were very vague. He hasn’t shown any concrete ways that he’s actually moving away from the inadequate promises and targets of Harper’s government.” Unfortunately, as the CBC article reports, “Canada’s main negotiators — the same under both governments — have been freed somewhat of what must have been restrictive instructions under Harper, but they are, in ways, still living in its shadow.”

In terms of the Canadian Youth Delegation’s demands, the Trudeau government has:

  • not committed to zero emissions by 2050, nor has it proposed ambitious near term targets
  • promised to end subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, but has not set a deadline to implement that pledge
  • not agreed to freeze the expansion of the tar sands, but rather praised Alberta’s climate plan to increase tar sands production by more than 40 per cent
  • promoted false solutions at COP21 such as carbon markets and carbon capture and storage
  • not supported Indigenous and community-led renewable energy projects
  • promised a fraction of our fair share to a climate justice fund ($2.65 billion over five years rather than $4 billion a year)
  • not promised to exceed current commitments to resettling refugees, despite the United Nations saying there will be “substantial population displacements” due to climate change in the coming years.

Yesterday (Dec. 5), negotiators adopted a 48-page draft climate agreement that environment and foreign ministers will work on this coming week.

The heavily bracketed text does not:

  • resolve the demand for differing obligations and expectations of rich and poor countries
  • make country-specific climate emission pledges legally binding
  • include the rights of Indigenous peoples in the operative text
  • keep the global temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius (it would allow for a 2.7 to 3.5 degrees Celsius increase)

Indigenous Environmental Network executive director Tom Goldtooth has commented, “We are here in Paris to tell the world that not only will the anticipated Paris Accord not address climate change, it will make it worse because it will promote false solutions and not keep fossil fuels from being extracted and burned. The Paris COP21 is not about reaching a legally binding agreement on cutting greenhouse gases. In fact, the Paris Accord may turn out to be a crime against humanity and Mother Earth.” Bolivian activist Pablo Solon has stated, “To put it in other terms, [this agreement could] burn the planet.”

The talks are expected to conclude on Friday Dec. 11.

SOURCE