1st December 2015. COP Paris.
Many groups have now gathered in Paris and their voices need to be
heard. Today I want to tell you about the proposals for the corporate
take over of soils – one of the false solutions to climate change.
Called ‘Climate Smart Agriculture’ it involves fertiliser, biotech and
agribusiness corporations seizing the chance to cash in by proposing to
use soils as a giant carbon sink to ‘offset’ continued fossil fuel
emissions, and to greenwash industrial agriculture.
Agri-businesses around the world are responsible for high levels of
greenhouse gas emissions whilst destroying forests, water, soils, and
biodiversity. We can already see that ‘Climate Smart Agriculture’ is
designed to promote the very model of industrial agriculture that is
already contributing so massively to climate change. We must stop the
introduction of carbon markets in agriculture as they will be used to
support large-scale industrial monocultures with high inputs of
fertiliser and stimulate land-grabbing for carbon sinks to offset
continued emissions.
Small and family farmers still provide most of our food globally and
must be central to the systemic change we need. They still have the
knowledge and the diversity of crops and animals to farm productively
without the use of chemicals by diversifying cropping systems,
integrating crop and animal production, and incorporating trees and wild
vegetation. These practices enhance the productive potential of the land
because they improve soil fertility and prevent soil erosion. And in the
UK it is the organic and small-holder producers that lead the way in
providing sustainable local food with minimum carbon use.
The corporate lobbyists in Paris are trying to ‘offset’ emissions, and
thus ‘mitigate’ the impacts of continuing with business as usual. This
would not advance food sovereignty, help adaptation or tackle the root
causes of climate change. We need real change not financial ‘offsets’.
Wednesday 2nd December 2015, PARIS COP
I am in the ‘Climate Generations’ area – which is a huge tented area
right next door to the official Government conference centre. It is the
2nd day of the Conference and the discussions are in full swing next
door. Here, there are indigenous people from around the world.
Unfortunately they are not welcome next door as only a few countries
have made them the essential part of the climate negotiations which is
what they should be. They have come in their traditional costumes with
their Visions on how to cope with climate change. Along with film
footage of their natural environment and the sounds of birdsong and
running water, they remind us that they already know how to adapt and
respond to extreme natural events. They are the main victims of the the
climate change that is already ravaging the planet as they live at the
extremes of nature – in the deserts, on the ice, high in the mountains,
on low lying islands.
They explain how indigenous peoples have a very different spiritual
connection to nature which recognises the natural world and works with
nature not against it. They cry out against the dominant world with its
‘dominion over’ nature and predatory relationships. They are calling for
an Earth’s jurisprudence that recognises the rights of the Earth, the
water, the air – which all of us depend upon. They feel that they have
lived for thousands of years in harmony with nature, in balance with it
as the Guardians of nature. But they have been forced off their lands,
out of their forests, off their islands and out of their deserts. Forced
out by the mining companies, by the corporations’ mono-cultural
plantations, by industrialisation, which is destroying the balance,
polluting the water, land and very air we all breathe.
Industrialisation, mining, huge dams are taking, taking and taking from
Mother Earth, as many of these groups call nature. The culture of carbon
credits and financialisation of the problems rather than changing
extractive and predatory practices ignores the wisdom of indigenous
culture, with its knowledge of the natural world, including medicinal
plants. Instead, destroying their livelihoods, earth’s resources are
treated merely as figures to be entered on a balance sheet, where the
losses of indigenous peoples and their ways is not even entered.
These indigenous peoples are a powerful example to us of another way of
being on our planet but the actions of our Governments are destroying
them and making it impossible for them to carry out their sustainable
ways of life. Corporations such as Shell, Rio Tinto, Vedanta, Vale,
Anglo-American, Norwegian Norsk Hydro are taking minerals and power from
the land and contributing to greenhouse emissions while the people are
being forced out. They call for their human rights to be recognised and
the for the big mining companies to be kept out of their lands. As they
say land is life and demand system change not climate change.
3rd December at COP, Paris.
The day was dedicated to the seas and oceans and I will summarise some
of the issues tomorrow as it is so late. Our anti-nuclear group walked
around handing out leaflets with our dragon. We got lots of attention
and made the links between nuclear weapons, war and climate change. See
our leaflet. Tomorrow we will be demonstrating outside the Ministry of
Defence.
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More from Day 3
Day 3 – COP Paris – Day on Oceans and Climate
There are all sorts of meetings by civil society here in Paris. Many of them are much more crucial than the official negotiations because they include the people, academics, scientists and civil society actors that really know what is happening and why and what can be done about it. Today we heard directly from the people and scientists working on the oceans. The oceans and atmosphere are two essential components of the earth system and humankind is altering both of them at an unprecedented rate. But ocean related issues have remained largely absent from the climate debate.
The ocean moderates the human caused climate changes by absorbing significant proportions of the heat and carbon dioxide that accumulate in the atmosphere, as well as receiving all water from the melting ice. This has led to ocean warming, acidification and to sea level rise that have significantly affected the ocean’s ecology and marine and coastal human activities (fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, health ….). The scientists are calling for an immediate and substantial reduction in emissions.
To give one well known example of damage the International Society for Reef Studies explained that coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse eco-systems on the planet and are collapsing under the rapid climate change which is causing bleaching and death. This in turn is causing the loss of most of the fish and invertebrate populations they support. Around 50% of coral reefs have already been completely degraded over the last couple of decades and as a result a quarter of ALL marine species are at risk.
Other essential vulnerable marine habitats with a high ecological and biological value and which store a large amount of carbon (so-called blue carbon areas) are mangroves,sea grass beds, salt marshes and estuaries.
There are urgent calls for the following:- conservation of these vulnerable marine habitats; giving priority to nature-based solutions rather than industrialised, corporate controlled false solutions; the reduction of the impact of land-based pollution at sea and coast by reducing waste and developing waste-water treatment plants; investment in eco-designed ships and ports that reduce emissions and waste.
Local peoples from the coastal and island nations were also heard with growing empathy and compassion as they are already suffering from the inundation of their lands by the oceans and from increasing extreme weather events that are causing the loss of islands, deaths of people and destruction of property leading to increasing numbers of climate refugees. They are not only calling for an immediate drop in emissions world wide to keep the rise in temperature below 2 degrees but also for monitoring and warning systems for extreme events.
Traditional knowledge and technologies of local communities, currently ignored by governments and corporations, should be incorporated into the development of eco-system based solutions. The exploits of corporations who are only interested in ‘development’ and resource extraction should be banned from the remaining areas of mangroves, forests, marshes, wetlands and coral reefs, so that these can be restored and maintained for the health of all life on earth. The banning of large and industrialised fish extraction is also needed.
Combined Report for 4th to 6th December, Paris.
Friday 4th December – I joined our Maison de Vigilance friends at the
Ministry of Defence in Paris. You may remember our long standing friend
Serge who has joined the TP actions on so many occasions over the years
at Faslane and Burghfield. He also brought people over for the
Burghfield Lockdown and for the London Hiroshioma to Nagasaki fast this
last year. Dominque, the Nuclear Physicist who joined us at the 2 week
Burghfield camp is based here in Paris and is hosting us all. He
introduced me to 5 other members of the Maison.
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Dominique organises a monthly vigil at the Ministry of Defence and wrote
to the police to check that we could do the usual vigil in the
heightened security conditions. We were given permission and arrived at
8 a.m. with the banners and leafleted. Then at 12 noon we added a little
surprise – a dragon that Dominique had made. It really helped get
attention and more leaflets. Then Dominique and I entered the building
and asked to speak to any of the policy makers in the Ministry – but
they were all out at lunch! I was pleased to find that the police and
military were calm and we had no problems with our little demonstration.
The day was good for cementing our relations with this active peace
group and making plans for the fast next year.
In the evening I had been invited to dinner to meet up with other Right
Livelihood Laureates and members of the World Future Council. It was
good to exchange views and thoughts especially with Sheila, one of the
newest laureates who had just come fresh from her prize giving in
Stockholm. She was awarded the RLA “…for her lifelong work to protect
the Inuit of the Arctic and defend their right to maintain their
livelihoods and culture, which are acutely threatened by climate
change.” You can read more about her amazing work at the RLA website.
Saturday 5th December – our little group went to the alternative
centre/hub where many ordinary folk are giving talks and networking in
one of the poorer suburbs of Paris. Called Forum Climat it is centred in
Montreuil. A huge farmers market of organic and sustainable food and
wine stalls were mingled in with talks on reforming the whole food and
agricultural system.
Sunday 6th December – there were a series of workshops on how nuclear
energy will not save the climate, the links between the civil and
military nuclear industries and the impact of these and war on climate
change. I gave a talk, as did Dominique. The networking will definitely
lead to a closer link between our movements.
View Dominique’s talk (Pdf) here: Lyon-Ican 2014
Read Angie’s talk (.odt) here: Talk-for-WILF-COP21-Paris
9th December at the Louvre
Yesterday I joined a group preparing for the action today at the Louvre. It was similar to action done in London and in New York – trying to remove the influence and sponsorship of Oil companies from our art galleries. As the military is one of the major users of oil I decided to go as an anti-militarist and support them. So, inside the Louvre at 12 noon another women and I poured oil on the floor of the entrance lobby under the great glass pyramid and 6 ‘dancers’ as we called them took off their shoes, opened black umbrellas and walked the oil around. We all sang ‘OIL, MONEY, OUT OF THE LOUVRE, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE. TOTAL, ENI, AU REVOIR, ALLEZ, ALLEZ, ALLEZ. I was able to be avoid being arrested but the 6 dancers are now in a police cell from which they should be released quite soon. Meanwhile, outside the Louvre around 40 or so people with more black umbrellas, some of which had a letter on that together spelled out ‘FOSSIL FREE CULTURE’ also sang the same song. They were joined by Australian women dressed up as climate angels. All very good humoured and there were so many tourists looking at it all that none were arrested.
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Actions continue all over Paris even if the main press is not reporting it.
12th December – Paris
D12 finally arrived. I gathered with others at The Pantheon at 9a.m.
where our de-escalation group of around 50 met for a ritual. The police
just watched discretely from the side) as we grounded ourselves around
the melting icebergs that had been brought from Greenland – a sad but
wonderful symbol of climate change. Then we departed in ones and twos to
gather at a metro station on the Avenue de la Grande Armee for the red
lines action.
There were thousands of us, most very obvious in red, and the mood was
light and peaceful. The police were in large numbers but also calm and
with riot gear handy but not in our faces. We were responsible for
de-escalating if necessary and for producing a calm atmosphere, so we
took up places by the police line and police vehicles at the Arc de
Triomphe end and played games and amused people along with some clowns
who also joined in. Some of the group were Buddhists and prayed and
chanted. Long red banners were spread along the street, which had been
closed by the police and red flowers and red umbrellas blossomed. A
large group of cyclists, some from an organic and sustainable growers
organisation, swept by. It all seemed very well organised – and it was
so good that it happened despite the state of emergency, all the
setbacks, and changes of plans.
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To end the civil disobedience red lines action we walked down the
Avenue, leaving red flowers and red carpets, and the people made their
way to the Arc de Triomphe where the human chain was forming up.
Apparently there were around 15,000 people gathered. And news came that
an agreement had been signed and it was to be legally binding……….
Now our work begins, back in our home countries, to keep the pressure
on, to keep the different single issues united, and to demand system
change not climate change.