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IFG News | Board Member News | Archive News IFG NEWS ROOM
REPORTS FROM
POZNAN Most were wearing t-shirts with the familiar “Mickey Mouse ears” emblazoned with the radiation symbol. The activists, representing non-governmental organizations from nearby European countries and from as far away as Taiwan, South Korea, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and California, announced the release of a global call for the elimination of proposals to include nuclear power as an approved investment for greenhouse gas mitigation in the 2nd commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC. In only one week, over 300 NGOs representing millions of individuals from 50 countries in every corner of the planet signed on to the public appeal to keep the nuclear power option out of the climate talks. Spokespeople from the four organizers of today’s action made their case throughout the morning by talking one-on-one to hundreds of government delegates and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as they entered the conference site for morning sessions. Speaking to the press, Sabine Bock, coordinator of energy and climate protection for Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) said: “Nuclear energy has proven in the past that it is a threat not only to our health and the environment, but also to human rights.” “In our work at WECF with local communities,” Bock continued, “we have encountered severe health problems and human rights abuses of populations due to the harmful effects of nuclear energy and radiation.” Bock added: “We can’t understand why governments still promote this dangerous technology rather than taking the opportunity to develop safe and sustainable new, renewable, and clean energy solutions.” Jan Van de Putte, Nuclear Campaign Coordinator for Greenpeace described nuclear power as an obstacle to effective climate protection saying that money invested in nuclear power is not nearly as effective as money invested in wind power, for example.” “Nuclear power is a dangerous and dirty energy source – it provides too little energy for mitigation at too slow a pace and at too great a cost.” Van de Putte continued, “the cost per Kwh of nuclear power is double that of wind energy. It just doesn’t make sense to pursue this outdated energy source.” Vladimir Slivyak, Co-Chair of Ecodefense Russia called upon his national government as well as other delegations, to stop promoting nuclear power into the Kyoto Protocol via provisions for Joint Implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism. “78 % of Russians are opposed to nuclear power,” Slivyak said. “We demand that the Russian delegation stop any plans to develop new nuclear plants.” “We further call on all governments to stop new nuclear development.” Claire Greensfelder, Deputy Director of the International Forum on Globalization of San Francisco, California, said: “Despite year after year of rejection by the state parties to the Convention, the nuclear industry (and a small group of states) continues to promote the economic and public health disaster of nuclear power.” Greensfelder continued: “We also have grave concerns about the health and environmental impacts of increased uranium mining, milling and nuclear waste storage, much of which is on indigenous peoples’ lands, many of whom are opposed to continued nuclear development.” “Indigenous peoples’ right to free prior and informed consent of development on their lands, as established by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, (passed in the UN General Assembly in September 2007), must be taken into consideration.” Holding a colorful homemade banner proclaiming “No Fishy Nukes!,”, Gloria Hsu, Chair, of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) said: “Using nuclear power for CO2 reduction is the same as drinking some poison to quench your thirst.” “We have managed thus far to keep nuclear power out of the Kyoto Protocol,” said Peer de Rijk, executive director of World Information Service on Energy (WISE) speaking from Amsterdam. “We will continue to do whatever we can to achieve the same for a much-needed post Kyoto agreement. Nuclear energy is a deadlock, blocking real solutions. Don’t nuke the climate! Keep Nuclear Power Out
Of CDM: It’s An
Obstacle To Carbon Mitigation.
"Towards
a Global Climate Fund" Over
160 Citizen Groups from Dozens of Countries Endorse UN Global
Climate Fund: International Call for Fund Outside World Bank (POZNAN) - On Thursday, December 11, over 160 citizen groups from dozens of countries are releasing a statement that calls for the establishment of a major new Global Climate Fund under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These groups argue that such a fund would be a vital component of any new global climate agreement that involves the large-scale transfer of financial resources from rich to poorer countries in order to help these nations reduce the emissions that cause global climate change. Signing on from dozens of countries on every continent, these groups include a number of leading environmental, indigenous, climate justice, debt justice, development and other organizations, including Oxfam International, ActionAid, Friends of the Earth International, Third World Network, the International Forum on Globalization, and the Institute for Policy Studies. (The full list of signatories is available online.) This citizen statement builds upon a proposal made earlier this year by the Group of 77 developing nations and China that such a new fund be created, and that World Bank climate finance funds not be counted towards industrialized country governments’ obligations in any existing or new global climate agreement. The statement offers principles to guide the establishment of the new fund in ways that take advantage of the dynamism that citizen groups can bring toward solving the climate challenge. "Social movements and poorer nations have responded to the climate crisis with a global blueprint for a just solution,” Says Victor Menotti, Deputy Director of the International Forum on Globalization. “The challenge now is to build enormous momentum over this next year to make history happen at the UNFCCC meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009." "Hundreds of billions of dollars will need to be channeled to the poorest and hardest hit regions of the world as the world's climate careens more out of balance,” said Daphne Wysham, a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. “This statement, endorsed by organizations representing millions of people around the world, recognizes that existing institutions are not up to the task while calling on the UN to ensure the creation of an institution that is democratic, transparent and accountable to those who will need its resources most.” Poznan, Poland. Over 160 Citizen Groups from Dozens of Countries Endorse UN Global Climate Fund: International Call for Fund Outside World Bank, Dec 11, 2008 pdf Global Climate Fund Statement and Signatures, December 2008 pdf For more information: Call for a New Global Climate Fund Dear Friends, On December 1st UN negotiations on a new climate deal began in Poznan, Poland. A wide range of civil society groups are there pushing government officials, delegates from international institutions and business representatives to take climate justice seriously. Heeding the call for bold visions of practical alternatives to business as usual, a broad set of groups from the South and North - including the International Forum on Globalization, Jubilee South, the Institute for Policy Studies, ActionAid, the Third World Network, Institute for Public Policy Research, EcoEquity, Oil Change International, Vitae Civilis Institute for Development, Environment and Peace, and others - drafted the following statement calling for a new Global Climate Fund. We invite you to add your group's name to the call for a new Global Climate Fund that is democratic, transparent and accountable to all, especially those most affected by climate change. To sign on to the Global Climate Fund, visit www.choike.org. We plan to present the statement to representatives of the Group of 77 developing countries during the second week of the climate negotiations, and use it to begin a global conversation on the new institutions needed to fight the climate crisis. We urge you to widely circulate this statement to your friends, colleagues and networks and encourage them to add their voices to the call for climate justice. Download the pdf (English, French, Portuguese) to sign on. Photos
from the Talks (view
photos) Read
Victor Menotti's Article "Derailing Doha and the Pathway
to a New Paradigm" |
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"We
are fighting for our lives and our dignity"
Tell
Congress not to Force GE Crops on other Countries
Press Releases Keep Nuclear Power Out Of CDM: It’s
An Obstacle To Carbon Mitigation. Poznan, Poland. Over 160 Citizen Groups from Dozens
of Countries Global Climate Fund Statement and Signatures, December 2008 pdf New Scientific Report to be Released at Washington, DC Teach-In Challenges Industrial Biofuels as Greenhouse Gas Solution, September 14, 2007 pdf
(Read the Executive Summary and Introduction pdf) Five-Years After the "Battle of Seattle," Preeminent Global Scholars Present Real Alternatives to Economic Globalization and Declare A Better World is Possible! November 16, 2004 link
Media Packets From
Past Events World Summit on Sustainable Development, August 24 - September 4 2002; Johannesburg, South Africa pdf USDA Conference on Science, Technology & Ecology, June 23-25, 2003; Sacramento, CA link |
