The Peoples of the World, Mother Earth and the Enemy

There is a major international event occurring this week that is receiving very little coverage in the mainstream media. More than 20,000 indigenous, environmental and civil society delegates from 129 countries have gathered in Bolivia to attend the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, which is being chaired by Bolivian President Evo Morales.

Some of our ActionAid colleagues attending the conference have reported that Mr Morales has been quoted as saying: “the main cause of the destruction of the planet Earth is capitalism” and he is absolutely correct.

Morales was quoted as saying: “the capitalist system looks to obtain the maximum possible gain, promoting unlimited growth on a finite planet. Capitalism is the source of asymmetries and imbalance in the world.”

The Bolivian president called this conference in the wake of what he considered to be failed United Nations climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009. The delegates are meeting in working group sessions this week to develop strategies and make policy proposals on issues such as forests, water, climate debt, and finance. President Morales has pledged to bring these strategies and proposals to the UN climate conference in Cancun at the end of the year.

Our ActionAid colleagues are reporting the discussions are far ranging and even include a discussion on rescuing the traditions of indigenous groups and populations.

Other discussions focus on a need to raise consciousness of the climate justice issue as all humanity must be supportive of this cause and have access to accurate information to help them organise themselves to campaign for climate justice.

There is currently an proposal for adaptation on the table and a discussion continues on creating an international climate court. The main objectives of such a court would be to impose criminal sanctions and to hold offenders responsible for repairing the environmental damage they have caused.

Some participants claim there is a need for an international criminal code for the environment that would advance this agenda.

This is a conference that is long overdue particularly when it is unlikely that the UN Secretary General’s High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing will be able to generate a recommendation that generates the 100 billion per year that is required for climate justice.

There is a need for this group to hear the words of President Morales and to realise that this is very much an opportunity for climate polluters such as Australia to either pay now or pay more later.