Category Archives: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

France: Pierre Rabhi decorated with the Legion of Honor

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Auguste Bergot for La Relève et la Peste (translated by CPNN)

Ségolène Royal, Minister of the Envirornment, has presented Pierre Rabhi with the insignia of Chevalier in the National Order of the Legion of Honor, rewarding the unusual journey of a true humanist who has devoted his life to the development of ecological agriculture and dissemination of an ethic of life advocating “happy sobriety”. Here is the course of this French peasant, writer and thinker of Algerian origin.


The course of his life

Pierre Rabhi was born in 1938 in Kenadsa, Algeria. After spending his youth in Oran with his adopted family, he left for Paris at the time when the Algerian War broke out. With his wife Michèle he then realized the dream of emerging from urban life to adopt a rural lifestyle and turn to agriculture. They therefore went to the Ardèche before the great wave of the neo-rural movement of the late 1960s. Pierre Rabhi enrolled in a rural family house to be trained. He embarked on goat farming by refusing the productivist model to prefer an experimental method of biodynamic farming, a method consisting of considering any agricultural domain as the most autonomous and diversified living organism linking the lunar and planetary rhythms to agricultural activity. In 1985, he founded a training center for agroecology in Gorom-Gorom, Burkina Faso, and then extended consciousness-raising and training programs throughout the African continent, particularly where the land is most difficult to farm.

In 1994 he created the association “Les Amis de Pierre Rabhi”, which was later renamed “Terre & Humanisme” and “Mouvement Colibri” whose mission is “to inspire, connect and support all those involved in building a new project of society “. He has also published some twenty books, among them Towards Happy Sobriety, Agroecology, an ethics of life and The power of moderation. They call for an “insurrection of consciences” to humanize globalization, to unite humanity around the return to earth and to emerge from the myth of indefinite growth.
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(Click here for a version of this article in French)

Question for this article:

What is the relation between movements for food sovereignty and the global movement for a culture of peace?

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“fertilize consciences”

After dedicating his life to spreading an alternative model and proposing new paths of thought, Pierre Rabhi was decorated on Thursday 23 March with the highest honorary decoration of France that rewards citizens who have rendered “eminent merits” to the Nation. Ségolène Royal, Minister of the Environment, Energy and the Sea, emphasized in a complimentary speech his “refusal of voluntary servitude” which led him to invent, produce and above all “fertilize consciences”. It also recalls the terms that Pierre Rabhi himself used to speak of his profession and which summarize well the path that followed and teach it: “the farmer installs a concord between the land and himself, He shapes life, he enslaves nothing, he is free in conforming to the laws of nature. ”

Pierre Rabhi the humanist

Faithful to his will to fertilize consciences, Pierre Rabhi insisted in his discourse on the crucial role of education. Regretting the aesthetics of wars and conquests, as well as the “duality and competitiveness” that govern our school system, he pleads for an education that is done “in solidarity”. In the words of a “humanity in disarray in relation to the continuation of history”, he militates that “humanity should recognize itself as such”, one with solidarity, committed together on its original ark. The wisdom of his speech is, as always, a source of meditation, but also of hope.

(Thank you to Kiki Chauvin, the reporter for this article.)

Europe, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Climate Change and Nepal

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Shree Prasad Devkota and Navin Pandey for Transcend Media Service (abbreviated)

. . . Nepal has been combating hard to adapt to the effects of climate change and move towards climate resilience. One of the most important points to consider is the fact that most of the energy produced here is clean and from perpetual source. Nepal, being the second richest country in inland water resources in the world, produces 92% of its national grid energy via hydropower. Although the total potential for hydropower production is 83,000 MW; of which less than one percent (700 MW) is currently harnessed – the annual renewable energy potential sums up to 226,460 GWh comprising solar PV, wind and hydro. (UNDP, 2013)

In December 2009, Government of Nepal held the world’s highest altitude cabinet meeting on the slopes of Mount Everest to highlight the danger that global warming poses to Himalayan glaciers. The Everest Declaration included provisions like increasing the protected areas of country’s land from 20 to 25 percent, and developing communities’ capacity to cope with changing climate in addition to urging the developed nations to curb the carbon dioxide emission and simultaneously to contribute 1.5% of their GDP to Climate Fund to decrease greenhouse gases to pre-industrialization levels.

Similarly, Government of Nepal has initiated various programs like “Hariyo Ban”, “Chure Conservation Program” and watershed conservation under the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation to preserve the existing biodiversity and combat the changing climate patterns. The growing popularity of eco village concept and insitu conservation of endangered species in natural parks and reserves are all run very succinctly. Few initiatives like Community Forestry and Leasehold Forestry Programs even received global acclaim due to their effectiveness in forest conservation. A recent government survey shows that the forest cover has increased by five percent from earlier 39.6% (1998) to 44.74% (2016) of the total land area in the last decade- a green light for hope.

Initiatives like “Zero Carbon Nepal- Vision 2030” have been launched under National Planning Commission with approval of Confederation of Nepalese Industries to promote green economy and low carbon development by developing “Made in Zero Carbon Nepal” label for every Nepalese product that not only strengthens our economy but also establishes our identity as a carbon neutral country.

To this date, while the political debate over climate change has already been settled over the backdrop of various scientific facts published, countries around the world have started to come together to solve the issue. The developed countries and emerging economies lead in total carbon dioxide emissions while the developing and the least developed countries that have less share for carbon emission must suffer more. According to the Trading Economics Data, the 20 developed nations produce 80% of the total carbon while the rest world produces just 20%.

Analysing Nepal’s data, CO2 emissions per capita here is 0.14 metric tons while carbon sequestration capacity of our forest is as high as 3.1 tC/ha/yr (ICIMOD, 2013). In a global scenario of greenhouse gases emission, Nepal is not just a carbon neutral country, but a carbon negative country offering a net carbon sink through our lush green forests. The forests of Nepal store more than 913 million metric tons of carbon as of 2014(Journal of Forest and Livelihood).

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Question for this article:

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

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Nepal signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on June 12, 1992, and ratified it on May 2, 1994. It is also a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and became party to the conference from December 2005. As a party to the Convention, Nepal is obliged and committed to acting against the earth’s climate change and the adverse effects of human activities.

According to the voluntary schemes of the Kyoto Protocol, Nepal could earn the revenue of NRs. 4.5 billion, 11 billion and 18.4 billion at the rate of $5, $12, and $20 per ton CO2 sequestration respectively even if half of the existing forest area could be registered for the carbon credits. In addition to the above, Nepal can be at a position to reap a huge chunk of financial flow through the sale of the permissible average which has surplus of 0.07 ton CO2 per capita if the mechanism could be established under the emerging issue of the Polluter Pays Principle.

The world’s forests and forest soils currently store more than 1 trillion tonnes of carbon, twice the amount floating free in the atmosphere. Thus, increasing storage and preventingthe stored carbon from being released back to the atmosphere are two of the most important measures for combating global warming and conserving the environment.

The outside world should all learn from the progress made by Nepal in sector of forest conservation and use of clean energy in combating the climate change. Although Nepal being a small agrarian country contributing 0.016% of global Greenhouse gas emissions, the initiatives taken in such seriousness are reflective of our unfathomable love for nature and mother earth. These efforts are not only an act for solidarity; they are also an investment for our common future, contributing to green, healthy, and naturally liveable earth.

References:

Banskota, K., Karky, B.S., & Skutsch, M. (2012). Reducing carbon emission linking community managed forests in the Himalayas. Kathmandu: International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

DFRS, (2015). Forest resources of Nepal (1987‐2014). Kathmandu: Department of Forest Research and Survey, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation.

Dhungana, S.P., Oli, B.N., & Mandal, R.A. (2014). Claiming a bird in hand: Economic potential of plantation in Nepal under clean development mechanism. Journal of Forests and Livelihood. 12(1): 18‐27.

DoF, (2016). Forest cover change analysis of the Terai districts (1990/91‐2015/16). Kathmandu: Department of Forests. FAO, (2014). Global forest resource assessment 2014. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Liau, J., & Rasul, G.(2007). Climate change, the Himalayan mountains and ICIMOD. Sustainable Mountain Development. 53. Schoene, D., & Netto, M. (2005). The Kyoto protocol: What does it mean for forest and forestry. Unasylva. 222 (56).

South Asia, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

France: The farmers who bought an old Lidl supermarket

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An article from Jeunes Agriculteurs

Coeur paysan (literally farmer’s heart) is the name of an ambitious project of 35 farmers who have joined toegher to sell their products directly. Their store is in Colmar, in an old Lidl supermarket. A real symbol.


Colmar, December 6, 2016. The persistent mist accentuates the cold of winter that is already biting. But the occupants of the 82-84 Neuf-Brisach Road are not cold. In this former Lidl, supermarket, closed more than two years ago ,people are busy and in good humor. We cut meat, we place cheeses in the showcases, we stick on the last labels … These are the 35 producers who have invested in these walls to market their products directly. The opening preview is scheduled for 3:00.

The old Lidl is transformed to Coeur Paysan. A rea; symbol! Colmar, wotj ots 70,000 inhabitants, finally has its market of local producers. The locals can buy fruits and vegetables, cheeses, dairy products, meat, bread, etc. The farmers themselves sell the product, working in the store half day per week. A classic operation for a grocery store. What is less important is the size of the project, which required 1.5 M € of investment. This was necessary to renovate the premises, to buy equipment (showcases, boxes, etc.), to invest in communication. As soon as it opened, the store employed six people.

Better valuation. With 35 farms, Coeur Paysan offers a range of products ranging from wild game to teas, snails and smoked trout. These are an asset to achieve the ambitious objective set by the group: to achieve a turnover of 2.5 M € per year. “The hard core of the group is a team of entrepreneurs,” says Nicolas Guibert, tasting his organic goat cheese produced in Linthal, 35km away. “The hardest part is finding a team,” he says jovially. The group met and worked very quickly: the project was completed in eight months, compared to the usual two years preparation for this type of store.

Thirty of the suppliers are now shareholders of SAS Cœur Paysan, which manages the point of sale. The investment – financial and time (sales) – varies according to the turnover expected by each producer. Six of the shareholders bought the building, via an SCI. “We wanted to be independent,” says Denis Digel, President of SAS Cœur Paysan. It is up to us to take our destiny in hand. “As initiator of the project, he is also president of the cooperative of market gardeners of Sélestat. It was “the desire for proximity with consumers” that guided this union leader. A rapprochement synonymous with better valorisation, because “we, the producers, do not draw our chestnuts from the fire!”, he insists.

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(Click here for a version of this article in French)

Question for this article:

What is the relation between movements for food sovereignty and the global movement for a culture of peace?

(Article continued from the left column)

Battle of the image. Between the riesling of the Domaine Rieflé and the beer of the brewery Saint-Alphonse, a poster proclaims: “Behind every product, there is a producer.” For, beyond the valorization of products, there is a battle of images. In this struggle, farmers have the key cards: “Consumers want to see and touch the producer,” says Denis Digel. Distributors like Intermarché, have understood this, as they claim to be a “producer-trader”. With Cœur Paysan, the farmers have responded in their own way. Modern and rustic, the visual identity of Cœur Paysan, developed by a communication agency, is widely available in the store, on the clothes of sellers and on the Internet. Upon entering the store, customers come across a large sign presenting all the producers.

Inevitably, some people are disturbed. To those who accuse him of overshadowing supermarkets, Denis Digel replies: “We are responding to a new demand that retailers are unable to satisfy.” We fill a need in Alsace. “The proof with Fabien Barre. This young farmer, newly installed in 2014, was looking for a new and secure outlet for his organic goat cheeses. For this farmer, the store has the advantage of “not competing with the goat farmers already on the market”. And it corresponded to his wish to “offer local products directly to the consumers at a correct price.”

Installed in the village of Soultzeren, Fabien transforms into cheeses the whole milk produced by his 60 goats, which allows him to fix his own prices. His goal ? “10 to 20% of my turnover to Cœur Paysan would not be bad. The shop could thus take over from one of the three markets where I am now selling. “Between the cheese-making and its sale,” I have less time with my goats,” he regrets. This is why he is considering to hire someone to help “A project like this comes only once in a lifetime; I don’t want to waste the opportunity.

(Thank you to Kiki Chauvin, the CPNN reporter for this article.)O

Europe, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Latin America and the Caribbean could be first developing region to eradicate hunger

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Latin America and the Caribbean could be the first developing region to completely eradicate hunger if its governments further strengthen their implementation of a food security plan developed by the CELAC bloc, FAO’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today [25 January 2017].

Speaking at the Summit of Presidents and Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Graziano da Silva stated that, “CELAC’s Food Security, Nutrition and Hunger Eradication Plan (FNS) represents the crystallization of governments’ political will to eradicate hunger before 2025.”

Approved by CELAC in 2015, the plan promotes comprehensive public policies to reduce poverty, improve rural conditions, adapt agriculture to climate change, end food waste and face disaster risks.

In his address, FAO’s Director-General noted that the CELAC FNS plan is fully in line with high-level global commitments such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

And the region has made an even more ambitious commitment, he noted: to eradicate hunger by the year 2025, five years before the target established by SDG 2: Zero Hunger.

“This region has all the necessary conditions to achieve this, starting with the great political commitment that sustains the CELAC FNS Plan,” explained Graziano da Silva.

The plan is already bearing fruit throughout the region: Bolivia, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela relied on it to diagnose their food and nutrition security policies, while Peru used it as a base for the creation of laws regarding food donation and to minimize food losses and waste.

Tackling the double burden of malnutrition

The integral nature of CELAC’s FNS Plan allows countries to not only address hunger but also obesity, which affects 140 million people in the region according to the FAO / PAHO report Panorama of Food and Nutrition Security.

Malnutrition generates enormous economic and social costs, as public health systems must now cope with increasing levels of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, as well as the consequences of child stunting, wasting and undernourishment.

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( Click here for the French version of this article or here for the Spanish version.)

Question for this article:

Can UN agencies help eradicate poverty in the world?

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According to the FAO, one of the worrying trends in the region is the increase in female obesity: the rates of obesity for women are ten percentage points higher than that of men in more than twenty countries in the region.

As a way to o confront this situation, Graziano da Silva highlighted the CELAC FNS Plan’s Gender Strategy, which will ensure that the plan benefits women and men equally and which is already being implemented as a pilot program in four countries: El Salvador, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Strengthening family farming to tackle climate change

According to FAO’s Director-General, the impacts of climate change have the potential to reverse the gains made in the fight against hunger and extreme poverty in the region.

“Agriculture is the sector most affected by climate change and one of its main victims are small family farmers, men and women, many of whom struggle daily for their survival,” said Graziano da Silva.

Together with CELAC, FAO is developing a plan of action for family agriculture and rural territorial development that promotes sustainable intensification of production, public procurement and food supply systems, rural services and greater opportunities for rural youth.

FAO is supporting CELAC in putting together a Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Management for Agriculture and Food Security, which supports resilience and adaptation of farmers through sustainable farming techniques and resource management.

Graziano da Silva stressed that eleven countries in the region have already adhered to the Port State Agreement, which seeks to eradicate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and called on all countries to join in taking care of the sustainability and conservation of their fishery resources.

Peace, food security and sustainable development

In Colombia, the CELAC FNS Plan has supported the creation of a strategy aimed at rehabilitating the livelihoods of vulnerable communities in the central area of the country.

According to FAO’s Director-General, the peace process in Colombia illustrates the indissoluble link between peace, food security and sustainable development, an issue that is at the heart of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

“There will be no social stability or peace as long as there is hunger, poverty and inequality. Nor can we move forward if we continue to exploit our natural resources. Sustainability is a pre-condition for development,” said Graziano da Silva.

(Thank you to Sergio Tripi and the Good News Agency for calling our attention to this article.)

Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Coal and oil demand ‘could peak in 2020’

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An article by Megan Darby in Climate Change News

Fossil fuel giants are vastly underestimating the disruptive power of solar panels and electric cars, which could see coal and oil demand peak by 2020. That is the conclusion of a report by the Carbon Tracker Initiative and Grantham Institute published on Thursday.


A 10MW solar plant at Masdar City, Abu Dhabi (Pic: Masdar)

Energy companies pursuing business as usual are in for a rude awakening, by this analysis, with many mines and oil fields likely to become surplus to requirements.

Based on dramatic cost reductions in recent years, the model foresees these two technologies taking a 10% chunk of market share from carbon majors in a decade. That may not sound like much, but was enough to devastate the US coal sector.

“If people are just waiting on policy to happen, they could get bitten by clean technology coming up behind them,” said James Leaton, an author of the report.

Solar panel costs have fallen 85% in the past seven years and car battery costs 73%. Despite these advances, the traditional energy companies continue to forecast linear growth at best.

BP predicts electric cars will make up 6% of the market by 2035. Carbon Tracker reckons a third is feasible.

Exxon Mobil expects all renewables to supply 11% of electricity in 2040. Carbon Tracker says solar alone could produce 23%.

It is not enough to meet the Paris Agreement upper limit on global warming of 2C, but bends the curve to 2.4-2.7C, compared to 3-4C under industry scenarios. Policies targeting other sectors would bring the international climate goal within reach.

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global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Latest Data Support Bullish Stance on Commercial Energy Storage

. .. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT .. .

An article by Vic Shao for Green Charge

Recently, I spoke to Green Charge employees about the state of the commercial energy storage industry and my vision for our role in it. There was much room for optimism: As the cost of a kilowatt-hour of solar power has finally sunk below the average cost of a kilowatt-hour from coal, the ranks of the solar naysayers have diminished. In fact, this isn’t the first time the skeptics have been proven wrong. Since 2002, International Energy Agency (IEA) projections have repeatedly underestimated the pace of solar energy adoption.¹

So what does this mean for commercial energy storage? Though the data in Figure 1 is limited, Bloomberg has found that the adoption trajectory for lithium-ion battery storage bears a remarkable resemblance to that of solar PV.


(Click on image to enlarge)

This makes sense, since the two technologies are symbiotic: Energy storage enables solar PV users to make use of all the energy they generate and alleviates the intermittency associated with solar. Meanwhile, solar PV increases the potential savings of a battery-based storage system, because the battery can often charge from the solar panels rather than the costlier grid. So, as time passes, it gets easier to justify investing in battery-based energy storage, although, as noted in an earlier Green Charge post, it doesn’t pay to let time pass, especially when customers can take advantage of no upfront cost options such as our PEA™ as well as government incentives, which decline over time.

Beyond the solar boost, energy storage also benefits from the growing trend towards greater self-sufficiency in power generation and management. Stemming from financial and security considerations, the ambition to “own” one’s energy resources also dovetails with increasingly important corporate sustainability and social responsibility objectives.

Finally, the energy storage industry stands to gain significant leverage from the growth in electric vehicle (EV) adoption. In its latest research, Germany’s Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) found that the number of EVs worldwide doubled between 2015 and 2016 to 1.3 million cars. That’s 1.3 million drivers who will be looking for economical ways to charge their vehicles. A battery-based energy storage system, charged at the cheapest rate and integrated with the EV charging station, offers the least expensive option. When the energy storage system draws on self-generated renewable sources, it is also the most environmentally friendly.

As we charge into 2017, I see bright prospects for energy storage on the horizon.

¹See Metayer, M., Breyer, C., Fell, H., “The projections for the future and quality in the past of the World Energy Outlook for solar PV and other renewable energy technologies”, Energy Watch Group, 2015, p.8, for a compilation of IEA’s World Energy Outlook projections for solar PV-sourced electricity capacity from 2002 to 2014 compared with actual capacity growth during those years.

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2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from the United Nations World Tourism Organization

The United Nations 70th General Assembly has designated 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development (A/RES/70/193). This is a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the contribution of sustainable tourism to development among public and private sector decision-makers and the public, while mobilizing all stakeholders to work together in making tourism a catalyst for positive change.


Official Video for the International Year

In the context of the universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the International Year aims to support a change in policies, business practices and consumer behavior towards a more sustainable tourism sector than can contribute to the SDGs.

The #IY2017 will promote tourism’s role in the following five key areas:

(1)        Inclusive and sustainable economic growth

(2)        Social inclusiveness, employment and poverty reduction

(3)        Resource efficiency, environmental protection and climate change

(4)        Cultural values, diversity and heritage

(5)        Mutual understanding, peace and security.

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(Click here for the french version of this article or click here for the Spanish version)

Question related to this article:

How can tourism promote a culture of peace?

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The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United Nations Specialized Agency for Tourism, has been mandated to facilitate the organization and implementation of the International Year, in collaboration with Governments, relevant organizations of the United Nations system, international and regional organizations and other relevant stakeholders.

Join us in celebrating 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development!

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

REPORT: Fossil Fuel Divestment Doubles in Size as Institutions Representing $5 Trillion Commit to Divest

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A press release from 350.org

The global movement to divest from fossil fuels has doubled in size since September 2015, according to the third annual Global Fossil Fuel Divestment and Clean Energy Investment Movement report from Arabella Advisors. The report, released today by the Divest-Invest network, comes exactly one year after world governments reached the Paris agreement on climate change.


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Global commitments to divest have reached 688 institutions across 76 countries, representing $5 trillion in assets under management.1 Notable announcements include Dublin’s Trinity College, 16 universities in the UK, the Islamic Society of North America, the American Public Health Association, and more.

“As we enter the final weeks of 2016, the hottest year in history, the success of the divestment movement is undeniable,” said May Boeve, 350.org Executive Director. “In the face of intensifying climate impacts, and regressive and anti-climate governments like the Trump administration, it’s more critical than ever that our institutions — especially at the local level — step up to break free from fossil fuel companies.”

What started as a campaign on university campuses in the United States has now become a mainstream, global movement permeating every sector of society. Divestment commitments and campaigns stem from all types of institutions: from universities and pension funds, to faith-based groups and health organizations, to the insurance sector and cultural institutions, and more.

Around the world, cultural institutions are taking leadership in the transition away from fossil fuels. The New York-based American Museum of Natural History responded to a campaign driven by scientists and activists calling for it to cut ties with fossil fuels, revealing it has reduced exposure of its $650 million endowment to coal, oil and gas, and is seeking portfolio managers who incorporate climate risk and prioritize renewables.

Five days ahead of the release of this report, campaigners with Divest Nobel released a letter signed by 17 Nobel laureates around the world, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, calling on the Nobel Foundation to act in Alfred Nobel’s will and divest from fossil fuels.  

Question for this article:

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

Divestment: is it an effective tool to promote sustainable development?

Speakers at today’s press conference stressed the importance of divestment and climate action at the city and state level. Boeve announced that in just three days, on December 15, organizers with Divest New York will take action at a New York City pension board meeting calling on decision-makers to divest fully from fossil fuels and reinvest in a sustainable, local economy.

In October, the Diocese of Umuarama, which encompasses 45 parishes and about 490,000 inhabitants in Brazil, became the first Diocese, and the first institution in Latin America, to divest from fossil fuels.

“We cannot accommodate and continue allowing economic interests that seek exorbitant profits before the well being of people, to destroy biodiversity and ecosystems, nor continue dictating our energy model based on fossil fuels when we have so many other possibilities for clean, renewable energies,” said Dom Frei João Mamede Filho, Bishop of the Diocese of Umuarama, Brazil.

Today, several press events took place across the globe to showcase  this major milestone for the divestment movement. Notable speakers, such as former Executive VP of Mobil Lou Allstadt, Aine O’Gorman, a student representing recently-divested Trinity College of Dublin, and Mark Campanale of Carbon Tracker Initiative were featured at a video-press conference between New York City and London.

Campaigners in Cape Town held a press conference featuring, among others, the Anglican Church of South Africa who recently committed to divest. Coordinated events also took place in Tokyo, where organizers worked with Arabella Advisors to hold a media study session of the report. In Australia, faith groups hosted a webinar highlighting the moral imperative of fossil fuel divestment.

As the movement celebrates this tremendous milestone, it recognizes the increasingly urgent need for bold and swift action on the climate crisis.

“Fossil fuel divestment has become a mainstream $5 trillion movement because our institutions and society know that we need a rapid and just shift away from the fossil fuel economy,” said Yossi Cadan, 350.org Global Senior Divestment Campaigner. “But many institutions are moving far too slowly. That’s why we will take action around the world in May 2017 through global mobilisations to shine a spotlight on the impacts of the fossil fuel industry, and escalate the call for governments and institutions to divest.”

The Global Divestment Mobilisation for a fossil free world will take place between 5-13 of May, 2017

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article)

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Laureates and scientists call on Nobel Prize Foundation to divest fossil fuels

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from gofossilfree.org

Citing the urgency of climate change, Nobel Prize winners and scientists have issued a letter calling on the Nobel Foundation to divest its $420 million endowment from fossil fuels. The letter coincides with the celebration of Nobel Days and the annual prize ceremonies.


Divest Nobel serve up oil and coal to Nobel nominees in Stockholm, November 2016
(click on image to enlarge)

The call from laureates and climate scientists cites the original intent of the Foundation – an organisational mission to recognize all that is good and innovative about humankind – to make the argument that the foundation cut ties with destructive fossil fuel companies.

Among the 14 laureates that signed the letter are atmospheric chemist Paul Josef Crutzen, physicist David Wineland and biologist Sir John Sulston, and several winners of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize including Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, Yemeni women’s rights campaigner Tawakkol Karman and Argentinian human rights and peace activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel. The letter has also been signed by eminent scientific contributors to the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

It’s hard to argue with Nobel Laureates who have made such incredible scientific discoveries, advanced human rights and helped foster peace and ends to major regional conflicts.

The laureates and scientists called on the Foundation to lead and set an example for the world, writing: “The Nobel Foundation has played a historic role in the struggle against climate change by recognising people who have highlighted and studied humankind’s impact on the climate. Today, in this time of urgent need, as we face a warming planet and strive to implement the Paris Agreement, we ask you to do more. Our educational and cultural institutions must do more than educate, they must be an example of a new pathway forward, free from the industries that have caused the most damage to our climate.”

Activists in Sweden, part of the Divest Nobel campaign, have already taken action by highlighting the links between the foundation’s investments and fossil fuel companies. Now with laureates and scientists joining the call, they hope the Foundation will be forced to listen – and act.

More than 600 institutions, foundations, universities and pension funds are already leading by committing to divest from destructive fossil fuel companies. Tell Nobel to join them and act on the message from laureates and scientists by adding your own name.

Sign the petition calling on Nobel Foundation to divest

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article)

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USA: Update from Standing Rock

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by ACLU published by Fourwinds10

On Sunday [December 4], just hours before the evacuation notice for the main protest camp at Standing Rock was to take effect, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit for the Dakota access pipeline to drill under the Missouri river – halting the pipeline construction.

This is a testament to the organizing power and resilience of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, whose members have been fighting to protect their water and defend their sovereignty for more than nine months.

Over a quarter million ACLU supporters joined this fight. More than 250,000 of you called on the Department of Justice to demilitarize the police force confronting the nonviolent protesters and investigate possible constitutional violations. Over 46,000 of you sent a message to the Corps telling them not to silence free speech and shut down the biggest encampment at Standing Rock.

This fight is not over yet. The Corps must now consider alternate pipeline routes and will need to complete an Environmental Impact Statement, which could take months or years. The Standing Rock Sioux and other tribal leadership will continue to be key participants in this process.

We will continue to pressure the Department of Justice to hold police fully accountable for civil rights abuses committed against water protectors – including the many hundreds who have been detained and face criminal charges.

And we’ll continue to be vigilant should the Trump administration move to authorize construction on the pipeline.

For the moment, we celebrate this victory. and we will continue to fight to protect the rights of protesters, at standing rock and beyond.

Thank you for all that you have done,

Anthony for the ACLU action team

P.S. The father of an ACLU of South Dakota staff member, Jen Peterson, wrote a moving blog post: Why i joined my fellow vets at Standing Rock this weekend. ” it’s a great story.

Question for this article

North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT