Category Archives: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

USA: Renewable Energy Soars in 2015

.. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ..

An article by Nathaniel Greene, Natural Resources Defense Council , published by Ecowatch

2015 has been a big year for renewable energy in the U.S., with solar and wind power growing like crazy—providing more than 5 percent of the nation’s electricity for the first time—and the country’s first offshore wind power project finally under construction.

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These U.S. Department of Energy graphs show how the prices of wind and solar power have plummeted as installation has soared. We saw more of the same in 2015 and can expect similar growth in 2016 and beyond, thanks to Congress’s renewal last week of key clean energy tax incentives. Photo credit: U.S. DEP

The truth is, 2015 has been one in a series of very good years for these pollution-free, renewable resources—years that are helping us get on track for the low-carbon future we need and need now.

With its dizzying price declines and impressive job gains, this growth in solar and wind power has come, in large part, as the result of smart federal policies—smart federal policies that Congress wisely renewed and reinstated last week.

These policies don’t just help level the playing field for clean energy—fossil fuels have received federal subsidies for almost a century, after all—they also drive renewable energy demand, thereby speeding economies of scale, spurring competition in the marketplace and investment in new technologies. The production tax credit (PTC) for wind power, the solar investment tax credit (ITC) and the ITC for offshore wind power will keep us on the right track.

Together, these tax credits will help our country go a long way toward realizing the bold clean energy goals of a large majority of the American public, 69 percent of whom endorse federal subsidies for renewable energy.

Just how good is our clean energy situation getting? Well, recently, the U.S. Department of Energy released these very happy-making charts (below) that emphasize renewable energy’s huge growth and equally huge price declines in recent years.

In 2015, those particularly excellent trends continued. Though we won’t have complete data until next spring, the country will likely install 7.4 gigawatts of solar energy through Dec. 31 of this year. That’s enough to juice up more than 1.6 million homes and a full 24 percent rise over 2014. Wind power is also flying, with almost 3.6 gigawatts—1 million homes-worth—coming online in the first three quarters of this year and more than 13,000 megawatts now under construction.

This year also found several regions where pollution-free, solar and wind energy became cost-competitive with conventional power. That power, fired by coal and natural gas, masquerades as cheap but actually foists expensive public health and environmental problems on us all.

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Question for this article:

Are we making progress in renewable energy?

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2015 had some especially good news about offshore wind power, too. Not only did construction begin on the Block Island Wind Farm, off the Rhode Island coast, but the U.S. Department of Energy reported in September that a total of 13 offshore wind power projects are in advanced phases of development. With federal policies that supplement the offshore wind power ITC—its current timetable is too short for most offshore wind power projects—we can help get many of those projects off of their drawing boards and into the water.

In 2015, solar and wind energy employment also soared. In January, the National Solar Jobs Census reported that solar jobs had climbed to almost 174,000, up by more than 31,000 over the previous year, with another 36,000 solar jobs projected in 2015. (Industry jobs are up by a mind-boggling 80,000 since 2010.) In August, the Department of Energy reported that wind energy jobs jumped to 73,000, up from 50,500 over the previous year, thanks to a short-term extension of the PTC.

Also in August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s electric sector introduced its Clean Energy Incentive Program, designed to bring more clean energy online faster; it will begin in 2020, two years before the Clean Power Plan as a whole. Overall, the Clean Power Plan can jumpstart enough renewable energy to supply, by 2030, about 12 percent of the nation’s electricity. And we can push those deployment graph slopes further upward—we can install even more wind and solar power—now that the PTC, the solar ITC and the offshore wind power ITC have been secured. They’ll help us keep that momentum going until the Clean Energy Incentive Program kicks in. As they have already, incentives that increase deployment lower clean energy prices. And the cheaper renewable energy is, the more it will become of the energy source of choice, replacing polluting power.

This year has seen amazing advances in renewable energy. Here are just some of them:

• New wind power technologies, like taller turbine towers, more powerful rotors and digital innovations, that can soon make every part of the country a wind power producer.

• Huge solar growth.

• Exponential increases in energy storage that can capture excess wind and solar power and use it when it’s needed most.

• Department of Energy funding for potentially revolutionary technologies, like a morphing wind turbine blade that can increase generating capacity 10 times and a new kind of offshore wind power that produces electricity much in the way a lightning cloud does, by sending an electrical charge through water vapor.

• And, let’s not forget those billions in new clean energy research and development capital pledged by some of the world’s wealthiest individuals at the Paris climate talks just three weeks ago.

In 2015, we’ve made so much progress in solar and wind power. And now, with the help of smart, federal clean energy incentives, we’re on track for much, much more. 2016 promises to double the total amount of solar installed in the U.S. (think about that: double!). There are more than 13,000 megawatts of wind power in the works, too and much more likely to come, now that Congress has extended the PTC. Thanks to the perceptive heads in Congress who worked out a bipartisan agreement, there’s no end to that progress now.

North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

15 Indigenous Rights Victories That You Didn’t Hear About in 2015

….. HUMAN RIGHTS …..

An article by John Ahni Schertow, IC Magazine, a publication of the Center for World Indigenous Studies

Good news. Sometimes, it comes in the form of a cancelled hydro dam that spares 20,000 people from the burden of displacement. Other times, it takes the shape of a simple court admission that Indigenous Peoples do actually make the best conservationists.

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Mapuche “Not Guilty” (Photo: Ruben Curricoy Nañko)

In this day in age such stories are incredibly rare. They are even more difficult to find amidst the constant deluge of media that doesn’t matter. That makes them all the more valuable.

Indigenous rights victories give us all pause to celebrate, to reflect and to rejuvenate our own quests for justice.

May we encounter 10,000 more victories just like these in 2016!

1. JUSTICE FOR THE OGON

In a landmark decision last week, the Dutch Court of Appeals ruled that four Ogoni farmers from Nigeria can take their case against Shell to a judge in the Netherlands. Alali Efanga, one of the Ogoni farmers who, along with Friends of the Earth Netherlands, brought the case against Shell, said the ruling “offers hope that Shell will finally begin to restore the soil around my village so that I will once again be able to take up farming and fishing on my own land.”
The ruling by the Court of Appeals overturns a 2013 decision in favor of Shell, who, in another big hit to the multinational oil giant, agreed to clean up two massive oil spills in the Ogoni community of Bodo following a three-year legal battle in London.

2. WAMPIS AUTONOMY

The Wampis nation, who made international headlines in 2009 when they stood up to the government of Peru alongside their brethren the Awajun, took an unprecedented step foward by establishing the first Autonomous Indigenous Government in Peru’s history. Spanning a 1.3 million hectare territory – a region the size of the State of Connecticut – the newly created democratically-elected government brings together 100 Wampis communities representing some 10,613 people.

Speaking of the challenges that the Wampis Nation will now face, the newly elected Pamuk (first President) Wrays Pérez Ramirez, told Intercontinental Cry by phone: “We know that it will be difficult to get the National Government to support us and recognize our territory. It will seem unacceptable to the Government to have to consult us regarding any activity that could affect our territory. We know that it is going to be hard work but we are prepared. We are not going to stay silent not least when we have legal backing from national and international legislation regarding our right to self-determination and free, prior and informed consent. It will be difficult, but not impossible.”

3. PROTECTED LANDS

After five years of legal contests and what felt like a lifetime of uncertainty, Colombia’s Constitutional Court confirmed that Yaigojé Apaporis, an indigenous resguardo (a legally recognized, collectively owned territory), has legitimate status as a national park.

Comprising a million hectares of the Northwestern Colombian Amazon, the pristine forest region of Yaigojé Apaporis is home to numerous endangered species including the giant anteater, jaguar, manatee and pink river dolphin. It is also home to the Makuna, Tanimuka, Letuama, Barasano, Cabiyari, Yahuna and Yujup-Maku Indigenous Peoples, who share a common cosmological system and rich shamanistic traditions. Together these populations act as Yaigojé’s guardians, a role that was strengthened in 1988 when they successfully established the Yaigojé Apaporis resguardo over their traditional territory.

In the late 2000s Canadian mining multinational Cosigo Resources started trying to exploit a legal loophole in Colombia that would let them mine for gold inside the resguardo. The Constitutional Court’s decision brought a welcomed end to that dishonest effort.

4. INDIGENOUS PASSPORTS

On October 12, 2015, the day of Indigenous Resistance, Kichwa lawyer Carlos Pérez Guartambel entered Ecuador with a Kichwa passport, sending out a clear reminder to the international community that indigenous nations are not simply “bands” or informal groups whose rights stem from the good graces of UN member states, but actual nations.

Ecuador’s immigration authorities did not know what to do. After 30 minutes of hesitation, they decided to accept the Kichwa passport as a form of ID, stamped Guartambel’s immigration card (not the passport) and allowed him to enter Ecuador. Within a few hours, however, Ecuadoran state officials reversed themselves and denied the validity of the Kichwa passport. This can be seen in a video released by the Department of Immigration in the Ministry of the Interior. Minister Serrano ridiculed the Kichwa passport as a “fantasy” on Twitter, posting a montage of the Kichwa passport with the portrait of a cartoon character.

Later that afternoon, the Council of Government of ECUARUNARI, an organization founded in 1972 by 18 Indigenous Peoples and representing 14 different nationalities, met in Quito to distribute over 300 passports, including one to Salvador Quishpe, the Governor of the Amazon Province of Morona-Chinchipe. During the passport ceremony, the Kichwa leadership insisted that Indigenous passports were as valid as ancestral medicine, inter-cultural education, and Indigenous justice–all recognized in Ecuador.

5. “NOT GUILTY”

After more than three years of preparation, an Argentinian court vindicated three Mapuche land rights defenders in a first-of-its kind inter-cultural trial.

The case began in the Mapuche community of Winkel Newen on December 28, 2012, when Officer of the Court Veronia Pelayes, representatives of the Apache Oil Company and a contingent of police arrived with an eviction notification. The community defended itself by throwing stones, one of which hit and injured Pelayes and damaged a vehicle. It was this incident that lead to an accusation of “attempted homicide” against Relmu Ñamku and charges of “serious damages” for Mauricio Rain and Martin Velasquez Maliqueo. In the case of Ñamku, the public prosecutor called for a 15-year prison sentence — disproportionate given that eight years is the norm for manslaughter cases.

“The public prosecutor and oil companies in Zapala had a clear political intention with this trial, for it to be an ‘ejemplary punishment’ to intimidate and discipline other indigenous communities who defend their rights against the advance of oil exploitation in their territories,” said writer Maristella Svampa and law professor Roberto Gargarella.

Their attempt failed and instead this historic trial marks an important step in curbing attempts to criminalize indigenous leaders defending their territory.

6. WHAT’S IN A NAME?

The highest mountain in the United States recovered its original indigenous name, Mount Denali, for all official purposes, after a decades-long dispute. The name “Denali” has its origin in the language of the Koyukon people, who inhabit the area north of the summit. In the Koyukon language, “Denali” means “the tall one.” The 6,168-metre high mountain was officially known until now at federal level as Mount McKinley, in honor of an American president assassinated in 1901.

It is hoped that the U.S. government will restore the indigenous names of other monuments, parks and places including Devil’s Tower, the Yosemite National Park, the Grand Canyon, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Rainier to name a few.

7. BIOCULTURAL RIGHTS

Indigenous custodians from Benin, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia issued a challenge for the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to protect sacred sites, governance systems and custodians in a ‘decisive policy and legislative response’ to the new scramble for Africa and its impact on Indigenous territories.

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Question for this article

Indigenous peoples, Are they the true guardians of nature?

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In their statement, the custodians describe the centrality of sacred sites to their existence, writing that “Sacred natural sites are where we come from, the heart of life. They are our roots and our inspiration. We cannot live without our sacred natural sites, and we are responsible for protecting them.”

“We are deeply concerned about our Earth because she is suffering from increasing destruction despite all the discussions, international meetings, facts and figures and warning signs from Earth… the future of our children and the children of all the species of Earth are threatened. When this last generation of elders dies, we will lose the memory of how to live respectfully on the planet, if we do not learn from them now,” say the custodians.

8. TWO CENTURIES IN THE MAKING

Nearly 300 Poqomchi’ Maya families that make up the Primavera communities in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz won a significant victory after negotiating a settlement with the Guatemalan Minister of the Interior, the Secretary of Agrarian Affairs, and representatives from Maderas Filips Dias/Eco-Tierra, a logging business that was seeking to harvest the land’s forests.

“This is a major victory, especially under these conditions of corruption,” said Rony Morales from the Union of Veracruz Campesino Organizations (UVOC), which worked closely with the communities to obtain this victory. “The fact [that] a community can finally win their land at no cost to the community is very important. For the other indigenous communities in San Cristobal Verapaz and the valley [of] Polochic that are in this same process, they have found hope in this victory.”

The Maya families struggled for over two centuries for the rights to their land, which was privately held for years as the Finca Primavera. They faced intimidation, nearly 25 assassinations, and over 50 arrest orders in response to their claims on the land.

9. BYE BYE HERAKLES

Herakles Farms, a New York based investment firm and the parent company of SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC) formally abandoned its plan to establish oil palm plantations astride the Iconic Korup National Park and Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve in Cameroon.

Supported by an “eco-friendly” non-profit owned by Bruce Wrobel, former Managing Director of Sithe Global and Founder of Herakles Capital Corporation, the oil palm project would have brought disastrous pollution resulting from pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides and sewage disposal; adversely affecting the health of animals in the Korup Park that depend on the water.

The project would have also degraded the livelihoods of the Baka, Bakola, Bedzang and Bagyeli –so-called ‘Pygmy’ peoples–who are are heavily dependent on the region for subsistence.

10. THE LAND IS OURS

After 18 years of continuous struggle, the Enxet Sur Indigenous community of Yexwase Yet finally received legal title to 10,030 hectares of their ancestral land in the Chaco region of Paraguay.

The hard-fought victory was tested just a few weeks after the President of Paraguay handed the title over to the community. A retired Paraguayan football star and his family attempted to move on to part of the 10,030 hectares claiming he had recently purchased it to build a cattle ranch estate.

“We called the police and the State prosecutor immediately and they told the footballer to leave, that he had no right to be there,“ Gabriel Fernandez, one of the leaders of Yexwase Yet, told Intercontinental Cry. “For once it was someone else being evicted. Now the land is really ours.”

11. NUCLEAR WASTE FREE

After a four-year, hard-fought campaign to keep the province of Saskatchewan free of nuclear waste, last Spring, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) announced that Creighton was no longer a contender in the organization’s siting process. It was the last of three Saskatchewan communities in the running to host a deep geological repository for the long term storage of spent fuel bundles from Canada’s nuclear reactors in Ontario, Québec and New Brunswick.

“This announcement is the culmination of four years of research, sacrifice, networking and hard work by a group of dedicated people with one goal: to keep nuclear waste out of Saskatchewan,” said Candyce Paul, a founding member of the Committee for Future Generations.

“The powerful Nuclear Waste Management Organization with all their money and all their experts could not beat back the duty we have to protect our future generations,” said Paul.

12. MAUNA KEA

The Hawaii state Supreme Court invalidated the permit allowing construction of the hugely controversial Thirty Meter Telescope atop the sacred mountain known as Mauna Kea.
The court said the state Board of Land and Natural Resources erred when it issued the permit before a contested case hearing was held for the $1.4 billion project.

The struggle to defend Mauna Kea, however, doesn’t end there. Officials behind the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) have said that they are now considering their next steps. Indigenous activists and allies, meanwhile, patiently wait for them to make their move.

13. PULLING ANCHOR

Cermaq, the Norwegian-based salmon farming company (that was recently purchased by the Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi) pulled anchor on a new salmon farm inside Ahousaht territory north of Tofino in British Columbia.

Soon after dropping anchor on the salmon farm a group of five Ahousaht men stepped forward to tell Cermaq to get lost, vowing that they would risk arrest rather than see another salmon farm in their territory.

Ever since salmon farms started appearing on Ahousaht lands in 1999, the Ahousaht have observed an alarming decline in shellfish, salmon and herring populations. Aware of this, the group of activists, who came to be known as the Yaakswiis warriors, stated that the Cermaq salmon farm was not legal because the Ahousaht people had not been consulted, nor did they provide their consent.

14. MONSANTO LOSES AGAIN

Following a monumental win against the controversial ‘Monsanto law’ in Guatemala last year, the notorious biotech firm took another big hit after Mexico’s Supreme Court suspended a permit to grow genetically modified soybeans across 250,000 hectares on the Yucatán peninsula.

The judgement stemmed from a constitutional law in Mexico that requires the consideration of indigenous communities affected by development projects. According to the Supreme Court, Monsanto failed to consult the region’s famous Maya beekeepers who filed the case against Monsanto. The beekeepers warned early on that Monsanto’s plan would require the use of “glyphosate, a herbicide classified as probably carcinogenic.” Given that bees are extremely sensitive to their environment, the beekeepers explained that Monsanto’s project jeopardize their communities, their livelihoods and the environment.

The judge commented in the ruling that co-existence between honey production and GM soybeans is simply not possible.

15. BARAM DAM SHELVED

After maintaining a blockade for two straight years, Indigenous Peoples in Sarawak, Malaysia can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The Sarawak government decided to shelve the controversial Baram hydroelectric dam.

Commenting on the surprising move, Sarawak’s Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem stated that they decided to put the dam on hold out of respect for the views of the affected communities, adding: “If you don’t want the dam, fine. We will respect your decision.”

Had the project gone ahead, it would have flooded 20,000 Indigenous men, women and children from their homes.

global, HUMAN RIGHTS, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Huge Win for Africa’s Wildlife

. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT .

From an email and article by the African Wildlife Foundation

This sixth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held Dec. 4–5, marked the first time the illegal ivory trade was featured on the forum’s agenda. Leading up to the forum, the China-Africa Wildlife Conservation Council, an African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and Aspen Institute initiative comprised of Chinese and African civil society leaders and celebrities, worked tirelessly to position wildlife issues as a priority to be included on the traditionally development-focused diplomatic agenda.

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Members of the China-Africa Wildlife Conservation Council discuss ways to work together to protect Africa’s wildlife and wild lands. Photo credit: Rodger Bosch/AWF

“Because the role that China plays in [the FOCAC] agenda is significant and by all accounts game-changing, it has a responsibility as well as an opportunity to help ensure Africa’s elephants, rhinos and other wildlife have a future in the modern Africa rising up before us,” says AWF CEO Dr. Patrick Bergin. This high-level dialogue is focused on strengthening the collaboration on economic development between China and 50 African countries, and the inclusion of the illegal ivory trade positions wildlife trafficking as a focus of ongoing relations between China and African countries.

The China-Africa Wildlife Conservation Council is a group of civil society and business leaders convened by the African Wildlife Foundation and the Aspen Institute to serve as a people-to-people platform for supporting China-Africa cooperation on wildlife and wild lands conservation, sustainable economic development, and governance. This Council exists as a cultural and economic exchange to deepen cooperation and support the governments of China and the African states in the joint commitment to protecting and African wildlife and expanding wild lands conservation as the foundation of a sustainable human economy in Africa.

Following two years of work, the group met the week of December 3 for a three-day field visit and roundtable in Kruger National Park, facilitated by the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and the Aspen Institute. Chinese film star Wang Baoqiang and Tanzanian singer-songwriter Alikiba joined the delegation.

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Question for this article:

What is the relation between the environment and peace?

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Following the roundtable, the Council has released a statement supporting the governments of China and the African states in their active commitment to conserve Africa’s wildlife, recommending that China strengthen its ongoing collaboration with African countries to conserve natural wild land habitats by expanding the continent’s protected area system. The group has also recommended that the FOCAC Declaration and Action Plan explicitly reference the need to set aside and protect large areas for terrestrial and marine conservation. (See “Statement from the China-Africa Wildlife Conservation Council” for more detail.)

“In the lead up to this year’s FOCAC, we have held a number of meetings in Beijing, Nairobi and Kigali, where we have discussed extensively the illegal wildlife trade that is fueling the poaching in Africa,” said Dr. Patrick Bergin, African Wildlife Foundation CEO. “This trip gave dialogue participants a chance to see and hear firsthand about the devastation that poaching has wrought on Kruger’s rhino population.” As of August this year, South Africa had lost 749 rhinos, the majority from Kruger.

For many of the participants from China, including actor Wang Baoqiang, the trip to Kruger was their first time visiting a national park in Africa. “I have always loved being out in nature, and I enjoyed seeing Africa’s elephants, rhinos and other wildlife for the first time,” said Wang. “The upcoming summit in South Africa highlights the strong relationship between China and Africa, and I am happy to be a part of the discussions around how all Chinese and Africans can work together to ensure sustainable development in Africa.”

Singer-songwriter Alikiba, who is a wildlife ambassador in his native Tanzania, noted that celebrities as well as government leaders and conservationists have a role to play in protecting wildlife. “My country has lost many of its elephants in the last few years due to poaching, and we must all find ways to work together to stop the killing and safeguard our wild lands,” said Alikiba. “As a musician and artist, I am using my platform to bring attention to this crisis and inspire people to get involved.”

Key outputs from the initiative to date have included:

A formal recommendation—supported by former Presidents Festus Mogae of Botswana and Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania—promoting the protection of Africa’s wildlife and wild lands as a priority in the continent’s development agenda was integrated into the African Union’s final Vision 2063 document.

A formal proposal to include topics of wildlife and wild lands protection within the 6th Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was submitted to the African Ambassadors Group in Beijing, along with supporting technical information to serve as a resource for submitting these issues into the formal FOCAC process.

A proposal to include wildlife on the diplomatic agenda of FOCAC was also submitted directly to South Africa’s Departments of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. In response, the Department of Environmental Affairs requested the submission of formal commitments for inclusion in the FOCAC action plan.

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

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

James Hansen, father of climate change awareness, calls Paris talks ‘a fraud’

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from The Guardian. (abbreviated, Courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd)

Mere mention of the Paris climate talks is enough to make James Hansen grumpy. . . “It’s a fraud really, a fake,” he says, rubbing his head. “It’s just bullshit for them to say: ‘We’ll have a 2C warming target and then try to do a little better every five years.’ It’s just worthless words. There is no action, just promises. As long as fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest fuels out there, they will be continued to be burned.” . . .

Hanson
James Hanson. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian

Hansen, 74, has just returned from Paris where he again called for a price to be placed on each tonne of carbon from major emitters (he’s suggested a “fee” – because “taxes scare people off” – of $15 a tonne that would rise $10 a year and bring in $600bn in the US alone). There aren’t many takers, even among “big green” as Hansen labels environment groups.

Hansen has been a nagging yet respected voice on climate change since he shot to prominence in the summer of 1988. The Nasa scientists, who had been analyzing changes in the Earth’s climate since the 1970s, told a congressional committee that something called the “greenhouse effect” where heat-trapped gases are released into the atmosphere was causing global warming with a 99% certainty. . .

From being possibly America’s most celebrated scientist, Hansen is now probably its most prominent climate activist. He’s been arrested several times in protests outside the White House over mining and the controversial Keystone pipeline extension.

He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University. When he’s in New York, he lives near the campus, surrounded by books piled on groaning shelves. Hansen’s not slowing down – he’s involved in a climate lobbying group and still undertakes the sort of scientific endeavor which helps maintain his gravitas.

One particular paper, released in July, painted a particularly bleak future for just about anyone living near the coast. Hansen and 16 colleagues found that Earth’s huge ice sheets, such as those found in Greenland, are melting faster than expected, meaning that even the 2C warming limit is “highly dangerous”.

The sea level could soon be up to five meters higher than it is today by the latter part of this century, unless greenhouse gases aren’t radically slashed, the paper states. This would inundate many of the world’s cities, including London, New York, Miami and Shanghai.

There is a positive note to end on, however. Global emissions have somewhat stalled and Hansen believes China, the world’s largest emitter, will now step up to provide the leadership lacking from the US. A submerged Fifth Avenue and deadly heatwaves aren’t an inevitability.

“I think we will get there because China is rational,” Hansen says. “Their leaders are mostly trained in engineering and such things, they don’t deny climate change and they have a huge incentive, which is air pollution. It’s so bad in their cities they need to move to clean energies. They realise it’s not a hoax. But they will need co-operation.”

Question for this article:
global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Kumi Naidoo: let the youth be our climate leaders!

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An interview with Kumi Naidoo, Director of Greenpeace, by Pavlos Georgiadis of the Ecologist (abridged)

With COP21 out of the way there is absolutely no time to lose, Greenpeace director Kumi Naidoo told Pavlos Georgiadis: ‘Because by tomorrow, there might be no tomorrow.’ We need substantial, structural, systemic change – and this change can only be led by the youth, who are not infected by the political pollution of the past. And whose future is it anyway? . . .

kumi Naidoo
Video with Kumi Naidoo

“The good thing about COP21 is that for the first time we have a great multilateral agreement to address climate change. This is the first time such a large number of countries agree on something, since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, again in Paris.

“The sad thing about it, is that for 21 years, we knew about the need to address climate change. But our political leaders have been in denial about how serious the problem is.”

For Kumi, governments dragged their feet in these talks. “The Paris Agreement is only one step on a long road, and there are parts of it that frustrate and disappoint me, but it is progress. This deal alone won’t dig us out the hole we’re in, but it makes the sides less steep.”

In his view, the most crucial work begins now, and is important to see what types of action will emerge in the next weeks and months after Paris.

Despite delays and conflicting opinions, at the end governments came up with the $100 billion support towards climate action. “They fudged the language here and there, but they had no other choice. If developed countries did not deliver on that, poor countries would not sign on to anything unless they got a guarantee that they are going to have predictable and transparent sources of funding.

But if you divide these $100 billion by the number of beneficiary countries, then you realise that is not any close to what is needed. When we are talking about climate finance poor countries are not really asking from rich countries to give them a donation or charity. They are telling them that since they have built their economies on the basis of carbon, they should now recognise their climate debt.”

“We now face the challenge of not allowing our governments to let us down, and that civil society – especially in developing countries- is part of the process that ensures this money is spent properly.”

It took 20 years for the world to reach this agreement, because of a reality that Kumi calls a “climate apartheid”, that showed its teeth in the Paris negotiations too:

“Most of the people in the countries that emitted the most carbon are white. Most of the people in the countries who are paying the first and highest price are people of colour. So, there is no question in my mind, that there is this subliminal racism at play in this discourse. And that is putting it kindly.”

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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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The challenge of financing climate action after Paris is immense. Naidoo believes that the aid system is a very messed up broken system, to start with:

“For every one dollar that is given to Africa, eight dollars are going out in capital flight. Therefore, it is important that the Green Climate Fund is set up in a way that takes that injustice into consideration. We cannot allow the current messed up banking system consume the world’s most vulnerable countries, that need funds to protect themselves from catastrophic climate change.

“A country like Kiribati, for example, that has contributed almost nothing in terms of carbon emissions, has very high possibilities that parts of it will disappear in the coming decades. Lending institutions will say that if Kiribati wants to borrow money in the international markets, it must pay higher interest rates, because the country’s ‘vulnerability’ is a threat to the credit system.”

“This exact case, highlights the big injustice existing in climate finance right now, where loans could leave all these countries back in a deep, unplayable debt situation. “But, why go to Kiribati, when there is Greece, a country you could get from Paris on a bicycle, to see it for yourself.

“We have to be very careful whether the mechanisms agreed in Paris will put poor countries in a kind of a terrible debt situation. Otherwise, they could be enslaved to financial institutions for many decades to come.”

Kumi Naidoo believes that the COP21 is just the beginning of a long road. “It sometimes seems that the countries of the United Nations can unite on nothing, but nearly two hundred countries have come together and agreed a deal. The human race has just joined in a common cause, but it’s what happens from now on that really matters.”

“Our political and business leaders must realise that nature does not negotiate. They have to realise that the agreement that was just signed is about their children and their children’s children’s futures. And for that reason, we cannot but recognise that in the moment of history that we live in, this is an one-way all of us. Especially young people need to stand up and say ‘this is about our future!'”

“The world is now on its feet and more determined than ever, continuing the fight and pushing the transition from an economy that is driven by dirty fossil fuels, to an economy that is driven by clean energy. As humans, we cannot afford this transition to be slow and wait until tomorrow. Because by tomorrow, there might be no tomorrow.”

In his words, climate change presents us with a very powerful opportunity. “For far too long, we lived in a world divided between rich and poor, north and south, east and west, developed and developing.

“What we need right now is not just baby steps in the right direction, given how much time we have already lost. We need substantial, structural, systemic change. And this change can only be led by the youth, who are not infected by the political pollution of the past.

“Either we secure a future for all our children and grandchildren, or we can get it wrong. Poor countries, that have contributed least to the problem, will pay the first and most brutal price. But, ultimately, everybody will get impacted.”

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Naomi Klein: We are going backwards, COP21 is the opposite of progress

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An interview with Naomi Klein in New Internationalist Magazine (abbreviated)

Naomi Klein speaks with Frank Barat about the limits of the Paris climate talks and how climate change is an accelerator that makes pre-existing problems worse. This interview was originally published in the French publication Ballast.

Naomi Klein
People’s climate march in Prague, 29 November 2015. Friends of the Earth International under a Creative Commons Licence

. . . [what] is unfolding in Paris during the climate summit is really exposing the subjectivity of what gets declared a crisis and what does not. We are here to discuss an existential crisis for humanity and it has never received crisis treatment from elites. They give loads of wonderful speeches but they do not change laws. It is exposing the double standards in a very naked way. In the name of security, they would do almost anything, but in the name of human security, of protecting life on earth, there are loads of talk but no serious regulations of polluters and even the deal themselves they want not to be legally binding. So we are actually moving backwards. The Kyoto protocol was legally binding and now we are moving towards more volunteer, meaningless, non-regulations.

Question: Why would a climate deal be our best hope for peace?

N.K: The first part of it is simply that climate change is already driving conflict. So is the quest for fossil fuels. In terms of the Middle East, our thirst from fossil fuels is a major driver for illegal wars. Do we think Iraq would have been invaded if their major export had been asparagus [as journalist Robert Fisk once asked]? Probably not. We wanted that prize in the west, Iraq’s oil. We wanted this on the world’s market. It was certainly Dick Cheney’s agenda. This destabilized the whole region, which was not particularly stable to begin with because of earlier oil wars and coups and support for dictatorships. This is also a region that is one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Large parts of the Middle East would become unliveable on the emission trajectory that we are on. Syria has experienced the worst drought of its history in the run up to the outbreak of civil war. It is one of the factors that destabilized the country. There is no possibility for peace without very strong actions on climate. What drew me to this issue was understanding that if we are going to take climate change seriously it is going to require a redistribution of wealth, of opportunities and technologies. In this book I begin quoting Angelica Navarro who is a Bolivian trade and climate negotiator, talking about how climate change called for a Marshall Plan for planet earth. For countries that have their resources systematically plundered, like Bolivia and are on the front lines of dealing with the impact of climate change, it requires kind of a writing past wrongs, the transfer of wealth and turning the world right side up that I think are pre-conditions for a more peaceful world.

Question: How do you put to the masses of people that to change course, we have to deconstruct capitalism? I think that for most people it is too difficult a change to imagine?

(Interview continued in the right side of the page)

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

Question for this article:

Sustainable Development Summits of States, What are the results?

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

(Interview continued from the left side of the page)

N.K: In Canada we did this exercise of trying to use climate change and the fact that it puts us on a deadline. Not only do we have to change but we have to change now and if we do not make the most of this remaining decade, it will indeed be too late. What does this mean for healthcare, education, indigenous rights, inequality, what would it look like for refugee rights to take climate change seriously? Our team hosted a meeting of 60 movement leaders and we drafted a document called The Leap. We are really hoping that it would help break through this problem. We found in Canada that the only way to break through is to do it. To get together and act. Everybody is working on such urgent issues. If you are an anti poverty activist or a refugee rights activist, you do not have any spare time. It is only when climate change does not distract from your issue and in fact brings another layer of urgency and a really powerful tool and argument and brings you new allies as well, then people have that space to go, ‘oh yeah, ok, this is actually hopeful, this is not a distraction.’

There are a couple of things we did in Canada. One, we organized a march under the banner ‘jobs, justice, climate’. It was not a theoretical exercise but really an organizing one. How do we talk to people in trade unions about climate in a way that really resonates, how do you talk to people who are just fighting for basic services, for housing, and transit, what would it mean for the Black Lives Matter movement, what are the messages that are different? It really helped. Then we drafted and launched the LEAP manifesto. Not that it is perfect, but it is a start. To me it is shocking the extent to which the anti-austerity movement and the climate movement in Europe do not seem to talk to one another. You could have [Greek Prime Minister Alexander] Tsipras suddenly talking about climate change this week, for the first time from what I can tell since he took office.

Climate change is the best argument against austerity that you are ever going to have. If you are negotiating with Germany, a government that claims to take climate change very seriously and that has some of the most ambitious energy policies in the world, why wouldn’t you talk about climate change in every meetings and say that we cannot have austerity because we have an existential crisis, we have to act. And yet Syriza, Podemos, you almost never hear them talking about climate change. I spoke at a blockcupy rally in Frankfurt a few months ago and climate change was not mentioned. When I talked about the connections, people understood instantly, it is not abstract. If you are dealing with the endless of budget crisis and this false sense of public scarcity, of course governments are going to cut their support for renewables, of course they are going to increase fares for public transit, of course they are going to privatize the rail system as they are doing in Belgium, of course they are going to say that we have to drill for oil and gas to get ourselves out of debt.

These issues are the same stories, so why is it that it seems far off, right? I do not think it is a hard argument to make. I think that people are creatures of habit. There is a lot of fear around talking about climate change. It has been so bureaucratized. A little bit like trade used to be. When we first started talking about free trade deals there was all of this talk about having a degree in international law to understand it as it was so bureaucratic. It was designed to repel public participation. But somehow people started to educate themselves and found ways to talk about it and really understood how it impacted their lives and the things that they understood. They realised they had a right to participate in this conversation. I think that why climate change people are afraid of making mistakes about the science. You have got three levels of bureaucratic language. The scientific, the policy and the UN language. It is very difficult to understand. The UN one is a nightmare. Look at the schedule for the Cop21! It is not in any language anybody could recognize. All of that is part of the reason why even though it is obvious to connect climate to austerity somehow it is not done. . . .

Governments are fighting for those paltry targets to not be legally binding. It is the opposite of progress – we are going backward. Kyoto was legally binding. This is headed towards not being binding. The target in Copenhagen was 2 degrees, which was already too high, and here we are headed towards 3. This is basic laws of physics. It is not forward.

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Indigenous Elders Send Stern Message to UN Paris Delegates: Preventing 2°C Is Not Nearly Enough

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Alternet

Thousands are gathered in Paris for the United Nation’s climate talks that began on November 30 and will run through December 11, 2015. Among the world leaders in Paris, including President Barack Obama, are indigenous peoples from around the world. The SPIRET Foundation released the following statement, entitled “Indigenous Elders And Medicine Peoples Council Statement United Nations Convention on Climate Change,” to the media that provides a voice to the indigenous peoples of the North America:

indigenous
Photo Credit: VectorLifestylepic/Shutterstock.com
Click on photo to enlarge

This statement reflects the wisdom of the Spiritual People of the Earth, of the four directions, working in unity to restore peace, harmony and balance for our collective future and for all living beings. This statement is written in black and white with a foreign language that is not our own and does not convey the full depth of our concerns.

The Creator created the People of the Earth out of the Land and gave us a Way of Life. This Sacred Way of Life has been passed down generation-to-generation since the beginning of the Creation of Life. The sanctity of this Way of Life has been violated and abused by people who are living without regard for the well being of Mother Earth and our collective future.

We, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, have no choice but to follow and uphold the Natural Law, which sustains the continuity of Life. We recognize our umbilical connection to Mother Earth and understand that she is the source of life, not a resource to be exploited. We speak on behalf of all Creation today, to communicate an urgent message that man has gone too far, placing us in the state of survival.

There is no more time for discussion on preventing “Climate Change”. That opportunity has passed. “Climate Change” is here. The Air is not the same anymore. The Water is not the same anymore. The Earth is not the same anymore. The Clouds are not the same anymore. The Rain is not the same anymore. The Trees, the Plants, the Animals, Birds, Fish, Insects and all the others are not the same anymore. All that is Sacred in Life is vanishing because of our actions. The truth is we have moved beyond climate change to survival.

The COP21 Climate Summit in Paris, France is being held to contemplate strategies to prevent more than two degrees Celsius of warming. Though this is important, it is not nearly enough. To truly heal Mother Earth and ensure our survival, we must recognize that the entire natural system is one life system rather than fragmented parts. Our concern is with the acceleration of the cumulative and compounding devastation that is being wrought by the actions of people around the world. Modern living and all that it encompasses does not respect the Sacredness of Life and has ruptured the sacred seal around the Earth. This has contributed to extreme weather patterns and the melting of the Ice – the sacred cooling system of Mother Earth.

Man-made creations of vehicles, trains, railroads, airplanes, bullets, guns, weapons, spaceships, building of high rise towers, shopping malls, pipelines, roads, slaughtering of animals for recreation, the genetic alteration and pollution of our food and water sources, introduction of invasive species, drilling and digging deep into Mother Earth, and into the mountains for oil, gas, gold, silver, minerals, precious stones, coal and uranium, and all the others. Changing whole ecosystems forever by draining wetlands, changing the course of rivers, clear cutting of forests, damming rivers and flooding lands to cool nuclear reactors and natural gas plants, damming rivers for hydroelectric power, using rivers and lakes for dumping toxic chemicals and sewage, polluting the Earth and Oceans with toxic chemicals and waste and piling up and burying garbage has contaminated and polluted our Earth. All these actions and more created Climate Change.

Aboriginal Indigenous Peoples have seen first-hand the impacts these destructive actions have had on our sacred places and the natural world. We have sent out messages to the people of this world warning that “this dark time” or “this day” would come if the people did not immediately stop their destructive activities and re-align themselves in harmony and balance with the Creator’s Natural Law. Our messages of prophecy fell on deaf ears and remained unseen by eyes blinded by money, greed and power.

Today, we lack leadership. We have misplaced our trust in governmental leaders and the leaders of industry. They failed us by trying to maintain their profits, economies and their power over the people. Their lack of action to adequately and seriously work to prevent “climate change” has brought us to the state of survival, threatening the collective future of All Life. Leaders meeting in Paris have a responsibility to create real solutions and do something right for the future of all life. We strongly urge all leaders to work and consult with us, the spiritual people of the Earth, to solve the world’s problems, without war. We, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, offer our spiritual insight, wisdom and vision to the global community to help guide the actions needed to overcome the current threats to all life and shift from the path of self-destruction to the path of peace, harmony and balance with All Creation.

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Question for this article

Indigenous peoples, Are they the true guardians of nature?

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We cannot live on the Moon or Mars so people must change their behavior. We must sacrifice and move beyond our own comforts and pleasures. We must stop the damaging activities and begin working on healing the natural environment for the future of All Life. To date, the Sacred has been excluded from all discussions and decisions.

We must heal the Sacredness within ourselves, within our families, within our communities and within our Nations. We must respect, follow and uphold the Creator’s Natural Law as a foundation for all decision-making, from this point forward. This begins with a deep respect and understanding of the human life cycle. To bring sacredness back into this cycle, human beings must bring forth life in a conscious way, honoring our sacred obligation to care for that life. With the creation of life comes a responsibility to ensure the care and survival of that life throughout the lifespan of the child. When we bring forth life haphazardly and without sacredness, with no concern for how that life will be sustained, we violate our sacred responsibility and bring imbalance to Mother Earth. We must restore our balance with Creation and respect the sacredness of our sexuality, and our ability to bring new life into this world.

We must open our hearts to Love, Care and have Respect for one another and All Creation to create peace. No one can survive without clean Air, clean Water, and a clean Earth. We cannot breathe money, we cannot eat or drink money. The people of the world must recognize that man made laws have failed us and will continue to fail us, because those laws attempt to place profit and power over our sacred obligation to All Life and our shared future. Those seeking profit and power have created a business of war and destruction that now threatens the lives of billions around the world. It is time to address this spiritual illness and begin the process of healing, together.

Aboriginal Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples are not scientists, but we do have a connection to the source of Truth and Life, we have our “Prophecies“ and the “Signs” of disharmony. All of these sources of knowledge tell us clearly what will happen if we do not change our behavior. All of the things that are happening today are the very same things that were spoken of in the earlier days, the very things that the Creator warned would happen, if we failed to respect and follow His Natural Law. There are scientists and experts that know the scientific reality of what is going on. They know that life will vanish if we continue in the direction we are going. These scientist and experts must speak the truth to the people and not be controlled by those that provide their paychecks.

We are all responsible and we are all capable of creating a new path forward with new sources of energy that do not harm the people or the Earth. We are obligated to all take action now to protect what is left of the Sacredness of Water and Life. We can no longer wait for solutions from governmental and corporate leaders. We must all take action and responsibility to restore a healthy relationship with each other and Mother Earth. Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide the future of humankind. Did you think the Creator would create unnecessary people in a time of such terrible danger? Know that you yourself are essential to this World. Believe that! Understand both the blessing and the burden of that. You yourself are desperately needed to save the soul of this World. Do you think you were put here for something less?

Water is Life

We are the People of the Earth united under the Creator’s Law, with a sacred covenant to follow and uphold and a sacred responsibility to extend Life for all future generations. We are from various Nations and we are spiritually related. We will not be divided by any terminology that defines us as “recognized” or “unrecognized”, by the Government of the United States or any other body. We are expressing deep concern for our shared future and urge everyone to awaken spiritually and take action. It is critical that we come together with good minds and prayer as a global community of all faiths, to honor the Creator and the Creator’s Gift. We must work in unity to help Mother Earth heal so that she can bring back balance and harmony for all her children.

Representatives of the Council:

Chief Arvol Looking Horse
19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred
White Buffalo Calf Pipe
Spiritual Leader The Great Sioux Nation Peoples

Bobby C. Billie
Clan Leader and Spiritual Leader
Council of the Original Miccosukee
Simanolee Nation Aboriginal

Faith Spotted Eagle
Tunkan Inajin WinBrave Heart Society
Grandmother/Headswoman & Ihanktonwan Treaty Council
Ihanktonwan Dakota from the Oceti Sakowin 7 Council Fires

Leland Grass, Dine’ Traditionalist

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This new initiative out of Paris will help fight climate change with trees

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Wanjira Mathai, Grist

When world leaders gathered in Paris to open negotiations for a pivotal international climate agreement, I was happy to see so many heads of state reaffirm the central role of trees and forest landscape restoration in fighting and adapting to climate change. As an African woman and the daughter of Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, the restoration agenda is very close to me. The movement my mother established has been mobilizing communities for close to 40 years to restore their landscapes by planting trees for food, for fuel, and to bring barren land back to productive life.

Mathai
Planting a tree in Kenya photo: USAID Kenya

Restoration is also Africa’s best chance to protect itself from climate change. Even though the continent as a whole has contributed minimally to the global climate change problem, Africans will be among those most affected.

By mid-century, Africa’s population is expected to nearly double — from 1.1 billion to 2 billion — pushing the demand for already scarce resources of soil and water. Nearly three-quarters of all drylands in Africa — 1 billion hectares (3.86 million square miles) — are affected by desertification, while a quarter of African agricultural land is seriously damaged, costing an average of 3 percent of GDP each year due to the loss of soil and nutrients on farmland. In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly half the population, 47 percent, earns less than $1.25 a day.

Restoration holds the potential to shield us from those dangers while also providing a wide range of benefits: trees as a source of energy; trees as a source of nutritious food; trees to bind the soil so that agriculture thrives; trees that make our landscapes beautiful. And especially in the developing world, restoring landscapes and planting trees is something we can do right away — we have boots on the ground! By investing in this amazing opportunity, we can tackle a suite of problems with one useful tool.

A new movement called AFR100 — the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative — is poised to take advantage of this opportune moment. This new pan-African, country-led effort aims to restore 100 million hectares (386,000 square miles) of degraded and deforested landscapes in Africa by 2030. It’s an ambitious goal, but within reach — at the initiative’s launch in Paris during COP21, African countries committed to restore more than 30 million hectares (116,000 square miles), an area larger than the nation of Gabon or the United Kingdom. And AFR100 partners are earmarking more than $1 billion in development finance and $600 million in private sector investment to support restoration activities.

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Question for this article

When you cultivate plants, do you culivate peace?

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AFR100 builds on global commitments for landscape restoration, specifically the Bonn Challenge and the New York Declaration on Forests. It is also inspired by programs such as Initiative 20×20, which focuses on landscape restoration in Latin America and the Caribbean. We are proud to contribute so substantially to this global movement, as restoration is both in our own self-interest and benefits the whole world.

I get energized by the landscape restoration movement in its power to address so many issues simultaneously — health, environment, energy security, and empowerment of women — in a way few other interventions can. Restoration can be especially powerful when paired with other solutions like clean cook stoves and lighting, which I also advocate as director of the Women’s Entrepreneurship in Renewables (wPower) Hub at the Wangari Maathai Institute, where we spotlight and support the important role women play in their communities.

The challenges are great, but so are the opportunities. More than 700 million hectares of land are ripe for restoration in Africa, according to analysis by World Resources Institute and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These lands are diverse, offering the potential to both restore natural forests and wooded landscapes and also increase the density of trees in highly populated landscapes to help farmers and protect watersheds.

At the opening ceremonies at COP21, many African leaders called for more climate action from the developed world, and that is appropriate. There are a handful of countries we know are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions, and this is going to cause catastrophic suffering in Africa. We must then call upon the developed countries to play their part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and finance mitigation and adaptation activities like restoration in other parts of the world.

We didn’t choose this challenge. But we also can’t afford to wait for others to take action. We have a huge responsibility to mitigate and adapt for our own sake and the sake of our children, because a world of extreme climate change is grim for us all. We have to be diligent in our advocacy for climate justice, but at the same time, we cannot be asleep. We have to put the measures in place in our own countries that will protect our people from the climate crisis. Planting or nurturing a tree seedling in African soil is a good place to start.

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

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Global climate cash flows neared $400bn in 2014 – report

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Megan Darby, Climate Change News

Climate-friendly investments worldwide reached a record US$391 billion in 2014, up 18% from 2013 levels.

climatechange
(Photo from Flickr/Aaron)

Private sources poured US$243 billion into renewable energy, a 26% increase on the previous year. Public investment rose steadily to $148 billion.

That is according to Climate Policy Initiative’s latest climate finance report, which covers flows within national borders as well as from rich to poor countries.

“There is more money than ever before being invested in low carbon and climate resilient action,” said lead author Barbara Buchner. “At the same time, more needs to happen.”

East Asia and the Pacific accounted for $119bn of the total, up 22% by 2013, with China alone the destination for $84bn.

Africa, Latin America, East Asia and the Caribbean received the bulk of funds for adaptation projects.

Experts say trillions will be needed over the coming decades to hold global warming to 2C, the goal of next month’s Paris climate summit.

That includes targeted funds to help poorer countries green their economies and protect citizens from the impacts of climate change.

But in 2014 three quarters of the total and 92% of private money was spent in its country of origin.

“If countries get their domestic policy frameworks right, that really can trigger a big change in making money flow,” Buchner told Climate Home.

National contributions submitted to a UN climate deal set out policies in areas like clean energy, flood defences and forest protection for more than 160 countries.

These “give an indication countries are serious about this issue,” said Buchner.

Only 17% of the public finance went towards adaptation, however – measures to guard against weather extremes and sea level rise, which are of particular concern to the world’s poorest.

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

Questions for this article:
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Nazca-Desventuradas: Chile’s New Marine Reserve

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Sara Jones, Council on Hemispheric Affairs (reprinted by permission)

At the 2015 Our Ocean Conference, Chilean president Michelle Bachelet announced the creation of a new marine park off the coast of Chile, which, if created, would be the largest fully protected marine reserve in the world. This action taken by Bachelet spurred questions across the international community over whether Chile might become the world’s next leader in ocean conservation. The project has been met with both skepticism and enthusiastic support by the Chilean nation and by the international community.

Chile
Bunaken Marine Park in Indonesia (Sakurai Midori)

The Nazca-Desventuradas National Marine Park was unveiled in October and will encompass a surface area of 297,518 square kilometers (114,872 square miles), the equivalent of 8 percent of the world’s oceans that have been declared as no fishing areas or have no-take protections. It would include the waters off the coast of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and the waters surrounding San Ambrosio and San Félix Islands.[These two islands are called the ‘Islas Desventuradas’ (Unfortunate Islands) and are the namesake of the marine park. The purpose of creating this national park is to reduce the amount of fishing in the area in order to protect the ecosystems within its borders. The waters surrounding the islands have been the site of “a modest amount of fishing, mainly for swordfish” but the creation of the park designates this area as a marine protected area (MPA). According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the definition of a protected area is “A clearly defined geographical space, recognized [sic], dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.” The IUCN stresses the importance of having a long-term plan to actually have an impact on conservation and ocean recovery. The creation of a marine reserve gives the Chilean government legal means to enforce the limits that could be imposed on fishing, especially by using its navy as a deterrent. Local fisherman can still fish in an area 50 miles from the coast, but industrial fishing will ideally be eliminated.

Environmental and Cultural Impact

The creation of a new marine reserve in this area will bring about a multitude of environmental benefits to the area. According to National Geographic, the area that the park will protect has a unique oceanic environment which encompasses a variety of tropical and temperate species.[8] Furthermore, National Geographic writes that “About 72 percent of the species found around Desventuradas and an island chain known as the Juan Fernández archipelago—about 466 miles (750 kilometers) to the south— is endemic.” Fishing and pollution are two causes of environmental degradation in the ocean; so creating a marine park to protect the ecosystems of this region is a positive step towards changing the way the sea is protected.

In addition to its environmental benefits, the marine reserve also represents an important step towards protecting the cultural interests of the people of Rapa Nui. For this community, the ocean surrounding their island is an important part of their culture and way of life. The mayor of Rapa Nui, Pedro Edmunds Paoa, said, “This marine park will not only conserve the many species endemic to the waters of Easter Island but also the traditions of our Polynesian ancestors and the Rapa Nui people…The park will be complemented by a fishing area that will allow our ancient practice of tapu—or smart fisheries management—to endure.” The Rapa Nui gain their livelihood from the surrounding waters and many of them are excited about the prospect of protecting this area from industrial fishing trawlers. Joshua S. Reichart, an environmentalist from Pew Research Center, states that the marine park would not only represent an accomplishment for president Bachelet, but also a “triumph for the Rapa Nui.”

Historical Context of Marine Conservation in Chile

When it comes to environmental protection of marine areas, Chile may not have much experience, but it has focused recent efforts in addressing this issue. The Nazca-Desventuradas National Marine Park is not the only marine conservation effort the country has made. At the 2015 Our Ocean Conference, Chile also announced its promise to creating a marine protected area (MPA) in an exclusive economic zone near the Island of Rapa Nui. At the 2014 Our Ocean Conference, Chile agreed to join the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement. It also fulfilled its commitment by implementing a new policy to combat IUU fishing (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing). According to Oceana, an international organization dedicated to conducting research on oceans, Chile’s creation of a new national policy of IUU is “a move that gives the Chilean Navy increased resources to conduct enforcement operations in the high seas.” The areas that have been protected were vulnerable areas and thus the new policy is necessary for giving Chile the legal means to more effectively regulate fishing activities. Furthermore, Chile has created a new Ocean Policy Council which focuses on addressing the threats to its ocean waters and marine ecosystems. The main objectives of this council are to protect the sustainability and security of Chile’s marine environments.[ Another measure the country has taken to protect its marine environments is the creation of a group called the Friends of the Port State Measures Agreement, which promotes support between Latin American states in the endeavor of improving the protection of marine areas ] In the past two years, Chile has made great efforts to address the environmental threats to its marine areas.

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International Context of Marine Conservation

Chile is not the only country which has recently announced the creation of a marine reserve. The Nazca-Desventuradas National Marine Park will be the largest park of its kind in the world only if the United Kingdom does not create its marine park near the Pitcairn Islands first. The Pitcairn Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean, where the United Kingdom plans on creating the largest continuous marine reserve in the world. This marine reserve has a similar goal to the Chilean project. Adam Vaughn, a reporter for The Guardian, writes that: “The zone is expected to ban commercial fishing, and will cover a 834,000 sq km (322,000 square miles) area where previous expeditions have found more than 80 species of fish, coral and algae.” While this project is still underway, another marine reserve created by the United Kingdom is currently the largest marine protected area. This is encompasses the waters surrounding the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

The United Sates has also announced the creation of two new marine sanctuaries. The first is to be constructed on the western side of Lake Michigan and the second one is the Mallows Bay-Potomac River in Maryland. Both of these locations are the sites of shipwrecks. Meanwhile, Cuba has announced that it is participating in negotiations with the United States to create sister marine protected areas. According to National Geographic, “The U.S. side would include the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Dry Tortugas and Biscayne National Parks. The Cuban side includes the Guanahacabibes National Park on the western tip of the country.”

New Zealand has also announced a new marine reserve in the Kermadec which is northeast of New Zealands’ North Island. The recent surge in marine protection programs is heartening for supporters of marine preservation; however, they do not come without criticisms.

Support for the Nazca-Desventuradas National Marine Park

As previously noted, the new marine park in Chile is of great interest for the local fishing community and the Rapa Nui community. Although support for the program is not unanimous for either group, voices of support can be found in each.

For many local fishermen in Chile, a growing issue is the presence of industrial fishing trawlers, which are not only making it more difficult for local fishermen to gain their livelihood, but also engage in illegal fishing. In addition to this criticism of industrial fishers, local fishermen complain that they are at fault for increasing pollution in the oceans. The Guardian quoted Sara Roe, the president of a Chilean fisherman’s association: “Between 2004 and 2013, she said, there was a dramatic decline in the tuna, swordfish and barracuda her fishermen caught, forcing some into land-farming and construction jobs.”

Francesca Avaka Teao, a representative of the Hanga Roa Tai fisherman association, said that “in addition to the ecological importance of these waters, culturally and since ancestral times, the sea has been synonymous to abundance, richness and connection to nature for our town. The community of Rapa Nui develops diverse activities in it, not only in terms of nourishment, but also in terms of sports, art, recreation, and world view, among others.” The representative’s statement shows that the concerns expressed by the fishing community are tied to the environmental and cultural concerns expressed by the rest of the Rapa Nui community.

Criticisms of the Nazca-Desventuradas National Marine Park

While some members of the Rapa Nui community have expressed their support for the marine park, others had expressed doubt that the park would actually be created and a fear that the new marine park will encounter the same issues that the natural park on the mainland of Rapa Nui had faced. The creation of Rapa Nui National Park led to a spike in tourism on the island, which some members of the community opposed. The primary concern of the Rapa Nui people is that the previous natural park was created by the government without their consultation. However, President Bachelet has addressed this concern and affirmed that the marine park plan will be implemented following consent of the Rapa Nui community.

At first glance, the marine park represents a strong initiative to protect the ocean. However, Russell Moffitt, a conservation analyst at the Marine Conservation Institute, criticizes the project by questioning whether the location that is being protected is really the best place to make a real environmental impact for the oceans. He says that it might be more urgent to protect near-shore waters because these areas are more impacted by fishing and pollution. He adds that protecting these areas will not be sufficient, but they are easy goals. It would be more beneficial to create a variety of types of marine reserves.

What will be the fate of the ‘Unfortunate Islands’?

By creating the Nazca-Desventuradas marine park, Chile could become a leader in the international community in terms of marine preservation. Its recent efforts in preserving its marine environments with the support of local indigenous communities, is commendable. While the marine park is not without its criticisms, it has the potential for protecting important ecosystems and the culture of the Rapa Nui people. The impact that the new marine park will have is uncertain, but overall it is a positive step for marine preservation in a time where marine preservation has become increasingly important to the international community.

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

Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT