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Hands Off Mother Earth Campaign Information

Submitted by ETC Staff on

Stop Geoengineering - Our home is not a laboratory

Industrial societies have produced unprecedented ecological crises: climate change, depleted fresh water, build-up of toxins, collapse of ecosystems and accelerating species extinction. The transgression of natural limits for private gain has compromised the integrity and survival of our living planet, Mother Earth. This way of living on the Earth has become unsustainable. Common sense says we must act to build a fairer civilization, one that steps more lightly on the planet – and fast.

Hands Off Mother Earth!

Submitted by ETC Staff on

Civil Society Groups announce new global campaign against geoengineering tests – urge public to join in.

On the eve of UN Mother Earth Day, over sixty national and international organizations today threw their weight behind a common statement launching a global campaign to prevent real world deployment of geoengineering experiments.

Geoengineering refers to large-scale intentional tinkering with the climate and earth systems to counteract global warming. The ‘Hands Off Mother Earth’ campaign (or H.O.M.E. campaign) regards such geoengineering schemes as dangerous and unjust. It is urging individuals and organizations to speak out in opposing them.

ETC Group attends Cochabamba Climate Change Conference: Presses for a Ban on Geoengineering

Submitted by ETC Staff on

Media Advisory

Cochabamba, Bolivia - To advance meaningful international action on confronting the climate crisis, the Bolivian government is hosting a Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change and The Rights of Mother Earth featuring close to 10,000 attendees. These include government representatives, social movements, non-governmental organizations and Indigenous Peoples from around the world.

SIGN ON! Open Letter Opposing Asilomar Geoengineering Conference

Submitted by ETC Staff on

RE: Asilomar International Conference on Climate Intervention Technologies: March 22-26 2010

As civil society organizations and social movements working to find constructive solutions to climate change, we want to express our deep concerns with the upcoming privately organized meeting on geoengineering in Asilomar, California. Its stated aim, which is to «develop a set of voluntary guidelines, or best practices, for the least harmful and lowest risk conduct of research and testing of proposed climate intervention and geoengineering technologies,» is moving us down the wrong road too soon and without any speed limit.

Pissing for Profit in the Pacific - Geo-engineers prepare to pollute Philippine Seas as International Ocean Dumping Body Meets

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A joint news release prepared by: ETC Group, Third World Network, SEARICE, Corporate Watch and Greenpeace South East Asia

March 5, 2010

As governments meet in London today to discuss whether the high seas should be used for largescale iron dumping by companies promising a quick-fix for climate change, one private company is rushing ahead with a new ocean dumping scheme in Southeast Asia – this time with urea. Civil society groups have learned that Ocean Nourishment Corporation (ONC) of Sydney, Australia has been given a “go signal” by the Philippines government to experimentally dump hundreds of tonnes of industrially-produced urea, most likely into the Sulu Sea between Philippines and Borneo.

London Convention Puts Brakes on Ocean Geoengineering

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Risky ocean fertilisation schemes “not justified,” require oversight and regulation, says international maritime body

In a shot across the bows of geoengineering companies, the London Convention (the International Maritime Organization body that oversees dumping of wastes at sea) today unanimously endorsed a scientific statement of concern on ocean fertilisation and declared its intention to develop international regulations to oversee the controversial activities. It further advised states that such large-scale schemes are “currently not justified.”

FAO's Biotech Meeting Dubbed “Biased for Business” as Steering Committee Member Resigns in Protest

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On the eve of a major intergovernmental conference on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries (ABDC) in Guadalajara, Mexico, a civil society member of the international steering committee has resigned, calling the preparations for the gathering of governments and scientists “hopelessly biased” and “foolishly sidestepping key socioeconomic and scientific issues.”

Pat Mooney, Executive Director of ETC Group, a Canada-based international civil society organization with a long history of work with FAO and biotechnology issues, resigned from the steering committee on Tuesday, February 23 2010. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization conference, hosted by Mexico, runs from March 1- 4 in Guadalajara.

News Release: Top-down Planet Hackers Call for Bottom-up Governance

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Geoengineers Bid to Establish Voluntary Testing Regime Must be Opposed

While most scientists left the Copenhagen Climate Summit feeling gloomy about their influence, a small group of geoengineering advocates came away emboldened by the summit’s weak outcome and uncertain road ahead. This group of scientists aims to get on with research and experimentation in controversial geoengineering technologies. Their real excitement is over “solar radiation management” (SRM). This is a way of “cooling down the planet’s thermostat” by reflecting a portion of the sun’s rays back to outer space, through a variety of techniques ranging from sunshades in space, to aerosol sulphates in the stratosphere, to whitening clouds. These high-risk, planet-altering schemes affect global warming without changing its cause which is excessive greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Reclaim Power day at the UN ... and NGOs get kicked out

Submitted by diana on

Reclaim Power day at the UN ... and NGOs get kicked out
English

Today was "Reclaim Power" day, a collaborative adventure with activists from Climate Justice Now and Climate Justice Action that had been many months (years?) in the making.   There were demonstrators from the outside -- the thousands of activists who have no accreditation to get into the Bella Centre where the talks are being held, and those who had been working the process inside -- lobbying, analyzing, holding press conferences and such. The point was to hold a people's assembly on climate change when talks failed to deliver.   And they are failing to deliver big time.

Is technology transfer for Northern businesses or Southern countries?

Submitted by diana on

Is technology transfer for Northern businesses or Southern countries?
English

I am still in the Bella Centre, still tracking technology negotiations.  That means I have a magical "secondary pass" unlike thousands of other NGOs who cannot get into the building today. Technology is supposed to be the "easy issue", on which there will possibly be an agreement, evoked by both the Danish Presidency and the UNFCCC head, Yvo de Boer, as the most rapidly progressing item.

Retooling the Planet: New ETC Group Report on Geoengineering

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Climate Chaos in a Geoengineering Age, a Report Commissioned and Published by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.

This critical overview of geoengineering technologies examines the history, politics and social and ecological implications of attempts to add large-scale, intentional manipulation of the planet to the menu of possible responses to climate change. The report contests the notion that more funding, research and experimentation is needed into geoengineering technologies, and provides a series of recommendations on how these controversial technologies should be regulated.

After the demo ... and tangling with the Royal Society

Submitted by diana on

After the demo ... and tangling with the Royal Society
English

So much has happened in the past three days it is has been impossible to blog.  We have been trying to lobby for precaution and assessment on technology, trying to talk to the press about our issues, attending side events, organizing our own workshops, meeting old and new friends and allies and basically working from early morning until late at night, like virtually everyone else here.

Press Release: LOOK BEFORE LEAPING!

Submitted by ETC Staff on

NEGOTIATORS warned to LOOK BEFORE LEAPING! Civil Society Alarmed at Climate Technology Quick Fixes in Copenhagen

Over 160 civil society groups, including social movements and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), released a joint declaration on technology: “Let's Look Before We Leap!”. The declaration alerts governments to the absence of any precautionary environmental and social assessment mechanisms in the draft Copenhagen agreement on technology, and claims that the current approach poses grave threats to human health, human rights, rural livelihoods, diverse ecosystems and climate stability.

 

Technology assessment declaration in Italian

Submitted by ETC Staff on

LA SOCIETÀ CIVILE CHIEDE VALUTAZIONE DEGLI IMPATTI DELLE TECNOLOGIE NELL'AMBITO DI UN ACCORDO A COPENHAGEN

l trasferimento di tecnologia è uno dei quattro temi principali che

verranno discussi nel corso dei negoziati sulle azioni di cooperazione
per il lungo termine a Copenaghen (gli altri sono mitigazione,
adattamento e finanziamenti). Il testo negoziale preliminare contiene
diverse misure volte ad accelerare la diffusione di nuove tecnologie.
Con ogni probabilità i negoziati si tradurranno in un "piano d'azione"
e in un nuovo "organismo" di gestione delle tecnologie, che dovrà
coordinare diversi pannelli tecnici e/o centri di innovazione, e che
avrà grande influenza negli anni a venire sul tipo di sostegno
politico e finanziario che le nuove tecnologie riceveranno. In questo
quadro, è di grande importanza riuscire a fare in modo che siano le
tecnologie appropriate e benefiche a ricevere il necessario sostegno,
e non quelle pericolose o dannose. Questo non può avvenire senza una
valutazione approfondita ed adeguata degli impatti ambientali e
sociali di ogni nuova tecnologia.

Media Advisory

Submitted by ETC Staff on

On Behalf Of Ad Hoc Coalition: Let's Look Before We Leap!

An international group of more than 150 civil society groups from 36 countries will release a joint declaration calling upon governments in Copenhagen to revamp the draft text on technology transfer, to ensure that the precautionary principle is respected and that high-risk and unproven climate “techno-fixes” are not allowed to put the world at risk.

 

 

Leaving for Copenhagen - yikes

Submitted by diana on

Leaving for Copenhagen - yikes
English

It is the mad dash for Copenhagen.

I am leaving Montreal for the international summit tomorrow although the conference actually got underway today.  In between urgent emails over the weekend I found the time to take my ten year old daughter and two of her friends to see A Christmas Carol, a Geordie Theatre production of the Dickens classic.   The play was great but it was hard to keep my mind off what was going on in Copenhagen -- plus Scrooge kept reminding me of Stephen Harper.

ETC Group workshop at Klimaforum09 in Copenhagen

Submitted by ETC Staff on

Geoengineering the Climate. Planetary technofixes: Illusions and reality.

As action on emissions reductions stalls, industrial think tanks and former climate skeptics are gaining support for using large scale technological 'fixes' for the climate crisis. It’s called Geoengineering. There are proposals for risky interventions in planetary systems such as polluting the upper atmosphere with nanoparticles, rejigging the chemistry of the world's oceans and attempting to redirect hurricanes. Some governments are now also toying with geoengineering, and contemplating funding large-scale experiments.

 

Technology assessment declaration in Chinese

Submitted by ETC Staff on

让我们三思而行 公民社会呼吁技术评估成为 任何哥本哈根协定的组成部分

我们 - 来自世界各地的公民社会组织和社会活动团体 – 认为迫切需要真正
的、持久的应对气候变化的解决方案。我们认识到，如果没有真正的、持久的应
对气候变化的解决方案，将带来人类不得不面对的致命后果。我们必须紧迫地增
强应对气候变化挑战的能力，同时显著减少温室气体的排放。
一些公司、个人、甚至是政府正在恐慌和无助地推广未经测试和未经证明的技术，
作为“我们唯一的选择”。然而我们不愿意看到，在没有考证对生态和社会影响
的情形下，这些未经测试和未经证明的技术，就被推广使用。一些视为能储存碳
或调控自然体系的技术，可能造成灾难性的生态和社会后果。在某些情形或方面
技术转让是在哥本哈根长期合作行动谈判中的四个关键议题之一 (其它是减
缓、适应和资金)。在讨论中的政府间谈判文本考虑了不同的加快技术渗透的
措施。它很可能是创建一个“行动计划”以及一个“技术机构”和不同的技
术组或创新中心，在以后的时间内证实它对决定何种技术获得资金及政治上
的支持具影响力。我们需要保证恰当的技术可以得到它们需要的支持，而错
误的技术会被放弃。如果没有一个全面的社会和环境的评估过程，这个目标
就不会实现。

Who Will Govern?

Submitted by ETC Group on

Rome’s Food Summit may determine who decides who will eat

The declaration coming out of the World Food Summit for Food Security in Rome is even worse than the “shameful” document adopted by world leaders in 1996, so famously criticized by Cuba’s Fidel Castro. Governments won’t promise anything to anybody. The only issue really being debated in Rome is whether control of the UN’s “Department of Agriculture” will be wrested from the UN’s Rome-based agencies and surrendered to an amorphous, G8 conjured, public-private compact called the Global Partnership for Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition. If the Partnership prevails, national sovereignty fails, and civil society's hopes for Food Sovereignty will suffer.

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