Hey y’all!

It’s been a while since I have been able to write and A LOT has happened! It’s been hard to blog while things are moving and changing so quickly around the negotiations. Frankly there have been alot of late nights and early mornings and just not enough coffee to go around! So I’m going to do my best to give a short recap of what has been going on here in Cancun while folks are rocking things back home.

Thursday December 2- SHUT DOWN THE TAR SANDS

An action was staged outside of the main building in the Moon Palace where official UN Negotiations are taking place. A human banner was deployed and Indigenous People from TarSands impacted communities from the United States and Canada highlighted the impacts of TarSands extraction and processing on communities.

Thursday December 2- RESPECT INDIGENOUS PEOPLES RIGHTS

That’s right- we rocked two actions in one day. We must just be cool like that. This was an action from the Indigenous Peoples Caucus (Indigenous Peoples are recognized stakeholders in the UN process) to remind the UN to Respect Indigenous Peoples Rights. Indigenous Peoples from around the world came together under the same message, shared culture, songs, and their perspectives on the solutions that are being brought here to the UN by their peoples.

In general UN Security is paranoid about disruptions or protests in the UN space. It is clear that they are poised and instructed to minimize voices of dissent. This action pushed the paranoia button a bit when we closed the action with a friendship dance! As a result of this action the UN changed the rules around the permitting of actions!! Didn’t know realize that friendship dances were acts of resistance, but in the UN you never know!

Sunday December 5^th: Marching with La Via Campesina. Welcome to Cancun

We marched with our comrades of La Via Campesina and Grassroots Global Justice in a “NO REDD’S” block. One strategy here in Cancun is to combat the pro-REDD agenda that is being pushed here as a solution to climate change by governments like the United States and Mexico, but also by some environmental NGO’s. So at every turn and opportunity we are talking about why REDD’s is a false solution.

Tuesday December 7^th: LA VIA CAMPESINA CREATES THOUSANDS OF CANCUNS

We had the honor of being invited to participate with La Via Campesina in creating thousands of Cancuns right here in Cancun!! Thousands marched together on the streets of Cancun from all over the world. On the inside of UN negotiations a press conference, followed by a walk out was staged. It got a bit hairy! Check out the reports from Democracy Now! But, you can’t stop people power, and ultimately those who were ejected joined their friends in the streets for a peoples assembly, highlighting community solutions to climate change as we see them.

Wednesday December 8^th

Today I feel like I have a bit of a hangover, maybe it is from inhaling paint fumes from the visuals we have been working on! Today, the United States held a side event at the UN on its strategy for the REDD’s program. We saturated the audience with climate justice activists from communities throughout the United States who at every opportunity raised questions about financing for such programs (which gets funneled to organizations and most communities never see a dime), Free Prior and Informed Consent from Indigenous communities, and transparency of US engagement in other countries and at home. This made the US representatives very nervous! As expected, they dodged all of our questions, but we aren’t going anywhere so, see you next time!!

I encourage you, if you haven’t already to visit www.redroadcancun.com. The IEN media team is doing daily live shows, posting videos and photos from actions and workshops happening and sharing the perspectives from our brothers and sisters in the South.

It’s not over yet!!! Talk soon!

This morning my email inbox was full of advocacy groups commemorating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. As the ecological systems that support life are reaching their brink, there is certainly a good reason to use this opportunity to shine a spotlight on a range of issues and challenges. But activist organizations aren’t alone in commemorating today.

Today I was struck even more by corporations trying to capitalize on Earth Day to green their images. As Becky Tarbotton observed in the Huffington Post, the New York Times summarized the situation well: “So strong was the antibusiness sentiment for the first Earth Day in 1970 that organizers took no money from corporations and held teach-ins ‘to challenge corporate and government leaders’… Forty years later, the day has turned into a premier marketing platform for selling a variety of goods and services, like office products, Greek yogurt and eco-dentistry.”

Against this backdrop, World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba today is a breath of fresh air.

The Indigenous Environmental Network celebrated today by explaining that “this morning Bolivian President Evo Morales was joined by representatives of 90 governments and several Heads of State to receive the findings of the conference on topics such as a Climate Tribunal, Climate Debt, just finance for mitigation and adaptation, agriculture, and forests. The working group on forests held one of the more hotly contested negotiations of the summit, but with the leadership of Indigenous Peoples, a consensus was reached to reject REDD and call for wide-scale grassroots reforestation programs.”

Jason Negrón-Gonzales of Movement Generation elaborated on how they do Earth Day in Cochabamba: “…from now I’ll be talking to my children and 2010 will be remembered as the year that Earth Day took on new meaning. It will be the year that humanity turned a corner in our relationship to Mother Earth and began struggling along a new course…more than politics, the conference in Cochabamba brought to the table humanity’s relationship with Pachamama. This question, raised most pointedly by the Indigenous communities present, was reflected in the project of creating a declaration of Mother Earth Rights, but also went way beyond it. Can we really reach a sustainable relationship with the Earth unless we stop looking at it as something to be conquered or fixed that is outside of us? How would it change our lives and our struggles if we thought, as Leonardo Boff of Brazil said, ‘Todo lo que existe merece existir, y todo lo que vive merece vivir (Everything that exists deserves to exist, and everything that lives deserves to live)’? Or if we understood the Earth as a living thing that we are a part of and that, ‘La vida es un momento de la tierra, y la vida humana un momento de la vida (Life is a moment of the earth, and the human life is a moment of life)’?”

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Hey y’all, Sharon here. This is my attempt at a blog post summarizing what Ruckus was up to in Copenhagen this month. There was A LOT happening in a short time. If you want stories, well you’ll just have to come to a Ruckus camp…

A few months ago, the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) began a conversation with us about providing action support for their delegation to Copenhagen. The delegation included representatives from Indigenous Nations across North America. Myself, and Ruckus board member Heather Milton Lightening staffed the Indigenous support team.

Based on conversations with IEN, we arrived in Copenhagen with a few goals:

* to highlight and escalate negotiations in ways that support Indigenous vision and demands

* ensure Indigenous leadership in actions and mobilizations that could advance a climate and ecological justice agenda

* train IEN staff and allies to form their own action teams and execute their own direct actions in furthering their campaign work

We also came in with the goal of coordinating 4 actions in Copenhagen during the span of COP15 (we actually pulled off 5): a framing action to set the message “Respect Indigenous Rights”; an action calling out the US and its whacked out energy policy; an action around the Canadian Tar Sands; and an action around REDD’s (read IEN’s booklet on REDD if you want to know what it is and its impacts).  In addition we were looking to ensure Indigenous voice and leadership within other civil society actions.

A word about how we work: we took our direction from IEN and by extension, the Indigenous Caucus (recognized as stakeholders by the UN).  While direct action was being used as a tool to escalate IEN’s campaigns, the Indigenous People’s Power Project (IP3) was also brought along as an offering to the caucus to support actions the caucus wanted to engage in as a body. We briefed the caucus on an almost daily basis about IEN-initiated, and civil society actions that were taking place where Indigenous participation was strategic. We took our cues from the decisions made during those briefings. Its important to note that most of the members of the Indigenous Caucus are no strangers to direct action on their home turf, having to regularly intervene on threats to their homelands. That said, embracing direct action as a strategy within the UN was stepping into new territory for the caucus.

Indigenous Initiated Actions:

Framing Action: Respect Indigenous Peoples Rights

This action took place on the second day of COP 15.  A simple action was staged in the main hallway of the UN complex otherwise known as the Bella Center. We were there to elevate the voices of the Indigenous Peoples, who are recognized stakeholders in the UN process, and to make our presence known to the negotiators roaming the hallways, wheeling and dealing. We wanted to frame the action in such a way that was dignified, respectful of where we all come from, but that said we were here and we meant business.

You have to be permitted to do an action inside the UN and we were testing the waters with UN security to see where they were drawing their lines. Here’s how our permit read:

“This is a cleansing ceremony for conference party leaders to cleanse their minds & spirits; for clarity, compassion, strength & perseverance in coming out of the COP negotiations with a binding commitment to Save Mother Earth”

We whipped up 2 banners over night. It would be the first of many late night banner painting sessions:

We assembled with our banners, our prayers, and our message.

Check out this interview with Ben Powless, Mohawk from Six Nations Canada and one time Ruckus trainee: youtube

On December 10th, day 4 of COP 15, International Human Rights Day, and the day Barack Obama received his Nobel Peace Prize, Indigenous Peoples stepped out with something to say. We were calling out the US and its energy policies which escalate ecological devastation and cultural genocide not only for Indigenous People in the United States but also globally.

More late night banner fun with good results:

A scroll with a letter to Obama was prepared and delivered to a representative from the US Embassy. Democracy Now told the story pretty well.

And check out Faith Gemmil and Wahleah Johns on the NBC nightly news:

As usual, our press team kicked out some jammin media of our own: IEN Pitch Engine and a video of our own

And if you’re curious, here’s how the scroll read:

Dear Ambassador:

As the United States President Barack Obama accepts his Nobel peace prize today, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, and First Nations Peoples come to Copenhagen to speak out against the United States energy policy that is detrimentally affecting our lands, health and livelihoods. We represent the following Nations: Mathais, Colomb Cree Nation, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Cree, Nakoda, Blackfoot, Ojibwe, Pit River/ Wintu, Neets’aii, Gwich’in Athabascan, Navajo, Mikisew Cree, Dene, Inupiaq, Oneida, Mayan, and Yaqui.

We support a full and effective participation of Indigenous people within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

We support the free, prior and informed consent, including the right to oppose the extraction of fossil fuels by destructive industries.

We call for the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and other international human rights instruments and agreements.

We strongly call for a moratorium on all new exploration for oil, gas, coal and uranium as a first step towards the full phase-out of fossil fuels, without nuclear power, with a just transition to sustainable jobs, energy and environment.

We support vibrant green economies: the U.S. assisting Indigenous communities to help supporting a just transition into a green economy, freeing ourselves from dependence on a carbon-based fossil fuel economy

We support the most stringent and binding emission reduction targets: Carbon emissions for developed countries must be reduced by no less than 40%, preferably 49% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 95% by 2050. We call for national and global actions to stabilize CO2 concentrations below 350 parts per million (ppm) and limiting temperature increases to below 1.5ºc.

We oppose false solutions: These include nuclear energy, large-scale dams, geo-engineering techniques, clean coal technologies, carbon capture and sequestration, bio-fuels, tree plantations, and international market-based mechanisms such as carbon trading and offsets, the Clean Development Mechanisms and Flexible Mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol and forest offsets.

Signed,

Indigenous Peoples of North America

International Human Rights Day: Implement Indigenous Peoples Rights

After the US Embassy we headed back to the Bella Center for another action.  The co-chairs of the caucus proposed a human chain in commemoration of International Human Rights Day. It just so happened that the youth caucus were doing a “rainstorm” action just before ours and a blending of youth and Indigenous people was quite a treat.

Unfortunately UN security wasn’t as excited by this swarm of people as we were. So off we went, around the bella center!

I got a “yellow card” for this action; meaning UN security flipped out on me because we moved our human chain around the Bella Center. It was quite the joke around the action team for the next few days…

Faith Gemmil vs Ken Salazar

The day wasn’t over yet for Faith Gemmil. She heard Ken Salazar, secretary US Department of the Interior, was giving a press briefing. With the help of her new friends over at NBC (see the nightly news link above) she managed to get in and address Ken Salazar. Check out the video that was captured as Faith asked her question.

Rolling out the welcome mat for Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper

This was our much anticipated action of the COP. We had first nations folks in the house from tar sands affected communities, and allies from the UK and Canada were also rolling deep. Together with our friends at Rainforest Action Network we decided to roll out the welcome mat for Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper and pay the Canadian embassy in Copenhagen a visit, just to let them know we were there. We also thought we’d bring him a welcome basket, with some useful things, like treaties, literature on the tar sands, even one of our “Respect Indigenous Rights” placards (translated into Danish for his convenience):

Oh, did I mention more late night banner painting (Heather is a machine!)

Here’s the press release our action media team pulled together. On the way to this action I got a phone call from Danish police, informing me we were not allowed to assemble at the embassy. Unfortunately for them, there were already about 20 people gathered when we got there, dozens more on their way, and we had no intentions of stopping. After all, we were only there to welcome Harper, drop him a gift basket, and let him know there’s always the opportunity to do the right thing.

Smart Meme helped us pull a video together too (in addition to their incredible support during COP15)

Also, around Canada and the UK folks were marking Canada’s oily footprint in their home cities. Check out the UK solidarity action.

NO RIGHTS NO REDDS

This was the last day we knew most of us would have access to the UN. It was also the morning after President Evo Morales of Bolivia had arrived in Copenhagen. Bolivia came to the COP with the most aggressive targets of any government. They also came with a message: RIGHTS FOR MOTHER EARTH.

Delegates from Bolivia came to the Indigenous Caucus with a request for support for a welcoming ceremony and action they wanted to do. We thought it would be a good time to pull out our NO RIGHTS NO REDDS!!! Shirts.

This was also the day of the Reclaim Power action, so at this point, it was all about keeping the energy up until our friends marching outside reached the bella center.

Indigenous Participation in civil society actions:

Marching through the streets of Copenhagen

Watch Tom Goldtooth’s rap at the rally at the end of the march.

RECLAIM POWER

In solidarity with our brothers and sisters from Bolivia, we joined them in leading the Reclaim Power march out of the Bella Center to join our comrades on the outside. Here are some of the days highlights

And a  few from outside

EJ Groups at the US Embassy

Well, we didn’t think we’d go to the US Embassy twice in one trip, but we thought it’d be worth it to unite with our friends in the Environmental Justice movement in the US. Oh yeah, we had one more delivery for Obama:

And of course, there’s an awesome video

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS…
We’re already in conversations about COP 16. Help us get there! Donate to Ruckus today…

So we’re day 3 into the climate talks, and the lay of the land is fascinating. Copenhagen is not just expensive when it comes to food and drink – there’s also a steep cost for folks who engage in actions. Fines and deportation are the two pendulums swinging, and we have to plan our actions in a way that makes an impact throughout the entire process. So what are we doing?

We’re bringing it.

Yesterday there was a framing action inside the UN, in the main hallway between the NGO display area, and the climate negotiation space. The message was: Respect Indigenous Rights. Ruckus/IP3 is in Copenhagen to support the Indigenous Environmental Network and thereby the Indigenous People’s caucus, which is a recognized body within the UN, and a powerful participant in the proceedings. Our goal is to highlight and escalate negotiations in ways that support indigenous vision and demands, as well as ensure indigenous leadership in the actions and mobilizations that advance a climate and ecological justice agenda.

In addition to the actions and mass mobilizations we came here to do and support, new action opportunities are arising every day. As shit hits the fan inside the UN halls, delegations from all over the world are in careful strategic processes, trying to determine when, how and if they will have to walk out, and action will raise their voices loud enough to be heard inside the halls of negotiation.

As usual, we’re not trying to be reactionary, or act for the sake of action – we want to act for the sake of movement building and shifting the balance of power and the direction of the planet when it comes to climate.

It’s exciting to be here with so many amazing organizers and organizations – our friends from Smartmeme are here supporting messaging as the situation changes. Our friends from IEN are shaping policy daily – check out this video of them on Democracy Now.

More to come!

Sharon!

PEACEFUL SIT-IN FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE CONCLUDES AT FINANCE MINISTER FLAHERTY’S OFFICE WITH SEVEN ARRESTS

On November 30th, ten years after the WTO protests in Seattle, activists from across Toronto occupied Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s constituency office at 701 Rossland Road Rast in Whitby to protest the Canadian Government’s failure to address the climate crisis.

This protest was the third of series of peaceful sit-ins targeting elected officials, tar sands financiers, and the coal and tar sands industries across Canada.   Additional protests are expected over the coming days to protest Canada’s failure to commit to a binding, meaningful, and fair climate treaty to be negotiated in Copenhagen, from December 7th to December 18th.

Inaction on climate change is already displacing and killing millions, and sending many into poverty.  The UN estimates there will be 150 million climate refugees by 2050.

“Despite the growing crisis, the Harper Government is trying to sabotage efforts to solve this global problem, expanding the tar sands rather than leading the push for and financing of real solutions. We will not let our government delay any further while millions die and are displaced. Their behaviour is unacceptable, we need governmental leadership for climate justice now,” said participant, Indra Noyes.

The individuals inside have multiple affiliations. They presented a letter addressed to Finance Minister Flaherty outlining their concerns and demands (Attached). A group of local and regional supporters, including a local Canadian Auto Workers, also gathered outside of the Finance Minister’s office.

“Letter writing, rallies, meetings, and phone calls are all important actions, but our Government’s inaction indicates that these tactics are not enough. We must step up the pressure so we are engaging in peaceful civil disobedience, like those before us, to ensure we do our part to solve the greatest environmental threat of our time,” stated former constituent Janet McNeill.

For photos of the action, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/canadaclimatejustice

For videos recorded at the demonstration, see,
http://www.vimeo.com/user2720182/videos/sort:date

Information about the call for civil disobedience for climate justice, as well as updates on actions set to take place across Canada in the coming weeks is online at:
http://canadaclimatejustice.wordpress.com/

DEMAND LETTER:

Honourable Minister Flaherty:

We held a sit-in at in your constituency office today because the Conservative Government is stalling progress to build a just, meaningful, and binding climate treaty this December
in Copenhagen.

Inaction on climate change is already displacing and killing millions, and sending many into poverty.  In Canada, climate change is harming the land and lives of indigenous communities in the Far North. Globally, recent declines in food production due to climate-catalyzed droughts, is causing food shortages in some poor countries and escalating global hunger.  Climate caused events like floods, melting glaciers, and sea level rise, are forcing millions to permanently flee their homes, from Pacific islanders to subsistence farmers in India. The UN estimates there will be 150 million climate refugees by 2050.

We call on you Minister Flaherty to publicly commit to do everything in your power to meaningfully and fairly address the global climate crisis.

We call on you Minister Flaherty to make sure the Canadian Government supports a just, meaningful, and binding climate treaty this December in Copenhagen.

We call on you Minister Flaherty to publicly commit to pass the Climate Change Accountability Act, which calls on Canada to drastically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and do its’ part to solve climate change.

Finally, we demand that you publicly commit to sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.  Climate change is a human rights issue, and First Nations in Canada are feeling
climate change worst and first.

The global climate crisis is threatening our future, and humanities’ future.  We have passed the time for inaction.  We demand change. We were forced to end our protest today but our struggle for climate justice will continue.

Yours,

People For Climate Justice

CANADIANS TAKE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE
Occupy Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice’s office

Go to the Blog: www.canadaclimatejustice.wordpress.com for info and updates

Six people are currently occupying Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice’s office to demand the Canadian Government push for climate justice at the up and coming climate treaty negotiations in Copenhagen, to be held this December. Five citizens hail from Prentice’s riding. The sit in began at 10.00am, and is now in its’ fourth hour.

The people occupying the office have refused to leave until the Minister agrees to push for a just, ambitious, and binding climate deal in Copenhagen that listens to the science, and is led by those who are most directly impacted by the climate crisis.

“While our government continues to delay action on climate change, millions of people will die or become displaced due to the climate crisis. Canada’s obstructive approach to the international climate negotiations, and our refusal to recognize the scientific reality of global warming in our own climate policies, tells the world that the Canadian government doesn’t care about the lives of those currently affected by the climate crisis,” said David Wilson, one of the citizens occupying Prentice’s office. Phone calls, letters, rallies… They haven’t done enough to solve the greatest environmental problem facing our generation. We must put more pressure on the Government to act and push for a just, ambitious, and binding deal that reflects the science, and is led by those most directly impacted by the climate crisis.”

Inaction on climate change is already displacing and killing millions the world over, and exacerbating existing problems like global poverty, hunger, disease and armed conflict over resources. The UN estimates there will be over 150 million climate refugees by 2050. In Canada, warmer temperatures have already ravaged BC’s pine forests. Communities in the Canadian Arctic face the complete transformation of their landscape and way of life. Across the country, the increasing severity and frequency of climate caused events like droughts and flooding will impact our food production and livelihoods. Canada’s children face a future where much of our living systems have collapsed, and they will be forced to shoulder a burden of immeasurable injustice.

“For this country with such a proud tradition of protecting the planet to become the global symbol of dirty fuels and unsustainable practices is heart breaking,” asserted University of British Columbia Professor Patrick M. Condon. “At some point citizens have an obligation to say enough is enough. Change can happen, and it must. Apartheid was broken by just such a spirit. Segregation was broken by just such a spirit. We can do no less. With the climate crisis the stakes are even higher.”

JOIN THE ACTIVISTS AND TAKE ACTION FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE

Phone the office and demand that Prentice give into the protesters demands that Canada commit to a just, ambitious and binding climate treaty in Copenhagen that listens to science and is led by those most directly affected by the climate crisis: 403 216-7777 or email Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca

Organize your own direct action at your local elected officials’ office.
Go to the Blog: www.canadaclimatejustice.wordpress.com or email canadaclimatejustice@gmail.com for more information.

Write op eds and letters to the editor about the importance of taking direct action to make sure the Canadian Government solves climate change.

MEDIA COVERAGE SO FAR

Hell No, We Won’t Go – Globe and Mail

Environmentalists occupy minister’s Calgary office – CHQR Newsroom

PHOTOS

Flickr

cross posted from Grist.

Today marked one of the final days of the Bangkok UN Climate Negotiations. With the end of this intersessional in sight, the International Youth Delegation (IYD) has officially declared “No Confidence” in the road to Copenhagen.

With youth delegates from over 30 countries engaging in the Bangkok process, the IYD cited pathetically weak targets from the North, alarm that a second commitment period in the Kyoto Protocol will not be secured, and a lack of guarantees for protection of Indigenous peoples’ rights and interests, in its Declaration. The current text of the draft climate deal is so weak and so full of “false solutions” (measures like offsetting that actually make the problem worse) it is unacceptable.

Youth delegates representing each continent addressed the U.N. today, detailing the urgency of the crisis as it affects their communities currently, telling stories of their hope and organizing alongside their denunciation of the state of play in the UN Negotiations.

This week the Annex 1 (rich countries), attempted to kill the Kyoto Protocol (KP). We are nearing upon the end of the current KP term, and a lack of renewing it means that the world would lose the few legally binding international climate agreements it has (as insufficient as they are). The excuse is that the United States will not sign, and therefore the whole thing should be scrapped and an entirely new deal can be struck on its own. It is lunacy to think that this will yield a stronger outcome, and the G77 (the rest of the world) countries are furious. We have always known the US wont sign the KP; the world cannot continue to wait for the US to get on board. In Bali, the U.S. already committed to setting comparable targets to other Annex 1 countries, so the world could deal with the U.S. in the LCA (Long Term Cooperative Action).

This all amounts to a shell game: more dirty delaying tactics from self-interested countries who are content to strip away basic attempts at an international agreement (for example “compliance” – meaning that the U.S. would have international oversight of its targets, or “top-down target setting” – meaning the international community sets carbon targets together based on science, rather than each countries independently setting their targets based on what their fossil fuel extraction industries dictate).

Allowing the U.S. to drag the world out of existing legal obligations is disgraceful. These negotiations are going backwards.

Make no mistake: Our future is being held hostage to interests that have consistently thumbed their noses at the international community and their obligations to the rest of the world. This process has been polluted by self-interested corporations and nations looking to profit off of our crisis. They have been pushing false solutions that exacerbate rather than fix the problem. Not only are the targets set by rich countries weak, but they are deceptive. Rather than representing actual emissions reductions, they contain unacceptable proportions of offsets, which do not reduce emissions, and displace the burden back onto the developing countries of the world.

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