Hier ein Thesenpapier von Hendrik und Urs, das sie bei einer wie ich meine sehr gelungene Veranstaltung vorstellten:
For a totally different deal
Attac Germany‘s theses towards Climate Justice
What is the current global situation?
Humanity is facing multiple crises, which are all interlinked (climate crisis, peak oil, economic crisis, hunger crisis and so forth). At the same time these crises are closely correlated with global inequalities and systematic injustice. For example, those responsible for climate change are not the ones bearing the consequences. Immediate action is necessary to address these crises in an effective manner.
What’s the problem with Kyoto?
First, there is an obvious problem with the Kyoto Protocol: So far it has failed to reduce emissions. In fact, they are rising. Furthermore, the proposed solutions, which rely on market mechanisms, will not solve the climate crisis. On the contrary, these flexible mechanisms are often harmful, rather providing a new market for banks and companies to increase profits. CDM projects drive indigenous people off their lands, and valuable time is lost in the process. The UN negotiations have become a poker game, in which the narrow self-interests of economically powerful states and corporations dominate climate policies. Especially, the domination of the global South by the North is reproduced during the negotiations. The findings of the scientific community remain without consequences.
The really important questions are not discussed at all. Socio-economic developments within countries and official climate policies greatly diverge. In Europe new coal-fired power plants are planned and built, electric cars are developed for future mobility, nuclear energy is propagated as a form of supposedly carbon neutral energy generation. Within the Kyoto process climate policies are perceived as separated from questions regarding energy, mobility, agriculture and so forth.
Copenhagen will be nothing but a continuation of business-as-usual, and possibly be a step backwards, especially regarding the question of climate justice, as the responsibility of the North is put into question. The necessary radical emission reductions won’t be agreed upon.
What kind of deal do we need?
Attac Germany demands a totally different climate agreement with concrete and at the same time far reaching measures. We do not accept meaningless discussions about figures and national interests. What we need is a strong and just climate deal that helps to trigger fundamental social transformations within the societies.
The core principle for an international agreement as well as for any meaningful social change is climate justice. Therefore, an agreement needs to include:
– the provision of massive funds for adaptation and climate protection especially for the Global South in order to repay the ecological debts
– a clear commitment to technology transfer
– a radical altering of official climate policies (e.g. ban of new coal power plants, introduction of strong state regulation)
Beyond that, we also need profound changes at the domestic level:
– questioning endless capitalist growth and the „western“ way of consumption
– halting trade liberalisation
– achieving food sovereignty
– concrete projects for the transformation of socially and ecologically harmful industries (these technologies have to be phased out)
– the expropriation of energy companies in order to develop a decentralised and democratic energy supply
– support for refugees worldwide
– leaving the fossil fuels in the ground
– expanding free public transport
And what’s the role of the movement then?
Civil Society has to reflect on the failure of the last decades of climate politics, realising that state leaders won’t save the world. It is up to the people to unite in social movements and fight for fundamental changes, thereby breaking the hegemonic discourse about climate change. This includes influencing policy-making on all levels, popular education, acts of civil disobedience as well as living and practising alternative livestyles. This has to happen within communities and during the COP15 summit. Let‘s make Copenhagen a turning point of the global climate movement – which will eventually force governments to take real action and implement appropriate policies.