The evolution of human empathy

"You can't fight human nature" is one of the perennial excuses for inaction on the environment, social justice, or inability to curb the economic excesses of power, greed and individualism. Are human beings doomed by their genes to be selfish, competitive, and violent? Or are there "natural" and evolutionary dynamics that underpin caring, sharing and cooperation?
See Jeremy Rifkin'sYoutube carries other cartoon videos by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in the UK. For fuller details see the RSA website with its videos, blogs and comments. In the US, UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center gathers research from psychologists, biologists and neurologists, and applies it to education and social action.

Its executive director, Dacher Keltner, is the author of the book Born To Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life (2009) and edits Greater Good magazine. See also Wikipedia on the Greater Good Science Center, its bibliography on empathy; J.D. Trout,The Empathy Gap: Building Bridges to the Good Life and the Good Society (2009); Michael Shermer's Science of Good and Evil (2004); and Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (2002). Barbara Oakley, in Evil Genes (2004) speculates on the origin of bad behavior, particularly by those in power.

Interfaith summit for Climate Justice

Interfaith leaders from all over the world met in Winnipeg 20-23 June, calling on their members, the public, and G8 governments to support MDGs and climate justice for the most vulnerable people of the world, and for Earth itself.

A Time for Inspired Leadership and Action

The second decade of the 21st century is upon us and 2010 will be an important year for our collective humanity. It is a year when decisions and actions on climate change and peace and security issues will be critical. In June, Canada hosts an expanded global summit in Huntsville, Ontario, where world leaders will have a unique opportunity to provide the political leadership required to address the challenges before us. As well, we will have reached the two‐thirds point for the deadline to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals – eight goals that, if achieved, would bring hope to millions and be a major step toward a more sustainable global future.(1)

Through the 2010 Interfaith Partnership(2) people in faith communities across Canada and around the world are calling for inspired leadership and action at this critical moment in history. In our diverse faith traditions we have rich histories of addressing poverty, caring for the earth and being peace‐builders. While we confess our own shortcomings and inadequacies, we commit to continuing these life‐giving actions. We urge our government representatives to set aside short‐term agendas and work together for a future that allows all citizens of this planet to thrive.

Power and economic dominance are the basis for inclusion in a G8 and G20 global leaders’ summit.(3) In our faith traditions, power and money are instruments to be used for the good of all. At the summits in 2010, we expect leaders to put first the needs and values of the majority of the world’s population, of future generations and of Earth itself. From our shared values we call on leaders to take courageous and concrete actions:

• to address the immediate needs of the most vulnerable while simultaneously making structural changes to close the growing gap between rich and poor;
• to prioritize long‐term environmental sustainability and halt climate change, while addressing its impacts on the poor;
• to invest in peace and remove factors that feed cycles of violent conflict and costly militarism.
  

1. The eight Millennium Development Goals were agreed to by 192 UN member states, to be achieved by 2015. The goals respond to the world's main development challenges.
2. The 2010 Interfaith Partnership is a multi‐faith, Canadian and global movement for action on pressing issues of our day. It involves faith communities around the world, dialogue with decision‐makers and a gathering of faith leaders prior to the June 2010 Huntsville Summit. It is the sixth such gathering held in conjunction with G8 summits.
3. Not represented in these summits are 172 members of the United Nations where proposals to address structural causes of poverty and ecological devastation are currently under discussion.

Responses to this statement have come from First Nations, various Christian denominations, Jews, Bah'ai, Buddhists and a number of civil society organizations including Kairos. They are worth reading. A resource kit may be downloaded; it includes multifaith texts, suggestions for interfaith dinner and dialogue. Materials in other languages.

Avatarsands and other videos

"Canada's Avatarsands: the scenes too dirty for theatres"

Based on a full-page advertisement in Variety magazine 2 Mar 2010 by 55 environmental organizations -- including Environmental Defence Canada, Greenpeace, FOE, Sierra Club, and Corporate Ethics International -- that shocked the oil industry into a multimillion dollar greenwash campaign. See examples on the CAPP (Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers) and Canada's Oil Sands websites.

More Dirty Oil Sands videos, Polaris Institute's Tar Nation video game, Art not Oil (UK) on BP oil spill, ExxonMobil TV Commercial spoof by 'Solar Dave" Dugdale, Democracy in Action (US) Tar Sands Blow video. Follow the oil money in US politics: Oil Change International and Opensecrets.org. Since 2008 Exxon has spent $80 million, Chevron $33 million, boasting that their lobbyists prevented US Congress action on tarsands crude, lowcarbon fuels, oil shales, and shale gas. See this report by the lobby Center for North American Energy Security.

Penseurs de la décroissance

Selon Wikipédia, la décroissance est un ensemble d'idées écologistes, anti-productivistes, anti-consuméristes qui appellent à une relocalisation des activités économiques afin de réduire l'empreinte écologique, et à mettre fin à la croissance illimitée sur une terre limitée par une réduction contrôlée ou «décroissance soutenable».

Parmi ses penseurs, le bioéconomiste Georgescu-Roegen, auteur de Demain la décroissance. Entropie, écologie, économie (1979); les anarcho-libertaires Jean-Pierre Tertrais, Du développement à la décroissance: de la nécessité de sortir de l'impasse suicidaire du capitalisme (2007, ci-contre), et Alain de Benoist, Demain la décroissance. Penser l'écologie jusqu'au bout (2008); et les écosocialistes Michel Beaud, Le basculement du monde (1997), et Serge Latouche, Le Pari de la décroissance (2006).

Leurs adeptes s'appellent «Objecteurs de Croissance», prônant des actions telles une journée sans achat, eco-villages, relocalisation, et simplicité volontaire. Leur sympathisants comptent José Bové, Albert Jacquard, et François Schneider du SERI. Même Nicolas Hulot dans l'Impératif écologique (2008) et Hubert Reeves dans Mal de terre (2003) frôlent cette pensée.

Le progrès est ... un des visages, et un visage incertain, du devenir. Il est remarquable que sur la ruine de la providence divine l'humanité laïque, la philosophie des Lumières, l'idéologie de la raison aient pu hypostasier et réifier l'idée de progrès en Loi et Nécessité de l'histoire humaine ; et cette idée a été à ce point désincarnée, détachée de toute réalité physique et biologique, qu'elle a fait ignorer le principe de corruption et de désintégration en oeuvre dans physis, cosmos, bios. Plus aveugle encore fut le mythe techno-bureaucratique du progrès qui régna pendant deux décennies. Il conçut la croissance industrielle comme l'opérateur du progrès humain. Dès lors, la croissance, vouée à progresser indéfiniment, devenait la preuve, la mesure, la promesse d'un progrès généralisé et infini... -- Edgar Morin, 1981

L'humanité court à sa perte, si elle se montre incapable d'infléchir totalement l'évolution de notre société de consommation ; en somme, si elle continue à se révéler irresponsable [...]. Il nous reste peu de temps pour sauver l'honneur et l'espoir d'une humanité en grand danger. -- René Dumont, 1988

cités dans Michel Beaud, Le basculement du monde (1997) p.281; ci-dessous, d'autres extraits tirés de ce livre en ligne :

^{Michel Beaud}

Menaces des temps présents (p.206+)

Disposant d'énormes moyens techniques et financiers, l'Humanité a surmonté bien des craintes et maîtrisé bien des menaces du passé, mais se trouve confrontée aux nouveaux périls nés de sa nouvelle puissance.

Longtemps ce fut la peur de la guerre nucléaire, aujourd'hui lovée quelque part dans les profondeurs de l'inconscience. Aujourd'hui, pour les hommes d'affaires les plus en vue, comme pour des fragments de familles réduits à dormir sous des porches, c'est l'insécurité de tous les instants. Les sociétés riches s'inquiètent de risques pour la santé, même infimes en probabilité, provenant de systèmes d'alimentation ou de soins. Des sociétés pauvres, en cours d'industrialisation et de modernisation, commencent à découvrir les menaces, pour la santé ou la vie, de pollutions ou d'accidents industriels, de malfaçons dans les constructions ou d'usage de matériaux ou de produits dangereux.

Il y a aussi les risques sociétaux, tenant aux effets des guerres et des chaos armés, aux nouveaux comportements des générations des pays riches qui ont été rejetées durablement dans le chômage et la précarité, aux nouveaux comportements des générations des pays pauvres qui ont grandi dans la misère, la lutte pour la vie et la violence ; et aussi les risques tenant aux dégénérescences de la démocratie (engagements non tenus, enrichissement personnel des élus, détournement des moyens publics, corruption)...

En outre, depuis plusieurs années, des responsables d'organismes internationaux, des experts laissent percer, en termes choisis, l'inquiétude que leur inspirent de possibles crises sur les marchés monétaires et boursiers. Le spéculateur George Soros, orfèvre en la matière, est plus explicite : « L'histoire a montré qu'il arrive bel et bien que les marchés financiers s'effondrent, entraînant dépression économique et troubles sociaux». Et encore : « Les marchés sont fondamentalement instables, contrairement à ce que prétendent les idéologues du laisser-faire […]. J'affirme que notre système risque de s'effondrer […]. L'effondrement du marché global serait un désastre dont on ne saurait imaginer les conséquences»

Et puis, il y a les risques découlant des nouvelles technologies, du nucléaire aux manipulations génétiques. D'autant que l'on sait maintenant que ces technologies ne restent pas strictement enfermées dans des laboratoires jusqu'au jour où leur maîtrise est parfaitement assurée.

On sait aussi que la raison d'État ignore et l’éthique et le principe de précaution....La logique marchande aussi a ses raisons qui ignorent l'éthique....

Victoires de l'irresponsabilité et de l'acratie (p.212+)

Irresponsabilité : dès lors que le marché pourvoit à tout, c’est au consommateur de faire le bon choix ; dès lors que l'argent est la valeur suprême, ceux qui n'en ont pas sont hors jeu ; dès lors que les marchés, notamment financiers, sont mondiaux, les dirigeants nationaux ont bien des excuses pour « laisser faire ». Firmes, gouvernements, professionnels (de la santé ou de la finance), savants ne lésinent certes pas sur les appels, les déclarations, les codes (de bonne conduite ou d'éthique). Mais, face aux processus en cours qui déstructurent nos sociétés, mettent en péril la Terre, menacent les humains, nul lieu où soit réellement élaborée et mise en oeuvre la stratégie pluridimensionnelle dont nous avons besoin.

Acratie : incapacité des hommes au pouvoir à l'assumer réellement, à affronter les enjeux majeurs, les problèmes les plus graves, à définir et engager les stratégies nécessaires et à imposer les efforts que les choix faits impliquent. Et même ceux dont les discours montrent qu'ils ont bien vu l'essentiel se révèlent incapables de le prendre en charge ou de mettre en oeuvre les processus ou les procédures qui s'imposent.

Des compromis planétaires ? (p.241+)

Au niveau mondial, on peut se réjouir d'une certaine prise de conscience, d'avancées rendues possibles par certaines réunions internationales et de mesures, annoncées ou mises en oeuvre, dans quelques domaines. Mais les efforts ne sont pas à la hauteur des problèmes.

Le montant de l'aide publique du Nord au développement du Sud est tombé à moins de 0,3 % du produit brut des pays du Nord, record historique. Les États-Unis n'ont toujours pas engagé une politique résolue de réduction de leur consommation de pétrole. Le nécessaire codéveloppement Nord-Sud, qui permettrait de faire face aux urgences et des sociétés et de l'environnement demeure à un stade symbolique.

Si l'on prend comme référence le compromis social-démocrate qui a permis à quelques pays du Nord de mettre pendant plusieurs décennies la machinerie capitaliste en conformité avec certains idéaux de société (équité, solidarité, cohérence), deux « compromis » paraissent souhaitables au niveau planétaire. L'un et l'autre doivent viser à mettre la machinerie multinationale/mondiale en conformité avec le choix d'un monde vivable, dans le souci de faire face aux urgences et de répondre aux besoins essentiels sans sacrifier l'avenir.

D'abord un compromis Nord-Sud. Les pays riches du Nord doivent clairement s'engager à réduire leurs atteintes à l'environnement et à soutenir les politiques d'équipement et de modernisation du Sud assurant la sauvegarde de l'environnement. Pour les pays riches du Nord, il s'agit de :

• réorienter résolument leurs économies dans des voies assurant à chacun les moyens d'une vie digne, réalisant économies d'énergie et de matière et limitant les atteintes à l'environnement ;
• soutenir massivement les efforts faits par les pays en cours d'industrialisation pour adopter techniques et équipements visant ces objectifs ;
• soutenir les efforts des pays pauvres pour reconstruire des activités productives qui assurent la subsistance de chacun et sauvegardent les ressources essentielles (sol, eau, espèces végétales et animales).

Placé sous le signe du codéveloppement, un ensemble d'actions coordonnées dans ce sens peut d'ailleurs constituer un soutien à l'activité et à l'emploi, au Nord comme au Sud, et devrait permettre d'empêcher de profondes dégradations, tant sociales qu'environnementales, qui, si on les laissait s'aggraver, se révéleraient inévitablement plus coûteuses dans quelques décennies.

Simultanément, un autre compromis devrait être passé avec les très grandes firmes. Devraient contribuer à ce compromis des États, des organismes internationaux et des forces représentant le mouvement social et la société civile dans différentes régions du monde. Ce compromis devrait viser à :

• orienter vers des priorités, en suscitant et mobilisant des demandes monétaires, une partie de l'activité de la machinerie multinationale/mondiale
• border la fuite en avant technoscientique par une application stricte du principe de précaution
• limiter les périls liés à l'intégration de la technoscience dans les très grandes firmes et au développement des megasystèmes techniques.

^*****

Voir aussi La Déclaration de Tilburg (2008); la 2e Conférence sur la décroissance 2010; R&D Research and Degrowth / Recherche et Décroissance; et une entrevue pessimiste de Michel Beaud, Le Devoir 12 juillet 2010 : À bout de souffle, le capitalisme? Non, il règnera des années encore avec de nouveaux produits à consommer ou à spéculer, et de nouvelles tragédies pour faire basculer le monde.

Développer des économies régionales -- Sylvie van Brabant

Mikael Rioux devant une machine vivante (purificatrice d'eau) de John Todd: photo de Olivier Cheneval

Extrait du blogue de Sylvie van Brabant, qui montre son film Visionnaires planétaires et répond aux questions des étudiants:

Je ne me souviens pas de toutes les questions mais ça n’arrêtait pas – j’avais à peine le temps de prendre mon souffle. Des questions sur la réalisation du film mais surtout sur l’environnement et les exemples de solutions dans le film. Ils avaient soif d’en savoir plus. Il y a bien sûr eu des questions sur le sujet de l’heure : quand est-ce que je pensais que la grande catastrophe allait arriver. J’ai répondu: ” Je n’ai pas de boule de cristal mais je pense comme Albert Jacquard qui dit : « La conscience du danger va sauver l’humanité. »

Je ne leur ai pas décris un avenir en rose, il y a urgence et il faut agir maintenant. J’ai été claire que chacun d’eux était interpellé à changer leurs comportements, à demander plus à leurs politiciens, à s’impliquer activement dans des causes, des mouvements. C’est leur avenir et celui de leurs enfants qui est en cause. Ils le savent, ils ont peur et ils ont besoin d’être encouragés et motivés. Ils n’attendent que ça et c’est pourquoi je crois qu’il y a eu tellement de questions.

Je représente quelqu’un d’engagé, qui ne lâchera pas, comme les visionnaires du film. Ils voulaient des exemples concrets : comment est-ce que je voyais l’environnement dans 10 ans par exemple. Je leur ai cité John Todd qui dit essentiellement: “Il faut développer des économies régionales, chaque région doit devenir le plus autonome possible”. Avec le prix de l’essence qui va grimper, nous ne pourrons plus recevoir tout de la Chine ou faire voyager nos carottes du maraîcher du Saguenay à Montréal pour ensuite être transporté de Montréal au Saguenay dans les épiceries. Cette façon de faire n’a plus de sens – elle crée des dépenses inutiles en plus de créer des gaz à effet de serre.

Par contre si nos économies seront plus régionales notre savoir lui sera mondial. Nous le voyons déjà avec l’Internet, nous avons accès à de l’information de partout. Nous n’avons plus raison de dire je ne le savais pas – l’information est là, les alternatives sont là. Il faut aller les chercher et les partager.

À la fin de chaque période je leur demandais ce qu’ils faisaient dans leur vie et à l’école pour améliorer la qualité de l’environnement et le bien-être de la société.

À l’école il y a un comité environnement et un comité solidarité. Ils participent à la marche 2/3 de Oxfam. Certains jeunes ont ramassé des fonds pour la campagne pour le cancer du sein en se rasant les cheveux. Il y avait d’ailleurs quelques têtes rasées dans chaque classe. La semaine prochaine ils vont fabriquer des boites de compostage qui sont déjà vendues à des membres de la communauté de Vaudreuil-Dorion. Ils encouragent donc le compostage. Il y a la minute de recyclage. Ils ont fait changer le styromousse à la cafétéria pour du carton recyclé. Ils m’invitent à rencontrer le professeur responsable du comité environnement, Kevin Beaumont, ce que j’ai fait sur l’heure du dîner.

*****

Voir aussi: John Todd ecological design, sa biographie, le projet de mini-central à Trois Pistoles de Mikael Rioux, son site Facebook, écoles verts Brundtland au Québec.

Biomimicry -- by Janine Benyus

Excerpts from Janine Benyus' Biomimicry Institute webpages:

Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a new discipline that studies nature's best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems. Studying a leaf to invent a better solar cell is an example. I think of it as "innovation inspired by nature."

The core idea is that nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with. Animals, plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have found what works, what is appropriate, and most important, what lasts here on Earth. This is the real news of biomimicry: After 3.8 billion years of research and development, failures are fossils, and what surrounds us is the secret to survival.

Like the viceroy butterfly imitating the monarch, we humans are imitating the best adapted organisms in our habitat. We are learning, for instance, how to harness energy like a leaf, grow food like a prairie, build ceramics like an abalone, self-medicate like a chimp, create color like a peacock, compute like a cell, and run a business like a hickory forest.

The conscious emulation of life's genius is a survival strategy for the human race, a path to a sustainable future. The more our world functions like the natural world, the more likely we are to endure on this home that is ours, but not ours alone.

If we want to consciously emulate nature's genius, we need to look at nature differently. In biomimicry, we look at nature as model, measure, and mentor. The Biomimicry Guild and its collaborators have developed a practical design tool, called the Biomimicry Design Spiral, for using nature as model.

• Wes Jackson (The Land Institute) is studying prairies as a model for an agriculture that features edible, perennial polycultures and that would sustain, rather than strain, the land.
• Thomas and Ana Moore and Devens Gust ( University of Arizona) are studying how a leaf captures energy, in hopes of making a molecular-sized solar cell. Their light-sensitive "pentad" mimics a photosynthetic reaction center, creating a tiny, sun-powered battery.
• Jeffrey Brinker (Sandia National Lab) has mimicked the abalone's self-assembly process to create an ultra-tough optically clear glass in a low-temperature, silent manufacturing process.
• J. Herbert Waite ( University of California Santa Barbara) is studying the blue mussel, which attaches itself to rocks via an adhesive that can do what ours can't-cure and stick underwater. Various teams are attempting to mimic this underwater glue.
• Peter Steinberg (Biosignal) has created an anti-bacterial compound that mimics the sea purse. These red algae keeps bacteria from landing on surfaces by jamming their communication signals with an environmentally friendly compound called furanone.
• Bruce Roser (Cambridge Biostability) has developed a heat-stable vaccine storage that eliminates the need for costly refrigeration. The process is based on a natural process that enables the resurrection plant to remain in a desiccated state for years.
• David Knight and Fritz Vollrath ( Oxford University, Spinox) are mimicking the spider's sustainable manufacturing process to find a way for humans to manufacture fibers without heat or toxins.
• Daniel Morse (UC Santa Barbara) has learned to mimic the silica-production process employed by diatoms. This could signal a low-energy, low-toxin route to computer components.
• Joanna Aizenberg (Lucent) has mimicked the process by which the brittlestar self-assembles distortion-free lenses out of seawater.
• Jay Harman (PAXscientific) has created a super-efficient fan blades, aerators, and propellers based on the geometry of the flow-friendly spiral found in seashells, kelp, and rams horns.
• Andre K. Geim ( University of Manchester) has developed a glue-free, yet sticky, tape modeled on the dry physical adhesion of the gecko's "setae" ---tiny bristles on their feet that adhere to surfaces through Van Der Waals forces. The sustainability potential here is in "design for disassembly." Assembling products using gecko tape instead of glue would allow recyclers to disassemble products without adhesive contamination. [He also invented graphene]
  
• Richard Wrangham (Harvard) is zeroing in on medicinal compounds useful to humans by watching chimps heal themselves with plants from nature's medicine cabinet.
• Thomas Eisner (emeritus, Cornell) is letting the behavior of insects tell him which plants may be good bets for new drugs. If insects ignore a leaf, he figures the plant is full of secondary compounds-defenses for the plant and drugs for us.
• Various researchers in Industrial Ecology are looking for ways to apply nature's lessons of economy, efficiency, cooperation, and rootedness to the marketplace. Closed-loop eco-parks, patterned after mature ecosystems like redwood forests, are now being built in Chattanooga, Brownsville, Baltimore, and Cape Charles.
• Jeremy Mabbitt (Codefarm) and numerous other companies are mimicking natural selection as an optimizing tool in computer software called genetic algorithms.

See also Benyus' book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature (1997), her resource list, and Wikipedia on biomimicry and life cycle assessment.

Comparison of the Cochabamba People’s Agreement and the Copenhagen Accord

This is the English translation of our 17 June post in Spanish. Both are from the official Cochabamba site World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth. See also news updates and analysis in our Followup to the Copenhagen Accord.

The debate about climate change is divided between the “Copenhagen Accord” that failed to be imposed by a group of countries led by the United States at the Copenhagen Conference held in December 2009, and the “People´s Agreement” that synthesizes the conclusions of the 17 working groups at the World People´s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth carried out in Cochabamba, Boliva from April 20th to 22nd, 2010.

The “People´s Agreement” stems from an integral vision of climate change, incorporating the issue of the structural causes of the climate crisis, the rupture of harmony with nature, the need to recognize the rights of Mother Earth in order to guarantee human rights, the importance of creating a Tribunal of Climate and Environmental Justice, the development of global democracy so that the people can decide on this issue affecting and the planet and all of humanity.

On the other hand, the Copenhagen Accord represents a step backward with relation to the Kyoto Protocol by proposing a methodology of voluntary commitments for the industrialized countries that are principally responsible for climate change.

COMPARISON

PEOPLE´S AGREEMENT	COPENHAGEN ACCORD
Limit for Average Global Temperature Increase
Limit global temperature increase during the present century to 1º C in order to reduce the effects of climate change. For this, it is proposed that the world return to greenhouse gas concentrations of 300ppm.	Limit the increase in temperature to 2º C, and, following an evaluation in 2015, see if it is possible to reach the goal of 1.5 º C.
Greenhouse Gas Reductions
50% reduction based on 1990 levels for the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol (2013-2017), excluding carbon markets or other types of compensation.Demands that the United States ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Puts forth that all developed countries must make comparable reductions: for example, the US cannot reduce by 3% and the EU by 30%. Rejects attemps to annul the Kyoto Protocol.	Does not set an aggregate goal for all developed countries. Proposes voluntary reductions commitments by developed countries, which means that they must only state what they plan to do.Does not establish criteria for comparable reductions among developed countries.Does not state that reductions should occur under the framework of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.According to the European Comission, voluntary commitments allocated thus far under the Copenhagen Accord represent real reductions of just 2% based on 1990 levels.
Climate Debt
Developed countries have a climate debt toward developing countries, Mother Earth, and future generations. This climate debt consists of: returning the atmospheric space that has been occupied by the greenhouse gas emissions of developed countries, thereby affecting other countries; a debt to Mother Earth that should be honored through the recognition and implementiation of a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth at the United Nations; a debt to climate change migrants; a debt with regard to adaptation and development consisting of the costs developing countries must incurr to respond to the grave impacts of climate change.	No mention of climate debt.
Financing
Financing should be set aside for climate change in an amount greater than that which developed countries currently budget for defense, war, and security spending.Financing should should reach 6% of GDP for the developed countries historically responsible for climate change, should come from public funds not linked to carbon market mechanisms, and be in addition to Official Development Assistance.	Approximately 30 billion US dollars for the period 2010-2012, which represents 0.005% of the annual GDP of developed countries.Mobilize 100 billion US dollars by 2020 to attend to the needs of developing countries, which amounts to 0.05% of GDP.Approximately 50% of this financing would come from the carbon market.
Technology Transfer
Creation of a Multilateral and Multidisciplinary Mechanism that guarantees technology transfer for climate change that is free of intellectual property rights.	Proposes a Technology Mechanism, but it is unclear whether this will simply be a showcase of available technologies.No mention of the need for changes to regimes of intellectual property rights.
Carbon Markets
Rejects the carbon market and other forms of dealing with climate change based on the market.	Promotes the use of carbon markets and proposes the creation of new market mechanisms.
Forests
Rejects market mechanisms for the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.Proposes the creation of a mechanism that, unlike REDD+ or ++, respects the sovereignty of States, guarantees the rights of indigenous peoples and communities that live in forests, and is not based on carbon market mechanisms.	Proposes incentives for actions related to REDD based on the carbon market.
Food and Agriculture
To confront the climate crisis, we must bring about a profound shift toward the sustainable models of agricultural production used by indigenous and farming communities, and other models and ecological practices that contribute to solving the problem of climate change and guaranteeing food soveriegnty.	No mention of food and agriculture.
Reclassification of Countries
Rejects the reclassification of developing countries according to their vulnerability. Respect for and application of Article 4.8 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).	Promotes the reclassification of developing countries according to climate change, giving preferential treatment according to vulnerability.
Climate Migrants
Protection and recognition of the rights and needs of those forced to migrate due to climate change. Highlights the need to raise this issue in negotiations.	No mention of migration caused by climate change.
Justice and Fulfillment of International Commitments
Proposes the adoption of legally binding mechanisms to guarantee compliance with international treaties, as well as the creation of a Climate and Environmental Justice Tribunal.	Does not propose any mechanism for remedying compliance with international commitments by developed countries.
Referendum on Climate Change
Proposes a World Referendum on Climate Change so that the people can decide on this issue, one that is of vital importance to the future of humanity and Mother Earth.	No mention of a mechanism for consulting populations.
Indigenous Peoples
Recognition and revalorization of indigenous roots of all humanity and full respect for the rights of indigenous peoples.	No mention of indigenous peoples.
Rights of Mother Earth
Proposes to discuss and approve in the United Nations a Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth to reestablish harmony with nature. In an inter-dependent system, it is impossible to recognize rights for only the human side of that system. The only way to defend human rights is to also recognize the rights of Mother Earth. These rights include the Earth´s right to life, the right to regenerate its biocapacity, the right to maintain its integrity, and the right of all to a clean environment.	No mention of the rights of Mother Earth.
Structural Causes
Proposes to analyze and modify the structural causes of climate change. Affirms that these have to do with the capitalist system that is centered on the maximization of profit and the exploitation and commodification of nature.	No mention of the structural causes of climate change.

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Did you have a good life? -- by Keith Farnish

This 2007 article is reprinted from his Earth Blog, "a collection of personal thoughts, ideas and solutions in search of a future for this planet". I have italicized his voice. He lives in the UK.

Sorry, it's too late, your life ends tomorrow. Did you have a good one? Think hard, there isn't much time.

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Alan
“Come in, my friend, find a space. I know it doesn’t look very pleasant but the pain doesn’t bother me too much as long as I can keep the morphine topped up…there we go. Jean! Can you get my friend a coffee? Sit yourself down; it’s a nice sofa, isn’t it? Cream leather, with invisible stitching, and mahogany inlays. I would have had walnut, but it doesn’t match the wall unit, but the leather matches the car interior very well; I upgraded to the new Range Rover Sport 3 months ago, after I heard about the latest tumour. We thought, ‘What the hell? The life insurance will cover that, and the Lexus.’ I don’t want Jean going without; she’s used to this way of life, and I’m not going to deny her that after I’m gone.”

“Gerry came in earlier. You know Gerry? He worked with me at Chase Morgan before the bond débacle. They found me out, as you know, but I took half the department down with me. I wasn’t going to let them know who really bought those junk bonds; Mali is a growing oil market, and we all have to make a buck where we can.”

“Well, anyway, Gerry has just come back from Mauritius. It only seems like yesterday he was in Kenya. He says he can work remotely, just in case the boys need some advice, so can always swing an extra trip. You know what our gang were like, always off on some jolly. Some guy at BA told us we could offset our flights, which sounded like something guilty people do, but then that extra bottle of Veuve Clicquot was calling to me and I had no loose change. Next time maybe. Maybe not.”

“How are the tennis lessons coming along? Did you try Lucy’s club? She’ll make an excellent coach, don’t you think? Chip off the old block, as they say. I wish I’d spent more time playing myself, but what with work, those late nights at the wine bar – comes with the territory, really – weekends at the villa; I couldn’t pack any more in.”

“I’ve had a really good life, when you think about it. Look around – have you seen a better parquet than the one in the sitting room? And when I look out of the window, I know that most of that is mine. It’s a great feeling. No, I’ve got no regrets - life’s for living, isn’t it?”

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By the time you come to the end of your life, there is little you can do to change the impact that you have had on others – be they friends, family, strangers, animals, the air we breath. You could lay to rest old feuds, show people that you didn’t really mean what you said, be forgiven by those that were angry with you; but you have already trodden a physical path between your coming and your going, and that is not going to be undone. Self evaluation is an important part of what keeps people motivated; after all, if I’m not going to do good things during my life, then when else am I going to do them? Maybe you believe in an afterlife - that you can repent your actions (or lack of them) on your deathbed. We all have our right to beliefs and wishes, but whatever may happen to your soul after you are gone has nothing to do with what will continue to happen in the physical world. The point I am trying to make is that, because the mere fact of sharing a world with other living creatures has an impact on their lives – however small – and that humans are at the very top of the global ecological network, it really does matter what kind of life we lead.

James
“Rachel, I won’t be able to make it this afternoon. Yes, I’m having a few problems today and couldn’t get into work this morning. I hope you can find someone to cover – it’s hard enough looking after things when everyone’s well. That’s very nice of you. I hope so too. See you later.”

“Oh, hello. Sorry, I didn’t see you there. Sorry about the mess, I’ve been trying to keep the place tidy, but haven’t got the energy lately. If you’re going past Oxfam this afternoon could you pop in and see if they need any help? That’s really kind, I hate to let them down. Do you want a tea? There are some bags in the jar by the kettle; mind the boxes, I’ve asked Julie to pack up some of my old clothes for the recycling – I don’t think I’ll be needing them any more.”

“She does so much for me, does Julie. I wish I could afford to pay her petrol money. I got rid of the car last month – hardly used it anyway, what with the pollution, I’d feel bad driving to work when I can cycle, but it’s so bad for my lungs. I reckon it’s the traffic that’s made my asthma so bad over the years; I could hardly catch my breath yesterday…excuse me (inhales)…sorry, I hate for you to see me like this. The hospital are delivering my new nebulizer tomorrow, but it hardly seems to help when I do use one.”

“I was looking at some photos this morning; Linda and I had our honeymoon 40 years ago last month. I wish she could have been here, but Julie gave me a lift down to the cemetery, and I said what I had to. It was difficult to concentrate with the aircraft going over, off to sunny places I suppose. We had our honeymoon at the seaside, at the same hotel we stayed at for years after – it wasn’t too posh, but we liked it. We loved getting the train; didn’t seem any point driving as we’d only be stuck in a traffic jam.”

“The airport are trying to get planning permission to extend the runway, and they want to move a bit of the cemetery. Progress, I suppose, but they want to move Linda’s plot, and I can’t stand the thought of that. Why can’t they just leave things alone? I mustn’t complain too much, but sometimes life feels so unfair – some people have it so much better.”

Someone in James’ position might feel they have led a modest, possibly unfortunate life; things have not always gone as they should have. But look at the two stories again. There is such a fundamental difference that it might not be obvious: Alan is a taker. He has worked hard for his money, granted, but his lifestyle is one of luxury, consumption and, some may say, excess. He has no regrets, and in his world everything is there for the taking. In James’ world, things are there to be shared out; people do what they can to help others, they do not consume to excess – even if he had the money to, he wouldn’t.

I am not trying to judge individual actions here - most of us would enjoy a holiday in a far-off country, and revel in a beautiful view from our bedroom window – or how much money people earn : I am judging the motivation of everyone who inhabits this planet. I believe the goodness of our lives is determined by what motivates us. What motivates an individual in their life may range from survival, through to living in the lap of luxury; from having so much more than everyone else – money, status, material goods – to wanting all things to be equal; from saving oneself to saving the planet.

I can’t begin to say how much I admire people who give up all their worldly goods to fight for a cause they really believe in, and put up with the constant shouts of “get a job” and “get a life” from others, that seems to come with the territory. The protestor believes that some things are far more important than wealth and the accumulation of consumer goods. But to very many people, the sole motivation in life is to go from one life stage to another – job, house, children, retirement – and then what? After the achievements have been counted; the house, holidays, cars, TVs and savings added together; what is there to show for a life in which little thought was ever given for the people outside your immediate family and circle of friends, and the world beyond your doorstep? If you need to change, I hope you still have time.

At Sea -- by Ingrid jensen

We invite you a do-it-yourself music video. Make your own sound track by playing Ingrid Jensen's wonderful trumpet track over this video of the Salish Sea where she grew up (the Gulf of Georgia, BC-- more precisely at Cedar, on Vancouver Island near Nanaimo).

Mute the surf on the video. Then click on At Sea to start the sound. You can also try watching Bennybubi's fine Vancouver Island video with the sound off.

*****

More about Ingrid Jensen, the best living woman trumpeter: her official site, Wikipedia, Enja records profile, and a recent interview by James Kass.

Nuclear tests 1945-1998 -- by Isao Hashimoto

This video entitled "1945-1998" shows all the nuclear tests between 1945-1998. Each second represents a month. The size of the flash varies with kilotonnage. It starts out slowly, with the Manhattan Project's single test in the US, and the small but terrible A-bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Eventually, 2053 blasts, of which the US detonated 1032.

The 2006 and 2009 tests by North Korea are not shown.
Hashimoto says "The blinking light, sound and the numbers on the world map show when, where and how many experiments each country conducted. I created this work [to show]... the extremely grave, but present problem of the world." He has also made Overkilled (2 min) and The Names of Experiments, on similar themes.

*****

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was passed in 1996 by the UN but has not yet come into force, due to big-power reluctance to ratify it (especially US, China, India, Pakistan). See this US map by National Cancer Institute (NCI) showing Americans' exposures to radioactive (iodine-131) fallout from nuclear testing from atmospheric nuclear bomb tests carried out at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950s and 1960s. Thereafter tests were done underground. (click on maps for a clearer view)And atomwatch's map of fallout from Chernobyl:
More details of each country's bombs and testing. Hashimoto's video shows one startling fact: the fusillade of tests by the big powers after the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963 and SALT 1971 and 1979 -- so much for the myth of the "peaceful atom". Their flagrant violation of good faith bodes ill for current climate negotiations.

*****

See also the new film Countdown to Zero and An Inconvenient Nuke on eliminating nuclear weapons: a campaign backed by True Majority, New Evangelical Partnership, Moveon.org, MySpace, NRDC, Human Rights Watch and others.

Global Environmental Governance -- by Maria Ivanova and Joe Ageyo

Quest for Symphony is a 16 minute video on the past, present, and future of global environmental governance. Key participants at the 25th UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Nairobi, Kenya in February 2009 make a powerful argument for strengthening UNEP mandate and resources.
See also the half hour Way Ahead video in which 5 previous UNEP directors describe their vision: Maurice Strong, Mostafa Tolba, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Klaus Töpfer, and Achim Steiner; and the text of Steiner's 18 May 2010 speech to the Rio+20 Prepcom, in which he says the "environmental pillar" of UN work is very weak compared to economic development and social (human rights, MDGs) pillars; "developing countries... depend directly on the environment for their livelihoods and their means of living. These countries with the most at stake in terms of environmental sustainability are the very countries that have become disenfranchised within the system because the costs of participating have become so overwhelming." Therefore GEG must be strengthened. See also the CSD thread in QEWnet Forum.

Reporte de Cochabamba -- por Bernabé Yujra Ticona y Rubén Hilari

Bernabé Yujra Ticona y Rubén Hilari son amigos (cuaceros) de Bolivia.
La Conferencia Mundial de los Pueblos sobre el Cambio Climático y los Derechos de la Madre Tierra, se realizó en Tiquipaya a 12 Kilómetros de la ciudad de Cochabamba del 19 al 22 de abril 2010. Gracias a la iniciativa del Presidente boliviano Evo Morales Ayma, quien auspicio esta conferencia luego de participar en el fracasado reunión de acuerdos de los piases desarrollados, en Copenhague sobre el cambio Climático, y gracias a ustedes también por apoyarnos a participar en dicha Conferencia Mundial.

Esta conferencia Mundial sobre el cambio Climático, ha tenido una expectativa enorme a nivel mundial, en donde asistieron algo mas de 20 mil personas, acreditados como representantes de los pueblos y naciones indígena originario campesinos, comunidades interculturales y organizaciones sociales y medios de comunicación oral y escrita de los 5 Continentes del mundo.

Nosotros llegamos a la ciudad de Cochabamba con unos días de anticipación, viajamos el día sábado 17 de abril, porque para mas tarde no podíamos conseguir pasajes de transporte para poder adquirir. Nos acreditarnos el mismo día sábado por la tarde, entonces esperamos listos a participar desde el día lunes 19 de abril.

El día lunes por la mañana nos trasladamos a la localidad de Tiquipaya, las plenarias comenzaron a organizarse a horas 10:30 a. m. con 18 grupos de trabajo, y asistí al Grupo de trabajo No. 11 Sobre ADAPTACION.

En mi grupo de trabajo asistieron como 80 participantes, de los representantes de los pueblos naciones indígena originario, comunidades interculturales con sus respectivas vestimentas, y movimientos sociales de los 5 continentes del mundo. También asistieron los representantes del ejército boliviano como 5 oficiales uniformados.

Una comisión de la Pre-Conferencia presentó el trabajo del Grupo 11, a la plenaria, y se debatió las conclusiones de la Pre-Conferencia, y se discutió los siguientes puntos.

IMPACTOS:

Que va generando el cambio climático sobre la madre Tierra, los daños irreversibles que afectan al modo de vivir de los pueblos, como también sus derechos humanos, y sus recursos naturales, sobre todo el futuro de las nuevas generaciones.

El cambio Climático pone en riesgo la base de sostenibilidad de la vida afectando a los sectores agrícolas, la soberanía alimentaria, los recursos hídricos, la salud, los ecosistemas y la biodiversidad. Estos hechos extremos y rápidos a causa del cambio climático están deteriorando la seguridad humana.

Los impactos son mucho mas notorios sobre las poblaciones indígena originarias del área rural, en donde en estos últimos años, existe mucha sequía, inundaciones en algunos sectores, plagas que se lo exterminan los cultivos, no existe forraje para sus animales por falta de agua a consecuencia del deshielo de las montañas, aumento de temperaturas en el altiplano,
Por el cambio de los cultivos ancestrales, mediante cultivos mecanizados, uso de abonos químicos, por esta causa ha incremento las enfermedades, como malaria, dengue, Gripe H1N1, cáncer, y otras enfermedades que vienen por delante.

ADAPTACION:

Por principio los pueblos que habitan en la tierra que Dios nos dio para cuidar y desfrutar en forma sana, no para deteriorarlo. Razón por la cual no aceptamos el termino de adaptación de la CMPCC . Adaptación al cambio climático se entiende por los pueblos como un instrumento que sirva para enfrentar los impactos del cambio climático, para proteger la madre Tierra. Esto quiere decir la reparación de los recursos naturales que fueron dañados por los efectos del desequilibrio ecológico a causa de los países desarrollados. La verdadera adaptación es, que los países desarrollados cambien sus formas de vida y sus modelos de desarrollo y el excesivo consumismo, esto es lo que se debatió en la plenaria.

Los representantes asistentes a la Conferencia sobre el cambio Climático, expresaron en su mayoría, de que no es justo aceptar los acuerdos de Copenhague. Expresaron indicando a que los países desarrollados deben asumir la responsabilidad económica para buscar mecanismos de solución.

Algunos representantes expresaron de que debemos buscar mediante un acuerdo entre partes, por intermedio de un dialogo entre países en desarrollo y países desarrollados, y otros representante de las comunidades rurales como de Chaco, frontera con Paraguay, expreso de que el cuidado de la madre Tierra debe comenzar con la educación desde la escuelas. Y yo argumente apoyando al hermano indígena, para proteger la planeta Tierra, y el cuidado del medio ambiente, debe empezar desde la escuela, con la enseñanza de los valores, inculcando la conservación del medio ambiente la biodiversidad con la práctica de servicio social, son los puntos que fue debatido fuertemente en el grupo de trabajo.

Para mi es una nueva experiencia asistir a una Conferencia Mundial sobre el cambio Climático, realizado en la ciudad de Cochabamba, como participante en grupo de trabajo, y como un Cuáquero boliviano, quisiera opinar mi punto de vista personal, en cuanto a la conferencia Mundial de los Pueblos sobre el cambio Climático.

Como un ser viviente en la Tierra donde Dios nos dio para vivir bien, y disfrutar de la naturaleza. Tenemos derecho a una vida sana, ser respetado, a mantener la identidad e integridad, como seres creados de un ser supremo, derecho al agua limpia y sana, como una fuente para la vida, tener derecho al aire limpio, a la salud integral, y ser libre de contaminaciones de los desechos tóxicos, y consumir productos agroecológicos para gozar de buena salud, buscar siempre vivir en comunidad con todos, en paz igualdad, justicia sobre todo mucho amor con todos, por eso a mi entender la deuda climática es de todos, de ricos, pobres, negros, blancos, mestizos, indígena originarios, movimientos sociales. “Para vivir bien”, en aymara “Suma Kamaña” necesitamos aunar esfuerzos entre todos los que vivimos para ciudad y conservar la madre Tierra.

Sobre todo la educación será importante en este siglo XXI para la enseñanza de los valores, desde la escuela primaria, colegios de nivel secundario y Universidades. Dichos centros de educación de la niñez y la juventud, deben revisar su currícula y incorporar la enseñanza de los valores, en especial en Bolivia, para que las futuras generaciones desfruten de la naturaleza y gocen de buena salud, y tengan mejores condiciones de vida.

Esto es nuestro punto de vista y nuestro comentario sobre mi participación en la conferencia Mundial de los Pueblos sobre el cambio Climático.

.... por Bernabé Yujra Ticona Rubén Hilari

*****

Ver tambien: el sitio web oficial de la Conferencia, testimonios en Radio Mundo Real, Red Autónoma de comunicación (Peru), Corresponsales del pueblo, Corresponsal de paz, Via campesina, IEDECA (Instituto de ecología y desarrollo de las comunidades andinas), REDES de los Amigos de la Tierra (Uruguay), QEWnet discusiónes cuaceros en inglés, y enlaces de el LANIC Latin American Information Center, U. of Texas.

Bolivia's climate crisis -- Avi Lewis

Avi Lewis' 9 June Fault Lines video covers the water crisis that faces Bolvia and other Andean nations, and the Cochabamba climate conference

His wife Naomi Klein, a research consultant for the piece, writes, "It is no surprise that Bolivia is emerging as a leader of the global South in the fight against climate change. And its climate negotiators have become eloquent advocates for a new, big idea that is reinvigorating the climate justice movement: climate debt. Avi Lewis asks what the historical polluters of the global North owe the poor countries of the South -- and how such an honest reckoning could encourage the global, technological collaboration demanded by our climate crisis."