In view of the upcoming meeting in Cancún of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, WRM is circulating an open letter addressed to the government delegations attending the meeting. It is aimed not only at denouncing the criminal inaction of governments, but also – and more importantly – at encouraging people to exert greater pressure on governments to force them to adopt the necessary measures to prevent the imminent climate disaster. The letter says:
Conference of the Parties
Framework Convention on Climate Change
Distinguished government representatives:
Issue 160 – November 2010
Climate Change in Cancún
The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change begins on the 29th of this month in Cancún, Mexico. With this edition of our bulletin, WRM joins in the efforts of social and environmental organizations around the world to use this meeting to exert pressure on governments to address the root of the problem: the extraction and consumption of fossil fuels.
Since the meeting’s agenda does not focus on this issue, but instead places priority on false market-based “solutions” – and in particular the attempt to include forests and plantations in the lucrative global carbon market – it will be up to social movements to make Cancún a forum to voice their opposition, strengthen networks of resistance, and develop popular alternatives to prevent the imminent climate disaster.
WRM Bulletin
160
November 2010
OUR VIEWPOINT
THE CLIMATE HEATS UP FOR CANCUN
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29 November 2010Climate change as a process of modifications in the complex system of atmospheric phenomena (temperature, humidity, pressure, winds and precipitation) is nothing new for our planet. It has taken place over vast periods of time, as a consequence of volcanic eruptions and changes in solar radiation, atmospheric composition, the movement of continents, ocean currents and the earth’s orbit.