Subject: The proposal of the California government to include REDD+ offset credits from the state of Acre, Brazil, and from other states and countries with tropical forests.
Montevideo, November 16, 2015
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International Civil Society Alarmed by Conviction of Cameroonian Environmental Human Rights Defender
November 9, 2015
Oakland, CA—Cameroonian authorities must stop the harassment of Nasako Besingi, environmental human rights defender, according to an international coalition of civil society organizations including the Oakland Institute, Forest Peoples Programme, Grain, Save Wildlife Foundation, Cultural Survival, Greenpeace Africa, WRM, and the Environmental Investigation Agency.
The Oilwatch network has issued an international call for creating an “Annex 0” group at the UN climate negotiations. This would mean a group of peoples or nations acknowledged for their contributions to prevent further climatic changes, for example, with the commitment of leaving fossil fuels in the ground. Initiatives under “Annex 0” include, among others, the rejection of mechanisms such as carbon markets, REDD+, and other false solutions against climate change.
A new video by La Vía Campesina and GRAIN is part of a campaign to highlight the key role of the industrialized food system to the climate crisis. The video provides accessible information to understand the six main impacts of the agroindustrial food system that contribute to global warming: deforestation, industrial farming, transport, processing, refrigeration and food waste.
An international statement signed by over 250 organizations and movements from around the world expresses deep concerns about the growing influence and agenda of so-called “Climate-Smart Agriculture” (CSA) and the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (GACSA).
Climate disruptions cause widespread hunger, migration and the worsening of living conditions for millions of rural families, especially women and youth. The global food system imposed on people by Transnational Corporations (TNCs) is both a total failure and one of the main causes of the human-induced climate crisis – dependent on fossil fuels to produce, process and transport. Peasant agriculture and local food systems, by contrast, have proven themselves capable of sustainably feeding people for centuries.
Traditional upland farming implemented through swidden (‘slash-and-burn’) technology (kaingin) in The Philippines is demonized and antagonized through restrictive legislation. In Palawan forests are being destroyed by agribusiness (mainly oil palm and rubber), mining enterprises and various forms of land grabbing. Yet, state agencies as well as some Palawan NGOs still view indigenous kaingin as ‘illegitimate agriculture’ and as the primary cause of deforestation.
Peasant seeds – the pillar of food production – are under attack everywhere. Under corporate pressure, laws in many countries increasingly limit what farmers can do with their seeds. Seed saving, which has been the basis of farming for thousands of years, is quickly being criminalised.
In the middle of the biggest continuous area of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, southwest of Sao Paulo, researchers of the University of Sao Paulo and the State University of Campinas accompany the changes in the region’s quilombola communities since 2003.
The publication recently launched by the Mexican organization Otros Mundos Chiapas is an effort to share many elements and experiences of community forest management. Facing a vast quantity of information disseminated by governmental and non-governmental organizations that side with the mercantilization of nature policies, many forest communities and peoples must confront new processes to defend their land and territory.
The platform SIF and Collective TANY call on the Malagasy public opinion and all citizens worldwide to sign a petition to urge the Malagasy authorities to adopt laws which secure the farmers and local communities rights on their lands.