by Heidi Beirich
Southern Poverty Law Center

In January 2010, national leaders in ecology, sustainable business, and the larger environmental movement gathered in Washington to grapple with the problem of building “The New Green Economy.” Hosted by the government-funded National Council for Science and the Environment, the event was a prestigious one.

But one of the invited speakers was hardly an environmentalist.

Roy Beck, who participated in a panel entitled “Perverse Incentives, Subsidies, and Tax Code Impediments to a Sustainable Economy,” is the head of NumbersUSA, an anti-immigration group that was largely responsible for sinking a comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2007.

Beck has spent nearly 20 years relentlessly attacking American immigration policies, even editing tracts like The Immigration Invasion, a book so raw in its nativism that Canadian authorities banned it as hate literature. More to the point, perhaps, purported environmentalist Beck’s group not long ago paid nearly half a million dollars to a far-right news service— an outfit that has described global warming as a “religion” that is “impervious to evidence” and has pilloried conservationists as “anti-mankind.”

So what was Beck doing talking about “greening the tax code”?

Roy Beck is part of a sweeping, renewed attempt by immigration restrictionists in America to convince environmentalists that they, too, must oppose immigration if they are to save the environment from the ravages of a growing population.

Read full article on Alternet…

by Javier Sethness

On July 24, the North-American section of Via Campesina held a National Encounter for Environmental and Social Justice in Mexico City. The day-long encounter featured interventions by representatives of various oppositional social groups and organizational processes, both Mexican and international, on questions related to the climate crisis, agricultural production, and the human predicament.

The following is a brief summary of the contributions by forum participants.

A central address at the Encounter was that of Aldo González, from Oaxaca. Noting in his comments that indigenous communities of Abya Yala — what is now referred to as the Americas — have experienced a historical trajectory rather different than those experienced in Western societies, González attempted to set up a dichotomy between “indigenous cosmovisions” and “Western cosmovisions.” He said that some of the former see in nature living beings rather than natural resources, the latter being a product, in his view, of Western thought.

González went on to say that indigenous communities in Oaxaca do not want ‘development,’ at least as historically practiced: they would, he said, instead continue to live in the future as they have previously. González emphasized that this should be the message advanced by the indigenous at the coming Cancú¬n Conference of Parties (COP-16) on climate change.

González closed his remarks by arguing that the human prospect will be imperiled if it waits for the states of the world to act in reasonable fashion with regard to climate change. Against such peril, he held out the indigenous concept of buen vivir, which he defined as comunalidad — community, or communality.

Manuel Munguía Zapien, of Michoacán, a teacher in Section 18 of the National Education Workers’ Union, spoke of the efforts in which he had engaged to integrate ecological considerations into public-school curricula within the wider consideration of advancing the goal of attaining “harmony with nature” in such schools. Claiming environmental destruction to be inevitable within the confines of hegemonic economic models overseen by the present “world-masters,” Munguía Zapien called in his remarks for a “new social form” — one different than the one which is currently “killing us,” on the one hand, and barring the “self-development” of peoples, on the other.

Graciela González Torres, from Mexico’s National Assembly of the Environmentally Affected, spoke in similar terms of environmental destruction being inherent to the existing world-system, though her analysis was perhaps more dire than that of either González or Munguía Zapien. Destruction is everywhere, she declared, and humanity finds itself “against the wall, fighting for life.” She stressed the need to denounce the various false solutions advanced by status-quo apologists. and said that the struggle against the destruction of the Earth should be one engaged in with joy. She later expressed her belief that various oppositional social struggles had been converging of late, thus perhaps forming the beginnings of a broader anti-systemic movement.

Álvaro Salgado, from Mexico’s Network for the Defense of Maize, shared the alarming findings of a recent study that concluded some 14,000 Mexican communities have lost the ability to cultivate maize and beans due to climate change. Referring to the Via Campesina slogans exhibited on banners in the conference-hall, he asserted that campesinos could indeed “cool the Earth” (enfriar la Tierra) in theory, but only if more general changes in the world as a whole were realized.

Some of the destructive effects of existing relations between Mexico and the U.S. were examined by Camilo Pérez Bustillo, organizer of the November 2010 Forum and International Tribunal of Conscience on the Rights of Migrants and the Displaced, who situated the “violations of dignity” suffered by those displaced by environmental degradation — environmental refugees — in the context of the worrying recent developments in migration policy seen in the U.S.

Marco Giusti, from the Italian Network for Environmental and Social Justice, shared a document entitled “Towards Cancún: change the system, not the climate” detailing the various failures of the Copenhagen conference and the necessity of instituting social relations other than those dictated by capitalism.

The encounter’s keynote speaker was Pablo Solón, the current Bolivian ambassador to the United Nations. He began his address by observing that a number of socio-environmental problems exist today in Bolivia that cannot be resolved without changes on a global scale, emphasizing that the world must be changed if the social advances realized in recent years in Bolivia and elsewhere are to be maintained and furthered.

With regard specifically to the various threats posed by climate change, Solón noted with concern that approximately one-third of Bolivia’s glaciers have disappeared since 1750 CE, that another third may well disappear within ten years, and that all could in theory be gone by mid-century. Linking the fate of those who depend upon water provided by Andean glaciers with that of those who reside in small-island nations and the continent of Africa, Solón reiterated the present Bolivian government’s call for an average-global temperature increase target of no more than 1ºC — that is, just 0.2ºC more than has occurred so far.

In accordance with the People’s Accord released at the April 2010 World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, Solón proferred the principles of equity and recognition of historical responsibility as standards to guide ongoing efforts to avoid climate catastrophe. In concrete terms, he called on industrialized societies to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions by 50 percent before 2020 and demanded that the resources presently dedicated to global military spending be re-directed to deal with the climate crisis.

In addition, Solón denounced the fundamentally authoritarian manner by which most climate-negotiation processes to have been carried out to date — rulers of a handful of powerful states essentially deciding the fate of all future generations. Solón held democratization struggles to be one of the hopes still left open to humanity. In stark terms reminiscent of those by which Rosa Luxemburg characterized the human predicament nearly a century ago, Solón warned that total environmental degradation the world over will come to pass if international society is not thoroughly re-arranged.

In sum, the Encounter offered important insights on the world-situation that the climate crisis poses for humanity. It is to be hoped that such reflection can be, in Adorno’s metaphorical formulation, “transformed into teaching” — that is, contribute to the actual transformation of existing reality.

Javier Sethness is a libertarian socialist and rights-advocate. He maintains the blog Notes toward an International Libertarian Eco-Socialism.

Rather than honestly vote “no,” they abstained to avoid being labelled as opponents of access to water, but many made statements that reveal their hostility to the very idea of recognizing water as a human right. Among others:

Canada complained that the resolution “appeared to determine that there was indeed a right without setting out its scope.”

The UK said “there was no sufficient legal basis for declaring or recognizing water or sanitation as freestanding human rights, nor was there evidence that they existed in customary law.”

The U.S. said “there was no ‘right to water and sanitation’ in an international legal sense, as described by the resolution.”

Australia “had reservations about declaring new human rights in a General Assembly resolution.”

The abstainers:

• Armenia
• Australia
• Austria
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Botswana
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Ethiopia
• Greece
• Guyana
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Israel
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Kenya
• Latvia
• Lesotho
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Poland
• Republic of Korea
• Republic of Moldova
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Sweden
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turkey
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom
• United Republic of Tanzania
• United States
• Zambia

From the Met Office Hadley Centre

(July 28, 2010) Unmistakable scientific evidence that our world is warming has been released today in the ‘2009 State of the Climate’ report, issued by US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The report draws on data from 10 key climate indicators that all point to that same finding — the world is warming.

The 10 indicators of temperature have been compiled by the Met Office Hadley Centre, drawing on the work of more than 100 scientists from more than 20 institutions. They provide, in a one place, a snapshot of our world and spell out a single conclusion that the climate is unequivocally warming.

Relying on data from multiple sources, each indicator proved consistent with a warming world.

Rising indicators

• Air temperature over land
• Sea-surface temperature
• Marine air temperature
• Sea-level
• Ocean heat
• Humidity
• Tropospheric temperature in the ‘active-weather’ layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth’s surface

Declining indicators

• Arctic sea-ice
• Glaciers
• Spring snow cover in the northern hemisphere

Dr Peter Stott, Met Office Head of Climate Monitoring and Attribution and contributor to the report says:

“Despite the variability caused by short-term changes, the analysis conducted for this report illustrates why we are so confident the world is warming.

“When we look at air temperature and other indicators of climate, we see highs and lows in the data from year-to-year because of natural variability. Understanding climate change requires looking at the longer-term record. When we follow decade-to-decade trends using different data sets and independent analyses from around the world, we see clear and unmistakable signs of a warming world.”

Dr Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and US NOAA Administrator, says:

“The temperature increase of 0.56 °C (1 °F) over the past 50 years may seem small, but it has already altered our planet.

“Glaciers and sea-ice are melting; heavy rainfall is intensifying, and heat waves are more common. And, as the new report tells us, there is now evidence that over 90 percent of warming over the past 50 years has gone into our oceans.”

The report points out that people have spent thousands of years building society for one climate, and now a new one is being created — one that is warmer and more extreme.

While year-to-year changes in temperature often reflect natural climatic variations such as El Niño/La Niña events, changes in average temperature from decade-to-decade reveal long-term trends such as global warming.

Each of the last three decades has been much warmer than the decade before. At the time, the 1980s was the hottest decade on record. In the 1990s, every year was warmer than the average of the previous decade. The 2000s were warmer still.

“For the first time, and in a single compelling comparison, the analysis brings together multiple observational records from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the ocean,” states Deke Arndt, co-editor of the report and chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center.

“The records come from many institutions worldwide. They use data collected from diverse sources, including satellites, weather balloons, weather stations, ships, buoys, and field surveys. These independently produced lines of evidence all point to the same conclusion: our planet is warming.”

“The Human Right to Water and Sanitation”

Mr. President, Allow me to begin the presentation of this Resolution by recalling that human beings are essentially water. Around two thirds of our organism is comprised of water. Some 75 percent of our brain is made up of water, and water is the principal vehicle for the electrochemical transmissions of our body.

Our blood flows like a network of rivers in our body. Blood helps transport nutrients and energy to our organism. Water also carries from our cells waste products for excretion. Water helps to regulate the temperature of our body.

The loss of 20% of body water can cause death. It is possible to survive for various weeks without food, but it is not possible to survive more than a few days without water. Water is life.

That is why, today, we present this historic resolution for the consideration of the plenary of the General Assembly on behalf of the co-sponsoring countries of: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, The Plurinational State of Bolivia, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Fiji, Georgia, Guinea, Haiti, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, The Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tuvalu, Uruguay, Vanuatu, The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and Yemen.

The right to health was originally recognized in 1946 by the World Health Organization. In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declared, among others, “the right to life,” “the right to education,” and “the right to work.” In 1966 these were furthered in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights with the recognition of “the right to social security,” and “the right to an adequate standard of living,” including adequate food, clothing and adequate shelter.

However, the human right to water has continued to fail be fully recognized, despite clear references in various international legal instruments such as: the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

This is why we, the co-sponsors, present this resolution in order that we now recognize the human right to water and sanitation, at a time when illness caused by lack of drinking water and sanitation causes more deaths than does war.

• Every year, 3 and a half million people die of waterborne illness.
• Diarrhea is the second largest cause of death among children under five. The lack of access to potable water kills more children than AIDS, malaria and smallpox combined.
• Worldwide, approximately one in eight people lack potable water.
• In just one day, more than 200 million hours of women’s time is consumed by collecting and transporting water for domestic use.
• The situation of lack of sanitation is far worse, for it affects 2.6 billion people, or 40% of the global population.

According to the report on sanitation by the Independent expert,

“Sanitation, more than many other human rights issue, evokes the concept of human dignity; consider the vulnerability and shame that so many people experience every day when, again, they are forced to defecate in the open, in a bucket or a plastic bag. It is the indignity of this situation that causes the embarrassment.”

The vast majority of illnesses around the world are caused by fecal matter. It is estimated that sanitation could reduce child death due to diarrhea by more than one third.

On any given day, half of the hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from illnesses associated with lack of access to safe water and lack of sanitation.

Mr. President, Human rights were not born as fully developed concepts, but are built on reality and experience. For example, the human rights to education and work included in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights were constructed and specified over time, with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international legal instruments such as the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The same will occur with the human right to water and sanitation.

That is why we emphasize and encourage in the third operative paragraph of this resolution that the independent expert continue working on all aspects of her mandate and present to the General Assembly “the principal challenges related to the realization of the human right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation and their impact on the achievement of Millennium Development Goals.”

The Summit on the Millennium Development Goals is approaching, and it is necessary to give a clear signal to the world that drinking-water and sanitation are a human right, and that we will do everything possible to reach this goal, which we have only 5 more years to achieve.

That is why we are convinced of the importance of the second operative paragraph of this resolution, which

“Calls upon States and international organizations to provide financial resources, capacity-building and technology transfer, through international assistance and cooperation, in particular to developing countries, in order to scale up efforts to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.”

All resolutions contain a passage that we can point to as the heart of the matter, and the heart of this resolution is in its first operative paragraph. Throughout many informal consultations, we have striven to accommodate the different concerns of the Member States, leaving aside issues that do not pertain to this resolution and always seeking balance, but without loosing the essence of the resolution.

The right to drinking water and sanitation is a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life.

Drinking water and sanitation are not only elements or principal components of other rights such as “the right to an adequate standard of living.” The right to drinking water and sanitation are independent rights that should be recognized as such. It is not sufficient to urge States to comply with their human rights obligations relative to access to drinking water and sanitation. Instead, it is necessary to call on states to promote and protect the human right to drinking water and sanitation.

Mr. President, In our effort to seek transparency and understanding without losing perspective on the essence of this resolution, in the name of the cosponsors we would like to propose an oral amendment to the first operative paragraph of the resolution that would replace the word “declares” with the word “recognizes.”

Mr. President, Before moving to the consideration of this resolution, I would like to ask all delegations to bear in mind the fact that, according to the 2009 report of the World Health Organization and UNICEF entitled “Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done,” 24,000 children die in developing countries every day from preventable causes like diarrhea contracted from unclean water. That is one child death every three and a half seconds.

One, two, three…

As my people say, “Now is the time.”

Thank you very much.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The following countries abstained on the vote: