This is from my good friend and comrade Hugo Blanco translated from Lucha Indigena.
Editorial
CHANGE
THE SYSTEM, NOT THE CLIMATE!
In Lima, the United Nations Climate Change Conference
(COP20) and the People's Summit were counterpoised meetings. The first was the meeting of governments of
194 states representing the system of big capital that is mercilessly
destroying our environment, leading toward the extinction of plant and animal
species, including the human species.
The
second was a meeting of thousands of native and non-native people who are
defending this same environment. Our
theme was "Change the system, not the climate!"
COP20
This
meeting's declared objective was the preparation of an agreement for approval
at COP21 in Paris this year. The
document was intended to demonstrate the participant states' commitment to reduce
emissions of greenhouse gases. This is a
matter of the greatest urgency, as the scientific data indicated that the mean
global temperature could increase by four or five degrees, with catastrophic
results for the entire planet.
Nonetheless,
as if to show their contempt for COP20, the world's two greatest emitters --
the USA and China -- met and agreed between themselves on a miserably
inadequate reduction in their emissions.
The USA said that by 2030 it would bring emissions 26-28% below 2005
levels, while Chine said its own emissions would peak in 2030. Among other things, this agreement showed
that the two governments had no interest in discussion the topic at the Lima
meeting or in Paris.
Of
course, the other great polluters (European Union, Russia, India, Japan,
Germany, Canada, Great Britain and South Korea) had no intention of committing
themselves to lowering their emissions.
The
poor countries called for economic assistance to mitigate the effects of global
warming caused by the major polluters, who were unwilling even to talk about
it. What they did discuss with
enthusiasm was the so-called REDD+, which they claim serves to absorb carbon
dioxide. In reality, it is all about how
big corporations can better pillage the territories of (primarily) native
peoples through agroindustry.
Two
native organizations had arranged with the Peruvian government to hold events
as part of COP20. However, the
government mocked their efforts by unilaterally canceling their participation.
The People's Summit
This
meeting of about 3000 people took place 8-11 December around the theme
"Change the system, not the climate!"
It was a valuable international exchange of experiences and networking
for future activities. The governments
made many attempts to obstruct it, of which we will give two examples. The Peruvian government tried to stop the
march by the defenders of water in Cajamarca.
And Ecuador's "progressive" government tried to block the
great continental climate caravan that had come all the way from Mexico from
continuing its journey to Lima. And
afterwards it evicted the Confederation of Native Nations of Ecuador (CONAIE)
from its headquarters as a reprisal for its participation in the summit.
There
were 160 activities, mainly in Exposition Park, where 20 stands were set
up. The best publicized action was the
grand march in defense of Mother Earth on 10 December, the international Human
Rights Day. This demonstration brought
traffic to a standstill in downtown Lima.
Native
peoples from several regions of Peru, from elsewhere in the Americas, and from
abroad were conspicuously present. Women
and young people were also very much in evidence. There were special workshops for these three
sectors, with broad debate of their particular reasons for struggling to
protect the environment.
In
contrast to COP20, it was clearly set forth that climate change is not solely
caused by global warming due to the emission of greenhouse gases. It also results from other manifestations of
big capital's assault on nature impelled by its greed for profits.
There
were debates about open-pit mining, the extraction of hydrocarbons (including
fracking), dam construction, attacks on rain forest and other woodlands
(including the above mentioned REDD+), transgenics, agroindustry, atomic power,
means of mass communication, the attack on coral reefs, industrial pollution
and other topics.
The
various forms of resistance to big capital's assault were discussed,
highlighting the importance of permanent, coordinated, collective
struggles. It was shown how the
governments are mere servants of big capital, as are the majority of
parliamentarians, the judicial branches, the police and armed forces, mass
media, etc.
Corruption
in government and its ties to the drug trade was denounced.
The
system's consumerism was denounced.
The
hypocrisy of Ollanta Humala's host government -- manifested in part in the
launch a few weeks earlier of its fourth "package of environmental
reforms", yet another major assault on the environment in the service of
big capital's insatiable appetite, while criminalizing defenders of the
environment and complicity in their assassination -- was denounced.
In
addition to these denunciations and the struggle in defense of the environment,
there were discussions of how to build a new kind of society marked by
democracy, collectivism and mutual solidarity, of how to take better care of
the environment, how to save the medicinal traditions of original peoples from
being lost forever, of ecologically sound agriculture, of food sovereignty
against the export of products needed to feed the people where they are grown,
etc. In summary, it was all about
replacing the present rule by huge transnational corporations whose entire thrust
is to profit by the planet's degradation and the impending extinction of our
species with a new world in the hands of the great mass of humanity.
And
that is why the theme of our summit, appropriately chosen, was Change the
system, not the climate!
