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COP21 climate demonstrations banned after attacks
November 19, 2015 - 7:58am
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/18/cop21-climate-marches-paris...
Climate campaigners vow to demonstrate in other ways, but this is a huge blow.
Stephane Dion Pessimistic Ahead of COP21 Climate Conference
http://www.cbc.ca/news/cop21-paris-climate-deal-unlikely-dion-1.3324069
"Ahead of the much anticipated Paris climate conference, Canada's foreign affairs minister isn't hopeful. 'It's very unlikely that Paris will deliver a 2C agreement,' Dion told reporters at the APEC summit in Manila on Wednesday..."
ISIS is winning this ' war' . Netanyahoo is right. The West is easily manipulated. Radicals have discovered this truth and are exploiting it to the max.
The Paris attacks make climate protests more important than ever
It will be deeply ironic if climate activists from around the world are among the first to fall foul of France's emergency powers. Of course, those campaigners have nothing to do with the brutal attacks on Paris last Friday night. On the contrary, they will challenge the unequal, unsustainable and militaristic policies on which terrorism has thrived.
We've been here before. In the years before the 9/11 attacks on the United States, a powerful movement had grown to confront the institutions that run the world. Little-known organisations and networks like the WTO, IMF, World Bank and G8 were thrust into the limelight, their summits besieged by protestors for the poverty, inequality, conflict and climate destruction that they fuelled.
The movement was perhaps the most global in history - connecting up fights against water privatisation in Bolivia, landlessness in Brazil, sweatshops in Bangladesh, and occupation in Palestine. Beyond the knowledge and skills it gave to those involved, it met with not inconsiderable success, halting the trade offensive in the World Trade Organisation, breaking the pharmaceutical industry's deadly blockade on HIV medicines and reducing the International Monetary Fund to near irrelevance....
I don't think anyone's blaming them for last week's attacks.
But maybe "the largest climate civil disobedience ever" just isn't what Paris and its finite resources need right now.
Quite right, money isn't unlimited - they need to keep bombing Syrians and Iraqis. Never mind policing all their other colonies.
In the meantime the French government and other war mongers are going to send in the military especially the airforce. The military response has a very high cost in oil that never gets mentioned much when leaders talk about reducing green house gasses. !4,400 US gallons per hour when they kick in the afterburners for an F-15. 4 gallons per second or about 15 litres a second. My Prius can drive 250 kilometres on what it uses in a second. I guess doing my part becomes meaningless in the face of an ever expanding war machine, as all NATO countries buy more and more military hardware.
I can't help thinking that things like police forces are limited.
Or should they just divert money from their military budget and say "Hey, who wants to be a police officer for a week? We've got the money to pay you!"
Magoo, the only reason I'm not there now is because Renzo is almost 20 with kidney fialure and I have to change his box twice a day - couldn't see asking a firiend to do that for a month.
Those creeps have Saudi funding; they are most definitely not interested in the environment, any more than other religous fundies are. It is very serious indeed if social movements are unable to protest.
I'm not even sure how to respond. I totally agree that ISIS probably doesn't give a rat's ass about the environment. If nothing else, sale of conquered oil seems to be one of their sources of revenue. And I agree that "fundies" generally also don't care too much because "it's all in God's hands", and the sooner we get to the End Times, the better.
But I can understand if Paris feels like it has more urgent things to do than deal with "the largest climate civil disobedience ever". I'm not saying this because I feel the environment isn't important, but what's Paris really supposed to do?
Changed Tone Gives Trudeau Liberals Benefit of Doubt on Climate Change
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/changed-tone-gives-trudeau-liber...
"Canada appears poised to enter the Paris climate conference at the end of the month offering an emissions reduction target crafted by the previous federal government.
But unlike the Harper Conservatives, who were globally panned as climate laggards, Justin Trudeau's Liberals are being widely lauded, despite the absence of firm new policy measures.
Indications so far suggest the Liberals will keep the same 2030 target for cutting Canadian greenhouse gas emissions by 30% below 2005 levels that were announced by the Conservatives last May.
'If the weakest possible treaty comes through, it won't be worth the paper its written on,' Elizabeth May told a news conference...'
Prelude To Paris: Four Tragic Tactics By President Obama and Four Climate Justice Proposals He Must Support
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/18/prelude-to-paris-four-tragic-tact...
"...President Obama is not just attending the UNFCCC in Paris - he is running it. The US, as the world super-power with 800 military bases and its hand in every zig and zag of the Paris Process, is the elephant in the climate change bathtub.
In my assessment, the US tactical plan is to prevent any strong commitments in Paris that will expose the paucity of its own proposals. As I'll explain it is working to prevent a strong final document and is setting the bar for success very low so that the President can claim victory and prevent any Democratic Party candidates from having to defend and run on a controversial climate agreement.
The President and the EU have set the ground rules for Paris that prohibit any legally binding agreement such as Kyoto - which the US had refused to sign."
No wonder Canada is going to Paris with Stephen Harper's numbers...
Just what Paris is doing of course. Curtail freedom of assembly and dissent at home in response to those who would curtail freedom of assembly and dissent. Makes perfect sense depending on one's point of view, and it makes the blowback from France's belligerent foreign policy even more the problem of French citizens and dissenters. After all, there does comes a point when investments in the security state become a waste of time and state money for the liking of the corporations being protected. Excess money for security is better spent as subsidies.
Just think of the possibilities though for other jurisdictions and governments that are either tapped out financially, or who find themselves otherwise challenged to attend to all the security requirements of the state. "We're suspending civil rights as a business plan mitigation, and ask for the understanding and patience of all taxpayers."
As I said above, I don't really think they're doing it as some kind of "cost saving measure". I'm guessing they just don't have a surplus of police officers and such.
If they were to take a few million dollars to outfit and pay new police and send them out on the streets armed but effectively untrained would that be better?
That sounds like business as usual in most Westen countries. We are all James McIntyre.
What would be worse is if they get trained to the standard displayed by US and Israeli police forces. Well armed and dangerous to anyone asserting their rights including the right to walk the streets while brown or Muslim
Why a Climate Deal Is the Best Hope for Peace
Soon after the horrific terror attacks in Paris, last Friday, our phones filled with messages from friends and colleagues: “So are they going to cancel the Paris climate summit?” “The drums of war are beating. Count on climate change being drowned out.” The assumption is reasonable enough. While many politicians pay lip service to the existential urgency of the climate crisis, as soon as another more immediate crisis rears its head—war, a market shock, an epidemic—climate reliably falls off the political map.
After the attacks, the French government stated that the COP21 climate summit would begin as scheduled at the end of November. Yet the police have just barred the huge planned marches and protests, effectively silencing the voices of people who are directly affected by these high-level talks. And it’s hard to see how sea-level rise and parched farmland—tough media sells at the best of times—will have a hope of competing with rapid military escalation and calls for fortressed borders.
All of this is perfectly understandable. When our safety feels threatened, it’s difficult to think of anything else. Major shocks like the Paris attacks are awfully good at changing the subject. But what if we decided to not let it happen? What if, instead of changing the subject, we deepened the discussion of climate change and expanded the range of solutions, which are fundamental for real human security? What if, instead of being pushed aside in the name of war, climate action took center stage as the planet’s best hope for peace?
If the postings #10-11 are correct then COP21 is already a fixed game and will not produce the critical results necessary.
..i remember the fix was in seattle as well and then the demonstrators encouraged rebellion inside the wto and no deal was struck.
here's hoping...
What's Really At Stake At The Paris Climate Conference Now Marches Are Banned - by Naomi Klein
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/20/paris-climate-talks...
"Whose security gets protected by any means necessary? Whose security is casually sacrificed; despite the means to do so much better? Those are the questions at the heart of the climate crisis, and the answers are the reason climate summits so often end in acrimony and tears..."
Resist The Climate Coup D'Etat! Paris COP21 Protests Still On!
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/20/resist-the-climate-coup-detat-par...
"A popular democratic approach to solving climate change is being suppressed not only by a paramilitary force whose rise NATO members facilitated, but by a French government that has opportunistically used the tragedy to subvert participatory politics.
It is a coup for the global elites. We can only hope that, around the world, activists rise up against it, and take forward the banner of climate justice.."
May Says Text of Climate Change Treaty 'Weak in About 100 Different Parts'
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/may-says-text-of-climate-change-treaty-we...
"Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is warning that a global climate change treaty to be finalized at a major international summit in Paris next month is 'weak' in about 100 areas. May told CTV's Question Period that she is concerned about the deal.
While the details of the Paris climate treaty likely won't be resolved until December, there is global conern that the treaty won't be a legally binding one. US Secretary of State John Kerry told the Financial Times earlier this month that the deal won't have legally binding reduction targets like the 1997 Kyoto Protocol..."
Canada Heads To Paris As part of Massive 'Climate Rebrand': Harper
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/11/24/canada-heads-to-paris-as-p...
"Treating an international climate summit as a marketing opportunity is not a substitute for clear, achievable targets."
Workshop with Naomi Klein & Special Guests
“Small steps will no longer get us to where we need to go. So we need to leap” - The Leap Manifesto
The Leap Manifesto (www.leapmanifesto.org) is a call for a justice-based transition to a renewable energy economy in Canada, initiated by leaders from Canada’s Indigenous rights, social justice, environmental, food, faith-based and labour movements. Join Naomi Klein, Avi Lewis and key initiators for a workshop on the project and the lessons learned. This event is for all those interested in:
This event is free, but a ticket is required. French simultaneous translation will be provided.
For more information: contact@thischangeseverything.org
December 2, 2015 – 14:00-16:30
Salle Olympe de Gouges
15 Rue Merlin, 75011 Paris
What of course would be useful would be an organized within Canada response to the question...which must transcend just the call for a renewable energy future. This is far too restrictive...What is needed is not technical fixes, but structural reorganization, power decentralization...et al!
Playing Politics While the Planet Sizzles
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/24/playing-politics-while-the-planet...
"At the United Nations Framework Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC), the President has told the world's delegates that he needs to come out of Paris with a victory that can pass Republican objections. Even his allies are laughing because everyone knows there is no possible outcome that the Republicans would support.
Instead they blame the president for weakening if not destroying an urgently needed climate agreement in Paris - a plan he is carrying out for Democratic not Republican objectives..."
Canadian Climate-Change Love-In Produced Less Than Meets the Eye: Walkom
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/11/25/canadian-climate-change-lo...
"When all the fripperies are stripped away, Justin Trudeau's climate-change love-in with the premiers has produced three harsh realities. First, the prime minister is heading off to the Paris conference on global warming next week committed only to the weak pledges made by his Conservative predecessor, Stephen Harper.
Two, Canada is not on track to meet even these promises.
Three, most other countries aren't doing any better.
It is not clear that canadian politicians fully recognize the urgency.
No wonder the petroleum industry is pleased. [Why the hell do you think BIG PETRO's Dan Gagnier was there for?]
Where exactly Trudeau stands on all this is unclear.
As always he seems sunnily optimistic..."
a very chancey gardiner indeed
All will be well in the garden
Ahead of Paris climate talks, Canadians say they're willing to pay to reduce emissions
Canadians are broadly supportive of the country committing to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, even at a personal cost, but views vary significantly from one part of the country to the next.
And for two of the premiers who visited Ottawa for a first ministers summit yesterday, Saskatchewan's Brad Wall and Manitoba's Greg Selinger, the issue affects them very differently as they face re-election in less than five months.
A new poll by the Angus Reid Institute taken as the world's leaders prepare for climate talks in Paris next week suggests that more than two-thirds of Canadians believe that climate change is a serious threat.
The poll also suggests that a majority of Canadians are prepared to make a personal sacrifice to do something about it: 63 per cent said they support Canada signing an international agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions, even if it means a 10 per cent increase in their annual energy costs....
Corporate Parasites and Economic Plunder: We Need A Genuine Green Revolution
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/26/corporate-parasites-and-economic-...
Global climate marches to see unprecedented wave of people calling for more action ahead of Paris Climate Summit
On November 28 and 29, hundreds of thousands of people around the world will take to the streets in more than 2000 events in 150 countries to turn up the heat on leaders heading to the Paris Climate Summit.
quote:
Highlights include:
Schoolchildren will be joined by Thom Yorke from the band Radiohead, singer songwriter and activist Charlotte Church, fashion designer and campaigner Vivienne Westwood, actor and political activist Vanessa Redgrave, poet, spoken word artist and playwright Kate Tempest, singer-songwriter, musician and activist Peter Gabriel, and the band Massive Attack in the London march
In India, Global Climate Walks are planned in seven cities featuring yoga, biking, and marching. The main activity will be in New Delhi, where on Sunday morning, people from across society will join together for the climate.
In Kampala, Uganda, 500,000 people are expected progress through the city led by popular local leaders and celebrities and topped off with a concert, all while Pope Francis is in town.
Across The Philippines, over 20 events, marches, and rallies are planned. In Manila, 20,000 people are expected to converge in Quezon City as part of a broad march with six contingents: climate-impacted communities, faith organization, youth, labor, anti-coal and renewable energy.
More than 60 events are planned across China with students coming together for a series of events including round table discussions, bike rides, screenings and more. While in Hong Kong, Taipei and Seoul hundreds are taking to the streets to demand a just transition to 100% renewable energy. And in Vietnam, a big climate music festival is planned, bringing together more than 1500 youth.
In Japan, major actions will happen in both Kyoto and Tokyo. Each march will feature several live performances, as well as a mass photo action where people will come together as individuals to form one collective image.
Across the United States, marches will take place across the country -- from Los Angeles to Austin, to Washington, DC up to New York City, thousands will gather in creative, art-filled actions in the name of climate justice.
Events are planned in Egypt’s two largest cities (Cairo and Alexandria) where thousands will be running to raise awareness on climate impacts and call for urgent climate action.
In Ottawa more than 10,000 will be marching for climate solutions and justice, while in Vancouver indigenous leaders will be heading a march joining the global call for climate action.
Sâo Paulo, Brazil will see a huge gathering on Paulista Avenue where the representatives of different movements will bring forward their climate solutions. The congregation will start marching towards one of the city´s iconic parks where speeches and music will cap off the day.
In Germany, the streets of Berlin will throng with people calling for a 100% clean, renewable future and a quick phase-out of coal.
In Australia, climate marches are being organised around the country. While in New Zealand there will be a marches in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Fossil Fuel Lobby Seen As Main Threat to Meaningful Progress at Paris Climate Talks
http://rabble.ca/news/2015/11/fossil-fuel-lobby-seen-main-threat-to-mean...
Remember Dan Gagnier...?
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