Because the world needs to know….
Posts Tagged ‘climate change’
Avaaz
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
What do they do?
Avaaz.org is a community of global citizens who take action on the major issues facing the world today. The aim of Avaaz.org is to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decisions. Avaaz.org members act for a more just and peaceful world and a globalisation with a human face.
How can I get involved?
Sign up! – Avaaz’s online community has grown to over 3.2 million members in just over one year. It represents people from all nations, backgrounds, and ages. The core of their model of organizing is their email list, operated in 13 languages. By signing up to receive their alerts, you are rapidly alerted to urgent global issues and opportunities to achieve change. Avaaz members respond by rapidly combining the small amounts of time or money they can give into a powerful collective force. In just hours they can send hundreds of thousands of messages to political leaders telling them to save a crucial summit on climate change , hold hundreds of rallies across the world calling for action to prevent a genocide, or donate hundreds of thousands of euros, dollars and yen to support nonviolent protest in Burma.
Preparing for life after oil
Friday, September 12th, 2008By Hannah Robson
What is the issue?
We all know about global warming and climate change and we all know about the rising price of petrol, but do you know that cheap’ oil WILL RUN OUT?! The world is so dependent on oil, but it is becoming increasingly expensive, we are running out of easily accessible oil and soon it will take more energy to extract it than it is actually worth.
Who is it going affect?
The consequence of Peak Oil is a potential energy crisis and, like global warming, will affect EVERYONE. Oil is used for so many things in today’s society, from the fuel in our cars to heating, food and clothing production, petroleum products are used to make plastics, fabrics, even cosmetics and medicines. Basically, your parents will start complaining about the cost of petrol and everything else (even more than they do now!), and from there petrol will become so ridiculously expensive that no one will be able to afford it. This is going to have a dramatic affect on us and change the way we live our lives. The cost of transport will mean we will travel less, trade fewer goods with other countries and we will have to give up or find alternatives for many everyday objects, from lip-gloss, to fertiliser to CDs!
What are people doing about it?
While some people (mostly scientists and politicians) are focusing on new technology and other sources of energy, over 500 communities all over the world (including New Zealand) are facing the challenges of climate change and peak oil by looking for ways to become less dependent on oil and reduce their impact on the planet. These towns are known as Transition Towns and their aim is to create vibrant and thriving communities that are prepared for life after oil. There are dozens of these communities all over Britain, as well as the Sunshine Coast, Australia and New Zealand’s very own Waiheke Island, Orewa and Kapiti Coast. All up over 1,527,000 people are involved!
While this is happening at a local level there are also national and global principles in action. Nationally, some governments use energy rationing systems to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and globally, the Oil Depletion Protocol encourages nations to collectively reduce consumption, both oil producing and consuming nations.
What can we do?
There are lots more towns around New Zealand that have expressed interest in participating in this initiative. What about YOUR town?
The 12 steps of Transition
Curing our addiction to oil.
1. Get a team together — you need a group of keen and dedicated people to get the project going
2. Awareness raising - start informing people and get them talking about the issues, show some films like A Crude Awakening: the oil crash or An Inconvenient Truth, get some speakers in….make some noise!
3. Lay the foundations — find out what people are already doing in your community, start networking and build relationships with local businesses, schools and community groups.
4. Organise a Great Unleashing — have a (eco!)party and share your vision with the whole community.
5. Form working groups - get people focused on specific aspects of the process like food, water, transport, waste etc.
6. Try Open Space — bring everyone together and explore a particular topic or issue, with no agenda, no timetable, no coordinator and no minute takers, just let the ideas and discussion flow and see what happens.
7. Less talk, more action! Don’t just organise lots of meetings, show people what you are achieving.
8. Facilitate the Great Re-skilling — we seem to have forgotten how to do lots of things. Organise workshops on cooking, cycle maintenance, sock darning, gardening and food growing etc.
9. Make friends with your Local Government - Whether it is planning issues, funding or providing connections, you need them on board.
10. Honour your elders — Our grandparents lived in a lower energy society, before the age of consumerism and convenience. We could learn a lot from them.
11. Go with the flow — once your community is behind this it might not always go as your planned. Be flexible.
12. Create an Energy Descent Plan — Sounds serious doesn’t it? This is about combining all the work and plans so you cope as oil gets more and more expensive.
For more details on the 12 Steps to Transition and heaps more information go to www.transitiontowns.org.nz
TAKE ACTION
You don’t have to be involved in Transition Towns to take action you could leave the car at home and catch a bus or train or walk— if you don’t need to drive, DON’T! — come on guys, you know the drill. Buy less, grow your own food, recycle. Don’t let the Peak Oil Crisis be another global issue that isn’t addressed until it becomes even more difficult Stop making excuses — it’s time to make ourselves aware and show we care!
LEARN MORE
Check out Beyond the Petrol Pump, by Omar Hamed
Borrow A Crude Awakening: the oil crash, An Inconvenient Truth, Syriana and loads more DVDs from the Global Education Centre
Check out the Green Party’s Peak Oil Campaign
Go to www.globalcool.org.uk and www.4million.org.nz for loads of ideas on reducing your personal carbon footprint
Check out some great tips for organic gardening at www.sustainablehouseholds.org.nz
Why fair trade?
Thursday, August 28th, 2008By Nicole Mesman
It’s Saturday night and I am sitting in the back of our family’s ute as we make our way home from a friend’s house. I lean against the window staring out, when suddenly our old front stereo roars into life. It’s Dad; he has turned on the radio for what he thinks is the 7 o-clock news. He’s a little early however, they are just on a pre-news interview.
Hi’, she says my name is Molly Crower and you’re listening to a pre-news muse, from the home of radio truth. Tonight we will be interviewing Hayden Spencer, Trade Aid’s spokesperson in New Zealand regarding the upcoming Fair Trade Fortnight. Good evening Hayden.
Hello Molly.’
So Hayden I hear that Fair Trade Fortnight is coming up from the 3rd to the 18th of May?’
It certainly is.’
Perhaps you could give us a bit of background? For starters what is fair trade
My ears prick up. This interview sounds interesting! I tell Dad to turn it up.
Well’ continues Hayden, fair trade is when companies buy goods such as cotton, tea, cocoa and coffee beans, and also craft items such as clothing, baskets, jewellery etc, from producers in places such as Africa, Asia and South America for a fair and consistent price. It also works to protect workers rights by preventing the use of harmful sprays around crops, increasing safe working conditions, and decreasing the numbers of child workers.’
And is it true that through fair trade’ the buyer is also contributing U.S 5cents per pound of coffee to the grower’s community for them to invest at will?
That’s right Molly’.
So now what can you tell us about Fair Trade Fortnight Hayden?
Well, it’s about raising people’s awareness, this year the fortnight focuses on environmental justice which is about us realising that the developing world, who contribute the LEAST to climate change will be the ones who feel it the MOST.’
Really?!’
Yes, I’m afraid so. The majority of the world live in developing countries yet it is the small percentage of the world’s population that live in developed countries (like us!) that have contributed most to this global problem. What people need to be think about Molly is how unfair is it that developing countries who are already losing out by unfair trade rules, will be expected to foot more than their fair share of the climate change bill. Realising this encourages us to think about how we can reduce our carbon footprint and reminds us how important it is to support fair trade. Throughout the Fortnight there will be loads of activities, competitions and events will be run all over the country. There’s more information at www.tradeaid.co.nz or www.fairtrade.org.nz.
That was great Hayden.
No problem Molly.
The interview finished and was replaced by the news, but I heard none of it. There were so many questions buzzing around in my head. How did fair trade start? Was Hayden just presenting one side of the story? Was fair trade really as good as they made it out to be?
My determination to find out drove me to the internet very early the next morning, where I found a range of information to answer my questions. I discovered that it all started in the late 1940’s after World War II, with some U.S churches selling handicrafts made by refugees in Europe. The idea of fair trade first came to Aotearoa New Zealand when Richard and Vi Cottrell, who had been helping out with the Tibetan refuge resettlement in India in 1969, came back to New Zealand to raise funds for the refugees. They started by selling a $1000 worth of Tibetan carpets in Christchurch and later moved on to develop Trade Aid stores across the country. At Trade Aid all products are made organically, produced on a small scale and shipped to conserve fuel.
I also found out that although most people would agree that fair trade is a good thing, it does have it critics. My research uncovered some individuals who thought supermarkets and companies where abusing the fair trade concept to make greater financial gains on products. One independent survey revealed that products where between 9-16 percent more expensive than others. One site didn’t think fair trade went far enough. It questioned the structures on which fair trade was built, saying that if they did not change significantly, the rich would continue to get richer and the poor remain poor.
After reading all this, my opinion is that fair trade is overall positive thing. Yes, supermarkets and some companies can profit from the products, but you can avoid this by buying from ethical stores such as Trade Aid. It may not be perfect, but anything that improves the working conditions and livelihoods of farmers and their families has got to be a good thing. Right!?
TAKE ACTION - How can YOU support fair trade?
- Think before you shop! Buy coffee, spices, gifts and more from Trade Aid, purchase fair trade products from your local supermarket and choose New Zealand made fair trade clothing from places like kowtow or Green Fields Trading Company.
- Participate in Fair Trade Fortnight in May every year. Find at how at www.fairtrade.org.nz
- Join the fair trade supermarket campaign at www.checkoutfairtrade.org.nz
- Join the fair trade coffee break group at www.oxfam.org.nz
- Make your community fair trade friendly, find out what this involves at www.fairtrade.com.au
LEARN MORE
Learn more about environmental justice at www.tradeaid.co.nz
Check out the great cartoons at www.maketradefair.com which explain how unfair the current trade system is.
A version of this article was published in the May 2008 issues of actv8.
Feast or Famine?
Thursday, May 15th, 2008Food for thought… 
Food is an integral part of human existence — we need it to survive. It is part of a global system linked to issues like trade, genetic modification famine, slavery, health, food miles and sustainability. Sounds complicated huh? It gets even more complicated when you consider the huge number of media messages and images we are bombarded with every day, telling us what to eat, how to look and what is beautiful. Basically, food corporations want us to eat cheaply produced food lacking in nutrition and stuffed with chemicals, harvested by poorly-paid labour and flown half way across the world, while advertisers and the media place unrealistic expectations on us to be thin and beautiful. An exaggeration? You decide.
Stuffed or starved? 
There are 800 million people in the world who go hungry every day and there are over a BILLION people who are obese. There is enough food in the world for everyone, but the systems in place mean that some people don’t get enough food and others have access to lots of unnutritious food. Fast food outlets and supermarkets have made food convenient and easy… you don’t have to think, just eat! Un-conscious eating is making us unhealthy and a lot of us obese. But as we keep over-consuming in the developed world, many people in the developing work — including those who pick our cocoa beans, coffee beans, bananas and tomatoes — are struggling because they don’t have access to affordable food. More info: stuffedandstarved.org Killing us softly 
Fiji, a country that traditionally valued the fuller figure’, was affected by an outbreak of eating disorders three year after television arrived in 1995. A study by Harvard Medical School found that 74% if teenage girls surveyed felt they were “too big or fat” and 15% of the girls reported they had vomited to control weight. The introduction of western values and (unrealistic) images of beauty was seen as the likely cause of the increase in eating disorders. More info: Borrow the movie Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising Images of Women (DVD) from the Global Education Centre library Freeganomics 
In the US it is estimated that half of the food produced each year is thrown away. You probably know about vegans but have you heard about Freegans? Freegans are a group of people who live solely off the waste of others and distance themselves from big corporations and consumerism. They go through dumpsters outside supermarkets and other shops (known as dumpster diving’) and pick out the unspoiled food that has been thrown away. They also grow their own food or contribute to community gardens. They are not poor or homeless, they do this in an attempt to minimise their impact on the planet. More info: http://freegan.info When cows lay eggs?! 
Not sure where your food comes from? You’re not the only one. A recent survey of 1,000 British kids aged eight to fifteen revealed some strange ideas. In answer to the question: If cows ate grass, what colour would their milk be?’, eight percent answered brown, green or not sure. Ten percent of the city kids in the survey (the country kids did a little better) didn’t know where yoghurt came from and eight percent were unable to say which animal beef comes from. Of the same group, two percent thought that bacon might be from cows or sheep, and that eggs come from cows. More info: www.foodroutes.org Are biofuels worth it? 
Although recently highlighted as a key solution to another pressing global issue — climate change — the production of biofuels may actually be causing more harm than good, particularly when it comes to food. Biofuels need a large amount of water and fertile land — land often found in developing countries which could otherwise be used to grow food crops. The UK government’s Chief Scientific Adviser recently described the global rush to grow biofuels as “profoundly stupid”, pointing out that a global food crisis is going to hit before some of the more serious impacts of climate change. More info here. LEARN MORE: Find out about food production and distribution at Food First or Global Issues TAKE ACTION! It can seem too big and complicated to do anything about, but taking action is the ONLY way things change, so here are a few suggestions to get you started. Get reconnected with your food by growing your own veggies. Check out the action section on www.sustainablehouseholds.org.nz for some great tips on organic gardening. Watch these DVDs, all available to hire FOR FREE at the Global Education Centre: Media that Matters — Good Food A Selection of Short Films on Food and Sustainability What’s Really In Our Food? InsideNew Zealand SuperSizeMe The Future of Food This article originally appeared in Tearaway magazine as part of the Global Focus project.
XMAS - Treasure or trash?
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007By Elisabeth Perham
Christmas should be a time for celebration, a time for sharing, being with family, celebrating all that is good. While this may be the case, the unfortunate truth, like the Climate Change movie says the inconvenient truth, is that the annual Christmas craze is one which is seriously damaging the health of the Earth.
Funny how Christmas now starts in October. The mall decorations go up, ads encourage you to start your shopping and catalogues arrive in the mail. Nearly three months away and already we can’t escape it. Not that I’m a scrooge, far from it! In fact, I love the holiday season. Yet I find myself becoming more and more concerned about the festival of consumerism that modern-day Christmas is.
And not just consumerism at Christmas, but throughout the whole year. Landfills swell, temperatures rise, neighbourhoods flood and hurricanes devastate cities. You already know all this, we all do, but do you care enough to do anything about it? In the most recent statistics available (ie. 1997: so archaic that it’s shameful) New Zealanders disposed of 3.4 million tonnes of waste into landfills. That’s almost a tonne each! What’s worse is that this is so much more than we used to dispose of. In the Auckland region, this was an increase of 73% per person of rubbish from 1983. Imagine what the figure is now — and what it will be like in ten years’ time.
It may seem rather macabre to be bringing this up when this season should be festive, but it is in fact the perfect time. At Christmas our already ludicrous consumption goes up a further 25%, and as about 80% of goods made for consumption are thrown away within six months of production, this means a whole lot more waste.
Fact: in the UK alone, at least 1 billion Christmas cards will find their way to the bin by the end
of this holiday season. Although similar figures are not available here in New Zealand, if we sent cards at the same voracious rate as our British counterparts (which is unfortunately quite likely), this would mean we send a whopping 66.5 million a year. With one tree required for the production of 3000 cards, we could unwittingly be sending 22000 trees through our postal system.
But the news isn’t all bad. If we all make just a little bit of effort, the bad we are doing CAN be reversed. Ladies and gentlemen, the Earth can be saved! For every tonne of paper we manage to recycle, 13 trees, 31780 litres of water and 2.5 barrels of oil are conserved. For every one tonne of aluminium recycled: 13,300 kWh of electricity is saved, 95% less air pollution is produced and 4 tonnes of chemical product are conserved.
So this Christmas, do give thanks: give thanks for the Earth being the one planet in the entire universe that can sustain your life. Give thanks for the generations that will follow you. Make it a Merry Pollution-Free Christmas for all your grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
References:
Zero Waste
Waste Online
http://ims.npt.gov.uk/imsapps/waste/waste_christmas.aspx
TAKE ACTION
It’s easy to make Christmas less wasteful, and just a little effort from all of us will make a big difference. You’ll be helping save the Earth and, who knows, you could even save some money! It’s a simple matter thinking about the three R’s:
Top ways to Reduce Christmas waste…
- Think carefully about the gifts you buy.
- Buy Fair Trade if possible and look for environmentally-responsible producers.
- If you’re not sure what to buy, give money or vouchers. That way the gift is less likely to be thrown out.Be imaginative with presents.
- Buy a couple of chickens for a family living in poverty on your mate’s behalf (Oxfam:Unwrapped )
- Make vouchers with promises to cook tea one night or do the vacuuming for a month. A spot of baking never goes amiss either, and it can be really fun!!!
- Use an artificial tree, much more environmentally friendly than a real one.
- Better still, decorate a living tree in a pot and let it live! Both these options can be reused every year without the need to chop down yet another tree…
Christmas Cards
- Send e-greetings instead of cards. Try www.christmas-egreetings.com for a range of awesome cards (cheaper too).
Food
- Buy food in recyclable packaging… and recycle it!!! (Especially don’t buy things in Styrofoam packaging. It never decomposes… ever!!!)
Christmas Trees:Things you can Re-use…
Wrapping
- Use string, not tape. That way it’s easier for others to recycle it too.
- Remove your Christmas wrap carefully and tuck it away to wrap next year’s presents.Make tags/cards
- If you’re into saving money and like to be creative, use the pictures off the front of received cards to handcraft your own highly personalised cards and gift tags.
- Re-Gifting - If you are given a gift you don’t like, don’t throw it out!!! Donate anything in good condition to a charity shop or pass it on to someone else. Or jump on Trade Me: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure after all. Or give it as a gift next year — just be careful you don’t return it to the same person.
- Put all those bottles, cans, cards and packets in the recycling bin. Most cities now have street collection, but if this isn’t available, it’s only one trip to the recycling depot. It’s really not that difficult. To find out what the deal is in your area check out this link.
And don’t forget to Recycle…
A version of this article was originally published in JET magazine.
Refugees - We are everywhere
Saturday, September 1st, 2007By Omar Hamed
Where should we go after the last frontiers,
where should the birds fly after the last sky?
Mahmoud Darwish, poet
There are 12.8 million refugees in the world!* That is about three times the population of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Refugees are people fleeing dire circumstances of war, oppression and starvation, and more recently the devastating effects of climate change which compel them to travel across the face of the globe in search of a safe home.
The number of refugees is always changing, reflecting the changing global situation; as some refugees return home, others flee new conflicts and troubles.
Who are they and where do they come from?
Some of the biggest populations of refugees globally today are from Palestine, Sudan and Afghanistan.
Palestinians
Palestinians comprise the largest single population of refugees at 4.4 million people.* These refugees were displaced in the wars and conflicts that have troubled the region since 1948 and the continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Prevented by the Israeli state from returning to their homes in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, these Palestinians now live in a myriad of refugee camps in neighbouring countries, primarily Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, and in migrant communities across the world including the United States and Argentina.
Sudanese
The central African state of Sudan has in recent years experienced genocide and severe famine which has displaced more than 8 million people and forced 700 000 people into neighbouring countries. In Darfur, since early 2003, the Sudanese government and the government-sponsored Janjaweed militia have used violence and organised starvation to forcibly displace an entire region.
Afghanis
Fleeing from the Taliban, famine and drought, murderous warlords and the United States-led aerial bombing campaign in the wake of September 11, Afghanis now make up the third largest population of refugees in the world, with a combined population of nearly 2 million. Afghani refugees made headlines in 2001 when the New Zealand government decided to accept hundreds who had been stranded, after the boat they were travelling in started to sink off the Australian coast.
Aotearoa New Zealand’s role
More than 20,000 refugees have arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand since 1944, when official statistics were first collected.
As part of the Government’s commitment to fulfilling its international humanitarian responsibilities, we take up to 750 refugees each year under the Refugee Quota Programme, which includes up to 300 places for family members of refugees already here. Hundreds of other refugees are also accepted who claim refugee status upon reaching New Zealand. It sounds like a pretty small number, but in proportion to our population it’s one of the highest rates of acceptance in the world!
Resettlement can be difficult. 16 year old Afghani migrant Amina Lafaraie recalled it can be quite tough to fit in. In the first years after arriving in Aotearoa New Zealand, Amina found school life hard where people, “were quite awful and cruel — saying things like Fly away home!’” However attitudes towards refugees are slowly changing and refugees are increasingly being accepted as an integral part of Aotearoa New Zealand.
While some struggle with resettlement, others do not fit our criteria for asylum and are denied status and deported. In 2005, 78% of refugee status appeal applications were declined. Many New Zealanders campaign against the deportation of such people. There is currently a campaign to free five Iranian asylum seekers who have been denied refugee status by the New Zealand Immigration Service, and have been detained because they refuse to sign a form that would allow them to be deported to Iran. Amir Mohebbi is one of the five and has been detained for three years, despite having three kiwi children.
Solving the crisis
It all sounds a bit grim, but these challenges are not unsolvable. People across the world are working to end the root causes of displacement and to create fairer and freer refugee policies in the countries that refugees flee to. They range from the aid workers in Sudan and Lebanon who work to improve the conditions of refugees, to Palestinians, Israelis and international activists who challenge the day-to-day oppression of Palestinians. Then there are the many volunteers who resettle refugees in places like Aotearoa New Zealand and the radical global “No Borders” movement that is challenging the ever-tightening systems of border control, through campaigns against deportation centres and criminalisation of refugees.
Together these local groups and global movements are capable of creating a world that is more supportive of refugees and the challenges they face.
(*Statistics taken from Refugees by numbers, 2006, UNCHR. Total number of refugees is 8.4 million plus 4.4 Palestinian refugees who are not covered by UNCHR, but by UNRWA)
Learn More & Take Action
- Get behind World Refugee Day, more info at United Nations Refugee Agency
- Afghani Refugees in Aotearoa: Amina’s story and other articles about global justice issues on Just Focus
- Crisis in Sudan: Genocide Intervention Network
- Situation of Palestinian refugees: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
- RMS is the refugee resettlement agency in Aotearoa and welcomes volunteers and donations
- Join Global Peace and Justice Auckland who are currently campaigning on behalf of five Iranian asylum seekers who are detained in Mt. Eden prison
Five Facts
- Albert Einstein was a refugee
- It is World Refugee Day every year on June 20
- Pakistan and Iran currently host the largest refugee populations in the world
- 1 in every 3 refugees is Palestinian
- The International Red Cross reported that already up to 25 million people have been displaced by the impacts of climate change
A version of this article was originally published in JET magazine.
Tackling climate change
Wednesday, August 1st, 2007How is NZ reducing its ecological footprint?
Storme Sen
Global warming
You hear about global warming everywhere nowadays; scientists and tree-huggers spout on about it and the millions of mind-boggling statistics to back up their claim at any opportunity. Yet, that phrase is never in the forefront of our minds in our everyday life, not when we take our hour long shower, not when we leave six appliances on at once, not until global warming affects our lives personally do those cold statistics mean a thing.
Since when has the weather gone so insane?
Mudslides, earthquakes and floods are occurring in places where they shouldn’t be at alarming rates; polar bears are actually drowning from lack of icebergs to rest on! Global warming is no longer something we can put off or disown as scare-propaganda. A recent example of out-of-control weather phenomenon are the tornadoes that hit Taranaki. New Zealand shouldn’t have global warming problems; we are renowned for our “clean and green” image, right? Wrong.
If we measure the average emissions produced per capita (individually), New Zealand comes in at a shocking 12th place in the world for the highest carbon producing countries in 2006. As a country that thrives on showcasing its natural resources for the tourism industry and production of biological products for export, New Zealand’s economy is particularly vulnerable to climate change
So what is global warming?
The suns rays have always penetrated our atmosphere, warming the earths surface, enabling life to inhabit our planet, then been reflected back off the earths surface out through our ozone layer. But now, the pollution we emit traps the harmful rays in our atmosphere so that they cannot be reflected back out of our ozone layer, causing global warming. This changes our weather patterns, causes droughts, melts our ice caps, provides warmer temperatures for disease carrying vectors and pests, such as mosquitoes, to breed, and changes the conditions for crops to be grown in, to name a few examples.
We know a lot of these facts and that global warming is a problem of epic proportions, but now the time has come to do something about it. It was not caused by my generation but it is up to us to carry the burden and we can no longer just say our great great grandchildren will have to deal with it. New Zealand has ratified the Kyoto Protocol named after the Japanese city the environmental summit was held in. The Kyoto Protocol aims to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of developed countries to 5% below the level they were in 1990 from the period 2008-2012. New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions are currently 25% higher than they were in 1990 and New Zealand is in danger of not achieving its target.
The Bill
At Youth Parliament 2007 a Legislative Bill was put forward for debate amongst the Youth Parliamentarians. This bill was mainly aimed at reducing household carbon gas emissions and lowering the energy usage of individuals. The bill enables a household to open a voluntary carbon account that will monitor their energy consumption via a Smart card system. There would be a fee to open an account and the amount of energy deemed reasonable for consumption would be individually analyzed in accordance with the needs of each different household. The account would also introduce carbon credits (in the form of tax credits), rewarding a household that makes energy savings of 10% (with $500) and penalizing those that overreach their amount of calculated energy use. In addition, the bill stated that the government will pay up to 50% of the costs of converting to more energy efficient means such as solar power.
This bill was greeted with a plethora of criticism. Youth MP Katherine Steel felt that the bill did not go anywhere near far enough and proclaimed “this bill is proof that the government is f!*king with our futures”. Many Youth MPs pointed out the several flaws in this bill. Namely, if it is voluntary with a sign-up fee no one will do it and making it compulsory is out of the question because it will be “perceived as a state intrusion”. It doesn’t offer enough of an incentive and why would you want to sign up for something that would actually add extra cost should you use too much energy. Additionally there is the cost of performing individual energy usage evaluations, which would be astronomical.
The ironically heated debate over this environmental bill also produced talk about whether New Zealand should revoke its strong Anti-Nuclear policy. Youth MP James Barnett stated that “70% of the world already use nuclear power, I say we follow.” Some Youth MPs thought that this was worth the hypocritical label because nuclear power would more than meet our energy requirements and produces no greenhouse gas emissions, stating that we are “famous for Do as we say and not as we do’ anyway” (for example, it is illegal for us to cut down native trees and yet we import the native trees of other countries).
The more idealistic and positive of the Youth MPs were for the passing of this bill, arguing that while this bill was definitely not perfect, it was still a step in the right direction. Others weren’t so sure it was the government’s job. How many politicians does it take to change a light bulb?” asked Youth MP James Walkinshaw. The answer? None, the people need to do it themselves.
LEARN MORE
- Check out Global Issues 24 that asks the important question how big is your ecological footprint?’
- And the Global Bits Issue 10 is full of info surrounding the climate change issue.
- See what businesses are up to in New Zealand….
- Have a look at the New Scientist’s 26 most common climate myths.
TAKE ACTION!
- See Greenpeace’s list of things that you can do!
- Check out the Wasted’ website to calculate your footprint… and how you can change this.
- The Ministry for the Environment’s site has interesting info on action and strategies the policy level- keep yourself informed!
- Make sure you see An Inconvenient Truth’… this is in the GEC library.
Eco-prisoners: From the US to the Pacific
Friday, May 18th, 2007By Cameron Walker
Many of the world’s environmental problems have been caused by multinational corporations and states in their constant drive for profit and control of humanity. Across the globe there have been many brave acts of resistance against those exploiting both humanity and the environment. Unfortunately as global awareness of environmental issues increases so does repression of those brave enough to stand up.
Jeff free’ Luers, currently serving a 22 year 8 month sentence in Oregon, USA, is one of these eco-prisoners. On June 26th 2000 he decided to take part in “an act of resistance designated to raise awareness and draw attention to a problem that affects every human being, every animal, every plant, and every form of life on this planet. I am speaking of global warming air, soil and water pollution” 1
Luers torched three SUVs at a Chevrolet dealership. The damage to the SUVs was so slight that they were later repaired and sold. Luers’ harsh sentence was entirely political. His support website has a large list comparing his sentence with those handed down to people convicted of shocking crimes, such as murder and rape. One man, who had previously served time for murder, was convicted, of raping several young girls and sentenced to 13 years prison by Karen Tracey, the same prosecutor in Luers’ case. On the 14th of February 2007 the Oregon Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that Jeff Luers will be remanded back to court for resentencing. Hopefully his sentence will be shortened. To keep informed about this see Jeff Luers’ website below.
Since the election of the Bush Administration there has been growing repression of radical ecological and animal rights activists. In 2002 the FBI declared the Earth Liberation Front’ (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front’ (ALF) the nation’s biggest domestic terror threats, despite the fact that they’ve never hurt people. Many activists have been arrested and imprisoned for frivolous reasons, in what is being described as the green scare’.
Across the majority world large numbers of people have been imprisoned for daring to stand up to multinationals destroying the environment. In West Papua, which has been the scene of violent Indonesian Military operations since 1962, there has been large scale repression against students protesting the operations of US mining company Freeport McMoRan. Every day Freeport’s Grasberg copper and gold mine dumps 700,000 tonnes of mining waste into Papua’s rivers. According to the New York Times this has destroyed nearly 90 square miles of wetlands, which were once ‘one of richest freshwater habitats in the World’. This has angered many indigenous West Papuans, so Freeport pays the Indonesian Military to provide security. The Military has murdered many mining opponents.
On March 16th 2006 university students set up blockades in Papua’s capital, Jayapura, demanding the closure of the Freeport mine. The Military and Brimob (paramilitary police) violently attacked the demonstrators, leading to clashes in which three policemen and one soldier died. Brimob entered the university arresting scores of students, who were then beaten, tortured and forced to admit to taking part in the killings. Students’ families were also targeted. One student, who has since fled to Papua New Guinea, told an Australian human rights activist “After the March 16 clashes Intel [Brimob] arrested my mother, then took her from the house to the university. They wanted to kill her in front of the university but she was struggling and shouting hard, and so they took her to POLDA [Police Station] and tortured her, burned her with cigarettes and beat her up for three days at the gaol”.2 Some of the students have since been given lengthy prison terms, even though no evidence to suggest they took part in the killings was produced. Hundreds are still in hiding.
The New Zealand Government have been accused of not doing enough to expose the crisis in West Papua and could be seen as complicit in the destruction of West Papua. The NZ Super Fund invests taxpayer money in Freeport McMoRan. On May 14th 2007 an Indonesian Military officer started a 7 month NZ Defence Force Command Staff course at Trentham Army Camp, near Wellington. During the occupation of East Timor, Indonesian soldiers used to learn counter-insurgency’ skills from the NZ Defence Force. Human rights activists have called for NZ not to repeat the mistakes of the past by cutting all NZ military ties with Indonesia.
As young people we need to ask ourselves do we aspire to join the big corporations and governments destroying our world or will we stand in solidarity with Jeff Luers, the Papuan students and all those bravely resisting the destruction of our planet?
Take Action
Free Jeff Luers
Write a letter of support to Jeff in prison:
Jeffrey Luers, #13797671
Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP)
2605 State Street
Salem, OR 97310
Join his support campaign’s email list to receive updates about the case, writings from Jeff and ideas to support. Sometimes the campaign does a shout out for supporters to do little things, like buy Jeff a book. If you have spare money you can always donate to his legal fees fund.
Freeport and West Papua
Get in contact with one of the group’s protesting against the NZ Super Fund’s unethical investments.
The Indonesia Human Rights Committee in Auckland has been campaigning for the NZ Super Fund to dump all its Freeport shares. Check out the IHRC Press Release.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Auckland held a demonstration in March against the Super Fund’s investments in arms companies and Freeport. See the report.
Get in contact with Students For Justice in Palestine
Write a letter to the NZ Super Fund calling for it to dump Freeport McMoRan:
NZ Super Fund
P O Box 106607
Auckland 1143
New Zealand
Join the campaign to cut all NZ military ties with Indonesia.
Contact Indonesia Human Rights Committee in Auckland. Peace Action Wellington have also called for NZ Military ties with Indonesia to be cut.
Learn More
www.freefreenow.org/
www.infopapua.org/
Report - Protest and punishment: political prisoners in Papua, Human Rights Watch, February 2007 
References
1 http://freefreenow.org/whois.html
2 http://freewestpapua.com/node/78?
Image of Grasburg Mine from Canada’s West Papua Action Network
Vegetarianism…make the move!
Monday, September 25th, 2006Kayt Bronnimann
When you think of issues of global justice, vegetarianism is not one that immediately comes to mind. Many would think that choosing to become a vegetarian is less important than other issues that we should be campaigning for.
It may seem that vegetarianism is an individual choice has little effect in the wider scheme of things. However, the benefits of a vegetarian diet are widespread and effect more than just animals.
Vegetarianism’s links to global issues/why be a vegetarian:
- compassion to animals/ animal rights
- refusing to buy into another system of exploitation
- a diet based on meat is no longer required
- health benefits
- compassion to our fellow human beings are great
- environmental
- hunger problems
Meat and the Environment/Pollution…
Since the industrial age the world has seen a rapid destruction of the environment around us, including increased pollution and global warming Much of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed in order to make way for cattle ranches where cows are fattened up and slaughtered to become tomorrow night’s dinner. McDonalds in particular, along with all its other injustices, is guilty of this crime. (See the McSpotlight website for more info)
Unlike the indigenous Indians of the Amazon who use traditional deforestation techniques, including slash and burn, that allow the forest to renew itself after a time, the techniques that McDonalds some cattle ranchers employ ensures that nothing will be growing in that spot once they’re done. Eventually they exhaust the land and have to move on destroying more and more rainforest in their wake. The Amazon is responsible for a large part of the world’s oxygen yet we carnivores seem hell-bent on getting our products no matter what the cost may be.
It’s not only the big multi-nationals that are guilty of contributing to environmental pollution. Farmers are part of the problem too. For years, in New Zealand farming practices were unregulated, allowing the effluent from their activities to be dumped anywhere, most often in our waterways. Although there are much stricter laws concerning this now, with farmers being expected to build settling ponds, the damage has already been done. New Zealand used to be a place where people could swim and drink from most rivers or lakes around the country without fear of contamination, but this is fast becoming a thing of the past.
Many of the world’s plant and animal species are now extinct; hunted to death in a senseless display of man’s bloodlust. And it’s still happening at an ever-increasing rate.
World Hunger
World hunger is something that can be helped in part by adopting a vegetarian diet. A large number of the world crops are grown to be fed to animals that end up on the dinner plate of many a rich Westerner. A huge percentage of agricultural land is used to grow feed for animals. And the developing world also provides much of our animal feed. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that this is an illogical system. With the crisis of world hunger growing worse every year, it is not justifiable to continue taking away valuable land and food from developing countries so that we can enjoy a nice Sunday roast.
In terms of energy and protein it is much more efficient to grow food directly for human consumption. And with obesity becoming a problem in Western countries it is obvious we are consuming far more than our energy needs require. Our meat consumption is directly affecting the lives of billions of people.
Meat and Oppression
In her book The Sexual Politics of Meat’ Carol J. Adams links meat consumption to an oppressive, patriarchal, war mongering society. If we can so easily kill animals for our own gratification and not link the slab of meat (or more aptly put, corpse) in front of us to a dead animal, how can we be expected to spare a thought for the millions who have been killed in senseless wars over the years?
Pacifism and vegetarianism have often gone hand in hand - with the belief that it is hypocritical to condemn war, and killing around the world, while buying in to the culture of meat eating. If one can justify killing animals, it is only a small step to justify taking human life. Killing, whether of a human or a cow, should never be justified. What right do we have to take another creature’s (human or otherwise) life so that we can continue with our existence?
Challenge the status quo
This constant need for expansion, growth, consumption of more, More, MORE!! that capitalism advocates is destroying our environment, extinguishing species, and keeping the poor in poverty so we can enjoy our comfortable lifestyle.
Obviously vegetarianism isn’t going to solve all the world’s problems, but it’s a step in the right direction. We need to combat the apathy that we all seem to have, realise our privileged position, and think how our actions may be affecting the rest of the world. And extending this consideration to animals can’t hurt. Ignorance is not bliss, it’s time we opened our eyes and start giving a damn about the world we inhabit.
LEARN MORE
The Vegetarian Society
The Vegan Society
The New Zealand Vegetarian Society
McSpotlight
TAKE ACTION!
- Become a vegetarian!
- Join an animal rights group