WE ARE NO DEBTORS! WE ARE CREDITORS OF A HISTORICAL, SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL DEBT!
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE RECOGNITION OF ECOLOGICAL DEBT IN COPENHAGEN
Wednesday, 09 December 2009
Spanish below
OPEN
LETTER
INTERNATIONAL
SUPPORT
FOR
THE RECOGNITION AND INTEGRAL REPARATION OF THE
ECOLOGICAL
DEBT DUE TO聽CLIMATE CHANGE
WITHIN
THE AGREEMENTS REACHED IN COPENHAGEN
December
2009
The
Southern People麓s Ecological Debt Creditors Alliance supports
the demand of Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela, Honduras, Costa
Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Panama, Guatemala,
Cuba, Belize, Dominica, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Antigua and
Barbados, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, for the RECOGNITION
AND INTEGRAL REPARATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL DEBT DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE
THAT IS OWED TO COUNTRIES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH BY COUNTRIES IN THE
GLOBAL NORTH, within international agreements of the 15thUnited
Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark
(COP15).
聽
THOSE
RESPONSIBLE AND THOSE AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE
One
of the most important aspects of the Convention on Climate Change is
to clearly state that the main causes of climate change are the
burning
of fossil fuels and deforestation,
which are caused by logging, mining, oil extraction activities by oil
companies, agribusiness, dams and others. These activities have
deteriorated the living conditions of local people by generating
violence, for resistance to such activities is repressed and
criminalized.
The
Convention determines that industrialized
countries are mainly responsible for climate change due
to carbon emissions, which pollute the atmosphere and cause serious
social and environmental impacts, both locally and globally.
Moreover,
it has been found that peoples
in the Global South are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate
change.
A World Bank report in November 2009 estimated that 85% of the
impacts of global warming will affect the world麓s poorest countries,
precisely those that least contribute to the phenomenon. Indeed,
tropical countries are the most affected due to more frequent floods
and droughts that create the agricultural and food crisis; the
thawing of snow-capped peaks which threatens water supplies and
climatic equilibrium; 聽the deterioration of living conditions
caused by water, air and soil pollution that increase migration,
among other impacts.
IMPUNITY
TOWARDS THE HISTORICAL, SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL DEBT
Climate
change is the result of a systematic
process of exploitation of nature.
It is a process that expanded during the colonial exploitation in
Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, which has been
generated, to date, an immense historical, social and ecological
debt. This debt has gone
unpunished.
Peoples
of the Global South claim this historical, social and ecological debt
that has accumulated andthat
the industrialized countries, mainly those from the Global North,
have with the countries and peoples of the Global South. This debt
has been accrued by looting, destroying and polluting nature; through
the exploitation of peoples within these territories; through the
polluting of the air by carbon emissions due to their forms of
production and consumption, and through the impacts of climate
change.
These
demands have been collected, among others, by the governments of
BOLIVIA, ECUADOR, PARAGUAY, VENEZUELA, HONDURAS, COSTA RICA, EL
SALVADOR, NICARAGUA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, PANAMA, GUATEMALA, CUBA,
BELIZE, DOMINICA, ST.VINCENT
AND THE GRENADINES, ANTIGUA AND BARBADOS, SRI LANKA AND MALAYSIA, who
propose the inclusion
of the recognition and integral reparation of the ecological debt
caused by climate change from countries in the Global North to
countries in the Global South within the agreements that will be made
in Copenhagen.
The
debate regarding the accumulated social and ecological debt,
historically and presently, should be at the center of the agreements
made in Copenhagen, for it points to the major causes and
consequences of climate change, identifies those responsible and
those affected, and seeks to halt
the destruction of nature and demands reparations
for the people and the environment.
If
the root causes of climate change are not addressed and solved, and
if direct
responsibilities through legally binding agreements
are not established,
Copenhagen will be another farce, for it will only be a space for new
business deals to be made:
environmental services and carbon markets, agrofuels and patented
renewable energy, new credits for adaptation, hydroelectric projects,
REDD mechanisms - Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries
-
seeking control of indigenous lands and forests.
To
promote these mechanisms, and those of mitigation and adaptation, new
loans
are expected, which will become another form of new business
resulting from the debt and the means of control. This will result in
further domination and pillage of nature by the IFIs, the lending
countries, and their transnational corporations, and will create new
situations of conflict and violence and increasing financial, social
and ecological debt.
We
demand that governments address the climate crisis seriously and
responsibly, for the development model based on extractive
industries, agribusiness, harmful technologies and the voracity of
capital accumulation, which have generated the historical, social and
ecological, as well as illegitimate
debts,
are the main causes of the environmental and climate crisis that is
threatening the people of the Global South and the entire planet.
REGARDING
ECOLOGICAL DEBT DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE
WE
ENDORSE:
The
demands of peoples from the Global South for the recognition and
reparation of the ecological debt due to climate change within the
Copenhagen agreements.
WE
DEMAND:
Support and expansion of proposals to maintain
crude oil repressed and territoriesfree of
hydrocarbons, such as the Yasun铆 Initiative in Ecuador
and the Amazon without Oil proposal in Bolivia, among others.
The reduction of emissions in
countries of the Global North by 40% by 2020, and by 90% by 2050,
taking as its starting point the 1990 emissions as stated in the
Bolivian proposal.
Rejection of the false solutions of the market:CDM, emissions trading, REDD, agrofuels, hydroelectric
projects, nuclear power, among others.
Promotion of appropriate alternative energy to natural
resources: sustainable, clean, renewable, decentralized, diverse,
affordable, and environmentally friendly.
The establishment of a fund for
the integral reparation of the ecological debt due to climate change in order
to accomplish environmental restoration, reparations to those affected
and unconditional adaptation to climate change under sovereign
management; controlled by and with the participation of the peoples and
countries affected.
Recognition and protection of the rights
of peoples forced to immigrate due to the
causes and impacts of climate change.
Not
allowing new projects that aggravate the
environmental and climate crisis.
Unconditional
annulment of external debtcharged to
countries in the Global South, for being a factor that exacerbates the
environmental crisis. Rejection
of the role of IFIs in
relation to climate change.
Not
allowing industrialized countries to evade their moral and legal
obligation to assume the full compensation of damage; not allowing them
to charge the South with new debts or financial constraints.
Guarantee,
protect and defend the territories of indigenous
peoples and campesino farmers who
maintain the ecosystems and protect the climate. Encourage campesino
farming and agro-ecological production. Respect the lifestyles of
people and communities of the Global South and their life alternatives. 聽
It is
time to stop the exploitation and oppression of nature, learn from
communities and peoples that are ecologically sustainable,
decommodify life and ensure full and integral reparations of the
social and ecological debt, in accordance with the sovereignty of the
people and the rights of the environment.
La Alianza de
Pueblos del Sur
Acreedores de Deuda Ecol贸gica apoya la demanda de Bolivia, Ecuador,
Paraguay, Venezuela, Honduras,聽 Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Nicaragua, Rep煤blica Dominicana, Panam谩,
Guatemala, Cuba, Belice, Dominica, St. Vincente y Las Grenadinas,
Antigua
y Barbado, Sri Lanka y Malasia,聽 por el
RECONOCIMIENTO Y REPARACI脫N INTEGRAL DE LA DEUDA ECOL脫GICA
POR CAMBIO CLIM脕TICO QUE DEBEN LOS PAISES DEL NORTE AL SUR, en los
acuerdos internacionales en la 15ta. Conferencia de las Partes del
Convenio Marco de Cambio Clim谩tico de las NNUU en
COPENHAGUE.
聽
聽
RESPONSABLES Y
AFECTADOS DEL
CAMBIO CLIM脕TICO
聽
Uno de los
aspectos m谩s relevantes de la Convenci贸n sobre Cambio
Clim谩tico es se帽alar claramente que las causas principales
del cambio clim谩tico son la quema decombustibles f贸siles, y la deforestaci贸n,
las mismas que se producen por las actividades madereras, mineras,
petroleras, agroindustriales, represas y otras.聽
Estas actividades han deteriorado las condiciones de vida de las
poblaciones locales generando violencia, pues la resistencia a dichas
actividades es reprimida y criminalizada.
聽
La
Convenci贸n determina que los pa铆ses industrializados
son los principales responsables del cambio clim谩tico
debido a sus emisiones de carbono, que contaminan la atm贸sfera y
causan graves impactos sociales y ambientales, locales y globales.聽聽
聽
Por otra
parte se ha identificado a los pueblos del Sur como los m谩s
vulnerables a los impactos del cambio clim谩tico. Un
Informe del Banco Mundial de noviembre 2009 estima que 85% del impacto
del
calentamiento global incidir谩 sobre los pa铆ses m谩s
pobres, justamente los que menos contribuyen con ese fen贸meno.聽聽 Efectivamente, los pa铆ses tropicales
son los m谩s afectados debido a: inundaciones y sequ铆as
m谩s frecuentes creando la crisis agr铆cola y alimentaria; el
deshielo de sus nevados, poniendo en riesgo las fuentes de agua y el
equilibrio clim谩tico; el deterioro de las condiciones de vida de
sus pueblos por la contaminaci贸n del agua, aire y suelo que
incrementan la migraci贸n, entre otros
impactos.
聽
聽
DEUDA
HIST脫RICA, SOCIAL
Y ECOL脫GICA EN LA IMPUNIDAD
聽
El cambio
clim谩tico es el resultado de un proceso sistem谩tico
de explotaci贸n de la naturaleza. Un proceso que se
expandi贸 en la explotaci贸n colonial de Asia, 脕frica,
Am茅rica Latina y el Caribe, y que ha ido generando hasta la
actualidad, una inmensa deuda hist贸rica, social y
ecol贸gica.聽 Esta deuda ha quedado en la
impunidad.
聽
Los pueblos
del Sur reclamamos
la deuda hist贸rica, social y ecol贸gica
acumulada, que los
pa铆ses
industrializados, principalmente del Norte, tienen con los pa铆ses y
pueblos del Sur, por el saqueo, destrucci贸n y contaminaci贸n
de la naturaleza; la explotaci贸n de sus pueblos; la
contaminaci贸n de la atm贸sfera por sus emisiones de carbono
debida a sus formas de producci贸n y consumo, y por los impactos del
cambio clim谩tico.
聽
Estas
demandas han sido recogidas, entre otros, por los gobiernos de BOLIVIA,
ECUADOR, PARAGUAY, VENEZUELA, HONDURAS,聽 COSTA
RICA, EL SALVADOR, NICARAGUA, REP脷BLICA DOMINICANA, PANAM脕,
GUATEMALA, CUBA, BELICE, DOMINICA, ST. VINCENTE Y LAS GRENADINAS,
ANTIGUA
Y BARBADO, SRI LANKA y MALASIA, quienes proponen que se incluya
en
los acuerdos de Copenhague el reconocimiento y la reparaci贸n
integral de la deuda ecol贸gica por cambio clim谩tico que los
pa铆ses del Norte deben a los pa铆ses del Sur.
聽
El debate
sobre la deuda social y ecol贸gica acumulada, hist贸rica y
actual, debe estar en el centro de los acuerdos en Copenhague, pues
apunta
a las principales causas y consecuencias del cambio clim谩tico,
identifica a los responsables y afectados, busca detener la
destrucci贸n de la naturaleza y demanda reparaciones
integrales para los pueblos y la
naturaleza.
聽
Si no se
solucionan las causas de fondo del cambio clim谩tico y se establecen
responsabilidades directas con acuerdos legalmente
vinculantes, Copenhague ser谩 otra farsa, pues solamente se
constituir谩 en un espacio para聽
concretar nuevos negocios: servicios
ambientales y
mercado de carbono, agrocombustibles y energ铆a renovable
patentada,聽 nuevos cr茅ditos para
adaptaci贸n,聽 proyectos
hidroel茅ctricos, mecanismos REDD聽 -
Reducci贸n de Emisiones por Deforestaci贸n y
Degradaci贸n Evitadas 鈥 que buscan el control de los
territorios ind铆genas y bosques.
聽
Para
impulsar estos mecanismos y los de mitigaci贸n y adaptaci贸n
se preveen nuevos cr茅ditos que constituir谩n
otro nuevo negocio de la deuda y medios de control, dominaci贸n y
saqueo de la naturaleza, por parte de las IFIs, los pa铆ses
prestamistas y sus empresas transnacionales creando nuevas situaciones
de
conflicto y violencia y aumentando la deuda financiera, social y
ecol贸gica.
聽
Exigimos a
los gobiernos tratar la crisis clim谩tica con seriedad y
responsabilidad pues el modelo desarrollista basado en las industrias
extractivas, agroindustriales, tecnolog铆as聽
da帽inas y la voracidad de acumulaci贸n de capital, que
han generado la deuda hist贸rica, social y ecol贸gica,
as铆 como las deudas ileg铆timas, son las
principales causas de la crisis ambiental y clim谩tica que
est谩 poniendo en riesgo a los pueblos del Sur en particular, y al
planeta en su conjunto.聽
聽
聽
FRENTE A LA
DEUDA
ECOL脫GICA POR CAMBIO
CLIM脕TICO
聽
RESPALDAMOS:
聽
La
exigencia de los pa铆ses del Sur del reconocimiento y la
reparaci贸n integral de la deuda ecol贸gica por cambio
clim谩tico, dentro de los acuerdos de Copenhague.
聽
DEMANDAMOS:
聽
Respaldar y
ampliar las propuestas de mantener el crudo represado y
territorios libres de hidrocarburos como la Iniciativa
Yasun铆 en Ecuador y la propuesta Amazonia sin Petroleo en Bolivia,
entre otras.
聽
Exigir la
reducci贸n de emisiones en los pa铆ses del
Norte del 40% para el 2020 y del 90% para el 2050 tomando como punto de
partida las emisiones de 1990, de acuerdo a la propuesta
boliviana.
聽
Rechazar las
falsas soluciones
de mercado:聽
mecanismos de desarrollo limpio, mercado de emisiones, REDD,
agrocombustibles, proyectos hidroel茅ctricos, energ铆a
nuclear, entre otros.
聽
Fomentar
energ铆as
alternativas adecuadas a los
medios naturales, sustentables, limpias, renovables, descentralizadas,
diversas, de bajo costo, ambientalmente respetuosas.
聽
Establecer
un fondo de reparaci贸n integral de la deuda
ecol贸gica por cambio clim谩tico para
restauraci贸n ambiental, resarcimiento a los afectados y
adaptaci贸n al cambio clim谩tico, sin condicionamientos y cuyo
manejo sea soberano, participativo y controlado por los pueblos y
pa铆ses afectados.
聽
Reconocer y
proteger los derechos de las poblaciones forzadas a inmigrar
por las causas e impactos del cambio
clim谩tico.
聽
No permitir
nuevos proyectos que agraven la crisis ambiental y
clim谩tica.
聽
Anulaci贸n
incondicional
de la deuda externa reclamada a
los pa铆ses
del Sur, por ser un factor que profundiza la crisis ambiental.聽 Rechazar el papel de las IFIs en
relaci贸n al cambio clim谩tico.
聽
No permitir
que los pa铆ses industrializados evadan su obligaci贸n moral y
jur铆dica de asumir la reparaci贸n integral de los
da帽os producidos, cargando a los pa铆ses del Sur con nuevos
endeudamientos financieros o condicionamientos.
聽
Garantizar,
proteger y defender los territorios de pueblos ind铆genas y
campesinos que mantienen los ecosistemas que protegen el
clima.聽 Favorecer la agricultura campesina, la
producci贸n agroecol贸gica. 聽Respetar a las formas
de vida de los pueblos y
comunidades del Sur y sus alternativas de vida.
聽
Es el momento
de parar la
explotaci贸n y opresi贸n a聽 la
naturaleza, aprender de las comunidades y pueblos ecol贸gicamente
sustentables, desmercantilizar la vida y realizar la reparaci贸n
integral de la deuda social y ecol贸gica, de acuerdo a la
soberan铆a de los pueblos y los derechos de la
naturaleza.
