The IIFCC, the Indigenous Peoples caucus for the UN
Climate Change negotiations with
representatives of Indigenous Peoples from all regions of the world,
and over 3000 community members from throughout Mexico and the
Americas, in November 2010, called for Climate Justice with real
solutions. The caucus concluded, "Indigenous Peoples are on the front lines
of the impacts of climate change around the world, whether we are from islands
and coastal areas, the Arctic, the deserts, urban areas forests or mountain
regions. Our traditional foods are diminishing, our waterways and sea ice
habitats are disappearing, the rains that sustain us are drying up, and our
homelands are falling into the rising seas. The situation is dire
and urgent. Indigenous Peoples demand a change in the models of
production and consumption that produce climate change, as well as decisive
action for real solutions by State Parties at this session." The
16th Conference of the Parties Opening Statement by the International
Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change, November 29th, 2010 is available
at: .http://www.treatycouncil.org/new_page_52114212331.htm.
The Brave New Foundation,
in May, was joining other environmental, some Native and further groups in
opposing the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry the dirtiest oil on Earth,
from Canadian tar sands through six states, one of America's most important
aquifers and almost 2,000 miles of American homes and farmland. The
production of oil from tar sands is extremely destructive to the environment.
Thousands of acres of forest are being cleared to mine the tar sands with very
wide direct destruction of the environment just from the mining. The process of
extracting the oil from the mined material requires at least three barrels of
water for each barrel of oil produced, and leaves behind huge quantities of
exceedingly toxic wastewater. Some of this poisonous water is stored in a pond
right next to the Athebaskan River, and there is strong evidence that leaks
into the river (and or runoff from the mining) are the cause of an outbreak,
since the tar sands oil mining began, of a very high rate of normally
exceedingly rare cancers in a First Nation community downstream from the tar
sands mining and processing. For more information go to:
http://kochbrothersexposed.com/tellclintonno/.
Nine Ojibwe nations in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota strongly
opposes, a proposed four-mile-long, $1.5 billion iron ore mine in Ashland and
Iron, Wisconsin, that critics complain would do extensive environmental harm,
and might seriously pollute the Great Lakes.
The mine, proposed by Gogebic Taconite LLC (GTAC), would be situated in the
Penokee Range. Mike Wiggins, chairman of the Bad River Lake Superior Band of
Chippewa stated, "There's been no consultation with my tribe and of course
we stand to bear the brunt of the environmental impacts that are coming. We'll
be drinking, breathing and eating the environmental impacts from this open pit
mining project for the next 200 years." The proposed project is linked to
controversial bills being drafted by the Wisconsin State Senate and House that
would change the permitting process mining companies must undergo, likely
reducing public input and weakening environmental standards ('Ojibwe Tribes Resist Pit
Iron Ore Mine Proposed in Northern Wisconsin, Indian Country Today," May 23, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/05/ojibwe-tribes-resist-pit-iron-ore-mine-proposed-in-northern-wisconsin/).
The
Dene Nation of British Columbia, whose territory stretches from northern
Alberta through the Northwest Territories, passed a resolution supporting the
British Columbia Yinka Dene Alliance's opposition to Enbridge's plans to build
a tar sands oil pipeline through their territory, in late July ("Dene Nation Votes to Oppose Enbridge Pipeline," Indian Country Today, July 27, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/07/dene-nation-votes-to-oppose-enbridge-pipeline/).
Survival International
reports that it has joined almost 400 organizations in signing a petition
against Africa's tallest dam, which was delivered to Ethiopian embassies across
Europe and the United States to mark World Water Day, on Tuesday 22nd
March. The Gibe III dam on the Omo
River in Ethiopia threatens at least eight tribes and
about 300,000 people living around Lake Turkana in Kenya. The dam, which
the Ethiopian government reports is 40% complete, will destroy the natural
flood patterns vital for the Omo tribes' cultivation methods,
although the government claims an' artificial flood' will solve the problem.
The dam builders revealed plans, in 2010, that the tribes have had no say in
for the tribes to 'switch from flood-retreat agriculture to more modern (sic)
forms of agriculture' following a 'transitory period'. Experience shows that an
imposed 'switch' of this kind will almost certainly prove disastrous,
entailing an end to the already inadequate 'artificial flood' without any
guarantee of alternative means of survival. A member of the hunter-gatherer
Kwegu tribe said, 'We depend on the fish, they are like our cattle. If the Omo
floods are gone we will die.' The Ethiopian government has also earmarked 180,000
hectares of land in the Omo Valley for agricultural investment, some of which
lies in the territories of the Nyangatom, Karo and Mursi tribes. The tribes have not been consulted about the dam,
the 'switch' in livelihood or the lease of their land to foreign investors, in
violation of Ethiopia's own Constitution. The European Investment Bank
and the African Development Bank have decided against funding the dam. The
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Exim Bank of China are both
funding aspects of the project but Ethiopia still needs to find more money. The
Italian government is still considering whether to fund the dam, while Ethiopia
recently became the single largest recipient of UK development aid, expected to
receive $2 billion over four years. Survival, International Rivers, the
Campaign for reform of the World Bank, the Counterbalance Coalition and Friends
of Lake Turkana all joined forces to launch the petition. The petition calls
upon the Ethiopian government to 'suspend the Gibe III dam project on the Omo
River unless and until it obtains the free, prior and informed consent of the
affected tribes to the project'. Some of the banks and companies involved are:
Salini
Costruttori (Italy) main contractors for the dam
Harsco (USA) supplying
equipment
Dongfang Electric Corporation (China) electro and hydro mechanical
works
ICBC (Chinese Bank)
EXIM (Chinese Bank) ("World Water Day: Global outrage over Ethiopia
mega-dam," Survival International, March
21, 2011, www.survivalinternational.org).
Global Exchange went to Chevron's annual shareholder
meeting in San Ramon, California on May
25, 2011. "Nearly two years ago, Global Exchange formed the Energy Program
(previously the Chevron Program), to expand and better coordinate a network of
communities directly impacted by Chevron's operations across California, the
U.S. and the world," "establishing the True Cost of Chevron Network at an
inspiring international strategy session following Chevron's annual meeting
last year in Houston." "On May 23, we will host a public teach-in at the
Brower Center in Berkeley. (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=7NuTRf89giUki%2BiXtEgBkSOjhfVIbYv%2F).
On May 24, we will release the third annual True Cost of Chevron: An
Alternative Annual Report. Filled with an amazing array of first-hand
accounts of Chevron's abuses written by impacted community members from around
the world, this year's report includes new locations, such as China, the North
Sea and the Beaufort Sea. There is also a special focus on Chevron and offshore
drilling in the wake of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon. On May 25,
we will attend Chevron's annual shareholder meeting while a support protest
rally takes place outside Chevron's gates (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=H9yWq9NJImIRCGEkpgQpQus964BnP3cA)."
"Allies joining us in the Bay Area include Humberto Piaguaje, Amazon Defense
Coalition, Ecuador; Emem Okon, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource
Centre, Nigeria; Mardan Pius Ginting, WALHI - Friends of the Earth Indonesia,
Indonesia; Gitz Crazyboy, First Nation Dene/Pikini (Blackfoot), Alberta,
Canada; Elias Isaac, Open Society Initiative, Angola; Bryan Parras and Liana
Lopez, Texas Environmental Advocacy Services and the Gulf Coast Fund, Houston,
Texas; Tom Evans, of the Native village of Nanwalek, CookInlet Keepers, Alaska,
and more."
Cultural
Survival's Global Response "campaign to stop a Chinese nickel mine from
dumping toxic waste into the ocean off Madang, Papua New Guinea, has been
something of a roller coaster ride. We launched our letter-writing campaign,
which many of you participated in, but it soon became clear that the situation
required more support. The Indigenous communities have brought suit against the
mine, asking for an injunction, but their case is being handled by a single
lawyer with very limited resources, so we helped her find funding so she can
bring international marine scientists to court. Then, on September 21, the
first day of the trial, the Rai Coast plaintiffs didn't show up, and it was
soon discovered that the mining company had "persuaded" them to abandon the
case. Paid thugs hired by the mining company directly threatened the
lives of the three men and their families. The company also sent threatening
letters to local government authorities, warning of dire consequences if the
communities blocked the ocean-dumping plan. Despite death threats, the
plaintiffs' lawyer, Tiffany Nonggorr, quickly found another plaintiff to carry
on the case. Thirty-seven more people are seeking to join the suit.
The new
plaintiff, Louis Medaing, a leader of the Tong and Ongeg clans, has reported
threats against him and his clans since the day he filed his case, and on
October 12 he sued the mining company for contempt of court. "My family
and clan members have been put under intense pressure by the mine ownersÉto
discontinue the court case," he said. Company representatives told him that if
he proceeds with the trial, all Tong and Ongeg clan members employed by the
mining company will be fired. For now, the trial and the contempt hearings are
temporarily delayed while lawyers on both sides adjust to the change in the
plaintiffs" ("What We're Doing with Your Money," Cultural Survival Quarterly,
34-4 (Winter 2010),
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/none/what-we-re-doing-your-money-0),
The Athabascan Chickaloon Village Traditional Council in Sutton, Alaska, 45 miles northeast of Wasilla, filed a complaint
against Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. and Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. with
the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, complaining that
its exploratory operations, undertaken under permits 20 years old that do
not take into account recent developments, include building a coal hauling road
100 yards from CVTC's Tribal school, Ya Ne Dah Ah School, prompting safety
concerns, and other coal actions threaten to destroy fish passage and salmon
population restoration on Moose Creek, that the village has undertaken with
financial and technical help from federal agencies and other partners,
involving over $1,000,000 investment and thousands of man-hours of effort on
fishing runs ruined by World War I coal mining ("Chickaloon Village
Traditional Council Files International Complaint," Indian Country Today,
May 18, 2011,
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/05/chickaloon-village-traditional-council-files-international-complaint/).
ForestEthics was concerned in early June, "In a remote corner of British Columbia lies the Sacred
Headwaters, the shared birthplace of three of North America's greatest wild
salmon rivers and home to many threatened species, including grizzly bears,
wild salmon and stone sheep. Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has their eye on the
beautiful wilderness for coal bed methane drilling, an environmentally dangerous process that requires a maze
of gas wells and pipelines and a huge amount of toxic wastewater. Coal bed
methane drilling in Wyoming, Montana and Alberta has already proven to cause
serious damage and the vulnerable wildlife of the Sacred Headwaters can't stand
up to Shell by themselves. We must protect our wild salmon, caribou, moose, and
grizzlies from Shell's destructive coal bed methane drilling." For more
information go to:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/574/653/842/?z00m=19989728.
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