Polaris Institute -

African Land Grabs - Fueling Water and Climate Crises

richard — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:41:26 -0800

The Role of False Climate Change Solutions

In the trend of large-scale agricultural land acquisitions in Sub-Saharan Africa “green investments” such as the production of agrofuels and agroforestry developments, are upheld as climate solutions, and are being used to justify, promote, and accelerate massive land grabs. Yet, even as research indicates that the expansion of industrial agriculture on African soil is likely to aggravate the heating of the planet, market mechanisms like carbon trade and carbon credits are providing a “green cover” for current land grabs.

This publication was written by the Polaris Institute for the Oakland Institute.

Click to download!

Land Grabs Leave Africa Thirsty

New Report: Outing the Oligarchy - "Billionaires Who Benefit From Today’s Climate Crisis"

richard — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:35:14 -0800

This new massive report by the International Forum on Globalization outlines how many of the worlds richest people are benefiting from the ongoing climate crisis and how their massive networks of influence and power are stalling efforts to phase out fossil fuel dependence.

The Polaris Institute drafted one section of the report on Carlos Slim, the world's richest man, and the power he holds throughout Mexico and the Americas.

Download the Polaris report on Carlos Slim (HERE)

To read the full report visit the IFG site:
http://ifg.org/programs/plutonomy.html

La Via Campesina Durban Declaration

richard — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:17:23 -0800

Assembly of the Oppressed, 5th December 2011, Durban, South Africa

Articles pictures and videos from Durban on www.viacampesina.org

As the Assembly of the Oppressed we are gathered here to demand the transformation of the entire neo liberal capitalist system. The fight against climate change is a fight against neo liberal capitalism, landlessness, dispossession, hunger, poverty and the re-colonization of the territories of the people’s of Africa and the global South. We are here to declare that direct action is the only weapon of the oppressed people of the world to end all forms of oppression in the world.