In spite of all the documented evidence regarding the destructive nature of tree monocultures, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has continued to certify them as properly managed “forests”. Given that the FSC will be holding its general assembly from 3-7 November in South Africa, a number of organizations from countries impacted by FSC-certified plantations have decided to disseminate an open letter to FSC members and to gather as many endorsements as possible. If you wish to support local communities struggling against tree plantations, please sign-on to the letter by sending a message to
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including name, country and organization until October 31st.
The undersigned wish to urge members of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to urgently resolve the serious problem of FSC certification of monoculture tree plantations, at the FSC general assembly to be held in Cape Town, South Africa.
One of the topics for discussion at the general assembly is a Review of FSC Principles and Criteria, and there is therefore an opportunity for changing those principles in such a way as to exclude the certification of monoculture tree plantations by FSC.
FSC members –particularly from the environmental and social chambers- must be made aware that certification of that type of plantation is not only eroding the FSC’s credibility but –more importantly- that it is undermining local people’s struggles against plantations.
Those peoples are struggling to protect the same things that FSC members from environmental and social organizations agreed needed to be protected when they joined the FSC: indigenous, traditional and peasant communities’ rights and livelihoods; forests, grasslands and wetlands; water, soils and biodiversity.
All large scale tree plantations impact heavily on most –and usually all- of the above. There is now more than sufficient documented evidence of those impacts in a large number of countries, ranging from South Africa and Swaziland to Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Spain, Ireland and others.
The obvious conclusion must be that large scale tree monocultures are uncertifiable.
In spite of that, time and time again FSC-accredited certifiers have awarded the FSC seal to them. Little has mattered that those plantations were being opposed by local communities and that the FSC label would result in further strengthening already very powerful companies whose activities are destroying Nature and peoples’ livelihoods.
Four years after having launched the FSC Plantations Review, nothing has changed. In spite of abundant documentation demonstrating the negative social and environmental impacts of plantations, there are currently at least 8.5 million hectares of plantations already certified, as well as an unknown area within the 37.7 million hectares grouped under the category “semi-natural & mixed plantation and natural forest”, which hides a large number of plantations.
The time has now arrived for FSC members –particularly from the social and environmental chambers- to take sides: to continue to allow business as usual, or to fight for change; to protect the interests of large pulp and timber corporations or the rights of local peoples and Nature; to carry on accepting that plantations are a “type of forest” or to agree that they have nothing in common with them; to greenwash a most harmful land-use, or to oppose social and environmental destruction.
We therefore call on those FSC members who share with us the desire to protect local peoples and Nature from the damage caused by the expansion of tree plantations to raise their voices at the upcoming general assembly and to help bring about the change that is needed.
Centro de Estudos e Pesquisas para o Desenvolvimento - CEPEDES Brazil
Federação de Órgãos para Assistência Social e Educacional - FASE Brazil
CENSAT-Friends of the Earth Colombia
COECOCEIBA Friends of the Earth Costa Rica
Observatorio Latinoamericano de Conflictos Ambientales - OLCA Chile
Acción Ecológica Ecuador
Asociación pola Defensa da Ria - APDR Spain
Asociación para a Defensa Ecolóxica de Galicia -ADEGA Spain
Federación Ecoloxista Galega - FEG Spain
Grupo Guayubira Uruguay
Pesticides Action Network PAN Uruguay
REDES - Friends of the Earth Uruguay
Timberwatch Coalition South Africa
World Rainforest Movement
Call for Solidarity actions with the accused COP15 activistsWednesday, 11 August 2010 | The Climate Collective
On the 18th of August there will be a solidarity demonstration in Copenhagen to mark the trial of the first two people accused of 'organizing' the protests around the COP 15. We urge everyone to spend the day or the following days on demonstrations and statements of support and solidarity – demonstration and manifestations outside Danish embassies, press work and articles - all are welcome and appreciated.
During the climate summit in Copenhagen, around 2000 people were arrested preventively and held in custody while they were trying to get their voices heard.... Read More
Global Day of ActionMonday, 02 August 2010 | Climate Justice Action
Call for a global day of direct action for climate justice
The disaster that was the climate summit in Copenhagen highlighted one thing above all: That we cannot expect UN-negotiations to solve the climate crisis for us. Governments and corporations are unable (even if they were willing) to deliver real climate justice. Only powerful, global climate justice movements can achieve the structural changes that are necessary, whether it is ending our addiction to fossil fuels, replacing industrial agriculture with local systems of food sovereignty, halting systems based on endless... Read More
SIGN ON to the No REDD Statement!Tuesday, 20 July 2010 | Durban Group for Climate Justice
Affiliates from the Durban Group for Climate Justice request urgent solidarity in a statement rejecting schemes for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). The REDD Statement recognizes the need to support the growing voices opposing REDD and REDD-like projects and draws attention to the dangers of REDD including land grabs and the inclusion of REDD in the carbon market.
No REDD! No REDD Plus!
Global Sign-On Campaign against Schemes for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
As part of a mounting global civil society... Read More
Statements of Support for the Climate9Tuesday, 04 May 2010 | Climate9
"Civilisation has never progressed by squatting in its comfort zone. The great human breakthroughs have always been led by small clusters of brave individuals taking costly stands. History will be the ultimate court of opinion that will judge the climate protestors. In so doing, may its hand not be forced to judge our wider British society too harshly." Professor Alastair McIntosh, Centre for Human Ecology.
'I am very proud of my brother for making a stand for justice. We learnt from our grandparents, who survived WWII, that if we see disaster looming, it... Read More
A Call to drop all charges of those arrested during the COP15Sunday, 14 March 2010 |
This Tuesday 16th and Friday 19th they will appear before the Danish courts.
Dear friends,
As you know, many politicians and corporations attended the COP15 summit in Copenhagen in December 2009 – and so did thousands of activists who were prepared to represent the interests of the majority of the world's population.
The Danish police, under orders to "keep the streets clean" for the media spectacle of the climate summit, engaged in a campaign of intense repression against those who would make their voices heard in the streets, and take action... Read More
Invitation to a Post-Copenhagen/COP15 GatheringMonday, 22 February 2010 | Climate Justice Action Climate Justice Action and others in direct action radical climate movements are bringing together a meeting to evaluate recent resistance to climate colonialism and to consider what’s next.Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th February 2010 in AMSTERDAM
location: Plantagedoklaan 8-12, 1018 CM.
The purpose of this meeting is to create a space where radical climate activists can meet up to share info about the various struggles we’re fighting across the continent, and to discuss what next after Copenhagen.
Some people are discussing upcoming international... Read More
A terrible threat is hanging over Ecuador's Yasuni National ParkMonday, 25 January 2010 | Yasuní depends on you!
For almost three years we have kept alive the proposal to keep the oil underground in the ITT block of Yasuni National Park in Ecuador.
International support has been impressive. However, we are now in a high-risk stage.
The initiative to keep the oil underground needed a trust-fund as a tool to, amongst other things:
1.Guarantee the use of the money according to environmental principles
2.Guarantee that future governments don’t exploit these fields
3.Keep the proposal outside the carbon trade... Read More
COP-enhagen.netMonday, 25 January 2010 | COP-enhagen.net
net-working to tackle repression, police brutality and civil rights violations during - and beyond - COP15
http://www.cop-enhagen.net/
Read More
Copenhagen Cronology of ActionsWednesday, 23 December 2009 |
Police Search Ragnhildsgade Sleeping Space
http://indymedia.dk/ articles/1432
“The police seized many items including work tools, meeting notes and work notes, documents and permits, paint, and items for self defense including shields”
“The search follows a raid on another sleeping place, Teglholmen, on 4th December when police detained and handcuffed 15-20 people. The raid was criticized as being an attempt to intimidate and harass climate activists.”
Press release from CJA:
http://indymedia.dk/articles/1443
10... Read More
Coverage of US Chevron ActionTuesday, 08 December 2009 | Mobilization for Climate Justice West
www.mercurynews.com/ news/ ci_13949158?nclick_check=1
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/ blogs/green/detail? entry_id=53032
Live links for stories below here:
news.google.com/news/story?ncl= http://www.mercurynews.com/ news/ci_13949158&hl=en
make sure when you do a google hit for stories, that you always hit the "more stories like this" because if the story uses the same heading, they wont automatically show you the links unless you click on "more stories"
Police arrest 29 during protest outside of Chevron
San Jose Mercury News
AP SAN RAMON,... Read More
Compilation of reports from n30 day of climate justice action!Monday, 30 November 2009 | Mobilization for Climate Justice
Today, on November 30, one week before the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen open, and on the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Organization (WTO) protest in Seattle in 1999, major demonstrations, teach-ins and civil disobedience are taking actions place in cities around the U.S
Reports are now starting to come in from:
Chicago, Illinois: Activists target Carbon Trading @ Chicago Climate Exchange – 12 arrested
Denver, Colorado: Citizens ‘Die-in’ at Department... Read More
CALL TO ACTIONS IN COPENHAGENTuesday, 24 November 2009 |
Climate Justice Action call of action:
english : spanish : dutch : italian : german
Logistics:
www.climate-justice-action.org/practical-info/copenhagen-info
Action calendar:
www.climate-justice-action.org/mobilization/action-calendar
www.climatecollective.org/en/cop15/mobilization
Alternative Summit - KlimaForum:
www.klimaforum09.org
Collective in Denmark - Clima Collective:
www.climatecollective.org/en/start
Caravan - From WTO to COP15:
www.climatecaravan.org
CEO Angry Mermaid awards on the worst... Read More
350 Reasons Why Carbon Trading Won't Work!Saturday, 24 October 2009 | Rising Tide North America
Rising Tide North America and Carbon Trade Watch would like you to join us on the October 24th day of global climate action to spread the word about the biggest financial scam in history – Carbon Trading.
In order to stabilize the climate before billions of people around the world suffer the consequences, it is imperative that carbon-trading schemes are stopped and real, democratically determined solutions are implemented.
We cannot afford to waste any more valuable time and resources relying on such market-driven strategies to deliver science-based goals (such as 350 ppm of... Read More
2010 Carbon Trade Watch