Thursday, April 22, 2010

Conferencia Mundial begins

In some ways, the People´s World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth (Conferencia Mundial de los Pueblos sobre el Cambio Climatico y los Derechose de la Madre Tierra) reminded by of the early World Social Forums in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Thousands of people, high energy, celebrations, so many meetings it was hard to choose where to go. But there were also differences. This conference was called together by President Evo Morales of Bolivia so many of the booths represented government offices. And because some world leaders were expected, there were soldiers about.

It was also different in that it was organized as 17 "tables," each on a different theme. These included structural causes, visions, climate justice tribunal, forests, agriculture, finances, Kyoto Protocol and others. I chose to attend Table 3 on the Rights of Mother Earth (pachamama), to be able to understand the global and indigenous perspective on the rights of nature which is now part of local ordinances in Shapleigh and Newfield and in four New Hampshire towns, as well as some in Pennsylvania.

The purpose of this table was to prepare a declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth to bring to the United Nations and to have it adopted to sit alongside the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is a fundamental reframing from people centered rights to recognition of the inherent rights of Mother Earth. As I learned over the two days from the eloquent and passionate presentations from many indigenous peoples from across the Andes region, we must respect and live in accordance with the inherent rights of Mother Earth, with her laws, if the planet is to be saved.

The conference began officially on Tuesday morning in an outdoor stadium in Tiquipaya. The stadium was filled with Bolivians in their beautiful and colorful local dresses and a smattering of us westerners looking quite drap by comparison, but filled with good spirit. After several hours of music and some speeches, including by a leader of the North American Indigenous Environmental Network, Evo Morales arrived. To my surprise he walked back and forth in the field just in front of the bleachers where I was sitting and then paused almost directly across from me to say a few words of welcome facing his soldiers in full regalia. To know what he said later in his long speech from the podium, you will have to read the press, as none of it was translated and I was one of very few gringoes present who do not speak Spanish.

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