The conference, called by President Evo Morales of Bolivia to discuss climate change and in particular to highlight the views of the world’s poorest peoples, ended yesterday in Cochabamba. The output were declarations (see cmpcc.org for the full text) that covered the four main aims of the meeting: a universal declaration of the rights of Mother Earth (protecting ecosystems) ; the creation of an International Tribunal to bring to justice those who violate these rights ; compensation for poor countries from the industrialised countries who have caused the vast majority of environmental damage (6% of GDP annually was demanded) ; and a global referendum on climate change in a year’s time.
It is not hard to see why Bolivia is at the forefront of these demands. Scientists say that 50% of Bolivia’s ice mass, currently vital to supply water supplies to cities such as the capital La Paz, will be lost in the next 40 years – not due to their own actions, but due to economic activity in other countries. Also, like many less developed countries they felt left out of the discussions at the Copenhagen summit which were mainly between countries such as the US and China, with agreements being presented to them simply for acceptance. Plus in Evo Morales, they have a passionate president representing an indigenous population that until recently has hardly had any say in their government.
Will the summit have any effect? Apparently there were 48 governments represented among the 31,000 attendees, though in the end the only other president who attended was Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and with rhetoric against capitalism in evidence, it would be easy to dismiss it as simply promoting left-wing propaganda. But hopefully, the voices of billions of poor people will be heard, if not here, then elsewhere. They are being badly affected by climatic variations and need a voice.
In the context of the AIBs People’s Choice award on climate change, we are hoping for programmes that cover the views of a huge variety of different nations, tribes and races.