The End of the Paris Prophecy

[Maxime Combes & Edouard Morena, in Jacobin, 11.28.16] Donald Trump’s election win is bad news for the Paris Agreement and very bad news for the climate.Edouard Morena lectures in French and European politics at the University of London Institute in Paris and New York University-Paris. He is the author of The Price of Climate Action: Philanthropic Foundations in the International Climate Debate. Maxime Combes is … Continue reading The End of the Paris Prophecy

5 Reasons You Should Care About Environmental Justice If You Care About Women

If you live in the United States, it’s easy to see certain matters as feminist issues. A bunch of creepy, old white dudes policing reproductive health is clearly a feminist issue. Republicans banning trans women from using the women’s restroom, apparently because they have some weird fantasy about cis men dressing up as ladies after seeing too many unfunny ‘90s comedies, is obviously a feminist issue. Donald Trump bragging about … Continue reading 5 Reasons You Should Care About Environmental Justice If You Care About Women

Donald Trump and the poisoned chalice of the US economy

[Michael Roberts Blog, 11-9-2016] The ironic thing about the (narrow) victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election is that their ‘safe’ candidate has lost it for the Democrats, Wall Street and the strategists of capital.  Now they are lumbered with a loose cannon that they must try to rope in. Trump has won because a (just) sufficient number of people are fed up … Continue reading Donald Trump and the poisoned chalice of the US economy

THE MALAISE OF THE OLD LEFT REPRESENTS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DEGROWTH

[26/09/2016, Vincent Liegey, Green European Journal] These days, the degrowth movement is not interested in provocation anymore. Instead it wants to stimulate discussions amongst the people who believe that it is possible to decolonise our minds. Vincent Liegey, the coordinator of the latest Degrowth Conference says that the movement’s impact is already visible in many party programmes. What is your experience as a degrowth campaigner? … Continue reading THE MALAISE OF THE OLD LEFT REPRESENTS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DEGROWTH

Donald Trump victory sinks global markets as experts predict it may have a bigger effect than Brexit

[Zlata Rodionova, Independent, 09/11/2017] The financial markets are now indicating that Wall Street could suffer its biggest ever plunge when Wednesday’s trading session begins The shock win by Republican candidate Donald Trump has sent global markets into mayhem as analysts predict the long-term effect could be worst than the Brexit vote in June. The financial markets are now indicating that Wall Street could suffer its … Continue reading Donald Trump victory sinks global markets as experts predict it may have a bigger effect than Brexit

To deal with climate change we need a new financial system

[Jason Hickel, The Guardian, 05-11-2016] Bank notes are checked in 1929 at the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Photograph: FPG/Getty Image When it comes to global warming, we know that the real problem is not just fossil fuels – it is the logic of endless growth that is built into our economic system. If we don’t keep the global economy growing by at least … Continue reading To deal with climate change we need a new financial system

Indigenous rights are key to preserving forests, climate change study finds

[Jonathan Watts, Rio de Janeiro, The Guardian, 02/11/2016] Leaving forests in communal hands cuts carbon emissions from deforestation, helps communities and offers long-term economic benefits: ‘Everyone wins’ Ashaninka girls walk through a forest path as they return to their village in the Peruvian Amazon. Photograph: Rodrigo Abd/AP The world’s indigenous communities need to be given a bigger role in climate stabilisation, according to a new … Continue reading Indigenous rights are key to preserving forests, climate change study finds

If Nature Had Rights

[CORMAC CULLINAN DRAWINGS, AMY FALSTROM] Read an extract from the author’s book Wild Law. It was the SUDDEN RUSH of the goats’ bodies against the side of the boma that woke him. Picking up a spear and stick, the Kenyan farmer slipped out into the warm night and crept toward the pen. All he could see was the spotted, sloping hindquarters of the animal trying to … Continue reading If Nature Had Rights

Introduction to ecofeminism

[Karen J. Warren] From Michael E. Zimmerman, J. Baird Callicott, George Sessions,Karen J. Warren, and John Clark (Eds.), Environmental Philosophy:From Animal Rights to Radical Ecology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall, 1993, pp. 253-267. Introduction The past few decades have witnessed an enormous interest in boththe women’s movement and the ecology (environmental) movement. Manyfeminists have argued that the goals of these two movements aremutually reinforcing; ultimately they involve the development … Continue reading Introduction to ecofeminism

El reposicionamiento de Beijing en América Latina

[Ulises Noyola Rodríguez, Alai, 18/10/2016] La caída de los precios de las materias primas evidencia la fragilidad de la relación económica entre China y América Latina que en la actualidad registra una importante desaceleración en las transacciones comerciales, situación de la cual Estados Unidos busca sacar ventaja a fin de reposicionarse en la región. El gobierno chino decidió apoyar la construcción de grandes obras de … Continue reading El reposicionamiento de Beijing en América Latina

Post-extractivismo: entre el discurso y la praxis. Algunas reflexiones gruesas para la acción

[Alberto Acosta Espinosa, Revista “Ciencia Política”, volumen 11 – número 21, enero – junio 2016] El pensamiento dominante nos hace aceptar como imposible una economía sin crecimiento que no aprovecha masivamente los recursos naturales. Se repite que, para lograr el progreso, la única via es el crecimiento económico, el cual exige a un grupo de países extraer cada vez mayores volúmenes de recursos naturales para … Continue reading Post-extractivismo: entre el discurso y la praxis. Algunas reflexiones gruesas para la acción

Why the degrowth debate is gaining momentum

[Nick Meynen, 02-09-2016] Reporting from The 5th International Degrowth Conference in Budapest – which continues today and tomorrow – NICK MEYNEN explores the new narrative of ‘sufficiency’ being discussed and and asks will it catch on before it’s too late? “Many of the scientists here have calculated that we are looking at a collapse of society within this century if we continue on this growth … Continue reading Why the degrowth debate is gaining momentum

Nature’s right to exist gets a boost from key organizations

[Mike Gaworecki, 2016-10-13] In 2008, Ecuador became the first country to enshrine in its constitution the right of nature to exist and thrive. Then Bolivia passed its Law of the Rights of Mother Earth in 2010, which not only recognizes the natural world’s rights but also grants Earth what’s been called a “legal personality,” thereby allowing legal action to be brought on the planet’s behalf … Continue reading Nature’s right to exist gets a boost from key organizations

The Wages of Sub-Imperial Assimilation: BRICS Fantasies and Unintended Revelations

[Patrick Bond, 14/10/2016, Goa, India] A Brazilian leader’s faux pas spoke volumes about the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) heads of state summit underway in Goa this weekend. The country’s foreign minister (and occasional presidential candidate) José Serra told an interviewer last month that the BRICS included Argentina. And as he stumbled while spelling out the acronym, Serra also had to be prompted to recall that South Africa … Continue reading The Wages of Sub-Imperial Assimilation: BRICS Fantasies and Unintended Revelations

Theses on Saving the Planet – “The Promise of Ecosocialism”

Written by Richard Smith and first published at Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières I don’t need to tell you we face an existential threat. Scientists tell us we face a “climate emergency.” Last year was the hottest year ever recorded, beating 2014, which beat 2012. We break new records every year. The fourteen hottest years ever recorded have been recorded since 2000. January and February temperatures … Continue reading Theses on Saving the Planet – “The Promise of Ecosocialism”

Globalization and its New Discontents

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] NEW YORK – Fifteen years ago, I wrote a little book, entitled Globalization and its Discontents,describing growing opposition in the developing world to globalizing reforms. It seemed a mystery: people in developing countries had been told that globalization would increase overall wellbeing. So why had so many people become so hostile to it? Now, globalization’s opponents in the emerging markets and developing countries … Continue reading Globalization and its New Discontents

Final Manifesto: Third International Socialist Encounter

We, the organizations convening the Third International Ecosocialist Encounter, held in Bilbao from 23-25 September of 2016, Considering: That capitalism has been developed despite and in the face of the two basic dependencies that make human life possible. First, it ignores the fact that, like all other living species, we obtain the things we need in order to live from nature; second, it obscures the … Continue reading Final Manifesto: Third International Socialist Encounter

Committing geocide: climate change and corporate capture

[Susan George,22 September 2016] Geocide is the collective action of a single species among millions of other species which is changing planet Earth to the point that it can become unrecognisable and unfit for life. Susan George visited the Seminar of the International Centre for the promotion of Human Rights [CIPDH] and Unesco titled “Interreligious and inter cultural dialogue: consciences and climate change”  (Buenos Aires 1-2  September) … Continue reading Committing geocide: climate change and corporate capture

The World Social Forum at the Crossroads

The World Social Forum at the Crossroads See you in Montreal next August 9-14 Pierre Beaudet In 2001, Brazilian popular movements convened, with the support of organizations from elsewhere around the world, a Forum in Porto Alegre to facilitate the discussion among activists from civil society in turmoil, above all in Latin America, where the winds of change blew hard! There was lots of excitement … Continue reading The World Social Forum at the Crossroads