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World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth April 20th, 2010

This week, Bolivian President Evo Morales is convening the People’s World Conference on Climate Change, an alternative to the unwieldy and U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change that fell so far short of expectations last December. NGOs, scientists, activists, indigenous leaders, and representatives of 60 to 70 national governments are coming together for this alternative conference – in all, about 7,500 attendees from 110 countries.

Daniel LeBlanc, OMI – Oblate representative to the UN – is attending the conference and sent this update yesterday:

Cochabamba, Bolivia, 19 April 2010

The Conference officially begins Tuesday morning with President Evo Morales doing the honors.

However, today there were already several events and huge crowds. Fr. Gregorio Iriarte OMI was to give a talk at 4:30, along with 3 other panelists, and so I accompanied him to the stadium where credentials were given to those who had registered through the internet, as well as to those who had neglected to do so. I had already picked up my pass, and Fr. Gregorio is over around 80 years old and had to give a talk, so they let him through. Once they gave him his credentials, he was told that apart from the credentials for those who had already registered and those who had come later, 20,000 credentials had been distributed. There were still long line-ups out on the sidewalks – I estimate between 7 and 8 blocks long – and they had to send to the printer to get more passes printed – so attendance will be good, better than expected.

Please see on-line for much more information in Spanish and in English (choose language) at http://pwccc.wordpress.com/

Read a summary of the positions being advocated by Bolivian President Morales during the conference.

Climate Change Disproportionately Affects Poor Countries January 15th, 2010

Climate Change is affecting poor countries now and the problems will only get worse, but these countries are hardly in a position to cope. Bolivia, with its reliance on glacial melt for water for agriculture and human consumption, is a good example.

Read more…

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