Global Justice Ecology Project and the Institute for Social Ecology hosted Jutta Kill of the England-based FERN and Larry Lohmann of the England-based The Corner House for four events over January 26th to the 28th in Burlington, Middlebury and Montpelier, Vermont. Lohmann and Kill both spoke about the role of carbon trading and carbon offsets in deepening the climate crisis and in deflecting resources away from real solutions to global warming. GJEP co-Director Anne Petermann also gave a powerpoint on the outcomes of the UN Climate Convention that took place in Bali Indonesia in December 2007.
You can check out the February 2008 issue of Z Magazine to read an article on the outcomes of the UN Climate Convention called “Bali: The Official Roadmap to Disaster,” written by GJEP Co-Directors Petermann and Langelle.
The GJEP-organized global warming panel on January 26th in Burlington’s City Hall culminated a week of events and actions as part of an “international day of action” called for by the organizers of the World Social Forum. Earlier in the day, hundreds of people marched through the streets of Burlington in a “March Toward a Better World,” which united the themes of “Bring the Troops Home Now!”, “Health Care is a Right,” and “Climate Justice Now!” The march and week of Vermont events were organized by Global Justice Ecology Project, the Vermont Workers Center, Iraq Veterans Against the War, the Peace and Justice Center, Student Labor Action Project, Central Vermont WILPF and PeaceVermont.
The World Social Forum is an annual internatinal gathering of social movements, activists and organizations working under the banner “Another World is Possible.” The World Social Forum was organized to give a united voice in opposition to the World Economic Forum that occurs every January in Davos, Switzerland. The World Social Forum has been held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Mumbai, India, Caracas, Venezuela and Nairobi, Kenya. in 2008 the WSF organizers decided not to organize an international gathering, but to call for an international week of action during the World Economic Forum.
For a detailed critique of market-based mechanisms to address global warming, including carbon trading and carbon offsets, you can download the book, “Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, Privatization and Power,” edited by Larry Lohmann.
Top Right: Jutta Kill, of FERN (right) makes a point about how carbon trading and carbon offsets are “false solutions” to global climate chaos while Larry Lohmann of The Corner House looks on. These England-based activists spoke in Burlington, VT on Saturday, Janurary 26 as part of the “Another World is Possible” international day of action. Global Justice Ecology Project sponsored the Burlington Global Warming activities. Both Kill and Lohmann are touring the U.S. and Canada on a speaking tour organzed by the Durban Group for Climate Justice, which FERN, The Cornerhouse and Global Justice Ecology Project co-founded with organizations from around the world in Durban, South Africa in October of 2004.
Photo: Langelle/Global Justice Ecolgy Project
