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9 December 2010 | News | Climate Justice and Energy | COP 16
Influence of Cochabamba in Cancun
Rafael Alegria (Via Campesina) and the continuity of the Peoples´ Conference held in Bolivia
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Honduran leader Rafael Alegria explained at the UN COP16 on Climate Change the meaning of the Peoples´ Agreement on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth created in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in April, 2010. The member of the Latin American Coordination of Rural Organizations (CLOC- Via Campesina Central America) said that one of the main conclusions of the Peoples´ Conference is the fact that the future of humankind is threatened by an unfair economic system such as capitalism, that aims to profit without limits, and does not take into account the destruction of natural resources and of the climate it causes.
To highlight this agreement, which could be the basis of an international declaration on the rights of Mother Earth, is extremely important, said Alegria, while the main economic powers of the world are negotiating measures to solve climate change without thinking about the true causes of it.
The common platform of peasant, indigenous, environmental movements and also governments committed to the cause such as Bolivia and others, states that the “environmental debt” of the industrial powers is five times higher than that of the Global South, and that developed countries must answer for this.
“The future of humankind is at risk, and we will not accept that a group of developed countries try to decide on behalf of every other country, as they tried to do in Copenhagen. That´s why a world referendum on climate change is extremely important, so that all people can be consulted on the emission reduction levels of the developed countries and transnational companies”, said Alegria.
