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NEWS July 19th 2001
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Related Articles Corporate Watch Magazine Issue 11 (summer 2000) – Climate Change – articles on carbon trading, contraction and convergence, BP greenwash and more |
Cop 6.5 – fiddling while the world sinks While the climate talks in Bonn drown in the diplomatic doldrums, with the US insisting they want carbon sinks ( but really wanting OIL) and conference chair Jan Pronk insisting Kyoto is ‘the only game in town’ (presumably to divert attention from alternative strategies such as contraction and convergence and the 60%+ cuts that need to be made as soon as possible), in India the state of Orissa, barely back on its feet after the 1999 cyclone, is disappearing under floodwaters after the heaviest monsoon rains for 50 years. Actions are taking place around the world to pressure governments into making a connection between these events and coming to an agreement – or better still, actually doing something serious about cliamte change instead of messing about with ‘clean development mechanisms’. Many actions suggest their own alternatives, such as the ‘90% for 90%’ campaign in Britain, calling for reduced public transport fares to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from car use. Last weekend 90%ers were at work on a Manchester tram and an Oxford to London express, refusing to pay more than 10% of the fare, handing out spoof tickets to other passengers and explaining the aims of the scheme. The response in both cases was overwhelmingly positive, and no arrests or fines were made. Similar actions have been going on in Belgium for some months, with ‘free zones’ being created in which groups of white-suited passengers warn fellow travellers of the approach of ticket inspectors and explain the logic of cheap, subsidised public transport – some transport workers are now joining in, giving passengers advance warning of inspections. News of more actions here |