By Kristin Palitza
Dubbing Saturday the "Global Day of Action", demonstrators from international and national non-governmental groups as well as labor, women, youth, academic, religious and environmental organizations came together to highlight civil society's demands for politicians all over the world to take serious action to fight climate change.
"We are asking for 100 percent change. Today will be the beginning of a strong movement that is going to challenge the rich nations of the world," said Global Day of Action subcommittee convenor Desmond D'Sa. "World leaders are discussing the fate of our planet, but they are far from reaching a solution to climate change."
Protesters said it was time for climate change negotiators to listen to the voices of ordinary people. They marched holding banners which said: "Never trust COP17", "Unite against Climate Change", "Climate Justice Now" and "Ensure the survival of coming generations".
There was a general feeling that ordinary people remained largely excluded from important debates on important issues that directly affected their lives.
Showing posts with label Global. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Global. Show all posts
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
US-Led Global War on Drugs a Failure: Report
A 19-member international panel has condemned the US-led "War on Drugs" campaign as a failure and has recommended major reforms of the global drug prohibition regime.
The Global Commission on Drug Policy report, released on Thursday, argues that the four-decades-long campaign has failed to make significant changes in the international drug scenario and has, in fact, devastating consequences on human societies across the world.
The term "War on Drugs" was first used by US President Richard Nixon on June 17, 1971 and was intended to define and reduce illicit drug trade globally. However, the new report points out that the result of this campaign has been nothing but a drastic increase in drug violence, especially in regions like Brazil and Mexico.
"Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and 40 years after President Nixon launched the US government's global war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed," stated former president of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso. "Let's start by treating drug addiction as a health issue, reducing drug demand through proven educational initiatives and legally regulating rather than criminalizing cannabis."
The Global Commission on Drug Policy report, released on Thursday, argues that the four-decades-long campaign has failed to make significant changes in the international drug scenario and has, in fact, devastating consequences on human societies across the world.
The term "War on Drugs" was first used by US President Richard Nixon on June 17, 1971 and was intended to define and reduce illicit drug trade globally. However, the new report points out that the result of this campaign has been nothing but a drastic increase in drug violence, especially in regions like Brazil and Mexico.
"Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and 40 years after President Nixon launched the US government's global war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed," stated former president of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso. "Let's start by treating drug addiction as a health issue, reducing drug demand through proven educational initiatives and legally regulating rather than criminalizing cannabis."
Friday, 11 February 2011
WikiLeaks Peak Oil Bombshell: Saudi Arabian Reserves Overstated by 40%, Global Production Plateau Immiment
The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.
The cables, released by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take seriously a warning from a senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom's crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels - nearly 40%.
That we are close to a peak in global oil production should not be a surprise to anyone (see World's top energy economist warns peak oil threatens recovery, urges immediate action: "We have to leave oil before oil leaves us" and German military study warns of peak oil crisis and Peak oil production coming sooner than expected).
The bombshell is that the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh understands this and that it "now questions how much the Saudis can now substantively influence the crude markets over the long term." Who persuaded them of this is equally remarkable - Sadad al-Husseini, "a geologist and former head of exploration at the Saudi oil monopoly Aramco," who says he isn't in the peak oil camp but sounds on awful lot like those of us who are.
Consider the first cable, from December 2007:
On November 20, 2007, CG and Econoff met with Dr. Sadad al-Husseini, former Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production at Saudi Aramco. Al-Husseini, who maintains close ties to Aramco executives, believes that the Saudi oil company has oversold its ability to increase production and will be unable to reach the stated goal of 12.5 million b/d of sustainable capacity by 2009. While stating that he does not subscribe to the theory of "peak oil," the former Aramco board member does believe that a global output plateau will be reached in the next 5 to 10 years and will last some 15 years, until world oil production begins to decline. Additionally, al-Husseini expressed the view that the recent surge in oil prices reflects the underlying reality that global demand has met supply, and is not due to artificial market distortions.
The cables, released by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take seriously a warning from a senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom's crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels - nearly 40%.
That we are close to a peak in global oil production should not be a surprise to anyone (see World's top energy economist warns peak oil threatens recovery, urges immediate action: "We have to leave oil before oil leaves us" and German military study warns of peak oil crisis and Peak oil production coming sooner than expected).
The bombshell is that the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh understands this and that it "now questions how much the Saudis can now substantively influence the crude markets over the long term." Who persuaded them of this is equally remarkable - Sadad al-Husseini, "a geologist and former head of exploration at the Saudi oil monopoly Aramco," who says he isn't in the peak oil camp but sounds on awful lot like those of us who are.
Consider the first cable, from December 2007:
On November 20, 2007, CG and Econoff met with Dr. Sadad al-Husseini, former Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production at Saudi Aramco. Al-Husseini, who maintains close ties to Aramco executives, believes that the Saudi oil company has oversold its ability to increase production and will be unable to reach the stated goal of 12.5 million b/d of sustainable capacity by 2009. While stating that he does not subscribe to the theory of "peak oil," the former Aramco board member does believe that a global output plateau will be reached in the next 5 to 10 years and will last some 15 years, until world oil production begins to decline. Additionally, al-Husseini expressed the view that the recent surge in oil prices reflects the underlying reality that global demand has met supply, and is not due to artificial market distortions.
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