By Global Justice Ecology Project, Climate Connections, June 16, 2012
Green economy is about cheating nature while making profit out of it.” – Pablo Solón, Former Bolivian Ambassador to UN, Director Focus on the Global South
With over 50,000
accredited participants registered, Rio+20 is expected to be the largest
gathering in the history of the UN. The Green Economy put forward by the United
Nations Environment Program (nicknamed the “Greed Economy” by many) is about promoting
the idea that we can only “save” nature by putting a price tag on what nature
“does” for us. Proponents call it “ecosystem services” and from forests
generating the air we breathe to the decomposition process resulting in the
ground we walk upon, everything has its price, and corporate executives are
wringing their hands with anticipation of what the Greed Economy could do for
profit margins.
The Peoples Summit
– hosted by Civil Society Organizations challenging the direction of the UN and
its members – will run in parallel in Flamengo Park with the aim of not simply
protesting the so-called Green Economy, but presenting viable alternative,
sustainable solutions, including recognizing legal rights for nature. “In 2008,
Ecuador led the world by becoming the first country to recognize legal Rights
of Nature in its constitution – the right to exist, maintain and restore its
vital cycles, and regenerate integrally. Recognizing Rights of Nature allows us
to truly protect ecosystems and sets the stage for a sustainable future. Rights
of Nature gives social movements the opportunity to reunite on what brings us
together – Mother Earth.” says Natalia Greene, President CEDENMA, Ecuador.
Rights of Nature
as the Foundation for Sustainability Panel Dialogue & Universal Declaration
for Rights of Mother Earth Signing Event
The Global Alliance
for the Rights of Nature has mobilized to be an active voice for a new world
view that recognizes our interrelatedness with the ecosystems that sustain us
and develops a new framework of governance aligned with the laws of nature. The
Alliance and its members are hosting and participating in strategic events both
“inside” RioCentro and “outside” at the Peoples Summit and elsewhere. These
events including the Universal Declaration for Rights of Mother Earth Signing
Ceremonies will demonstrate the prominent, global support for Rights of Nature
and Rights of Mother Earth. People from 110 countries have already signed and
more are expected to sign in Rio. In addition to prominent Rights of Nature
advocates in attendance at Rio, distinguished signatories include Leonardo
Boff, Eduardo Galeano, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Paul Hawken, Joanna
Macy, David Suzuki, Annie Leonard, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, Atossa Soltani,
Jack Canfield, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Daniel Wildcat, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and
numerous orders of Catholic Orders of Sisters.
Rights of
Nature: Planting Seeds of Real Change
Alliance
member Global Exchange is publishing Rights of Nature: Planting Seeds of Real Change,
a report for Rio that not only challenges the “Greed” Economy but also seeks to
examine how Rights of Nature offers new ways to advance the well-being of
people and planet. Contributions from Pablo Solon, Tom Goldtooth , Vandana
Shiva, Natalia Greene, Alberto Acosta, Anne Petermann, Jeff Conant, Maude
Barlow, Osprey Orielle Lake, and others. The report will be launched at the
signing of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth on June
17th. Click here to read report articles by Pablo Solon and Tom Goldtooth:
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