A publication of the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation
WINTER 2011
The Irony of Climate Injustice The Impact of Natural Disaster on the ‘Stewards of the Forest’ – Miskito & Mayagna Peoples in Nicaragua & Honduras Hurricane Rina swells along the Caribbean coastline in Mexico, gathering atmospheric force, as the world’s scientists, government leaders, and coastal populations are glued to their computer screens for ‘up-to-the-minute’ storm reports. The world is watching nervously – will the hurricane head north or south? How much damage will be caused? So the Global North has become accustomed to watching for the occurrence of natural disasters – earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, wind storms, and drought – and then waiting for the damage report. How many human lives lost? How many homes, hospitals, schools, businesses and government buildings destroyed? How many people injured, inflicted, and suffering physically and emotionally from the impact? For the Miskito and Mayagna indigenous peoples of northern Nicaragua and southern Honduras, who live in the isolated heart of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, the threat of hurricanes and natural disasters doesn’t come and go with media reports. Environmental disaster is a constant worry that weighs heavily upon the minds of Miskito leaders and households. Indigenous villages, which are scattered alongside the Coco River (forming the natural border between Nicaragua and Honduras), are remotely situated in a rainforest biosphere spanning over 50,000 squared kilometers. While the Miskito and Mayagna peoples are accustomed to ‘living away from the world,’ – having inhabited the rainforest region for hundreds of years through subsistence farming, fishing and hunting – they are not accustomed to living with the increasing number of natural disasters that have struck their communities in the recent decades.
CLIMATE JUSTICE
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CAUSE Canada Offers Non-Profit Carbon Offsets | CAUSE Canada Climate Change and Peace | CDPI Edmonton
Together We Hold The Future In Our Hands: Education Campaign on Ecological Justice and Farming | Development and Peace
Annual General Meeting with Wade Davis | ACGC Strengthening Relationships with Government | ACGC
Photo (above): Change for Children is working with local indigenous partners in Nicaragua and Honduras to promote traditional planting knowledge in conjunction with scientific research to improve methodds of climate change adaptation. Photo by Julio Espinoza.
Suite 205, 10816A - 82 Avenue Edmonton, AB T6E 2B3
In 1998, Hurricane Mitch swept their villages away. Judith, a Miskito schoolteacher from the village of San Andres, Nicaragua, recalled the water level from the river rising nearly ten times, and fleeing with her family into the mountains, seeking higher ground. Their home, made of bamboo and palm leaves, was violently washed away by the surging river. Their family’s field of crops (where they grew rice, beans, corn, root vegetables, fruits and medicinal plants) was eroded by wind and water, leaving them without food and seeds to plant in the following harvest. Judith’s family lost everything – and she wasn’t alone. The region’s entire population, over 30,000 people, had to rebuild their communities from the ground up with minimal support from their governments and aid agencies. But not before being struck by another hurricane in 2007 (Hurricane ...continued on page 4
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CAUSE Canada Offers Non-Profit Carbon Offsets The Mam Institute integrated Forestry Program has planted nearly 3 million trees in Guatemala, which will sequester over 12 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent
Rather than simply a warming process, climate change promises greater extremes in weather. Extremes – whether hot, cold, wet or dry – are bad for crops. The threat of disrupted food production is greatest for the 1.4 billion people who live on less than $1.25 per day, those who do not have the income to purchase food grown elsewhere. More than 53% of Sierra Leone, almost 20% of Honduras, and 11% of Guatemala is included in those 1.4 billion. The ramifications of food insecurity are interminable and cyclical, including malnutrition and disease, lost work and education opportunities, and civil conflict. GHG emissions are enormously uneven from country to country, and from region to region. For example, Canada’s overall GHG emissions per capita is around 21 tons of C02 equivalent per year, while the average Albertan more than triples that, at nearly 70 tons annually. In contrast, the per capita average in Honduras is 1 ton, in Guatemala it is 0.9 tons, and in Sierra Leone – one of the lowest emissions countries – it is 0.2 tons. That means the average Albertan emits as much GHG as 350 Sierra Leoneans!
Women from CAUSE Canada’s Women’s Integral Empowerment Program line up for tree seedlings to plant in Comitancillo, Guatemala. Photo by Faith Lee
As we work to minimize our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon offsetting is offered as a means of compensating for those emissions that we are so far unable to cut. The premise is simple: the consumer calculates his or her GHG emissions and donates enough money to reduce, avoid, or sequester an equal volume of GHG elsewhere. The outcome is that the consumer’s combined activities are “carbon-neutral,” not contributing to overall increases in GHG in the atmosphere. Carbon credit vendors usually offer offsets for specific activities like flying, driving, and electricity consumption, in addition to cumulative emissions from the sum of one’s activities. Carbon offsets are an imperfect means of addressing climate change and environmental degradation. It is essential that we make changes in our own lives to minimize our environmental impact. But we also realize that it isn’t always feasible to stop producing GHGs. That’s where carbon offsetting comes in.
Between 1995 and 2000, CAUSE Canada worked with IMDI (Mam Institute for Integrated Development) in Todos Santos, Guatemala, to establish 2 commercial and 20 community-run tree nurseries as part of an integrated Forestry Program. This program has planted nearly 3 million trees in Guatemala, which will sequester over 12 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. CAUSE Canada is just beginning to sell carbon credits in Canada for direct expenditure by IMDI and the Comitancillo Fruit Growers Cooperative on tree nurseries and tree planting. An administrative allotment of 16% of the carbon offset revenue will go towards developing other scientifically sound, locally appropriate CO2e offset programs currently under investigation in the fields of landfill gas utilization, biogas digestion, and plastics recycling. These programs require significant capital investment in the planning stages for scientific field assessment, personnel training, and equipment and/or infrastructure development. For this reason, CAUSE Canada is selling reforestation offsets to expand ongoing operations in Guatemala, which will supplement development of more complex programming in Guatemala, Honduras, and Sierra Leone. Carbon offset purchases will result in an equivalent amount of greenhouse gas being reduced, avoided, or sequestered. In addition, purchases will form part of the foundation for other ambitious offset programs. In the extremely unlikely event that these other offset programs are delayed for too long, the amount set aside for them will be invested in reforestation to ensure that the full value of each carbon offset purchase is realized. All carbon offset revenue will be invested in overseas offsetting programs. CAUSE Canada’s Canadian strategies are designed to minimize the GHGs emitted by our office, staff, and donors in order to maximize the positive impact of our international programs. This includes purchasing renewable energy for our public events and hosting the Canmore Rocky Mountain Half Marathon, one of North America’s greenest races. by Adam Linnard
Climate Change and Peace The potential for violent conflict is dramatically increased by water, land, oil, and mineral depletion... Water wars and human displacement are already occurring and the scale is accelerating.
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There is a growing realization and sense of urgency, in both governments and civil society that we must collectively respond to the challenge of climate change. Social justice is now, generally seen, as a key variable in achieving environmental sustainability and a liveable planet. However, often forgotten is the third critical variable in this equation, a sustainable peace. Just as we must support sustainable ecosystems and sustainable socio-political systems, so must there be support for the creation of a sustainable architecture of peace. Without an ability to transform conflict by peaceful means, we will be unable to create just societies or positively transform our relationship to the natural world and our life support systems The potential for violent conflict is dramatically increased by: water, land, oil, and mineral depletion, food scarcity, environmental and economic migrants and the increasing disparities of wealth both within and between countries. Water wars and human displacement are already occurring and the scale is accelerating, with estimates of up to one billion climate change refugees. Water scarcity is already the most visible and profound climate change threat to developed and developing countries. If methodologies that mitigate against violent conflict are not utilized and, without an ethic of equitable sharing of the Earth’s resources and the redistribution of wealth, it is unlikely for responses to climate change to be effective. The entire project could well descend into a cataclysm of violence and destruction through competition over increasingly scarce resources and viable living space.
The good news is that there are proven peacebuilding methodologies developed by both governments and civil society organizations (CSOs) for the prevention, mitigation and transformation of conflict by addressing the root causes of violence. It is violence that we wish to prevent, not conflict. We are again at a tipping point in the post industrial world with the global warming crisis. On the one hand, there is the emerging sustainability revolution, but, on the other hand, there is the ominous rise of political and religious fundamentalisms and an increasing resort to military solutions. Militarism and the arms industry are the greatest destroyers of people, their communities and infrastructure. They are the chief vehicle of environmental degradation and resource depletion. In 2010, the nations of the world spent 1.6 trillion dollars on their militaries. The nuclear danger has also increased as nations increasingly normalize nuclear weapons as integral parts of their war planning strategies. Most of this build-up is justified in the name of national security. Yet we know that terrorism and insurgencies are aggravated by this posture, particularily, the perverse strategy of pre-emptive strike. Such policies put the whole world on alert, create fear, and fail to build the conditions needed to build true security. The current military and national security positions, based on the existence of a perpetual enemy, will result in the continued use of force and further destabilization of the planet. One of the critical developments needed is the formation of ministries and departments of peace in all nations, working closely with the United Nations, and meeting regularly, especially in crisis. We are in global crisis now as we face unprecedented challenges to human survival in a changing planet. This would parallel the
“Together we Hold the Future in Our Hands” The Development and Peace Education Campaign on Ecological Justice and Farming The Development and Peace 2011 – 2016 Education program focuses on Ecological Justice, which includes Climate Justice and Environmental Justice. Ecological justice is an essential dimension of our long-standing mission to support and to work in solidarity with partners in the Global South and to engage Canadians in actions to support them. Ecological justice celebrates the interconnection and interdependence of all beings, and recognizes our human responsibility to coexist in harmony for the well-being of the Earth community. This year’s campaign, “Together we hold the future in our hands,” marks the beginning of the 2011 – 2016 program. Ecological justice implies the recognition that our planet’s resources are finite and that there is a moral obligation to make fair, responsible and sustainable use of those resources so that they can meet the basic needs of all people - among those needs, the ability of people to feed themselves is a priority. By 2050, food production will have to increase by 70% to ensure food security for the estimated population of 9 billion. Today, more than 2 billion people are undernourished. Will we be able to meet the challenge of feeding the world while addressing the catastrophes already happening because of climate change? Industrial agriculture has been offered as a false solution to the food crisis, and yet it has proved ineffective and in fact, counter-productive. Industrial agriculture and the industrial food system are one of the main causes of the climate crisis, contributing 44 – 57% of total greenhouse gas emissions! On the other hand, did you know that small-scale farmers around the world feed 70 percent of the world’s population? There are 1.5 billion small farmers spread over 380 million farms. They are the ones who feed the hungry of this world and we cannot do without their resources if we are to feed 9 billion people by 2050. Unlike industrial agriculture, small-scale agriculture protects the integrity of the soil, seed diversity and the survival of thousands of breeds of animals. Yet, smallscale farmers receive but a small amount of investment in agriculture. Agro-ecological practices can help small-scale farmers improve their crop yields and thus increase their food security and income. At the same time, these practices allow them to reduce the risk of crop and livestock loss due to climate change. Here are a few examples that illustrate this point.
way ministers of finance, environment or natural resources meet now. Ministers of peace would be the focal points for the implementation of a culture of peace and non-violence at home and abroad as called for by the UN in its Declaration and Programme of Action for the International Decade for a Culture of Peace (2001-2010). Ministers of peace would assess the state of peace building in the world and work to prevent violent conflicts, with the unique mandate of transforming conflict by peaceful means. These national departments or ministries would serve as incubators of creative, non-violent approaches to conflict and as sensors for the early detection of potential violent conflict within and between nations. They would strengthen civil society peacebuilding, including the engagement of professional unarmed civilian peace services, such as Nonviolent Peaceforce, and capitalize on the extensive peacebuilding methodologies already proven in the field. The tools for conflict transformation exist. Now we need the global political will to implement them. The planet’s future hangs in the balance. Written by Dr. Saul Arbess, an anthropologist, Founding Co-chair, Canadian Department of Peace Initiative www. departmentofpeace.ca and Past Chair, Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments of Peace.Submitted by Irene Hunter CDPI Edmonton Co Chair www.cdpiedmonton.ca
Since the late 1990s, the Afro-Colombian communities of the Chocó region of Colombia have been harassed, displaced and persecuted for their land so that large firms can grow African palm for the production of agrofuels. Our partner Justicia y Paz works at defending the rights of the displaced and marginalized and has helped these communities obtain recognition of their land rights. Jean Ziegler, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food had stated: “232 kg of corn is needed to make 50 litres of bioethanol. A child could live on that amount of corn for a year.”
232 kg of corn is needed to make 50 litres of bioethanol. A child could live on that amount of corn for a year.
In Madagascar, poor small farmers have scraped by for years and now have to face seizures of their land by foreign-owned companies, inadequate means of production and fragile government institutions, place added strains on the struggle of these farmers to overcome hunger and poverty. One of our partners, the Liaison Office for Rural Training Institutions (BMITT) focuses on economic, social, cultural and spiritual development in rural areas. The group brings together Christian associations and training centres that work closely with the island’s rural population and can provide training to small-scale farmers. How can YOU help? Sign a message of solidarity and support for our partners working with communities of smallscale farmers to develop and implement more ecologically responsible ways of farming. Once the signatures are collected and counted, we will proclaim the message on large banners and send them to our partners, who can use them to increase the impact of their advocacy work with their government, and at local and international public events, such as the 2012 Rio + 20 conference (www.earthsummit2012.org). You can sign the solidarity card online at www.devp.org
Small scale farmers can improve their crop yields, while at the same time reducing risks due to climate change
For more information on the organization, our partners, or how to get involved (including how to start a campaign), please contact Sara Michel at the Regional Office at smichel@devp.org or (780) 995 9017.
Campaign to Establish a CANADIAN DEPARTMENT OF PEACE Parliament Peace Minister
Peace Commission General Council & Auditor General
Deputy Minister & Chairs Peace Education
Domestic
Peace Curriculum K–12
Violence Prevention
Conflict Transformation
Training Modules
Community Policing
Civilian Peace Service
Restorative Justice
Multinational Peace Force
Interfaith Dialogue
Post Conflict Reconstruction
University Level Peace & Conflict Studies
International Peace Climate Change UN Res. 1325 Implementation UN Children & Education Violence Health & Media
Arms Control
Human Rights
Non-Proliferation & WMD
Human Rights
Nuclear Disarmament Land Mines Treaty Arms Control
Human Security Sustainability Strategies Training & Observing
Impacts of War
First Nations Reconciliation
This September 2011, CDPI Edmonton hosted the National AGM and in October 2011, the Global Alliance for Ministries and Depts. of Peace Summit was held in Capetown, South Africa.
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The Irony of Climate Injustice continued from page 1 Felix) and suffering from multiple seasonal droughts and floods that have plagued crops in recent years. Change for Children has taken a human-right based development approach to working with disastervulnerable populations in the BOSAWAS Biosphere and Rio Patuca Reserves of Nicaragua and Honduras. We recognize that building the capacity of indigenous government, community groups and households in the areas of land rights, food security, education and health care is integral to long-term development and adaptation to climate change. Our projects extend beyond providing emergency food, water, healthcare and shelter – we strive to empower local populations to organize and build stronger networks that can effectively prepare for, respond to and rebuild from the effects of climate change. In exchange, our indigenous partners share with us a wealth of traditional knowledge related to plant science, forest management and sustainable living.
The people who live most sustainably and harmoniously with nature are the ones who suffer the greatest from the devastating effects of climate change.
It’s a sad irony that the people who live most sustainably and harmoniously with nature, preserving and protecting a vital span of rainforest that captures carbon and breathes and pumps oxygen back into the atmosphere, are the ones who suffer the greatest from the devastating effects of climate change. The resiliency of our indigenous partners in Nicaragua
and Honduras, who struggle against the disproportionate burdens of climate change simply to “sobrevivir” or survive, is indeed, inspiring – yet demands that we who live in the Global North need to call our own environmental practices into question. ‘Developed’ nations of the G8 and G20, including Canada, have been reported to have contributed over 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere – and yet the ‘stewards of the forests’ (including Miskito and Mayagna peoples of Nicaragua and Honduras) are amongst those ‘developing’ nations that are forced to carry the burden of the environmental backlash. To join the struggle of the Miskito and Mayagna peoples of Nicaragua and Honduras to reduce poverty, improve health, and adapt to the rising effects of climate change, please visit: www.changeforchildren.org – By Trina Moyles Photo: Change for Children supports school construction in Miskito villages in the rainforest reserve in Nicaragua and Honduras. Through education, indigenous children are recognizing the importance of land management and environmental stewardship in the rainforest region. CFCA constructed a primary school in the village of Pamkawas, Nicaragua in 2005. Photo by Shelaine Sparrow
ACGC PODCASTS
AGM 2011
Clockwise from top left: Counting votes at the board meeting. Busy non-profit fair before the Keynote presentation. Wade Davis speaking with Sarah Cashmore and David Chandler. ACGC staff with Eriel Deranger and Wade Davis.
The Annual General Meeting of ACGC this year began with a wonderful NGO fair and keynote addresses by Eriel Deranger and Wade Davis. As many people we not able to join us that night, ACGC has created a podcast of the two presentations, which is available on iTunes or on our blog www.acgc.libsyn. com. Check it out along with our earlier podcasts on Food Security. If you have suggestions of future topics for the ACGC Connect Podcast or want to share feedback on the ACGC podcasts you have listened to please write diana@acgc.ca.
Strengthening Relationships with Government
Join us December 1st, 2011 (Calgary) and December 2nd, 2011 (Edmonton) for our next Lunch and Learn on Strengthening Relationships with Government. In light of the current situation, both federally and provincially, it is crucial that voices supporting rights based international cooperation be heard. Come and share resources for effective meetings with elected representatives. More information will be forthcoming shortly.
ACGC Connect is published by the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation with the financial assistance of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The views expressed by the publication are not necessarily those of ACGC or its member groups. ACGC is a coalition of NGOs working in Alberta and committed to advocating harmonious relations among nations and to promoting equitable community development within nations which is people-centred, democratic, just, sustainable, inclusive and respectful of indigenous cultures. ACGC can be contacted at: Suite 205, 10816A - 82 Avenue Edmonton, AB T6E 2B3 Tel: 780.988.0200 | Fax: 780.988.0211 Email: admin@acgc.ca Visit our website at: www.acgc.ca Printed on Recycled Paper by Union Labour Canadian Publication Agreement #42038015
E-NEWSLETTER If you would prefer to receive an electronic copy of the newsletter in the future instead of a printed copy, please contact admin@acgc.ca or 780.988.0200. Thank you. Canadian International Development Agency
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Agence canadienne de développement international
ACGC Current Membership November 2011 Action International Ministries • Alberta Public Interest Research Group (APIRG) • Altamas for Peace and Development Association • Association of Canadian Peacemakers International • Awaso Canadian Academy Foundation • Bridges of Hope International Network of Development Agencies • Canada World Youth • Canadian Association for Participatory Development • Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace • Canadian Crossroads International (CCI) • Canadian Department of Peace Initiative (CDPI) • Canadian Humanitarian • Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan • Caro-Canadians Reaching Out to the World’s Children Foundation • CAUSE Canada • CEIBA Association • Centre for Affordable Water Sanitation and Technology (CAWST) • Centre for Global Citizenship Education and Research (CGCER) • Change for Children Association • CHF • Covenant International Ministry • CUSO-VSO • Engineers Without Borders - Canada • Four Worlds Centre for Development Learning • Ghost River Rediscovery • Global Centre for Outreach Foundation • Global Environmental and Outdoor Education Council (GEOEC) • Helping Youth Through Educational Scholarships (HYTES) • HIV Edmonton • Innovative Canadians for Change (ICChange) • John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights • Keiskamma Canada Foundation • L’Institut IndoCanadien Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute • Lifeline Malawi Association • Light Up the World Foundation • Maharashtra Seva Samiti Organization (MSSO) • Marda Loop Justice Film Festival • Mennonite Central Committee - Alberta • Micah Centre at Kings University College • Optometry Giving Sight • Oxfam Canada • Project Shelter Wakadogoo • Racecourse Community School Fundraising Initiative • Rainbow for the Future • Rainbow of Hope for Children • RESULTS Canada • Sahakarini Inter-World Education and Development Association • Samaritan’s Purse Canada • Somali-Canadian Education & Rural Development Organization (SCERDO) • Sombrilla Refugee Support Society • Stop TB Canada • The Canadian Moravian Mission Society • The Human Development Foundation • The Leprosy Mission Canada • The Tamaraneh Society for Community Development and Support • Tools for Schools Africa Foundation (TFS-A Fdn.) • Trickster Theatre • True Vision Ghana • UEnd Foundation (UEnd: Poverty) • Unisphere Global Resource Centre • United Nations Association in Canada - Edmonton Branch • University of Alberta International - Global Education Program • Women’s Empowerment International Foundation • World Fit For Children - Alberta Chapter • World University Service of Canada (WUSC) • World Vision