The Rights of Mother Earth: Bolivia Births a New Revolution
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Conference registration: http://pwccc.wordpress.com
With the World's Peoples Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia, less than two weeks away, the movement for the Rights of Mother Earth is giving birth to a new revolution. In defense of Mother Earth and honoring the sacredness of life, Indigenous Peoples are ready to hold governments and corporations responsible that poison the earth.
While Indigenous Peoples focus on the defense of the earth, the issues of destruction of the earth, and the targeting of Indigenous Peoples lands for mining, power plants and development, are among the most censored issues in the world media.
In the Climate Summit workshop titled "Referendum" online, the focus is on reestablishing harmony with Mother Earth and recognizing its Rights. Further, it proposes a change of over-consumption of the waste model of the capitalist system.
In its draft document, the Referendum workshop proposes the domestic reduction and absorption of the developed countries greenhouse gases in order to prevent temperature increases of no more than 1º C. It further proposes the transfer of all war expenditures to fund climate change.
The workshop guidelines further ask: "Are you in accordance to create a Climate Justice Tribunal to judge who destroys Mother Earth?"
Conference participants, who are registered, are already at work in workshops online.
Otto Mendoza Portocorrero, president of ONAPROS in Peru, said it is the animals, as well as humans, who suffer because of so-called developed nations. The statement calls for renewable energy and the protection of forests while decreasing greenhouse gases.
Read more:
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/brenda-norrell/2010/04/rights-mother-earth-bolivia-births-new-revolution
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PRE CONFERENCE OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS IN BOLIVIA ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND MOTHER EARTH’S RIGHTS
(Cochabamba, 29 and 30 March 2010)
The representatives of the following organizations: Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia (CSUTCB), Confederación Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas Indígenas Originarias de Bolivia “Bartolina Sisa”, (CNMCIOB “BS”), Consejo Nacional de Ayllus y Markas del Qollasuyo (CONAMAQ), Confederación de Pueblos Indígenas de Bolivia (CIDOB), Confederación Sindical de Comunidades Interculturales de Bolivia (CSCIB), Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), and other participants of Subgroup 3: MOTHER EARTH’S RIGHTS
Mother Earth being a living being, of which all life forms, both animate and inanimate are part, and aware of its benefits for living well-in good health-, we assume the responsibility and the generational role in cultivating balance and harmony in our lives and with our Mother Earth.
We call the world to regain our ancestral spiritual essence and raise community and universal awareness, practicing and generating:
Acknowledgement and respect for Mother Earth’s rights
Actions in daily community life, in balance and harmony with Mother Earth
The recovery of our Mother Earth’s health for humanity, practicing the health principles and values of our ancestral peoples and putting into practice ancestral actions acknowledging and respecting our own forms of living, forms characteristic of the indigenous peoples, with respect to Mother Earth.
Daily ancestral actions recognizing each other as brothers and sisters and acknowledging the duty to take care of Mother Earth in order to live well.
We put forward the following Draft Universal Declaration of Mother Earth’s Rights, for the peoples, nations, States and governments in the whole world:
Preamble
We, the peoples and nations of the world:
Considering that all and everyone is part of a system and a community that is interdependent and interrelated;
Gratefully acknowledging that Mother Earth gives us life, nourishes and teaches us and provides us with all that we need to live well
Convinced that Mother Earth is an indivisible community of diverse and interdependent beings with whom the peoples and nations of the world share a common destiny;
Recognizing that human beings under the capitalist system of predation, exploitation, abuse and pollution of Mother Earth have caused great destruction, degradation and disturbance of harmony with nature by putting at risk LIFE as we know it, as a result of phenomena such as climate change;
Convinced that in an interdependent system it is not possible to acknowledge the rights of the human part only without provoking imbalances in the whole system;
Noting that in order to guarantee human rights it is necessary to recognize and guarantee the rights of Mother Earth and reestablish harmony with nature;
The General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Mother Earth’s Rights as a common purpose that requires the endeavors of all peoples and nations of the world, regardless of their economic, social, religious and cultural rights must, so that both individuals and institutions, constantly being inspired by it, can promote, through teaching and creating awareness, respect for these rights and for them to guarantee, through measures and progressive mechanisms of national and international recognition, their universal and effective application, among peoples and nations of the Member States.
Article 1
Mother earth is a living system.
Mother Earth articulates everything to reproduce life. Mother Earth is an indivisible, self-regulated community of interrelated beings that are defined by their relationship with the system as a whole.
The fundamental rights of Mother Earth derive form the same source of existence and are inherent to all beings, and are therefore inalienable and uninfringeable.
All the components that integrate the Mother Earth system have the right to all fundamental rights acknowledged in this Declaration, without any kind of distinction, or discrimination such as organic and inorganic beings, species, origin, use for human beings, or any other condition.
Just as human beings have rights, all the components of Mother Earth also have rights that are specific for their condition and appropriate for their role and function within the systems in which they exist.
The rights of each part of the system are limited by the rights of other parts as far as what is necessary to maintain integrity, balance and the health of the system they share.
I FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF MOTHER EARTH
Article 2
Right to life.
Article 3
Right to be respected, preserved, protected and looked after.
Article 4
Right to the regeneration of its biocapacity and the continuation of its cycles, structures and vital processes. Right to the respect of its essential processes. Each organism, according to its nature, has a place and a fundamental role in nature that must be respected for the adequate functioning of the system.
Article 5
Right to maintain their identity and integrity as differentiated, self-regulated and interrelated entities.
Article 6
Right to water as source of life.
Article 7
Right to clean air.
Article 8
Right to integral health.
Article 9
Right not to be contaminated, to be free of pollution, toxic and radioactive waste, not to be genetically altered and modified in its structure threatening its integrity or vital and healthy functioning.
Article 10
Right not to suffer destruction provoked by war and nuclear and chemical weapons.
Article 11
Right to life in harmony. Mother Earth and everyone that integrates her must live in balance with one another according to their nature.
Article 12
Right to fair compensation and repair for the infringements of human beings of her rights acknowledged in this Declaration.
II FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES AND OBLIGATIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS OWED TO MOTHER EARTH
Article 13
Human beings and States have the responsibility of preventing from infringement of this Declaration and must:
promote the acknowledgement, application and execution of the rights and obligations established in this Declaration;
not affect the rights of Mother Earth through human actions;
ensure that the search of human well being contributes to the well being of Mother Earth, now and in the future;
elaboration and effective application of norms and laws for the defense, protection and preservation of Mother Earth;
protect, restore and preserve the integrity of ecological systems;
have the obligation not to cause damaging interruptions for the cycles, processes and vital ecological balances, that compromise genetic viability and continues survival of the species;
guarantee that the damages cause by human infringements of the fundamental rights in this Declaration can be rectified and that those responsible account for the restoration and preservation of the integrity and healthy functioning of the affected parts of Mother Earth as a whole;
allow and guarantee the right of people to defend the rights of Mother Earth and her different components.
guarantee the measure of precaution and restriction of activities that may lead to the extinction of species, destruction of ecosystems or permanent alteration of natural cycles;
promote production, protection and consumption systems in harmony with Mother Earth for living well;
guarantee peace to preserve the integrity of nature and balance with Mother Earth;
balanced, responsible management and no overexploitation of natural resources;
promote and receive integral education with regards to Mother Earth and how to live in accordance with this Declaration;
express acknowledgement of Mother Earth in accordance with their ways and means.
guarantee the well being of every living being, regardless of their species as well as the right to live free of torture, cruelty and/or punishment.
Article 14
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted in a way as to derogate from the acknowledgement of other fundamental rights, liberties and duties of all beings or any being in particular.
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Follow Bolivia Climate Summit on Facebook and Twitter:
From the conference social networking organizer
Hi all,
We've made some advances in social networking media:
We have now our twitter account that will focus primarily on the conference with short daily updates and factoids, please start to follow us on twitter here if you haven't already: http://twitter.com/boliviaun
We now have a Facebook page just for the conference up and running! It is in English now but by the end of the day today it will be totally bilingual: English and Spanish. Become a fan here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=334572224227#!/pages/World-Peoples-Conference-on-Climate-Change-and-the-Rights-of-Mother-Earth/355549603087?ref=mf
This will be primarily for highlighting some key information about the conference as well as sharing educational items that folks can use such as videos, articles, declarations and speeches, etc. to better understand what is happening in Cochabamba. It will also allow us to build up a fan base that can be mobilized right after the conference for various action items or educational initiatives. And we will also promote the public events being organized in various cities throughout the hemisphere by folks who can't attend but want to do something. During the conference this page will be able to publicize some of the more in-depth analysis, coverage, and documentation that is coming out of the conference.
And finally, we have an rsvp Facebook event page that we hope everyone will use to rsvp to the conference: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=334572224227
this will allow folks to encourage other to attend and/or support the conference.
If you haven't already please do pass all three of these around to all those you think would be interested.
Best, Olivia
