Via Campesina: Traders failed in Copenhagen

Press release - La Via Campesina

Traders failed in Copenhagen
The future lies in people's hands

(Copenhagen, 19 December 2009) The Copenhagen climate talks ended up in
failure. Governments of the world showed themselves incapable or unwilling
to make the changes necessary to find a just solution to the climate
chaos. The talks have been driven by self interest and trade "solutions"
that have so far proven useless and even damaging.

Josie Riffaud, a leader of the farmers movement Via Campesina said: "Money
and market solutions will not resolve the current crisis. We need instead
a radical change in the way we produce and we consume, and this is what
was not discussed in Copenhagen".  The governments of the industrialized
and industrializing countries showed themselves to be unwilling to tackle
the model of development which has created and economic and environmental
disaster.

They were incapable to consider real solutions and to see that carbon
markets will not solve the climate crisis.

The drastic emissions cuts (included in a biding deal), reorientation of
agro-export economies, agrarian reform and other measures which could
really contribute to slowing the heating of the earth were not discussed
or considered. Once again governments acting in individual self interest
have failed to consider the real alternatives offered by International
social movements, environmental groups, indigenous peoples and others in
creating a more just and fair society.

Even though the "Copenhagen deal" doesn't mention agriculture explicitely,
it seemed during the two weeks talk that the UNFCCC wanted to include
soils in the carbon capture methods, and include agriculture in it's
technology transfer – opening up space for transnational companies to
receive subsidies for introducing GMO seeds and industrial agricultural
methods such as non-till agriculture. This is exactly the type of
agricltural development that has led us to the current environmenent and
social crisis in the countryside.

The real power in Copenhagen was expressed in the streets and in the halls
of the Bella centre on the 16th of December, when activists, community
groups, international and local social movements and NGOs from the North
and south pushed to meet each other in a symbolic "3rd" space outside the
Bella center.

The vicious repression of the police, including the preemptive arrest of
many of the spokespeople of the movement "Climate Justice Action" further
showed the desperation of governments to prevent the voices of real
solutions to be heard.

We cannot look to governments to provide a magical solution to the Climate
Crisis. Under the guidance of transnational corporations, they only
prepare a further round of capital speculation, this time using Carbon,
the building blocks of life itself as their stocks and shares.

In front of the failure of the COP 15 – international social movements are
more ready than ever to tackle the problems of the world and will mobilise
for the next climate conference in Mexico due at the end of 2010; their
time has come and governments will have no choice but to listen.

Informations and Interviews:
Josie Riffaud: + 33556236509

More on www.viacampesina.org