[E-rundbrief] Info - 1487 - COP21 - Transformation of food systems

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 1487 - Via Campesina International: Climate change 
and agrofuels - COP21: Social movements and allies call for 
transformation of food systems. Discussion in Paris, 10.1.2015 - 
confronting UN-Climate Conference.

Bad Ischl, 11.12.2015

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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Climate change and agrofuels

COP21: Social movements and allies call for transformation of food systems

Published on Thursday, 10 December 2015 23:30

http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/actions-and-events-mainmenu-26/-climate-change-and-agrofuels-mainmenu-75/1931-cop21-social-movements-and-allies-call-for-transformation-of-food-systems

Global Convergence of land and Water struggles event on December 10, 
2015  Venue: Salle Olympe de Gouge, Metro Voltaire (line 9)

Small-scale food producers and consumers, including peasants, 
indigenous peoples, hunters and gatherers, family farmers, rural 
workers, herders and pastoralists, fisherfolk and urban people – the 
frontline communities – are increasingly confronted by the grabbing of 
natural resources and by systematic violations of human rights. They 
are also directly affected by the impacts of climate destruction. The 
climate change mitigation schemes of the United Nations Framework 
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which are presented as 
“solutions” to the man-made climate crisis are false solutions given 
that they are intrinsically linked to these resource grabs and human 
rights violations.

The Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles is an initiative 
initiated and led by grassroots organizations and social movements in 
order to link and strengthen the struggles for food and peoples’ 
sovereignty and human rights.

This process started in October 2014, as several social and grassroots 
movements from Africa as well as civil society organizations gathered 
at the African Social Forum in Dakar to protest against all forms of 
natural resource grabbing and the systematic human rights violations 
that accompany them. Sharing their ideas, they recognized the 
essential solidarity between their struggles and decided to meet again 
at the World Social Forum to continue this dialogue with movements and 
organizations from all over the world. The declaration “Rights to 
Water and Land, a Common Struggle. Dakar to Tunis Declaration of the 
Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles” sets out the vision, 
principles and aspirations of the Convergence and is intended to serve 
the process of building a strong and united movement struggling for 
the enforcement of public policies based on food and peoples’ 
sovereignty in order to realize the human rights to food and 
nutrition, water, land and territories, seeds, and others. The Global 
Convergence of Land and Water Struggles is a response by local 
communities and grassroots organizations around the world who assert 
their rights, provide real solutions and resist and struggle against 
the threats to their lives and well-being, particularly through the 
appropriation of natural resources by companies, governments, elites, 
and speculators.

Why this event?

Double impact: One of the most immediate effects of the false 
solutions to the current man-made climate crisis is people’s loss of 
access to land and water – the very natural resources upon which 
people depend for their livelihoods and food sovereignty. 
Privatisation and financialisation of nature is the intended result of 
UNFCCC schemes such as REDD+ and it is well known to dispossess masses 
of people. Already pushed to the fringe, deprived of access to land 
and water in rural and urban settings, frontline communities also face 
the increasingly frequent natural disasters that are caused by the 
climate change – and the inability of governments to agree to real 
solutions.

Systemic changes: the real solutions articulated by frontline 
communities derive from local livelihood strategies and practices. A 
commonality of the diverse – and locally adapted – real solutions, is 
that these build on the needs and interests of the people and require 
a fundamental shift away from solutions that are developed by and for 
a minority elite. In this way, real solutions are intrinsically linked 
to the necessity of systemic changes.

The Global Convergence on Land and Water Struggles unpacks and further 
develops the real solutions through frontline dialogue. The public 
event will advance this dialogue by giving the platform to frontline 
communities and ensuring space for interaction with the audience. In 
short, the convergence will show the way forward.

First session: The False Solutions

Form: A panel of 6 leaders from frontline communities. Basic criteria 
for who should be on the panel could be: gender balance; geographical 
representation; indigenous representation; and sector representation. 
The panelists represent communities, organizations or movements who 
are facing the consequences and fighting against the false solution. 
While the impacts of climate change on communities will be given due 
attention, the session will focus on the impacts of the false 
solutions and especially on identifying the best (political) 
strategies of struggles against them.

Second session: The real solutions

Same form and same basic criteria as for session one. The session 
should bring out knowledge and wisdom on local practices and the 
social and cultural contexts in which they are confined, and make 
visible how these differ from the neo-liberal, extractivist value 
system. The interventions should bring into the debate perspectives 
from different constituencies. It should become clear from these 
perspectives what system change as real response to the climate crisis 
means in concrete terms (as opposed to the partial tech-fix false 
solutions)

Third session: Taking the Global Convergence of Land and Water 
Struggles forward

Following this session, the audience should have a clear understanding 
of the false and real solutions and why they are relevant for land and 
water struggles; the need for converging struggles (linking struggles 
in different parts of the world as well as linking struggles at 
different levels); and how it is relevant in the context of broader 
political processes such as UNFCCC. It should be clear that there is a 
need for systemic changes, and that mass-mobilisation and solidarity 
are key ingredients to achieve such changes.

  More information here : http://watergrabbing.net

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Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
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fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
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Honoured by the (Austrian) "Journalism-Award from below 2010"