8 November 2010 | News | Climate Justice and Energy
No More Time
Evo Morales: A change in the model or a revolution
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Bolivian President Evo Morales warned the developed countries that if they do not stop damaging the environment and the world “there will be a world revolution in defense of life and humanity”. The President said that the Northern nations should take responsibility for their “climate debt”. On Monday, Morales participated in the ceremony of presentation of the book “The Strategic Counteroffensive”, by former Cuban President Fidel Castro, in La Paz, Bolivia. There, he blamed the developed countries for the current climate crisis.
Morales said that the countries should take responsibility in saving the planet with policies oriented to cool it down “to avoid its starvation”, especially the most powerful countries, the most responsible for climate change. He also made reference to Fidel Castro´s words, and said that “instead of collecting the foreign debt, developed countries should pay the climate debt for the damage they cause to humankind”, according to Bolivian news agency ABI.
The Bolivian government has been leading international climate negotiations, raising several demands from social movements and organizations that fight for climate justice.
In April, Evo Morales´ administration organized the World Peoples´ Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, which took place in Cochabamba. The mail result of this conference was the “Peoples´ Agreement”, which was submitted by Bolivia to the UN climate negotiations, which will be resumed in Cancun, Mexico, from November 29th to December 10th.
The Peoples´ Agreement demands strong legally binding emission reductions by industrialized countries, finance (6 per cent of their GDPs) by these countries to climate change adaptation and mitigation work, transfer of technology to poor countries for their sustainable development.
The text signed by organizations part of the international movement for climate justice that gathered over 35,000 people from over 140 countries in Cochabamba also makes reference to the climate debt of the rich nations, to the need for an international court against polluting companies and governments and a climate referendum in which all the peoples of the world can participate.
The Bolivian President has put on the table the message of his government and the peoples of the world on climate change and the necessary solutions. “When people ask me about the best way to end with poverty in the developing world, I don´t hesitate in saying that the best way is to adopt measures to cool down the planet”, he said according to ABI. “This is a new battle in Bolivia and the world to save humankind”, he highlighted.
Photo: Radio Mundo Real
