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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT size=3><STRONG>PRESS
RELEASE<BR></STRONG><BR></FONT><STRONG>ASIAN CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS CALL FOR
‘CLIMATE JUSTICE’<BR></STRONG><BR>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><?xml:namespace
prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City
w:st="on"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">BANGKOK</SPAN></st1:City><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> (July 16) – Over 170 activists who
gathered in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Bangkok</st1:place></st1:City> over the weekend harshly <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>criticised governments and corporations
for their failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They called for "climate
justice" and a "fundamental departure from the curent global order" to <BR>solve
the climate crisis. onference participants included fishers and farmers, forest
and indigenous peoples, women, youth, workers and non-government activists
from 31 countries.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR>"By climate justice,”
participants asserted in a conference document, “we mean that the burden of
adjustment to the climate crisis must be borne by those who have created it, and
not by those who have been least responsible.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR>The conference signalled the
growing voice of social movements and civil society groups in <st1:place
w:st="on">Asia</st1:place> on the issue of climate change.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR>Throughout the three-day
conference, participants repeatedly expressed frustration at how governments and
corporations, who have thus far dominated the climate discussion, have failed to
address the root causes of planet-threatening climate
change.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR>After over 30 workshops and
plenary debates, participants reached consensus on their opposition to carbon
trading and "offset" schemes, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and
the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Development (REDD) program, which
allow polluters to buy their way out of reducing
emissions.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR>Participants also rejected
industrialized agrofuels, megadams, and nuclear power, saying these “false
solutions” will “merely exacerbate the climate crisis and deepen global
inequality.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR>As a solution, participants
insisted that governments must confront the problem of overconsumption, both in
developed countries as well as among elites in poorer
countries.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR><BR>The conference heard that
while industrialized countries have been responsible for about 90% of historical
greenhouse gas emissions, 99% of the risks posed climate change are being borne
by people from developing countries.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR>"Dealing with the climate crisis
inevitably involves a fundamental departure from the current global order, and a
comprehensive transformation of social, economic, political and cultural
relations at the local, national, and global level,” participants
concluded.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR>The conference was hosted by
Focus on the Global South, a policy and advocacy group housed at <st1:City
w:st="on">Bangkok</st1:City>’s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Chulalongkorn</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, together with 24 other
co-organizers from around the world. The majority of participants came from
Asian countries, but there were also representatives from North America, Europe,
Latin America, and <st1:place
w:st="on">Africa</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR>For more information about the
conference, go to </SPAN><A href="http://www.focusweb.org/climatechange"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">www.focusweb.org/climatechange</SPAN></A></P></FONT><BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>-- <BR>Nicola Bullard<BR>Focus on the Global South<BR>CUSRI,
Chulalongkorn University<BR>Bangkok, Thailand 10330<BR></FONT><A
href="http://www.focusweb.org"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>www.focusweb.org</FONT></A><BR><A
href="mailto:n.bullard@focusweb.org"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>n.bullard@focusweb.org</FONT></A><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>+ 66 2 218
7363-65 (tel)<BR>+ 66 2 255 9976 (fax)<BR>+ 66 81 987 5011 (mobile in
Thailand)<BR>+ 33 6 70 45 44 04 (mobile in
France)<BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>