ERRANT PARADOX

A book of mine entitled \'\'Mirrors\'\' is about to be published. It is a sort of -pardon the audacity- universal history. As Oscar Wilde said, \'\'I can resist everything except temptation,\'\' and I confess I have succumbed to the temptation of recounting certain episodes of the human adventure in this world, events that are not well known, writes Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan writer and journalist and author of The Open Veins of Latin America and Memories of Fire. In this article, Galeano writes that John Locke, renowned philosopher of liberty, was a shareholder in the Royal Africa Company, which bought and sold slaves. At the dawn of the 18th century, the first of the Bourbons of Spain, Philip V, inaugurated his new throne by signing a contract with his cousin the king of France that allowed the Guinea Company to sell blacks in America. Each king would receive a 25 percent cut of the profits. The names of some of the ships that carried this cargo: Voltaire, Rousseau, Jesus, Hope, Equality, and Friendship. Two of the founding fathers of the US disappeared in the fog of official history. No one remembers Robert Carter or Gouverneur Morris. This amnesia is recompense for their acts: Carter was the first of the champions of independence to free his slaves. Morris, one of the authors of the Constitution, opposed the clause stipulating that a slave was equal to just three-fifths of a person. \'\'The Birth of a Nation\'\', the first Hollywood mega-production, premiered in 1915 in the White House. The president, Woodrow Wilson, gave it a standing ovation. His writings were repeatedly quoted in the film, a racist hymn in praise of the Ku Klux Klan.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Climate Worries in Mercosur

Environmental organizations in Argentina have called on the countries of Mercosur (Southern Common Market) to consider the implications of climate change as a priority in the bloc's summit meetings.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Monarch Butterflies Under Threat

Dozens of peasant farmers and police are keeping an eye on the forests of the sanctuaries for the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) in Mexico, but logging continues under the veil of corruption and fed by the poverty of area inhabitants.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Ruling Against Selective Imports of Used Tires

Brazil must once again import retreaded tires from Europe or close its market to everyone, including its partners in Mercosur (South America's trade bloc), according to a decision by the World Trade Organization.

German Biodiesel Forced to Compete

The imminent elimination of government subsidies for German biofuels threatens an industry that was just beginning to take off.

HOW TRADE RULES CAN SERVE THE ENVIRONMENT

The relationship between international trade -and indeed the WTO- and climate change would be best defined by a consensual international accord on climate change that successfully embraces all major polluters, writes Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In this article, Lamy writes that until a truly global consensus emerges on how best to tackle the issue of climate change, WTO members will continue to hold different views on what the multilateral trading system can do on this subject. The WTO tool-box of rules can certainly be leveraged in the fight against climate change, but they would need to be mobilised under clearer environmental parameters, which only the environmental community can set. In the absence of such parameters, the WTO will continue to be pulled from left to right by different players, with only a faint possibility of landing in the centre.

CIVIL SOCIETY UNDER ATTACK

In the last twelve months we have seen civil society organisations challenged by political threats to civil society\'s right to exist, by the need to improve its internal governance, and by the threats that face humankind, from climate change crisis to poverty and inequality, writes Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of CIVICUS: A World Alliance for Citizen Participation. In this article the author writes that in 2007 civil society found itself under attack in many countries around the world. In Ethiopia peaceful anti-poverty campaigners Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie are still in prison after 25 months on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government. The verdict of their case is due on 24 December, 2007. In Burma (Myanmar) we saw a vicious state-sponsored crackdown on civil society expressing its right to assembly and expression. In Pakistan activists, lawyers, and campaigners were the victims of President Pervez Musharraf\'s imposition of emergency rule. Unfortunately these are not isolated cases but a few of many continuing attempts across the globe to clamp down on dissenting voices, often in the name of the \'war on terror\'. These are being waged increasingly through legislation to restrict civil society\'s legitimate work.

2007 – A BAD YEAR FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

December 10th marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which began a period of impressive development of international human rights standards, laws, and institutions that have improved the lives of many millions around the world, writes Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International. The year 2007, however, has brought grave human rights violations and the failure to protect the economic, social, and cultural rights of an important part of the global population. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, human rights are being violated, neglected, and eroded with audacity and impunity by governments, big business, and armed groups. Renewed commitment is needed by governments as well as civil society to convert rhetoric into reality, disillusionment and despair into hope and action. A global strategy of counter-terrorism, led by the US has undermined fundamental principles of human rights, while extremists and armed groups have unleashed a downward spiral of violence that has endangered the lives of ordinary people everywhere. Parliaments, courts and civil society must call for respect of human rights and the rule of law as the path to greater security.

MEGATERRORISM: US MISSILE ‘DEFENCE’ KEY TO SURVIVABLE NUCLEAR WAR

The real reason for the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) the US wants to place in Poland and Czech Republic is Washington\'s perverse desire to be able to wage and win a nuclear war, writes Jan Oberg, director and co-founder of the Transnational Foundation (TFF) in Lund, Sweden, and peace and conflict researcher. In this article, Oberg writes that BMD represents a fundamental break with deterrence because it aims to prevent affected countries from successfully retaliating against a hypothetical first nuclear strike by the US, making it possible to fight and win a nuclear war without any harm to itself. Since September 11, 2001, no one uses the word terror in reference to nuclear weapons despite the fact that they dwarf the threats (pretended or real) from today\'s \'\'terrorism\'\'. Humanity\'s main problem is not nuclear proliferation and, thus, not Iraq and Iran, but the very existence of nuclear weapons. What the binding Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) actually says is that proliferation to non-nuke countries shall stop as a quid pro quo for nuclear abolition by the nuclear powers. The US, Russia, France, China, Israel, Pakistan, India, the UK are the problem -- not Iran or Iraq or North Korea.

BALI: ­ FIRST STEPS ON A ROUGH ROAD

The United Nations Conference on Climate Change was only a necessary first step along what will be a rough road to agreement on the cooperative measures required to bring the risks of climate change under control. The last minute compromise to establish a continuing negotiating process was only reached on a weakened and watered-down basis, writes Maurice Strong, Secretary-General, 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and the first Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In this analysis, Strong writes that we must treat the dangers of climate change as a security issue, the most important threat to global security we will ever face. The author calls for establishment of a Climate Security Fund of USD 1 trillion to be financed by those countries that have contributed most to cumulative emissions. The Fund would be utilised to assist developing countries to reduce the growth of their emissions and adapt to adverse conditions resulting from already irreversible changes. The kind of climate security regime that would result from these and other indispensable measures goes well beyond Bali and what is considered realistic by most under today\'s conditions, but are imperative if we are to secure the conditions that support life as we know it.

Carbon Market Heads to the Forests

While the business of trading carbon emission rights includes "avoided deforestation", there are doubts about that approach for fighting climate change.

The Awakening of a Better Coffee

A project in two languages, Café and Caffé, has built a bridge between the most demanding Italian consumers and the poorest of Guatemala's coffee growers.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Biogas – With Vietnam's Help

A biogas plant with a capacity of 80 cubic meters is being built on a poultry farm in Cuba, one more to add to the 65 medium and large plants already operating in the livestock province of Las Tunas.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Moss Under Threat from Christmas

Bags of moss sell for a dollar per half-kilo on the sidewalks of downtown Caracas and in other Venezuelan cities, often with the officials looking the other way. It is against the law, but the moss is used in Nativity scenes and other Christmas holiday decorations.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Sylvester Stallone's Company Fined for Harming Corals

The Honduran Secretariat of Environment handed down a 42,000-dollar fine to a hotel for having contaminated the coral reefs in an untouched area of Guanaja Island, in the Caribbean Sea.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Opposition to Amazon Dam

The Brazilian hydroelectric dam Santo António, on the Madeira River in the Amazon, will continue under attacks from environmental and social movements, although its construction between 2008-2012 was sealed in bidding on Dec. 10, with a consortium headed by the Odebrecht firm coming out on top.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Peasant Farmers Consider Community Forestation

The experience of eight forestry projects carried out between March 2005 and December 2006 by indigenous peoples and small farmers in southern Chile has been systematized in a book by the Forestry Engineers for Native Forest Association (AIFBN).

EU-AFRICA-CARIBBEAN-PACIFIC TRADE: UNEQUAL PARTNERS, UNFAIR RULES

The December 31 deadline for ratification of the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and the ACP Group (Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific) should be extended for negotiating these agreements, writes Luisa Morgantini, vice president of the European Parliament. In this analysis, Morgantini writes that numerous studies show the effect of eliminating preferences and implementing the sort of trade liberalisation that the EU wants to introduce would be devastating to the African economies. Two economies at completely different phases of development should not be treated as if they were equal. It is wrong to pretend that the liberalisation \'\'of almost all trade\'\' between them can generate development. The assumption that the EPAs and WTO rules are unavoidable ignores the possibility of working through this organisation to change the rules. It is to be hoped that the Commission will listen to the arguments of the many voices who have called for an extension of the deadline for negotiating the EPAs, for exclusion of discussion of the \'\'Singapore issues\'\', and for the EPAs to be transformed into true instruments of co-operation for development and not mere free-trade accords.

VENEZUELA: PUTTING THE BRAKES ON HUGO CHAVEZ

In a constitutional referendum on December 2, voters in Venezuela sent a clear message to their president: \'\'Slow down,\'\' writes Jennifer L. McCoy, political science professor at Georgia State University, and director of the Americas Programme at The Carter Centre in Atlanta. In this analysis, McCoy writes that President Hugo Chavez\' own supporters refused to do what he asked - vote on his constitutional reform proposals as if it were a personal loyalty test to him. Venezuela could profit from this experience if all sides (and the US too) learn the lessons and capitalise on the opportunities it provides. International actors should not underestimate the capacity of the Venezuelan people to provide broad constraints on their government, even when institutional checks and balances are practically non-existent. As long as President Chavez follows the electoral path, the Venezuelan people will determine how far they will support his ideas, and when to put on the brakes.

Bali Forecast: Low Expectations

Don't expect clear actions to come from the climate conference in Bali. The mission is to hammer out an agenda for negotiations and a measurable threshold of commitments to fight global warming, say experts.

Pots and Pans Against Climate Change

To minimize its impact on the climate, a restaurant in Santiago is making more efficient use of heat and energy, purchasing "clean" electricity and carbon certificates.