International Peace, Justice, and Empowerment Summit –9/23

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Jacqui
About Jacqui

October 28, 2009

The IPJES was hosted by the International Council For Urban Peace, Justice and Empowerment. It was well attended by mostly folks who lived in Pittsburgh. There was an array of panelists speaking on a variety of topics including economic justice, community organizing, etc.

Two presentations stood out for me, the American Friends Service Committee and the Indigenous Environmental Network.

The AFSC presentation, though not intentionally climate justice related, actually advanced the very model we all need to be moving towards as we make the transition to a world in the throes of a significant shift in the state of the earth. The practices AFSC presented were around localizing economies and local self reliance. In order to reduce movements as well as reduce major industrial operations and the resulting carbon emissions, keep revenue in our communities, contain burden of potential expenditures for our communities, local self reliance is an advantageous strategy for both mitigation and adaptation for climate change.

The talk given by the Indigenous Environmental Network, namely Jihan Gearon who is a shero of mine in this movement, touched on several provocative points. She connected consumerism and corporate greed with desecration of sacred land through extractive industries, ill health of communities impacted by these industries, and forced displacement suffered by indigenous persons. She also gave riveting testimony that debunked proposed “solutions” to the climate crisis such as the fallacy of “clean coal”, the fantasy of re-forestation to soak up excess carbon emissions, etc. She instead advanced the need for drastic reduction in consumerism and emissions.

The meeting was a space where good dialogue occurred and participants seemed both moved and educated by what was shared. My hope is that the presenters, participants, and organizations stay connected so that the talk materializes into concrete, progressive, action.