The People’s World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth convened in Cochabamba, Bolivia, from 19-22 April 2010.An initiative of Bolivian President Evo Morales, the Conference provided a forum to discuss the structural and systemic causes of climate change and propose substantive measures that facilitate the well-being of mankind in harmony with nature. A 10-page declaration adopted at the Conference calls on developed countries to: commit to quantified emission reductions that will limit the global temperature increase to a maximum of 1°C; bear the costs and ensure technology transfer necessary to compensate developing countries for their lost development opportunities due to a compromised atmosphere; and take responsibility for climate change migrants, through the conclusion of an international agreement.
The declaration also urges the approval of a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol in which developed countries commit to reduce domestic emissions by at least 50% against 1990 levels without resorting to market-based mechanisms. It further calls for the recognition and integration of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the climate change negotiations. The final declaration also rejects a definition of forests that includes plantations and condemns market-based mechanisms such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD), conservation, sustainable management of forests, and stock enhancement in addition to REDD (REDD+), and all terrestrial carbon in addition to REDD+ (REDD++), as violating the right to the prior informed consent of indigenous peoples and national sovereignty. The final declaration foresees that a second People’s World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth will be held in 2011 to discuss the results of COP 16.
Links to further information
Conference web site
Conference blog