EarthAction

Deadline to submit nominations for the Children’s Peace Prize extended!

We would like to thank everyone who has nominated an outstanding child for the International Children’s Peace Prize 2020! We greatly appreciate your time and effort taken to submit the nominations.

After receiving several requests, we are extending the nomination period with one week until March 15th of 2020. 

Fighting for Children's Rights
The International Children’s Peace Prize is awarded annually to a child, whose courageous or otherwise extraordinary efforts have made an impact on behalf of the Rights of the Child.

Do you know a child in with a drive, passion and a history in standing up against violations to children's rights? Nominate him or her now via our website! 

Winning the Prize
The winner of the International Children's Peace Prize is offered a global platform to promote his or her ideals and future works, reaching and helping children worldwide. The winner receives a study-grant and the Nkosi statue. 

UN Disarmament Week: Over $500 Billion of Nuke Money Counted - and Shifted to SDGs

From October 24-30 (UN Disarmament Week), a team of volunteers in New York City counted out $542 billion – the approximate global nuclear weapons budget for the next five years – and symbolically reallocated this to climate protection, poverty alleviation and the Sustainable Development Goals. The money was counted in 542,000 mock notes each of value $1million.

The event was part of a global campaign to cut nuclear weapons budgets, end investments in the nuclear weapons industry and re-direct these budgets and investments to peace, disarmament, climate protection and sustainable development.

'Most people have no idea how much is $1 billion, let alone $500 billion, says Holger Gūssefeld, World Future Council adviser and conceiver of the money counting project. 'By counting this note-by-note we come to realise the absolute insanity of investing so much money in devices designed to bring unimaginable misery into the world instead of using these precious resources to solve the global social, humanitarian and environmental problems.’

‘We had hoped to count 1 million notes to make up $1 trillion, the nuclear weapons budget for the next ten years’ said Susanna Choe, Co-founder of Peace Accelerators and one of the main money counters. ‘But this amount of money is so vast, that even counting with notes of $1million and with many volunteers counting, it was too much.’

We filled basket after basket with billions of dollars,’ said Bill Kidd, Member of the Scottish Parliament and another of the main money counters. ‘This money could protect the climate, end poverty, ensure universal health care, support peace and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals if it were not wasted on nuclear weapons.’

Susanna Choe, Bill Kidd and Vanda Proskova counting nuclear weapons money. Behind them is the graphic which depicts what the money could fund if it was not invested in nuclear weapons.

Money Counting from the United Nations to the City

The money counting started at the United Nations (click here for video of UN launch) and then continued at various locations around the city including:

• With Students Strike 4 Climate (Fridays for Future) in front of the United Nations;
• Outside Jacobs Engineering, a nuclear weapons contractor, during which a letter was delivered to the company informing them of the divestment campaign against them;
• In front of New York City Hall, to support initiatives for the City Council to end investments by NYC pension funds in nuclear weapons companies, and to establish a public committee to advance NYC’s role as a nuclear-weapon-free zone;
• At Strawberry Fields in Central Park (a location honoring John Lennon), Washington Square Park (wth New York University students) and at the Gandhi statue in Union Square;
• The Hub in the Chelsea neighourhood of New York City, where most of the money was counted and re-allocated to baskets representing the 17 SDGs.

Volunteers help count the nuclear weapons money at the Hub.

Move the Nuclear Weapons Money and the SANE Act

The money counting action was part of Move the Nuclear Weapons Money, a global campaign to cut nuclear weapons, end investments in the nuclear weapons industry and re-direct these budgets and investments to peace and sustainable development. (See New anti-nuclear campaign to stop funding of nuclear weapons, Associated Press).

“The nuclear weapons industry is powerful and wealthy, and has a stranglehold on the political process in most of the nuclear armed states,” said Alyn Ware, Co-founder of the Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign. “But we can take back this power by supporting legislative efforts to cut nuclear weapons budgets, and by ending investments by our cities, universities, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and banks in the nuclear weapons industry.” 

U.S. Senator Markey, an endorser of Move the Nuclear Weapons Money, used the opportunity of the money counting week to introduce an updated version of the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditure (SANE) Act. The Act, which was introduced also into the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Blumenauer, aims to improve national security and budgetary sanity by cutting redundant and destabilizing nuclear weapons programs.

'The United States should fund education, not annihilation; that is our future,' said Senator Markey. 'We need sanity when crafting America’s budget priorities, and more and improved nuclear weapons defies common sense. The SANE Act cuts nuclear weapons and delivery systems that we don’t need so we can invest in the people and programs that will make America safe and prosperous in the future.'

We encourage U.S. citizens to call on your congress members to endorse the SANE Act. 

Senator Ed Markey, Co-President of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament and lead sponsor of the SANE Act. Markey is also co-author with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the Green New Deal.

Money countings in other cities/countries

There were also countings of smaller amounts of nuclear weapons money in London, New Mexico, Philadelphia and New Zealand.

In London, a counting of £5.2billion in 10,400 notes of £500,000 each was organised by Conscience: Taxes for Peace not War and held on Saturday 26 October outside theMinistry of Defence. See Photos of the London event, London Count the nuclear weapons money action flyer or visit the London event facebook page.

In New Mexico there were counting events at Taos Plaza (Taos), State Capital Roundhouse (Santa Fe), Socorro Plaza Gazebo (Socorro) and outside the Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos).  The events were organised by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety in cooperation with Youth United for Climate Crisis Action and Taosenos for Peaceful and Sustainable Futures.  See Activists Count ‘Nuclear Weapons Money’ In Los Alamos (Los Alamos Reporter), Photos of the New Mexico countings and the blog $13 billion of public money to be counted for peace at New Mexico nuclear weapons facilities.

In Philadelphia, a counting of $4.5 billion was held on October 24 at City Hall Philadelphia Courtyard organised by the Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia. The event include songs led by the Grannies such as ‘We are a gaggle of Grannies’. See Photos of the Philadelphia counting and some videos of the counting action.

In New Zealand, a counting event was organised in the New Zealand Parliament co-hosted by PNND Member Louisa Wall MP and the United Nations Association of NZ. New Zealand banned nuclear weapons by legislation adopted in parliament in 1987, and has followed up by ending nuclear weapons investments by government managed funds.  See videos of the New Zealand event.

Money counting with School Strike 4 Peace and Fridays for Future in front of the United Nations.

Counting nuclear weapons money in the rain - in front of the Ministry of Defence in London.

Counting outside Los Alamos National Laboratory (nuclear bomb design and development facility) in New Mexico.

Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia counting the money and singing cheeky anti-nuclear songs.

Nuclear weapons money event in the New Zealand parliament.

Alyn at the money counting event at Strawberry Fields, imagining what money could support if it wasn't invested in nuclear weapons. Meanwhile a busker sings 'Imagine' in the background.

From Basel Peace Office. Read more here.

Organizations Nominated to Support the 2020 Emission Reduction Campaign

Below is the latest Climate Scorecard Spotlight Report.

 

For Climate Scorecard Report #17 we asked our Country Managers to provide a list of organizations in their countries that might help support our 2020 Campaign.

Read the Report

Over the next several months we hope to explore whether the organizations listed in this report, as well as others, are interested in supporting the 2020 Campaign.

 

We also welcome expressions of interest by other organizations in participating or organizing such a Coalition. Please send expressions of interest to Marisa@climatescorecard.org.

 

Climate change is real, and what governments do matters.

 

2020 Emission Reduction Campaign

 

Our Campaign is directed at getting governments to set new urgently needed short-term and long-term emission reduction targets. Learn More

 

Donate Today!

Every donation helps our work.

 

Our global, grassroots organization relies on the support of other committed individuals.

 

Learn More about Climate Scorecard Here

In the 11th Hour Court Halts Copper Mine From Desecrating Native American Tribes' Ancestral Grounds

 

An elder of the Tohono O’odham Nation speaks out against Hudbay Minerals’ proposed copper mine.

 

Tucson, AZ — Last night a judge ruled in favor of three Native American Tribes’ challenge to the U.S. Forest Service’s approval of Hudbay Minerals’ plan to raze the Tribes’ ancestral lands to construct a mile-wide open-pit copper mine in Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains. These public lands hold thousands of years of the Tribes’ cultural heritage, including ancestral burial grounds, ancient village sites, and sacred springs. The Forest Service assumed Hudbay had a right to obliterate these public lands to pave the way for what would be the third largest copper mine in the United States — and quick profits for the company. The court fundamentally disagreed, holding that the Forest Service’s assumption was a “crucial error” that “tainted the Forest Service’s evaluation of the Rosemont Mine from the start.” Accordingly, the court threw out the Forest Service’s decision, preventing Hudbay from moving forward. Earthjustice is representing the Tohono O’odham Nation, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, and the Hopi Tribe in court.

“This is a victory for the Nation and all of Southern Arizona,” said Ned Norris Jr., Chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation. “The devastation that the Rosemont mine would bring to our land, water, and cultural resources is well-documented and cannot be allowed to happen. The Nation will continue to fight to ensure that our sacred lands and the region’s water are protected.”

Hudbay Minerals’ plans — now stopped in their tracks by the court’s ruling — included clearing dozens of known archeological sites in the Santa Ritas that include ancestral burial sites. The company planned to target Gaylor Ranch, a historic Hokokam village, proposing to completely excavate this site and remove the remains of the Tribes’ ancestors within the first few months of construction. Hudbay Minerals intended to remove human remains, funerary objects, sacred items, and objects of cultural patrimony by digging backhoe trenches, mechanically stripping the site, and shovel stripping the land.

“The Pascua Yaqui Tribe is pleased with Judge Soto’s decision to protect the cultural and environmental resources that are so sacred to our people. We are stewards of the land, air, and water and must continue to protect our environment not only for our tribal members but for the community-at-large,” said Robert Valencia, Chairman of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. “We are grateful to our partners in this effort — the Center for Biological Diversity, Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, and the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter as well as the Tribal leadership from the Tohono O’odham Nation and the Hopi Tribe — who have stood side-by-side with us to ensure that these sacred sites are protected for us, for our children, and for generations to come.”

The Tribes were again facing the threat of irreversible cultural destruction after suffering similar abuse in the 1980s, when the Anamax Mining Company proposed to mine the same site. The company mishandled the burial grounds, and while they removed some of the ancestral remains, they left graves and the village grounds open to the elements when the company went bankrupt and abandoned the site a few years later. The Tribes’ ancestral remains were shipped to the University of Arizona, where they were warehoused for thirty years while the Tribes fought to repatriate them. They were only returned to the Tohono O’odham Nation several years ago.

Trump administration greased the wheels for the massive mine, disregarding environmental laws and the unacceptable cultural destruction. The Forest Service assumed, without any basis in fact or law, that Hudbay had a right to destroy these public lands to construct its copper mine. Several months ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers abruptly granted a critical Clean Water Act permit for the mine, ignoring over eight years of opposition from the Environmental Protection Agency, Native American Tribes, and the Corps’ own Los Angeles District (which recommended denial of the permit in 2016).

Hudbay Minerals has a track record of trampling indigenous and tribal rights. The company has been accused of profound human rights abuses at their Fenix nickel mine in Guatemala.

“This ruling affirms the fundamental principle that nobody gets a free pass to destroy our public lands,” said Stu Gillespie, staff attorney with Earthjustice. “As the Court explained, the Forest Service provided no basis for assuming Hudbay had a right to destroy thousands of years of the Tribes’ cultural heritage. Because this crucial error tainted the entire process, the Court threw out the Forest Service’s decision and stopped Rosemont from destroying these sacred public lands.”

A MINE SO MASSIVE IT WOULD PIERCE THE AQUIFER

The Rosemont Copper Mine is slated for public and private lands in Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains. The mine is so colossal it would entail dumping 1.9 billion tons of toxic mining waste on public lands, burying over 3,500 acres of National Forest System lands that contain dozens of prehistoric tribal sites.

Rosemont would also excavate a half-mile deep pit that would puncture the regional aquifer, reversing groundwater flows and depleting surface flows at multiple springs, seeps, and streams into perpetuity. These impacts would be felt as far away as Tucson, Arizona.

The Santa Ritas are home to the last jaguar population in the United States. The iconic “El Jefe” jaguar has been caught on film over the years in these mountains.

 

From EarthJustice. Learn more here.

Professor Sachs Speaks to Subcommittee on Environment

Jeffrey Sachs spoke to the U.S. Congress today about climate change. He speaks first. You can watch it above.

Exemplary Education Practices Show How Children and Youth Can Shape a Sustainable Future

World Future Council releases new handbook: exemplary education practices show how children and youth can shape a sustainable future
The publication demonstrates how educational approaches are helping learners develop the skills to create more resilient, skilled, low-carbon societies.

Hamburg, 26th February 2019. – The World Future Council (WFC) has just released a pioneering new policy handbook, compiling the most exemplary policies and practices to advance Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). After working with 16 Environment and Education Ministries, the Rights of Children and Youth Commission of the WFC has gathered together evidence that shows ESD can play a central role in empowering learners of all ages to positively respond to the pressing global challenges facing us, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and inequality.

Given the huge challenges the world faces, it is clear that we need to teach, learn and live in a fundamentally different manner. The evidence shows Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is already helping to realise this transition. The new policy handbook explores some of the central features of policy, process and practice in some of the pioneering countries embracing these educational approaches. It examines some of the major trends and opportunities in introducing this more holistic, progressive, transformational education.

Education for Sustainable Development embraces hands-on and outdoor learning pedagogies counteracting the trends of indoor living and lack of contact with the natural world that has been shown to have real costs for the health and wellbeing of our children. It creates the conditions for an environmentally literate generation of problem solvers.

“As the growing school strike movements across Europe show, we need young learners with the knowledge, values and conviction to act in a just, inclusive manner and make sustainable development a reality”, says Alexandra Wandel, Executive Director of the World Future Council.

Dr. Auma Obama, Chair of the WFC Child Rights Commission and Founder and Director of the ‘Sauti Kuu Foundation’, says “Education systems need to be reformed to allow our young people to leave school motivated, creative and able to be self-reliant – mentally, socially and financially. As this comprehensive policy handbook shows Education for Sustainable Development encourages this transformation, empowering learners with the key skills, knowledge and self-belief to grow into their best selves. There is no time to lose!”

Jane Goodall, Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council and UN Messenger of Peace, says "Empowering young people to care for the world they inherit is the responsibility of every generation. Education for Sustainable Development is a powerful tool that gives young people, their peers and communities the knowledge and confidence to act on their beliefs, be part of something bigger and make a real difference.”

This handbook offers insights from around the world on how sustainable education can be implemented successfully in policy, in the curriculum and at the level of schools, universities and other places of learning, to build a better future for all. Countries like Scotland are making an explicit link between ESD and the skills needed to prepare young people for a sustainable economy based on renewable energy and more sustainable consumption and production patterns. Similarly Costa Rica’s policy to decarbonise its economy by 2021 specifically identifies ESD as part of a wider programme for public awareness raising, education and cultural change. Ultimately, ESD asks us assume active roles in creating a world we’d be proud to pass on to our grandchildren.

The handbook was supported by the Michael Otto Foundation, Janina Özen-Otto/Jua- Foundation and Ismail Özen.

DOWNLOAD HANDBOOK

Learn more at World Future Council

Want to be Part of the International Children's Peace Prize?

Nominate a young changemaker for the Children's Peace Prize 2019!

The International Children's Peace Prize is awarded annually to a child who fights courageously for children's rights. Winning the International Children's Peace Prize puts your changemaker in news headlines around the world. Last year, the winners' message reached more than 1.2 billion people!

Nominate your changemaking candidate now! Last year we received 121 nominations from 45 countries around the world. We are looking for young changemakers between 12 and 17 around the world. The nomination process is simple, but please make sure to check the requirements beforehand.

Download the nomination form here (Download 2019-nomination-form-en-1)), upload it on the website or send to nominations@childrenspeaceprize.org. The deadline for entries is March 15th 2019. 

We encourage you to share this message with your network!

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out here.

Children's Peace Prize Winner Selected to Address UN High-Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament

On September 26, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, world leaders will participate in a High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament.

'The United Nations and its member countries should focus more on disarmament for sustainable development' says 2016 Children's Peace Prize winner Kehkashan Basu, who was last week selected by the President of the UN General Assembly to address the UN High-Level Meeting as one of the two speakers from global civil society.

'The nuclear arms race, in particular, should be halted and the $100 billion global nuclear weapons budget be redirected towards ending poverty, reversing climate change, protecting the oceans, building a sustainable economy and providing basic education and health care for all humanity,' says Ms Basu, who was also named last week as one of Canada's Top 25 Women of Influence for 2018.

'Instead, the nuclear armed States are squandering resources and keeping their nuclear weapons poised to strike. One mistake would cause a humanitarian disaster, robbing children and youth of their health and future, and maybe even ending civilization as we know it.'

The High Level Meeting on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (Nuclear Abolition Day) will involve Presidents, Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers and UN ambassadors presenting either their hopes and aspirations for nuclear disarmament or their excuses for keeping the nuclear arms race going. It falls on the anniversary of the incident in 1983 when a nuclear war was almost fought by accident.

When an incoming US ballistic missile attack was detected at the Serpukhov-15 nuclear warning centre, duty officer Stanislav Petrov, defied protocol and reported a false alarm. He was right. The satellites were wrong. And his action, which is chronicled in the award winning movie The Man Who Saved the World, prevented a potential nuclear calamity the life of which we have never experienced and hope never to see.

The lesson of the 1983 incident, and the 15-20 other times we have nearly had a nuclear exchange, is that nuclear deterrence could fail - and that failure would mean game over,' says Jakob von Uexkull, Founder of the World Future Council. 'As such, the nuclear armed States have to replace nuclear deterrence with better ways to achieve security, just as the overwhelming majority of other countries have already done.'

'Regardless of what the governments do at the UN, civil society will step up its action for nuclear disarmament,' says Ms Basu. 'The most powerful lobby for the nuclear arms race is the nuclear weapons industry.'

'From Oct 24-30, in locations around New York, we will count the $1 trillion nuclear weapons budget for the next 10 years and demonstrate how this money can be reallocated from the nuclear weapons industry into the Sustainable Development Goals and other areas of human and environmental need. This includes direct cuts to nuclear weapons budgets, and divestment from the industry, and is part of the global campaign Move the Nuclear Weapons Money.'

From Basel Peace Office. Learn more here

Retiring One Trident Missile Could Ensure UN Does Not Run Out of Cash

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week warned member states and UN staff that the United Nations is $140 million short of its budget and could run out of cash, due to late and non-payment of UN dues by member states.

In a letter sent to UN members, Guterres said that the UN had "never faced such a difficult cash flow situation this early in the calendar year. An organization such as ours should not have to suffer repeated brushes with bankruptcy. But surely, the greater pain is felt by those we serve when we cannot, for want of modest funds, answer their call for help." 

Move the Nuclear Weapons Money has called for re-allocation of a portion of nuclear weapons budgets to assist the UN cash crisis. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the cost to extend the lifetime of each US Trident nuclear missile is $140 million, the same amount as the UN shortfall.

Trident II nuclear missile

"if the US retires just one Trident nuclear missile from their arsenal, the money saved could be used to meet the UN deficit," says Alyn Ware, Global Coordinator for Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) and Co-founder of Move the Nuclear Weapons Money.

"Better yet, if all the nuclear armed States abandoned their plans to upgrade their nuclear arsenal, nearly $100 billion could be saved. This could then re-directed into the economy for job creation, climate protection, education, health, peace, diplomacy and sustainable security."

PNND Co-President Senator Ed Markey has introduced the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act into the U.S. Senate to cut redundant and destabilizing nuclear programs and curtail nuclear modernization. "It is time we inserted some desperately needed sanity into America's budget priorities,"  says Senator Markey.

Senator Markey introducing the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditure (SANE) Act

"Unfortunately, Senator Markey is unable to move a majority of the US Senate to support his act due to the lobbying power of the companies which are manufacturing the nuclear weapons systems" says Mr. Ware. "We can reduce this pro-nuclear lobbying power, and encourage the companies to get out of the nuclear weapons business, by nuclear weapons divestment."

The Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign shows how you can be involved, by moving your government, city, religious institution, university, bank and/or pension fund to divest (See Take Action). The campaign also lists examples of divestment policies adopted at these different levels.

"Next week parliamentarians, faith communities and peace organizations will commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," says Vanda Proskova, PNND Research Officer, "Amongst the many actions around the world will be calls for further divestment from nuclear weapons corporations." 

In order to highlight the issue, the World Future Council along with PNND and other partners, will hold Count the Nuclear Weapons Money, an action during UN Disarmament Week (October 24-30) to "count out" the $1 trillion budgeted for nuclear weapons for the next ten years, and reallocate this money to better areas.

One million mock notes, each of $1 million value, will be counted by people of all ages, nations, backgrounds; celebrities, activists, politicians, UN officials, diplomats, artists, religious leaders, sportspeople, refugees and others. The counting will take place in front of the United Nations and at other relevant locations in New York.

"Counting the money note-by-note, no-stop over seven days and nights, will demonstrate what an exorbitant amount of money is being wasted on nuclear weapons - money which is sorely needed to end poverty, protect the climate, provide adequate health care and basic education, fund the United Nations and achieve the sustainable development goals," says Holger Güssenfeld, Creative Director of Count the Nuclear Weapons Money.

"This event will reach millions of people, encouraging them to take action to end investments in nuclear weapons, and reinvest in peace and the planet."

READ MORE AT UNFOLD ZERO

The bruges whale

Near the statue of Jan Van Eyck, Skyscraper (the Bruges Whale) rises up from the Canal. Skyscraper is 5 tons of plastic waste pulled out of the ocean to create a 4 story tall whale: a powerful reminder of the 150,000,000 tons of plastic waste still swimming in our waters. Skyscraper is a physical example of why we need to change how we use and dispose of plastic in the world today.

The Installation

The gigantic sculpture is more than just a representation of a whale; the animal is made of waste, collected from the plastic soup that floats on the seas and oceans of the world. Working with volunteers from the Hawaii Wildlife Fund and the Surfrider Foundation, StudioKCA combed the beaches of Hawaii to gather up the waste. The installation was built out of those finds. StudioKCA seeks this way to draw attention to the universal problem of pollution that affects us all, and to make viewers aware that individual action is necessary.

About the Skyscraper Kickstarter Project

StudioKCA has started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Processing and transporting the waste on this scale is larger than expected. StudioKCA is still looking for $15,000 to complete the manufacturing of the steel and aluminium parts, to hire the cranes and tools, to transport everything to Bruges in time for the event and to assemble all 107 parts that Skyscraper consists of on location. Deposit your contribution to this project via the Kickstarter website and receive exclusive Skyscraper (the Bruges Whale) returns!

READ MORE