EarthAction

Sir David Attenborough as the recipient of the Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced today that Sir David Attenborough will receive the Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication to research, documentation, and advocacy for the protection of nature and its restoration.

Sir David Attenborough’s career as a broadcaster, natural historian, author, and environmental advocate spans over seven decades. He is most famous for his work with the BBC’s Natural History Unit, including landmark documentaries such as Life on Earth, the Living Planet, Our Planet and Our Blue Planet. In addition, his renowned advocacy work to preserve and restore biodiversity, transition to renewable energy, mitigate climate change and promote plant-rich diets contribute to the realization of many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The award is the UN’s highest environmental honour, and celebrates those who have dedicated their lives to tackling crises like climate change, species loss and pollution. To date, the Champions of the Earth has recognized 106 laureates, ranging from world leaders to technology inventors. They include 26 world leaders, 64 individuals and 16 groups or organizations.

The Press Release may be viewed here: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/david-attenborough-receives-uns-most-distinguished-environment-award

Feature Story may be viewed here: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/un-recognizes-broadcaster-attenborough-lifetime-achievement-award

David Attenborough exclusive interview with UNEP ED Inger Andersen: https://youtu.be/2YoLsUt4F58

Profile Video: https://youtu.be/Vlvn23rSt0M

Should you have any questions or further clarification please contact UNEP´s Director of Communication, Mr. Daniel Cooney, [email protected]

Radhika Ochalik

Secretary of Governing Bodies

Director, Governance Affairs Office

UN Environment Programme

UN to Publish Comprehensive Global Land Outlook 2

Media Advisory
 

Chronic Land Degradation: UN to Publish Comprehensive Global Land Outlook 2 Report Wednesday, 27 April 2022

 

Contacts: 
Terry Collins, +1-416-878-8712 (m), [email protected]
Wagaki Wischnewski, +49-228-815-2820;
+49-173-268-7593; 
[email protected]

 

A new report from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), to be released Wednesday, 27 April 2022, offers both stark warnings and hundreds of practical ways to effect local, national and regional land and ecosystem restoration. 
 
UNCCD’s evidence-based flagship Global Land Outlook 2 (GLO2) report, five years in development with 21 partner organizations, and with over 1,000 references, is the most comprehensive consolidation of information on the topic ever assembled. 
 
It offers an overview of unprecedented breadth that includes new analyses of various future land scenarios and the potential contributions of land restoration investments to climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, poverty reduction, human health and other key sustainable development goals.
 
Report embargo: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
09:00 US EDT / 13:00 GMT / 14:00 UK Summer Time / 15:00 CEST
(check local time here) 
 
GLO2 is being released shortly before the UNCCD’s 15th session of the Conference of Parties opens in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (COP15, 9-20 May, www.unccd.int/cop15). 

The first GLO edition in 2017 underscored the wide-ranging drivers, risks, and impacts of persistent land degradation, which have intensified considerably in the last five years – increasingly evident in the deterioration of human health and stable livelihoods.
 
The new report sets out the rationale, enabling conditions, and diverse pathways by which countries and communities can design and implement a customized land restoration agenda. 

Advance access to the GLO2 report and a summary for decision makers, will be available next week. 
 
Advance embargoed interviews with report authors and officials are also available.
 
A high-level virtual launch will be followed by a press conference Wednesday,27 April 2022

The press conference will begin 27 April 2022 at 09:00 US EDT / 13:00 GMT / 14:00 UK Summer Time / 15:00 CEST (check local time here)  

To register for the press conference, and to receive the advance embargoed media materials, please email the following to [email protected] 

• Media organization 
• First Name
• Last Name
• Position
• Email
• Telephone
• City
• Country

 
A formal launch of GLO2 will take place Tuesday, 10 May 2022, during the high-level segment of the UNCCD’s 15th Conference of Parties (COP15, 9-20 May), Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.  
 
COP15 programme, registration and other media information: https://www.unccd.int/cop15

 

About the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
 

The UNCCD, established in 1994, is the only legally binding framework set up to address desertification and the effects of drought. There are 197 Parties to the Convention, including 196 country Parties and the European Union. The Convention aims to mitigate the impact of land degradation by uniting governments, scientists, policymakers, the private sector and communities around a shared vision to restore and manage the world’s land, and to ensure the sustainability of the planet and the prosperity of future generations.

Focus on land to safeguard climate and sustain life

Media Advisory
 

French Spanish Russian Arabic Chinese
 

Focus on land to safeguard climate and sustain life on our planet 

Côte d’Ivoire hosts first major conference in 2022 to tackle the interconnected challenges of land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss 

The fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will take place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 9 to 20 May 2022. Heads of State, ministers and delegates from 196 countries are expected to attend this major event on the future of land management, alongside private sector, civil society, women and youth leaders. 

Journalists and media organizations worldwide are invited to attend the Conference to cover the meeting and participate in all events organized for the media. Online Registration | UNCCD  is now open for media wishing to participate in person or virtually.  

The COP15 theme, ‘Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity', is a call to action to ensure land, which is the lifeline on this planet, continues to benefit present and future generations.  

The Conference will focus on the restoration of one billion hectares of degraded land between now and 2030 and tackling the growing impacts of droughts, sand and dust storms, and wildfires. COP15 will also take action on key policies that can enable action on restoration, particularly land rights, gender equality and the role of youth in future land stewardship.  

In addition to formal negotiations, COP15 will include a high-level segment on 9-10 May. UNCCD COP15 will be the first of the three Rio Conventions meetings to be held in 2022, with Biodiversity COP15 and Climate change COP27 convening later this year in Kunming, China and Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, respectively. 

The Convention unites governments, scientists, policymakers, the private sector and communities around a shared vision to restore and manage the world’s land. The last Conference of the Parties took place in New Delhi, India, in 2019. It was preceded by COP13, which took place in Ordos, China.  

Journalists are required to submit the following documentation to be considered for participation. 

• Duly filled online application form 

• An electronic passport photograph 

• Official press card or a company photo identity card  

• Letter of assignment to cover the event 

On request, the secretariat will provide accredited foreign journalists with a Note Verbale to secure visas from the Embassy of Côte d’Ivoire closest to them.  

Detailed information on COP15, including the provisional agenda, is available here: cop15.  

For more information and to register, contact: Wagaki Wischnewski, [email protected] 

Read more about the UNCCD here

Peace Educator and Engaged Buddhist Dr. Paula Green Dies Aged 84

The renowned and internationally respected American peace-builder, psychologist, educator, and engaged Buddhist Dr. Paula Green has died at the age of 84. She passed away on 21 February due to complications related to cancer.

Dr. Green, founder and executive director of the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding NGO, had 40 years’ experience as a psychologist and a peace educator and mentor in intergroup relations and conflict resolution. She was also on the National Council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the steering committee of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB).

“Paula Green was very suddenly diagnosed with end-stage lung cancer, which spread throughout her body. She passed away last night,” shared INEB executive secretary Somboon Chungprampree. “This is very sad news. Paula has contributed so much over many years to the world and to our engaged Buddhist circles.” 

Dr. Green received plaudits and international recognition for her peace-building efforts in the Middle East and Bosnia, and was selected as one of the Unsung Heroes of Compassion award for 2009, which was presented to her by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in April of that year. The Unsung Heroes award is given to “individuals who, through their loving-kindness and service to others, have made their communities and our world a better place.” She also won the first-ever Prize for US Peacebuilding from the Alliance for Peacebuilding in 2018; the Outstanding Human Rights Activist Award from Kean University in 2015; the Psychology of Peace and Justice Prize from Psychologists for Social Responsibility in 2012; and the Leadership and Service as a Peacemaker Award from the Symposium for Engaged Buddhism in 2010.

“In my journey as a peace-builder, whether in my home country of the US or across the world in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, I have been privileged to serve as a peace-builder, educator, and dialogue facilitator, partnering with courageous and resilient community leaders in some of the world’s most difficult circumstances,” Dr. Green stated about her work. “It has been my mission to encourage those separated by war, enmity, prejudices, or perceived differences to seek understanding, discover common ground, learn new skills, and increase their capacity to promote peaceful societies for the benefit of all.” (Paula Green)

Read more at Buddhistdoor.net

2021 EarthAction Project & Campaign Report

2021 EarthAction Project & Campaign Report

The following projects and campaigns were made possible with your support. Thank You.

2020 Action: Every month, 2020 Action educated and mobilized thousands of US citizens and encouraged them to communicate with US policymakers on critically important peace and environmental issues. Each month, 2020 produced a timely Action Alert with meaningful actions for citizens to take to protect our environment and security—usually to contact a policymaker facing a critical decision. For details, read 2020’s 2020 Action Report at 2020Action.org. 2020 Action just completed its 35^th year!

Strategies to Boost Fair Climate Action in the 2020-2030 Decades: EarthAction sponsored a Side Event at COP 26 UN Climate Conference held in Glasgow, Scotland, November 2021. We collaborated with The Group of Governance on Climate Change - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. They presented an equity-based analysis of the current NDCs; Climate Scorecard reported on efforts to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030, and the Asociación Proteger described real cases of community driven improvement of housing and schools, based on local resources.

The American Friends of the Palestinian House of Friendship: EarthAction helped to raise over $100,000 to support the Palestinian House of Friendship (PHF) in Nablus, Palestine and their programs including: Summer Camps; a Skate Park; after school programs and e-learning for kids who were unable to go to school due to COVID; Girl Scouts (160 members) who served elders, needy families, and orphans in the community; an older women’s chorus and the formation of a younger women’s chorus called Zunnar; the Open Gate Music Studio that produced recordings throughout the year; the creation of a Little Free Library in Nablus; a cultural folklore festival in Asira with music, dance, and hand-crafts displayed which more than 2,000 people attended; and a new program called, “The Green Hands Initiative,” where children learn to love the land and to plant vegetables and fruits.

Support for Indigenous Peoples: In 2021, in collaboration with the Save Our Spirits (S.O.S.) Fund, EarthAction provided over $60,000 in much-needed support for indigenous and ancestral communities around the world. These projects included the following:

The Elders Project (TEP) in Colombia: We continued to work with and to provide assistance to the traditional authorities (Mamos) of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta (SNSM) in Colombia. Rick Harlow, the Project Director, traveled to Colombia in August to distribute a new book of Kogui wisdom, published with TEP funding, to the pueblos of the SNSM. Rick returns to Colombia in December to coordinate the next Black Line Journey for the Kogui, Arhuaco, Wiwa and Kankuamos pueblos. These activities are of great help to the Elders in their efforts to strengthen their spiritual traditional practices.

TEP has also been working with the Hopi Elders.  In October Rick traveled to Arizona to assist the Hopi in realizing a 1,300 mile pilgrimage to 11 sacred sites that define their ancestral territorial boundaries. TEP will continue working with the Hopi in 2022 as they realize another pilgrimage next summer.

The Lalakea Foundation: We provided a grant to their Nā Wāhine ʻĀpapalani, Hawaiian women cultural practitioners who have been conducting ritual and ceremony on Maunakea for many years. They are dedicated to honoring the sacred Piko O Wākea through prayer, chant and ceremony that acknowledge Nā Kānaka o ka Mauna, Deities of the Mountain, and form connectivity with the sacred through space and time. Due to COVID, this project was extended into 2021.

Hopi Community: We provided support to several Hopi communities for their COVID-19 Emergency Response Hopi Contact Tracing Projects. They trained people within the community to carry out contact tracing in a number of Hopi villages that were being hard-hit by the pandemic.

Q’eros Ceremonial Terrace Project in Ecuador: Through the Wiraqocha Foundation, Fredy Flores Machaca & Hannah Rae, received a grant on February 1, 2021 to design and build a terrace as the first phase of creating a museum and center for the preservation of the Q’eros culture. The terrace will be a sacred place for the Q’eros to gather for communal ceremonies.

Restoring Ancestral Connection to the Environment— a Community-Led Project of the Moken People of Koh Surin. The Global Purpose Group, founded and directed by Bodhi Garrett, was the sponsor of this project. In February 2021 they received an S.O.S grant to provide cultural and ecological preservation, education for children, meaningful income for adults, and community empowerment for the Moken community at Koh Surin National Park. The islands are located in the Andaman Sea of Thailand.

Kaibeto Navajo COVID Relief: On the Dine' Nation, Sharon Claw-Watson organized a team of 12 volunteers (Kaibeto Covid Relief Team) that served the communities of Kaibeto, Inscription House, Shonto, Redlake (Tonalea), Navajo Mountain and Rocky Ridge on the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. Our S.O.S. grant helped these communities to receive needed supplies including fresh food, healing herbs, water, medicines, vitamins, and boxes of food to keep the people in these communities, especially the elderly, healthy and safe from exposures to infection. Many of the volunteers used their own vehicles, traveling long rough unpaved roads to deliver supplies. Our grant provided food and needed supplies to 50 to 100 families for one to two months and paid for gas for the delivery vehicles.

Panina Makahiki/Closing Makahiki Ceremony 2021 in Hawaii: the project sponsor, Kohe Mālamalama O Kanaloa-Protect Kahoʻolawe Fund (PKF), received a grant for a closing ceremony in a series of ceremonies called, Makahiki Kaho‘olawe, that brought together their kūpuna (elders), kamaliʻi (children), kumu (experts/teachers) and ʻohana (families) from each island of Hawaiʻi to aide in their re-greening on the island and to secure blessings for Kahoʻolawe for the new year.

The Cordillera Peoples Alliance, Philippines received a grant to assist them with their response to the COVID-19 pandemic including the distribution of food relief consisting of rice, sugar, salt and cooking oil to a total of 500 families of indigenous people among the Ayangan tribe in the province of Ifugao. They also shared information on COVID-19 and held discussions on food security during the relief distribution in communities and conducted psycho-social sessions among vulnerable groups such as farmers, elders, youth, and informal workers.

Grass-Roots Organization for Women (GROW) Ghana: We provided support for Community-based Initiatives to address the impact of the Corona-19 virus in rural indigenous and local communities. They strengthened their outreach to prevent the spread of infection and addressed emerging public health issues that impacted vulnerable populations in rural areas who lacked access to essential services. This project went from June 2020 through May 2021.

NEW PROJECT Indigenous Solidarity Fund (ISF) In May 2021, EarthAction became the sponsor of ISF whose mission is to support elders, leaders, and wisdom-keepers of indigenous groups in Colombia and the Americas in their efforts to preserve and share their cultures and traditional practices. Click here to view a video made in 2021 by ISF Project Director Jesse Stammel of an urgent message from the revered Grandfather, Wisdom Keeper, Land Protector and Goldman Environmental Prize winner Werjayo Berito Kuwaru'wa of the U'Wa people in Colombia

Other Campaigns

Throughout 2021, EarthAction engaged in many other global campaigns for peace, justice and the environment through our website and social media. These included: the global launch of the Green Grids Initiative at the Climate Summit in Glasgow; COVAX, the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines; the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; The launch of the Youth Elders Fusion Initiative; For details visit: www.earthaction.org.

THANK YOU

EarthAction thanks all our Partner Organizations, members, donors and Board members for their ongoing participation and support. Special thanks to the Thomas D. Hormel Trust, the Stewart R. Mott Foundation, the Whatcom Community Foundation and the Save Our Spirits Fund.

Click here if you would like to make a donation to support our ongoing work.

EarthAction Announces New Collaboration with the Indigenous Solidarity Fund

In 2021, EarthAction became the sponsor of the Indigenous Solidarity Fund (ISF) whose mission is to support elders, leaders, and wisdom-keepers of indigenous groups in Colombia and the Americas in their efforts to preserve and share their cultures and traditional practices. Click here to view a video made in 2021 by ISF Project Director Jesse Stammel of an urgent message from the revered Grandfather, Wisdom Keeper, Land Protector and Goldman Environmental Prize winner Werjayo Berito Kuwaru'wa of the U'Wa people in Colombia

The U'wa people are known as ''the thinking people'' in Colombia.  Berito Kuwaru'wa was chosen as Head of their High Council and international representative. He has been invited to speak in more than two dozen countries on the need to defend the natural laws of the earth and share his and the U'wa people's wisdom and mythology.  

There's still time for us to recognize the critical importance of the wisdom of indigenous elders at this tumultuous moment of human history. It is our responsibility to care for this earth and to ensure that future generations can enjoy its beauty and abundance. The wisdom of the traditional elders of the Americas can guide us towards rebalancing and healing the relationship between humans and the rest of creation.

Let's choose to listen. 

Update: 

After nearly a year of being denied treatment, Berito Kuwaru'wa was admitted to the Somer clinic in Rio Negro, Antioquia, Colombia and operated on. He is currently recovering in the clinic, where he will remain until he is fully recovered and able to return to his home in U'Wa territory.

Upon his return, the ISF will continue to provide funds for additional medical care and medications, monitor his health, and support his ongoing efforts to recover and grow the U'Wa people's ancestral seeds and crops. 

All of your generous donations and efforts to help our cause are deeply appreciated. Click here to make an online donation.

Invitation to COP26 virtual launch event

Dear Friends and Colleagues, 

 

I am delighted to invite you to attend the launching of a major new global initiative which will be announced on November 2 at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. At its centre is a new coalition of governments called the Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid, which will be announced in the World Leaders’ Summit during the first two days of COP26 by a group of presidents and prime ministers. The Climate Parliament, an international network of legislators which has been developing this initiative over the last few years, is organising a simultaneous virtual event. We’d be delighted if you could join us.  

 

Our objective is to accelerate the construction of the new energy system, powered by the sun, that’s needed if we’re to run the entire world economy on renewable energy. Solar panels on every rooftop need to be combined with a massive expansion of desert solar power stations and large-scale wind farms, including offshore. Continental-scale grids need to link together the best locations for wind and sun to ensure a reliable supply of affordable, clean energy for everyone. Villages that have no electricity need to be equipped with mini-grids to harness their local renewable resources. The new green grids need to deliver enough power to run our transport system on clean energy. And all this needs to happen extremely fast if we’re to have any hope of staying within a safe global carbon budget to keep the planet’s temperature rise below 1.5C. 

 

The Green Grids Initiative represents a parallel strategy alongside the ongoing climate talks. While discussions about emissions targets continue, our aim is to just get on with building the new energy system in all parts of the world as fast as possible. With the right grid infrastructure, there are ample resources of sun, wind and water to power every home, every car and every factory, thus eliminating the fossil fuels that cause more than 75% of greenhouse gas emissions. 

 

Invitations are going out to governments now to participate in the intergovernmental coalition. The UK is playing a leading role as the summit host, as is India. France has informally confirmed its participation, as have a number of African governments. We are hoping that the US will participate. 

 

We’re also well aware that in most of the governments that will participate in the Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid the level of political will is not yet sufficient for an energy transition at the speed and scale required. That’s why, alongside the coalition of governments, we are bringing together Members of Parliament and Congress, as well as citizen groups, who all have a key role to play in pressing governments to move faster. The Climate Parliament has created a Green Grids Leadership Forum to engage interested civil society organisations, philanthropies and youth movements in the initiative, as well as companies who are pursuing the energy transition. 

 

Regional working groups of the Green Grids Initiative have been established in Africa and Asia, involving international organisations such as the African Union and the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Green Climate Fund, the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, UNIDO, the World Bank and many others. 

 

Given the central importance of increasing political will, we’re planning to get started right away with a virtual launch event that will bring together influential voices from many parts of the global community over the course of an hour or two, with Members of Parliament and Congress playing a central role.  

 

Our global online event will be convened by the Climate Parliament, which has been laying the groundwork for the Green Grids Initiative over several years in conversations with energy ministers and heads of government. (A short documentary describing this process can be found on Amazon Prime Video, or here, entitled The Energy Internet.)  

 

The event will begin with a five-minute film, and then tune into the announcement at the World Leaders’ Summit, where ten presidents and prime ministers will be on the stage. This will be followed by a global discussion. Through our network of legislators we will assemble a large audience of journalists as well as concerned citizens, so that the event will serve as a kind of global press conference among other things. After the first hour, we will divide into a parallel series of regional discussions in all parts of the world, in which questions from journalists and citizens can be addressed by legislators from that region. This is an opportunity for you to ask questions on key issues you are concerned about.  

 

Our virtual launch event will begin at 2 PM Greenwich Mean Time on Tuesday, November 2. The event being online, you can participate from anywhere. We very much hope that you might be interested in joining us. The Green Grids Initiative represents an extremely ambitious effort to build the new energy system at unprecedented speed. It will face many obstacles from special interests and bureaucratic inertia, and it won’t succeed without pressure from its friends. 

 

There is a link to register on the home page of the Climate Parliament website here.

 

 

We look forward to hearing from you. 

 

Kind regards, 

 

Nicholas Dunlop

Secretary-General

Climate Parliament

www.climateparl.net

Frightened Palestinians Call On Israel To Speed Vaccine Delivery

 

At a time when the COVID-19 crisis is in retreat throughout much of the world, Palestinians are suffering through their worst lock-down since the start of the pandemic, with infections surging and no prospect of relief from vaccines.

“People here are panicked,” said Mohammed Sawalha, a professor at the Al-Najah University and founder of the Palestinian House of Friendship (PHF), a community center in the city of Nablus which provides services for children. “They are afraid of what is coming. There is no strategy, no plan and no vaccines.”

The Advocacy Project has partnered with PHF since 2015 and recently donated $500 to a PHF initiative, Boxes of Love, to help struggling families in Nablus.

According to The World Health Organization, 245,790 Palestinians have been infected in the West Bank and Gaza since the pandemic began. Cases rose by 4,193 between Tuesday and Wednesday, in spite of a severe lock-down. Deaths rose by 29 to 2,561.

Adding to the stress is a growing conviction that Israel has withheld vaccines to put pressure on the Palestinians. Seventeen members of the US House of Representatives issued an open letter on Monday accusing Israel of failing to live up to its responsibility as an occupying power.

With a population of around 160,000, Nablus has one of the highest rates of infection on the West Bank, partly because it serves as a referral center for the north of the West Bank and includes three overcrowded refugee camps.

Nablus has 12 hospitals and recently opened two centers for COVID-19 cases only. But both filled up quickly, according to Dr Abdelsalaam Al-Khaiyat, a Palestinian epidemiologist and professor who sits on the COVID emergency committee of the Nablus governorate.

“My worst nightmare has always been that there would be no beds for patients at hospitals,” said Dr Al-Khaiyat. “That’s what we now see. This has been absolutely the worst time since the start of the pandemic last March.”

Dr Al-Khaiyat said that 263 people had died from the virus in Nablus so far. Hospital wards are overflowing and sick patients are lined up in corridors. The virus is infecting a growing number of young people and endangering children. Half of the cases have occurred in the last ten weeks.

Mr Sawalha also painted a grim picture of life in Nablus during a wide-ranging Zoom meeting. As in any close community, deaths are difficult to bear and Mr Sawalha said that the virus has claimed the lives of five faculty members at his university. Two young members of his staff were recently diagnosed with the virus.

All shops in Nablus are closed except for pharmacies and bakeries, which are open for two days a week. This has further devastated an economy and administration that was already suffering from occupation and mismanagement.

The education system is collapsing in remote villages where families do not have access to the Internet or computers. Remote learning is even difficult in refugee camps that are close to the city said Ansaf Khalil, who teaches at the Balata refugee camp. Ms Khalil's daughter Dareen is depressed and “dreaming of an end to this nightmare,” she said.

With family food stocks running dangerously low, the authorities in Nablus are under growing pressure to ease the lock-down. This, however, could open the floodgates. “It is a very dark picture,” said Mr Sawalha.

The main line of defense against the virus – vaccines - is still not available to Palestinians. So far, according to press reports, the Palestinian Authority has only acquired 92,000 doses for a population of over 5 million. This includes 30,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V and 58,000 doses of the Pfizer and AstraZenaca vaccines which recently arrived through COVAX, the international sharing program.

Learn more at The Adovcacy Project 

World Future Day: Launch of Youth Fusion Elders on March 1

Launch of Youth Fusion Elders initiative
World Future Day/Nuclear Remembrance Day
Monday March 1, 2021. 6pm – 7:30 CET (12noon-1:30pm Eastern Time USA)

The World Future Day Launch of Youth Fusion Elders will be an intergenerational dialogue between youth and elders within the peace and nuclear disarmament fields. We will learn from the highly valuable experiences and knowledge of ‘Elders’ in a conversation facilitated by youth leaders.

Click here to register. Event facebook page.

Youth Fusion Elders:
‘Elder –a person having authority because of age and experience’
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Youth Fusion highlights the importance of inter-generational dialogue, and of youth learning from the experience of those who have been long-time and effective leaders in the peace and disarmament fields. In this regard, we recognise and affirm Youth Fusion Elders, those we hold in high esteem, and whose leadership, accomplishments, ideas and wisdom we highlight online and through our activities.

March 1: World Future Day/Nuclear Remembrance Day
The Youth Fusion Elders launch event is held in conjunction with a 24 hour round-the-world conversation for World Future Day which starts in Aotearoa-New Zealand at 12noon and moves westward each hour to the next time-zone. March 1 is also Nuclear Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the most destructive nuclear weapons test ever conducted in the Pacific. The impact of the radiation dispersed from this test will last for generations.   

Youth Fusion:
Youth Fusion, the youth network of Abolition 2000, is a world-wide platform for young individuals and organizations in the field of nuclear disarmament, risk-reduction and non-proliferation. Youth Fusion  focuses on youth action and intergenerational dialogue, building on the links between disarmament, peace, climate action, sustainable development and building back better from the pandemic.

Please click here for more information. 

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force

EarthAction celebrates that on January 22, 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force. We share this news as written by The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN):

"More than 75 years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the treaty banning these weapons with catastrophic humanitarian consequences enters into force. The countries that have joined the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons are bound to adhere to the treaty’s prohibitions and implement its obligations. The treaty’s normative impact will grow as states parties and civil society push for its full implementation and universalisation.

“Nuclear weapons have always been immoral, now they are illegal,” Beatrice Fihn, ICAN Executive Director said. “ The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is a victory for all people, made possible by the efforts of civil society and the international community. A handful of nations have held the world hostage with these horrific weapons. With the treaty we break those chains and chart a new course to a world free of nuclear weapons.”

21 January 2021 is a critical milestone towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Around the world, ICAN campaigners are marking the historic day with at least 172 events, from commemorations to protests to educational events. There are protestors at institutions around the world including companies, banks, universities that are contributing to nuclear weapons to make clear this behaviour is now banned under international law. At nuclear weapon bases and laboratories activists are hanging banners. Diplomats and officials are rallying behind the treaty. Campaigners in countries that have joined the treaty are celebrating the leadership of their countries to bring the first international legal ban on nuclear weapons into force.

The entry into force of the TPNW is a day of paramount importance for ICAN and for international peace and security. It is the start of a new chapter: the end of nuclear weapons."

See more at: https://www.icanw.org/tpnw_enters_into_force

Peace is not everything, but everything is nothing without peace. No to war, militarism, and violence

The Doomsday Clock has moved for the first time in history to just 100 seconds to midnight. The
Nobel prize winners “The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists" justify this move by citing the
dangers of atomic war and the consequences of climate change. The dangers of a great
cataclysmic war have increased in view of the rivalries of the great powers, as have the quantity
and quality of regional conflicts and wars over resources and as consequences of climate
change. Wars are inseparable components of the "new normal."

Peace is not only the absence of war; it covers all dimensions of human existence and the
existence of nature. Peace means global justice and always includes climate justice. This is the
struggle for peace that the World Social Forum has waged since its conception, particularly
related to US interventionism. It is also a struggle against military confrontations wherever they
exist.

For these reasons we are planning on the one hand several public online discussions on the
ongoing military conflicts in West Asia (Yemen, Syria and Palestine) as well as on the
involvement of NATO in Eastern European countries like Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan. On
the other hand, we are going to deal with the militarization of internal political conflicts,
especially in countries where the pandemic has led to an extreme polarization between
authoritarian regimes and its peoples. Some further notes:

1. Anti-militarism today is a rejection of and pressure against the biggest military alliance in
   the world: NATO and its ∼1000 military bases.
2. Special attention should be given to the economic and ecological reasons as well as the
   humanitarian consequences of the ongoing militarization processes in regards to
   repression, human rights violations, and the forced migration of millions of people.
3. Central to militarism is the gross excess of spending on military arms. 2 trillion US dollars
   per year cause deaths on a daily basis are partly responsible for poverty and hunger
   around the world. Disarmament is a central challenge for peace engagement and just
   shaping of the future.
4. Militaristic structures in individual countries and internationally also destroy democracy
   and participation; anti-militarism is therefore always also a struggle for democracy.
5. Small arms are the "weapons of mass destruction" of the 21st century. The daily killing
   and murdering with such weapons demand peace-based political and social responses
   and an international ban.

In all these panel discussions, the audience should be given the opportunity to deliberate the
strategies and mobilizations which not only engage the traditional peace movement, but also
activists, experts, and opinion leaders from other thematic areas like global justice, cultural
diversity, and climate change.

The 24th of January should reflect the diversity of these issues and the central challenge for
peace and global justice.

Reiner Braun, International Peace Bureau; Leo Gabriel, Prague Spring 2, network against far-
right extremism and populism; Kristine Karch, International network ‘No to war - No-to-NATO’.

Read more here