EarthAction

URGENT APPEAL: Stop the demolition of the monument of Macliing Dulag, Pedro Dungoc, Lumbaya Gayudan and other heroes of the Anti-Chico Dams Struggle

We appeal for your urgent support to prevent the demolition of the monument of Macliing Dulag, Pedro Dungoc, Lumbaya Gayudan and other heroes of the historic Anti-Chico Dam Resistance!

This afternoon, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) received a notice from the Upper Kalinga District Engineering Office (UKDEO) of the Department of Public Works and Highways saying that the heroes’ monument encroached on a portion of the national road. The notice of demolition states that we are given seven (7) days from receipt of the notice to voluntarily remove the monument. If we fail to do so, UKDEO will remove the monument and charge the costs that will be incurred to the Cordillera Peoples Alliance and that they will resort to proper sanctions provided for by existing laws and rules of the government. There was no due process or dialogues held with the CPA on the matter. They want to make us pay for the cost of their sacrilegious acts. These heroes died from the hands of the government and now their legacy is bound to be killed once more. This is downright tyranny!

Last week, the PNP Provincial Advisory Council of the Kalinga Provincial Police Office requested the provincial government through the Provincial Board Committee on Oversight to enact a resolution to address the removal of the heroes’ monument.

The monument was built by the Cordillera Peoples Alliance in 2017, together with the families of the heroes and martyrs as well as people from Bugnay, the site of the monument. It was built to honor the legacy of our heroes and martyrs who successfully opposed the Marcos Dictatorship’s Chico Dams Project that would have brought massive destruction to the communities, culture and environment of the people of Kalinga and Mountain Province. It is a reminder to present and future generations of the valiant struggle by our elders to defend the ancestral land. It is a reminder of the Butbut tribe’s place in the history of the Chico valley, the Cordillera, the country, and the world.

It has been more than 3 years since the monument was built but it is only now that UKDEO and the police are raising the issue of encroachment and using this as an excuse to dismantle the monument. The DPWH should have stopped the construction from the start if indeed there was a violation. The people of Bugnay including Macliing Dulag’s family had welcomed the project and even helped build the monument on their ancestral land.

Demolition of the monument is tyranny especially at this time of COVID-19 pandemic! These heroes deserve the utmost respect of the people and the government. Their monument deserves to be in a place of honor within their ancestral domain.

Demolishing the monument is double injustice to the Anti-Chico Dams heroes. Macliing Dulag was shot dead by members of the Philippine Army led by Lieutenant Leodegardo Adalem on April 24, 1980. Until now, justice has not been served. Now his monument along with other heroes and martyrs is also bound to be destroyed.

To demolish and desecrate the monument is a brazen act of obliterating the Cordillera people’s history of struggle against oppression and injustice. It is part of the government’s acts of historical revisionism or distorting and erasing the true history of the people’s resistance and heroism which remain relevant until today.

This threat to demolish the heroes’ monument is another attack against the people, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, and against our heroes and martyrs who resisted development aggression and State repression. It is a part of the implementation of Executive Order 70 or the “Whole of Nation” approach to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) whereby communities and even local government units are being pressured and forced to comply. Historical revisionism is no doubt one of the goals of ELCAC.

Help save the monument from destruction!

The following are some of the ways you can help:

1. Send letters of concern to stop and prevent the demolition to the following, and furnish us a copy through pic@cpaphils.org:

1. 1.  Eugene M. Batalao

            District Engineer

            Upper Kalinga District Engineering Office

            Department of Public Works and Highways

            Email: dpwh_ukdeo@yahoo.com

       b.  Khadaffy Tanggol

                       Regional Director

                       Department of Public Works and Highways – Cordillera

                       Email: tanggol.khadaffy@dpwh.gov.ph

                   c. General R’win Pagkalinawan

                       Director, Police Regional Office – Cordillera

                       Email: pio@pro-cor.net

                   d. Andres B. Ngao-i

                       Chairman, Philippine National Police Provincial Advisory Council

                       Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga

                       Email: kppo_pcr@yahoo.com.ph

2. Issue statements of condemnation against the demolition of the heroes’ monument and post your stories and opinions.

3. Sign the online petition to stop the demolition of the monument at http://chng.it/9ydD8hK2c6

4. Support the Defend the Cordillera campaign against plunder and State terror. Sign the Global Pact at ph. Watch what's the campaign is all about here.

For more information, please read:

• Alert (October 5, 2020) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D9Pl63ty6A1wi41LwH18kqth5Hp4lQ31/view?usp=sharing
• Open Letter to the Butbut tribe (October 7, 2020) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D9Pl63ty6A1wi41LwH18kqth5Hp4lQ31/view?usp=sharing
• Demolition notice from the Upper Kalinga District Engineering Office (October 1, 2020) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D9Pl63ty6A1wi41LwH18kqth5Hp4lQ31/view?usp=sharing

For inquiries, please contact the Cordillera Peoples Alliance regional secretariat at cpa@cpaphils.org, pic@cpaphils.org.

Thank you for your support and solidarity!

CORDILLERA PEOPLES ALLIANCE

ISSUE: STOP CONSTRUCTION OF DEADLY & ILLEGAL DAMS IN THE BALKANS

River Neretva, Bosnia and Herzegovina ©Dinno Kasalo

While Europe is in lockdown over the Corona virus, investors are increasingly taking advantage of the unusual situation to build illegal dams in the Balkans. South of the capital Sarajevo in Bosnia, the construction of five dams has now begun or is being pushed to begin—in three cases without any permits. Local citizens are protesting the construction of these dams which will destroy their rivers, extinguish aquatic species, and forever change the surrounding land and ecosystems. A key driver behind the widespread river ecocide in the Balkans is the EU/European Commission-backed hydropower subsidies. Local communities need the assistance of global pressure to end these subsidies and stop these deadly dams.

What is at stake now, according to scientists, is 11,000 kilometers of rivers in pristine or near pristine state. These are some of the last unspoiled natural rivers remaining in all of Europe.

https://www.patagonia.com/stories/save-blue-heart-europe-balkan-rivers-story/story-28991.html

Please help us save these last wild rivers in Europe. Between Slovenia and Greece about 3,000 new hydropower projects are planned (436 in Bosnia alone!), more than 1,000 of them inside protected areas such as national parks or nature reserves. If these are built, close to 50 fish species will become extinct or pushed close to extinction, or about 10% of all European freshwater fish species (according to the Eco-Masterplan for Balkan rivers).  The scientific research[1] provides ample evidence that Balkan rivers are the most important hotspot for threatened freshwater biodiversity in Europe.

The main reason so many dams are now being built in this relatively pristine region is that hydro-developers are using what was intended as a positive renewable energy policy, Feed-in Tarrifs (FITS), to very negative ends.

Under FIT policies, investors receive government subsidies (financed through the electricity bills of consumers) for the electricity produced from the hydropower plants connected to each dam. Under this policy, the investor receives up to 3 times the amount of the actual market price of selling the electricity! This money machine together with corruption and nepotism are the key drivers behind the dam boom. The subsidies essentially pay developers for damming and destroying precious rivers. All dam construction should be stopped until new policies can be put in place that will protect these rivers and their ecosystems.

TAKE ACTION:

Send a message to the President, Vice President, key Commissioners of the European Commission, and Director of the Energy Community (see below for their emails). Urge them to immediately:

• End subsidies to hydropower projects
• Take action with national leaders of the Western Balkan countries to initiate a moratorium on new hydropower plants in the region to ensure that the most vivid rivers of Europe will not be destroyed.

SEND A MESSAGE TO THE FOLLOWING EUROPEAN AUTHORITIES:

Mrs. von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, ec-president-vdl@ec.europa.eu

Frans Timmermans, Vice President of the European Commission, frans-timmermans-contact@ec.europa.eu

Olivér Várhelyi, DGNEAR Commissioner, cab-varhelyi-contact@ec.europa.eu

Virginijus Sinkevičius, DG ENVI Commissioner, cab-sinkevicius-contact@ec.europa.eu

Janez Kopac, Director of the Energy Community, janez.kopac@energy-community.org

Additional resources and links:

The main driver of the destructive small hydropower boom in the Balkans is the availability of public financial support in the form of feed-in tariffs. In 2018, 70% of EU renewable energy financial support in the Western Balkans was invested in highly destructive small hydropower, while the huge PV potential was largely ignored. In 2018, only 3.6% of electricity in the Western Balkans was generated by hydropower plants under 10 MW, at a massive environmental cost.  What this means is that the Balkan rivers are being destroyed for very little electricity as a result of EU subsidies on hydropower.  Instead of river-destroying excess hydropower, the region should focus on energy efficiency and building of truly clean renewable energy like solar and wind.

• Recent press release from the Blue Heart of Europe coalition: https://balkanrivers.net/en/news/increasing-destruction-na5%20rijeka%20ture-times-pandemic
• https://www.balkanrivers.net/en/campaign

• Blue Heart Eco-Masterplan scientifically assessing more than 80,000 kilometers of Balkan rivers and streams
• https://bankwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/who-pays-who-profits.pdf

EarthAction.org     lois@earthaction.org

[1] https://balkanrivers.net/sites/default/files/Fish_Study_web.pdf

Country Energy Sector Reform Efforts

For Global Spotlight Report #26, Climate Scorecard asked our Country Managers to describe the major energy sector reforms/changes that their countries had undertaken since 2015.

READ THE REPORT

Special attention was paid to changes in energy sources, the decrease or increase in fossil fuel sources of energy, the increase in renewables, and the use of nuclear power.

 

Country Managers were also asked to analyze the impact that their country’s energy sector reforms/changes have had (or hope to have moving forward) on their country’s overall level of energy production and consumption, overall emissions levels and the cost of energy.

 

2020 COUNTRY CLIMATE COMMITMENTS

 

View monthly updates of the short and long-term climate goals of leading greenhouse emissions countries. Learn More.

 

DONATE TODAY!

Every donation helps our work.

 

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

 

Climate change is real. What governments do matters.

 

Learn more at Climate Scorecard

Country Climate Commitments Update

Dear Friends,

 

Climate Scorecard’s Country Commitment Tracking Update is intended to provide information on the degree to which 22 leading greenhouse gas emitting countries* are making commitments to near-term (2030) and more long-term (2040-2050) emission reduction goals.

 

View the Update

 

Download the PDF

 

Each month we will provide a summary graphic with supportive text with up-to-date information on how each of the countries we are tracking is answering the following 5 questions:

1. Has the country pledged to update its 2015 Paris Agreement pledge by 2020?
2. Does the updated pledge commit the country to making a 30-50% reduction in emissions by 2030?
3. Has the country submitted a plan for reducing its emissions by 30-50% by 2030?
4. Has the country committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050 or sooner?
5. Has the country submitted a plan for becoming carbon neutral by 2050 or sooner?

Our goal in developing this tracking system is to publish information that can be used to put pressure on leading greenhouse gas emitting countries to strengthen their commitments to reducing emissions and supporting the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

 

We urge you to share our monthly updates with colleagues, and welcome your feedback on how we can improve this presentation by replying to this email.

 

Ron Israel

Director

Climate Scorecard

www.climatescorecard.org

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. 

Recent Significant Climate Change Events

Global Spotlight Report #24 we asked Climate Scorecard Country Managers to report on significant climate change events in their countries that occurred from October 2019 – January 2020.

READ THE REPORT

Around the world many countries struggled to cope with extreme weather events. Brazil and Australia battled forest fires that burned large acreage in the Amazon, killed more than a billion animals, and pushed many species to the brink of extinction in Australia. India and South Korea battled “fine dust” and intense air pollution. Japan was hit by two powerful typhoons. Delta regions in Nigeria were harmed by widespread floods.

 

2020 will go a long way to determining the ability of countries around the world to work together to meet the challenges of climate change. View the latest report for detailed Country Activity Reports and Action Alert Messages.

2020 COUNTRY CLIMATECOMMITMENTS

View monthly updates of the short and long-term climate goals of leading greenhouse emissions countries. Learn More

 

DONATE TODAY!

Every donation helps our work.

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

 

Read more at www.climatescorecard.org

You Moved Chase!

I'm going to cut to the chase: Today, JPMorgan Chase announced a fossil fuel policy that rules out funding for coal plants, and for oil and gas projects in the Arctic. This is a major step forward in our efforts to get the finance sector to make the changes we need to heal the climate and protect communities around the world.
 
That’s why we’re celebrating today, Lois. Because you did it!! After two years of showing up in every way, you moved the #1 banker of fossil fuels in the world.

I'm going to give you a minute to let that sink in, maybe dance around a little bit, and let out a majorly deserved “YES!” Because this is monumental.

But this campaign is far from over: it’s a major milestone for Chase to end funding of coal and Arctic oil and gas projects, but we need them to go even further. Chase must immediately stop financing tar sands mines and pipelines, and stop financing any companies that are building new fossil fuel infrastructure. 

The great news is that you’ve already proven you can move the world’s #1 banker of fossil fuels! So let’s get the promise we really want: let’s convince Chase to defund all fossil fuels!

Tell Chase to do more!

Your dedication to people and planet has been incredible. You’ve showed up at Chase branches and shut them down, emailed executives urging them to act for the climate, called Jamie Dimon to tell him how disappointed you are, and you never let up.

Everyone at RAN wants to thank you for dedicating yourself to demanding Chase defund climate change. But we can’t let up now, Lois. We have Chase right where we want them, and they need to go further to undo the damage they’ve done.
 
Chase has for decades financed fossil fuel companies that have violated Indigenous rights, destroyed rainforests, endangered species, and wreaked havoc on the climate. It now needs to respond to the climate crisis on a scale equal to the damage it has done.

Business as usual isn’t an option anymore and Chase knows it, YOU made sure of that. In the months to come, we need you out there with us, telling Chase that their work isn’t done yet.
 
Take this moment to celebrate, Lois, you got to them and your message was loud and clear. Get ready to move them even more because Chase needs to defund climate change completely, and with your help, it will happen.
 
For people and planet,

Paddy McCully, Climate and Energy Program Director, Rainforest Action Network. Read more here

Climate Scorecard Global Spotlight: National Climate Leaders of 2019

Climate Scorecard is pleased to announce our first annual National Climate Leader

Awards. These awards go to the men and women in leading greenhouse emitting countries

who are making a difference in the climate policies of their countries and the world. They

include wizened scholars, researchers, political leaders, and young climate change

activists. They are applauded for the work they are doing to prevent the catastrophe that

will occur if global warming goes unchecked.

 

Those on Climate Scorecard’s National Climate Leader Awards List were nominated by a

Climate Scorecard Country Manager in each of the 22 greenhouse gas emitting countries

that we cover. Our Country Managers tracked climate related events in their countries

over the past year and are well positioned to propose candidates for our list.

 

Read & download the full report here

 

 

Updates from Treaty Compliance Campaign

In the 01/02/2020 edition:

• Rep Ro Khanna Signs ICAN Pledge
• Business Aligns with Nuclear Ban Treaty

Rep Ro Khanna Signs ICAN Pledge

By Arbor Dahlin on Dec 30, 2019 01:45 pm

Nuclear Ban’s Timmon Wallis shows US Representative Ro Khanna his new report, “Warheads to Windmills,” during Khanna’s visit to Northampton, Massachusetts in October. Photo by Vicki Elson.

On October 24th, Representative Ro Khanna became the ninth current member of Congress to sign the ICAN Parliamentary/Legislative Pledge. Khanna was invited by Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern to speak in Northampton, and, when approached by Tim Wallis and Vicki Elson of Nuclear Ban at their meeting, he agreed on the spot to sign the pledge.

Ro Khanna represents California’s 17th congressional district and is first vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. CPC co-chairs Rep. Mark Pocan and Rep. Pramila Jayapal have also signed the pledge. Members of the Progressive Caucus heard ICAN’s Executive Director Beatrice Fihn speak about the nuclear ban treaty at a CPC meeting in April of this year. Since then, supporters around the country have been urging all 98 members of the caucus to sign the pledge.

Rep. Khanna is one of six members of the House of Representatives and ten members of Congress who do not accept donations from PACs or corporations. He was one of the few US Representatives to endorse Bernie Sanders for president in 2016, and early this year was named co-chair of Sanders’ 2020 campaign.

About the ICAN Pledge and the UN Treaty

Over 1300 parliamentarians and congresspeople in 32 countries, 25 of which have yet to sign and ratify the treaty, have now signed the pledge, which was created by ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, to commit elected representatives around the world to work towards the signature and ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty was adopted by 122 countries at the UN in July, 2017, and in October, 2017, ICAN won the Nobel Peace Prize for the treaty, which calls for the first comprehensive ban on nuclear weapons under international law. So far, 80 countries have signed the treaty and 34 have ratified it, with another 18 ratifications underway.

The post Rep Ro Khanna Signs ICAN Pledge appeared first on Treaty Compliance Campaign.

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Business Aligns with Nuclear Ban Treaty

By Tim Wallis on Dec 27, 2019 01:41 pm

Andrew Larkin of NCFF presents certificate to River Valley Market General Manager Rochelle Prunty/ Photo by River Valley Market

 

At the annual meeting of Northampton, Massachusetts food cooperative River Valley Market on December 6th, over 100 member-owners were present to hear management’s decision to align with the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Andrew Larkin, of Nuclear and Carbon Free Future (NCFF), presented a certificate of treaty alignment to the store’s General Manager.

To align with the treaty, the market implemented a new 401(k) retirement plan with more socially responsible investment options, which included screening out 26 nuclear weapons companies.

General Manager Rochelle Prunty said she hopes that River Valley will set an example of nuclear weapons divestment for other businesses in the area and for food co-ops around the country. River Valley joins several other businesses in the Northampton area who have declared themselves aligned with the treaty, including Herrell’s Ice Cream, Broadside Bookshop, Cornucopia, Glimpse of Tibet, Acadia Herbals, and Paradise Copies.

The text of the certificate is below.

River Valley Market does not hold investments in or make purchases from any nuclear weapons companies, and urges nuclear weapons companies to convert their resources to green technologies that address climate change, and is therefore in compliance with Article 1(e) of the Treaty.

The post Business Aligns with Nuclear Ban Treaty appeared first on Treaty Compliance Campaign.

Read more here

The State of the World's Children 2019: Children, Food and Nutrition

Poor diets are leading to alarming levels of child malnutrition worldwide, with millions of children who are stunted, overweight or lacking essential vitamins and nutrients. Overall, one-third of children under 5 aren’t growing well because they aren’t eating well. 

UNICEF’s latest report, The State of the World’s Children 2019: Children, food and nutrition: Growing well in a changing world, examines the issue of children, food and nutrition and provides a fresh perspective on this rapidly evolving challenge.

Read the report

Fast Facts

• 149 million children are stunted, or too short for their age
• 50 million children are wasted, or too thin for their height
• 340 million children – or 1 in 2 – suffer from deficiencies in essential vitamins and nutrients such as vitamin A and iron
• 40 million children are overweight or obese

At the centre of this profound triple burden of malnutrition – undernutrition, hidden hunger and overweight – is a broken food system that fails to provide children with the diets they need to grow healthily. 

In addition to new data and analyses of malnutrition in the 21st century, the report outlines recommendations to put children’s rights at the heart of food systems. 

Please share this report with your organizations and networks.

Exploe the special featureUNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives.
To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. And we never give up.
UNICEF, for every child.Donate now