EarthAction

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

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

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.

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

United Nations Day Against Nuclear Tests

Climate change and nuclear weapons are two existential threats to human survival that share a number of connections, according to participants at Nuclear Weapons & Climate Change, an intergenerational symposium that was held at Central Hall Westminster in London and online last week (Thursday, 9 September 2021).

Over 300 legislators, experts, government officials and representatives of civil society organizations from more than 60 countries met with youth leaders in the climate action and nuclear disarmament movements to discuss effective action to address these two existential threats to current and future generations.

The event, held in commemoration of the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, was co-organised by Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, the Kazakhstan Embassy to the UK, Nursultan Nazarbayev Foundation and Youth Fusion.

Connections between climate change and nuclear disarmament

The event highlighted that climate change and nuclear weapons, in addition to being the two most serious threats to the survival of human civilization, share other similarities and connections:

• The impacts of climate change emissions and the use of nuclear weapons are trans-border and transgenerational. They cannot be contained in either time nor space – impacting globally and far into the future;
• Neither issue can be resolved solely at national levels, but require international cooperation and the building of common security;
• Climate change stimulates conflicts that could spill over into nuclear conflict, while any use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict would create catastrophic climatic consequences, compounding the current impact of climate change emissions;
• The human and financial resources currently devoted to nuclear weapons are desperately required to instead be invested in assist carbon emission reduction and climate stabilisation.

Effective measures to address the threats of nuclear weapons and climate change

Lord Hannay of Chiswick, Co-Chair of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Security and Non-Proliferation, in his opening keynote address, outlined the key challenges associated with nuclear weapons and climate change.

On the nuclear weapons issue, he called for progress on key measures including adoption of a new START treaty to reduce the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the USA, a renewal of the Iran nuclear deal and a renewed dialogue of the P5 (China, France, UK, Russia and USA) in Strategic Stability which should include consideration of the adoption of no-first-use policies. (For more on no-first-use policies see NoFirstUse Global).

On the climate issue, Lord Hannay highlighted the importance of the COP 26 conference in Glasgow in November this year, and the need to ensure monitoring and implementation of climate agreements, which have been lacking so far.

Most important in both nuclear disarmament and climate protection is building political commitment. “We cannot afford to say that the global challenges outlined today are too many to ask the international community to take on at one time,’ said Lord Hannay. ‘We do not realistically have the choice to address them sequentially. We need to find the political will and the resources to deal with them now.” 

Inter-generational panels

Youth leaders in climate action and nuclear disarmament who spoke in the panel sessions. From left to right: Marie-Claire Graf (Switzerland), Global North Focal Point for YOUNGO, the Children and Youth constituency to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; Aigerim Seitenova (Kazakhstan), Member of OSCE Core Group of Youth Experts; Nicole Ann Ponce(Philippines), Co-Founder of the I am Climate Justice movement, Core Team Member of World's Youth for Climate Action; Kehkashan Basu (UAE/Canada),Founder and CEO of The Green Hope Foundation. Member of the World Future Council. Winner. 2016 Children's International Peace Prize. Winner of the 2020 Voices Youth Gorbachev-Shultz Legacy Award for Nuclear Disarmament.

The event featured four inter-generational panels on the topics Impacts of nuclear weapons testing and use, Nuclear war and climate change, Move the nuclear weapons money and Legal actions to address nuclear weapons and climate change.

For reports on these panels, please see Legislators, experts, officials and youth discuss climate change and nuclear disarmament connections at special London event.

Military carbon footprint - move the nuclear weapons money

Key issues raised in the event related to the negative influence of the nuclear arms industry, high carbon footprint of the military, massive budgets and investments allocated to military purposes including nuclear weapons and the importance of shifting these budgets and investments to addressing climate stabilisation and sustainable development. This framework is also the focus of the global Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign.

Dr Philip Webber, Chair of Scientists for Global Responsibility, compared the global investment required for to stabilise the climate (about $1trillion annually) with the current investments in climate stabilisation (about $400 billion) and the global military budget (about $2 trillion) to demonstrate that the shortfall is about 1/3 of the global military budget. Dr Weber then focused on the UK situation and demonstrated that the UK investments required to meet a net zero 2030 target would be an even smaller percentage of the UK military budget.

He noted that the UK military carbon footprint is about 11 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent – equal to the annual emissions of 6 million cars. In addition, if the UK Trident nuclear weapons were ever used, this would would cause catastrophic climatic consequences. Finally, Dr Webber noted that if funds were re-directed from military to climate action, 5 times as many jobs would be created. (See Dr Webber’s presentation - PDF version or Power point version).

Slide from presentation of Dr Webber comparing UK military spending with the funding required to achieve net zero carbon by 2050, or more ambitiously by 2030.

Slide from Dr Weber's presentation explaining why nuclear-armed countries continue to increase their spending on nuclear weapons despite these funds being required to address the climate crisis.

Closing remarks: action to protect people and the planet

In his closing remarks, Ambassador Idrissov reminded the audience of the significance of Central Hall Westminster, the venue for this event. “In this very premises in January 1946, the very first session of the United Nations General Assembly took place,” said Ambassador Idrissov. ‘And the very first resolution adopted by this UN session established a special commission of the Security Council to ensure the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. It is sad that 75 years later, we are still struggling to implement this resolution.”

One of the initiatives of Kazakhstan has been a call on the UN and its member states to commit to achieving the goal of nuclear weapons elimination no later than 2045, the 100^thanniversary of the UN. Civil society is supporting this call, and other more immediate nuclear disarmament measures, with Protect People and the Planet: Appeal for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World (still open for endorsement).

A civil society appeal to prevent nuclear war, eliminate nuclear weapons and redirect nuclear weapons budgets and investments to instead support public health, COVID-19 recovery, the climate and sustainable development. Open for endorsement.

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. 

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

Let's Celebrate the TPNW

 

On January 22^nd, the world will celebrate the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear weapons, supported by over 120 states at the UN in July 2017.

 

On this historic day, we call on members of the IPB family, our friends and all peace lovers to celebrate this historical step, and deliver this great news with noise and fun in your countries all across the globe, as the road to a world free of nuclear weapons is now wide open!

 

We invite you to join us for a virtual IPB Zoom party where we will celebrate this milestone toward nuclear disarmament together.

 

During the celebration, we want to pay tribute to generations of activists that have tirelessly raised awareness about the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. The victims of these bombings and the survivors, the Hibakusha are in our hearts to celebrate together a new era: nuclear weapons are officially illegal when the TPNW will enter into force.

 

Our party will start at 1 p.m. CET and last approximately until 3 p.m. CET on Friday the 22^nd of January.

 

You can look forward to drinking one (or many) of our delicious signature TPNW cocktails in the company of fellow supporters of peace and disarmament.  We have a couple of surprise virtual guests and activities prepared for you but you will have to come and see by yourself!

 

You can attend by signing up to the event here: https://bit.ly/ipbprt

Nuclear Ban Treaty Becomes Law in 90 Days

October 24, 2020: Honduras today became the 50th country to ratify the historic United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was an appropriate way to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, whose first goal at its founding on this day in 1945 was to address the nuclear threat to the world. On January 22, 2021, 90 days after the 50th ratification, the treaty will enter into force as international law. More countries are expected to ratify in the coming months. While ratification is the last step, 122 countries have already adopted the treaty, and 84 have signed it. The nine nuclear-armed nations (U.S., Russia, China, U.K., France, Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea) have so far boycotted the TPNW. But 26 companies build and maintain nuclear weapons, and many of those have operations, contracts, suppliers and investors in countries that have already joined the TPNW. They could soon be breaking the law in those countries. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which includes 590 organizations in 103 countries, facilitated the treaty at the United Nations. ICAN then won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.” The treaty forbids everything to do with nuclear weapons, including developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, otherwise acquiring, possessing, stockpiling, transferring, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons. Already, the treaty has led to significant divestment by institutions around the world that decline to finance nuclear weapons, for moral or fiduciary reasons. There will soon be strong legal reasons for doing so as well. Unlike previous nuclear treaties, created (and many subsequently abrogated) by the nuclear-armed nations, this one comes from the rest of the world, since all countries are at risk from nuclear weapons use, production, and testing. On October 21, 2020, as the 50th ratification neared, the Associated Press reported that several ratifying countries had received letters from the Trump administration, asking them to withdraw from the treaty they had just joined. Such interference in a United Nations disarmament treaty is unprecedented. The letter claimed that the TPNW interferes with the 50-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). However, according to ICAN executive director Beatrice Fihn, “there’s no way you can undermine the Nonproliferation Treaty by banning nuclear weapons. It’s the end goal of the Nonproliferation Treaty.” The NPT entered into force in 1970, when there were only five nuclear-armed nations. Article 6 of the NPT commits the nuclear armed states to negotiate the elimination of their nuclear arsenals “in good faith” and “at an early date.” Fifty years later, there are nine nuclear armed states. In Northampton, Massachusetts, Dr. Timmon Wallis found news of the Trump administration’s letter unsurprising. Wallis was involved in the treaty negotiations, and co-founded ICAN partner NuclearBan.US to promote the treaty in the United States. He said, “The U.S. government has been trying to stop this treaty from the very beginning. Of course, this just proves how powerful and important this treaty actually is in terms of undermining the trillion-dollar US nuclear weapons industry. These companies are suddenly going to find themselves on the wrong side of the law in more and more countries around the world. It’s only a matter of time before they decide to get out of this business. The US government will then have no choice but to join the rest of the world in eliminating these weapons once and for all.” NuclearBan.US co-founder Vicki Elson added, “Well, it’s nice that the nuclear nations all have something in common. They all love their weapons of mass extinction. But the world has spoken, the time has come, and nuclear weapons are going to be eliminated. Hopefully before they eliminate civilization, or life on earth.” As the news of Honduras’ ratification broke, ICAN members worldwide held a spontaneous Zoom celebration. They speculated about which nuclear-armed nation would be the first to “be on the right side of history” and join the TPNW. They also acknowledged the campaigners who have been working toward nuclear abolition since nuclear bombs were first used in 1945. One of those is Setsuko Thurlow, 88, who survived the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima when she was 13. Thurlow said she “cried tears of joy” as the TPNW reached this milestone. She acknowledged that she will probably not live long enough to see the last nuclear weapon dismantled, but she reiterated her vow to continue campaigning “to my dying breath.” Press Release from ICAN: https://www.icanw.org/historic_milestone_un_treaty_on_the_prohibition_of_nuclear_weapons_reaches_50_ratifications_needed_for_entry_into_force And as covered by the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/25/world/americas/nuclear-weapons-prohibition-treaty.html Plus new 90-second video to share!   The post Nuclear Ban Treaty Becomes Law in 90 Days appeared first on Treaty Compliance Campaign.

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.

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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.