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.

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.

UN Day of Diplomacy for Peace: April 24

The United Nations General Assembly decided in 2018 to establish an International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace to be held annually on April 24. (Click here for the UNGA resolution).
 
Although not as well-known as Earth Day (April 22), the day is very important in promoting international peace and an end to war through the use of diplomacy, international agreements and multilateral mechanisms.

The core objective of the day is to promote and advance the principle aim of the United Nations to ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,’ and to achieve this through the ‘settlement of disputes through peaceful means.’
 
Multilateral mechanisms which can be used to assist this include the UN mediation service, UN special envoys, International Court of Justice, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other dispute resolution bodies established by multilateral treaties such as the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Actions you can take:

1. Endorse the EarthDay 2020 statement.
   The Abolition 2000 statement for EarthDay specifically calls for ‘better implementation of the UN Charter prohibition on war and the utilisation of diplomacy and law to resolve international disputes,’ and calls for multilateral action to address ‘the triple threats of climate change, virus pandemic and nuclear oblivion.’ Click hereto endorse.
    
2. Replace law of force with the force of law. 
   Call on your country to accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (for international disputes unable to be resolved through diplomacy). Click here to see if your country has already accepted jurisdiction of the ICJ.
    
3. Take the Cooperative Security Initiative survey. 
   The Cooperative Security Initiative was established in June 2019 to generate ideas and shift momentum for cooperative security and multilateralism through the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Their survey seeks your thoughts on how to advance diplomacy and achieve security, including in the new political environment arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
    
4. Support the UN Secretary-General’s initiative for a global ceasefire. 
   70 governments and over 2 million people have supported so far. UN Special Envoys in conflict zones are liaising with warring parties to advance the initiative. A number of warring parties have already laid down their arms in response, but others are yet to do so. Click here to endorse.

For more information see UN Secretary-General urges global ceasefire to enable management of coronavirus pandemic and Coronavirus: UN says warring countries have responded to ceasefire call.

Learn more at UNFOLD ZERO

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. 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A MINE SO MASSIVE IT WOULD PIERCE THE AQUIFER

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

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

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

 

From EarthJustice. Learn more here.

What are you doing for Nuclear Abolition Day September 26, 2018?

UNFOLD ZERO thanks everyone who took action for nuclear disarmament on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Days. (See Global list of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Day actions).

Now we look forward to September 26, United National International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (Nuclear Abolition Day), and the day in 1983 when a nuclear war was almost initiated by accident (See The Man who Saved the World).

Nuclear Abolition Day 2018 occurs as world leaders (Presidents, Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers...) are in New York for the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Key actions and events for Nuclear Abolition Day

• Sep 26 High Level Meeting. The United Nations will hold a half-day High-Level Meeting at the UN headquarters in New York on September 26. The High-Level Meeting is just a forum for governments to make statements. However, it can be used to promote key initiatives. Click here if you would like to attend the High-Level Meeting as an observer (space is limited and August 25 is deadline for application).
  
  In addition, two civil society representatives will be chosen to speak at the High Level Conference. The UN Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) is preparing a nomination list. Contact UNODA for more information.
  
  
• Support the UN Summit. The UN decided to hold a three-day High Level Conference (Summit) on Nuclear Disarmament in May 2018. However, pro-nuclear forces have managed to have the Summit postponed, and are now trying to have the Summit canceled altogether (See Nuclear Weapon States' Long Arm Seen Behind Deferral of Landmark UN Conference). If the Summit proceeds, it could provide important opportunities to make concrete progress on nuclear war prevention and disarmament initiatives, such as de-alerting, no-first use, nuclear stockpile reductions and building more support for the new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 

Action: Sign the Avaaz petition supporting the UN High-Level Conference

Action: Send a letter to your government urging them to support the UN High-Level Conference

Other actions and events

UNFOLD ZERO and Abolition 2000, the global civil society network for the elimination of nuclear weapons, are collating a list of actions and events around the world for Nuclear Abolition Day.

Please inform us of events that you are organizing or know about.

From the UNFOLD ZERO newsletter. Learn more at UNFOLD ZERO

Protect Wild Salmon

Juvenile sockeye salmon swimming past salmon farms are exposed to piscine reovirus shed by the farm salmon. Photo by Tavish Campbell

 

Finally, good news!  Washington State, on the West Coast of the USA, is the first government anywhere, to legislate removal of Atlantic salmon farming from a region of our oceans.

It was a tough fight, but determined organizations and citizens won an impressive and life-saving victory. 

I have released a new 5 minute innovative film - behind-the-scenes on farm salmon science because, frankly it is hard to believe. The film is spreading rapidly. You can see it here:

Alexandramorton.typepad.com

We are getting closer to finally closing this disastrous chapter in our history, but for now the next generation of wild salmon leaving BC rivers face the same exposure to farm lice and disease and they really are in no condition to survive this. 

Thank you for sticking with me on this!

Alexandra Morton

A new form of protest

Credit: TheFreeThoughtProject.com

Glass Cleaner: Reflecting the Inspiration We Find in the World

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. Edith Wharton

It is never too late to be what you might have been. George Eliot

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. Desmond Tutu

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. Joseph Campbell

I’m sitting in the office early on a beautiful Sunday morning in New York, sifting through seemingly endless lists of “inspiring” quotations, hoping to locate one or more offering a bit more insight into what “inspiration” actually requires — why we in the NGO world need to address our own inspiration needs; but also why it is such an important (if often overlooked) aspect of our work that we are willing to offer inspiration for and/or “reflect forward” the inspiration provided by others.

READ MORE

By Dr. Robert Zuber