Global Justice Ecology Project

Climate change may well be humanity's greatest challenge. It is a crisis that must be rapidly addressed if catastrophe is to be averted. Already the impacts are being felt by millions in the world’s most vulnerable and marginalized communities. Climate Change is at once a social and environmental justice issue, an ecological issue, and an issue of economic and political domination. As such, it must be addressed through broad and visionary alliances. To successfully address the climate crisis, we must also identify and address the deep root causes that link it to the myriad other crises we face— economic, militarism and war, gender injustice, migration, racism as well as the food, water and biodiversity crises. These crises are unified by their common roots in an economic system that encourages banks and corporations to ignore ethical and moral considerations and gamble with the Earth, peoples’ lives, and our collective futures in the service of higher profits Successfully addressing climate change will require a fundamental restructuring of our society that, if thoughtfully done, can lay a new foundation that will simultaneously help us achieve both global justice and ecological balance. Climate justice can become a core part of all of our work. We can build broad and visionary alliances with diverse peoples and movements from around the world, and create the fundamental transformation of society to one that is based in principles of justice and ecology.

Forests play a key role both in the international climate negotiations and in stabilizing the climate. This workshop will address these various roles of forests with a detailed look at a) the truth behind REDD: The impacts of the UN’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Scheme on forests and forest dependent peoples; b) the increasing role of forests in “renewable” energy schemes, including wood-based electricity, cellulosic ethanol and other high-tech liquid fuels, and heat; c) the impacts of the exponentially increasing demand for wood on forests and forest dependent communities; the role of genetically engineered trees in these schemes including current proposals to plant genetically engineered eucalyptus trees on a large-scale across the US South; d) the role of large mainstream environmental organizations like WWF and Conservation International in exacerbating the problems; and d) how participants can get involved in the national and global movements for forest protection and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights that are confronting these challenges.

Climate change may well be humanity's greatest challenge. It is a crisis that must be rapidly addressed if catastrophe is to be averted. Already the impacts are being felt by millions in the world’s most vulnerable and marginalized communities. Climate Change is at once a social and environmental justice issue, an ecological issue, and an issue of economic and political domination. As such, it must be addressed through broad and visionary alliances. To successfully address the climate crisis, we must also identify and address the deep root causes that link it to the myriad other crises we face— economic, militarism and war, gender injustice, migration, racism as well as the food, water and biodiversity crises. These crises are unified by their common roots in an economic system that encourages banks and corporations to ignore ethical and moral considerations and gamble with the Earth, peoples’ lives, and our collective futures in the service of higher profits Successfully addressing climate change will require a fundamental restructuring of our society that, if thoughtfully done, can lay a new foundation that will simultaneously help us achieve both global justice and ecological balance. Climate justice can become a core part of all of our work. We can build broad and visionary alliances with diverse peoples and movements from around the world, and create the fundamental transformation of society to one that is based in principles of justice and ecology.

Forests play a key role both in the international climate negotiations and in stabilizing the climate. This workshop will address these various roles of forests with a detailed look at a) the truth behind REDD: The impacts of the UN’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Scheme on forests and forest dependent peoples; b) the increasing role of forests in “renewable” energy schemes, including wood-based electricity, cellulosic ethanol and other high-tech liquid fuels, and heat; c) the impacts of the exponentially increasing demand for wood on forests and forest dependent communities; the role of genetically engineered trees in these schemes including current proposals to plant genetically engineered eucalyptus trees on a large-scale across the US South; d) the role of large mainstream environmental organizations like WWF and Conservation International in exacerbating the problems; and d) how participants can get involved in the national and global movements for forest protection and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights that are confronting these challenges.