COP15 And Climate Justice Seminar

1. Thursday, 3rd December 2009, at 9:45 - 16

How sustainable, less-emissive life is punished through "emission reductions"

- India and Climate Change, voices from affected local & indigenous communities

What are the expectations for global climate policy and COP15 from Indian civil society? How should the climate deal be made? What is the role of India?

Venue: KEPA office, Dialogi conference room,

Address: Töölöntörinkatu 2 A, 00260 Helsinki

2. Friday, 4th December 2009, at 10:00 - 13:15

Forests and Climate Justice

- Is climate justice achievable in COP15? Seeing REDD or Forests?

What is at stake in the negotiations at the moment and what are the possibilities to make the deal or at least some progress towards the real climate justice? How is the Finnish position taking into account issues of global justice? What kind of a deal on REDD would be socially and environmentally credible? Are there chances to achieve this kind of deal in Copenhagen?

Venue: Visitor's centre (Kansalaisinfo) in the Little Parliament

Address: Arkadiankatu 3, Helsinki

The seminars are held in English. See programmes below. More background materials will be available at www.siemenpuu.org . Registration to seminars to info@siemenpuu.org . For more information on seminars contact hanna.matinpuro@siemenpuu.org , tel. 0400 488 914

W E L C O M E!

SEMINAR PROGRAMME 3.12.2009

How sustainable, less-emissive life is punished through "emission reductions"

- India and Climate Change, voices from affected local & indigenous communities

Indian civil society has been vocal in global discussions to raise the voices of the marginalised communities. Severe impacts of climate change are already visible for Adivasis, the indigenous peoples of India and many rural communities. Same time many of the current international measures to emission reductions threat their survival, e.g. in form of land grabs, as badly as the climate change does.

Indian civil society organizations have also challenged their national government, e.g. in mitigation measures and called for India itself not to "hide behind the poor [ ...] India's average emissions are relatively low for the time being because of the abysmal poverty of the overwhelming majority of this country; in contrast, the elites in this country have emissions approaching European levels." Indian organisations call for their government to "adopt and push for equity internally on a per capita emissions basis, the same principle it is arguing for in international negotiations." (Memorandum by Indian civil Society organizations to the Government of India, November 24, 2009, see http://www.sacw.net/article1246.html )

What are the expectations for global climate policy and COP15 from Indian civil society? How should the climate deal be made? What is the role of India?

Time: Thursday, 3rd December 2009, at 9:45 - 16:00

Venue: KEPA office, Dialogi conference room,

Address: Töölöntörinkatu 2 A, 00260 Helsinki

9:45 - 10:00 Coffee & Opening

10:00 Mr. Soumya Dutta, South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy, (SADED) India: "Demands for COP15 from under-consuming people of India"

10:30 Mr. Y. David, Citizens Global Platform India: "Civil Society Actors in raising the voices of Climate Equity in India"

11:00 Ms. Indu Netam & Mr. JP. Raju, National Adivasi Alliance (NAA), India: "How is sustainable indigenous Adivasi forest life becoming blamed and displaced through 'climate change' policies?" (interpreted from Hindi & Kannada)

12:00 Comments and discussion lead by Ville-Veikko Hirvelä, Siemenpuu Foundation and Jenni Kauppila, Citizens Global Platform

13:00 Lunch break

14:00 Panel discussion : speakers from morning session & Indian activists Mr. Martine, VCDS, Mr. Vijay Pratap, SADED, Mr. Rajendra Prasad, SINFPAD, Mr. Roy David NAA/CORD and Satya NAA/Seba Jagat , and Ana Filippini from World Rainforest Movement, Uruguay.

- Can global elite maintain and legitimize its overconsumption by "emissions reductions"?

- Impacts of global warming in India

- Expectations on the role of India and Indian civil society on COP15

16:00 Closing of the seminar

SPEAKERS' PRESENTATIONS

SOUMYA DUTTA is based in Delhi and is the national convener of Indian People's Science Movement (Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha) since its beginning 1992. He is also an active member in the climate working group of SADED, South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy. See www.saded.in

Y. DAVID is based in Tamil Nadu. He is the director of the People's Education for Action and Liberation, state level NGO, convener of JASuL (Joint Action for Sustainable Livelihood) a campaign network of 250 Civil Society Organization in Tamil Nadu as well as convener of the Citizens' Global Platform India. See http://www.globalplatform.fi/countries/india

INDU NETAM is a Gond Adivasi and from Chhattisgarh. She is founder of Adivasi Samata Manch (ASM), an Adivasi womens organisation, fighting for indigenous peoples forest rights. ASM is member in National Adivasi Alliance (NAA), national newtwork of adivasi organisations.

JP.RAJU is a Jenukuruba Adivasi from Karnataka. He is chairman of an Adivasi organisation Budakattu Krishikara Sangam (BKS). BKS is member in National Adivasi Alliance (NAA), national newtwork of adivasi organisations.

SEMINAR PROGRAMME 4.12.2009

Forests and Climate Justice

- Is climate justice achievable in COP15? Seeing REDD or Forests?

What is at stake in the negotiations at the moment and what are possibilities to make the deal or at least some progress towards the real climate justice? How is the Finnish position taking into account issues of global justice?

In the negotiations on role of forests in climate change and on mechanisms on how to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) countries are making proposals embedding very different ideas of effective mechanisms. What kind of deal on REDD would be socially and environmentally credible? Are there chances to achieve this kind of deal in Copenhagen?

Time: Friday, 4th December 2009, at 10:00 - 13:15

Venue: Visitor's centre (Kansalaisinfo), Little Parliament

Address: Arkadiankatu 3, Helsinki

10:00 Coffee & Opening

10:20 Ms. Nicola Bullard, Focus on Global South, Thailand: "Finance for Socioeconomic and Climate Justice"

10:50 Ms. Ana Filippini, World Rainforest Movement, Uruguay: "From REDD to HEDD: Halting Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in all countries"

11:20 Ms. Kate Dooley, FERN, UK: "Principles of justice in REDD proposals"

12:00 Comments and Discussion

- Finnish climate and forest policy experts & audience

13:15 Closing of the seminar

SPEAKERS' PRESENTATIONS

NICOLA BULLARD has worked with trade unions, women's organisation, human rights groups and development agencies for more than twenty years, in Australia, Thailand and Cambodia. Since 1997, Nicola has been with Focus on the Global South, an international policy research and advocacy organisation based in Bangkok, Thailand, researching, campaigning and writing on the political economy of neo-liberal globalisation and alternatives. At present, Nicola is the coordinator of Focus' climate justice programme which aims to link social justice and environmental justice issues and to help build an international movement for climate justice. See http://focusweb.org/climate-change/21.html?Itemid=169

ANA FILIPPINI has been working with the World Rainforest Movement (WRM) since 1995. WRM is an international network of citizens' groups of North and South involved in efforts to defend the world's rainforests. She is also coordinating the Latin American Network against Monoculture Tree Plantations and active participant in gender and climate change network . See http://www.wrm.org.uy/actors/CCC/index.html

KATE DOOLEY has a background in Environmental Education, working for 10 years in Australia in this area, and have more recently done a Masters in Environmental Policy (at Imperial College, London) where she looked at how different ideas of justice play out in the climate negotiations looking specifically at REDD. This year Kate joined FERN, an NGO keeping track of the European Union's involvement in forests and coordinating NGO activities at the European level, the forests and governance campaigner. FERN works for a REDD agreement that has rights and governance at its heart and is not based on carbon trading. See http://www.fern.org/campaign/avoided-deforestation-and-degradation