Thursday, December 9, 2010

• Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa on WikiLeaks, the September Coup, U.S. Denial of Climate Funding, and Controversial Forest Scheme REDD

  
  
  

  Secret U.S. diplomatic cables recently published by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks revealed new details about how the U.S. manipulated last year’s U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen. Ecuador was one of the nations that lost funding after it refused to sign on to the U.S.-led Copenhagen Accord. Democracy Now! asks Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa about the latest WikiLeaks revelations on how the United States denied his country aid, the failed coup against him earlier this year, and his support for the controversial carbon market-based forest protection scheme known as REDD. [includes rush transcript]

• Is REDD the New Green? Indigenous Groups Resist Carbon Market-Based Forestry Scheme to Offset Emissions

  
  
  

  A controversial proposal to protect forests worldwide is on the table at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Cancún. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), would include forests in the emerging carbon markets, allowing governments and corporations to purchase permits to protect forests as a way to offset the carbon released into the atmosphere through its industrial pollution. Though often reported as a means to stop deforestation, there is widespread opposition to REDD from environmental and indigenous groups. We speak to Anne Petermann of the Global Justice Ecology Project. [includes rush transcript]

• After Touting Sustainability, Walmart Chair Rob Walton Refuses to Answer on Company’s Record in Local Communities

  
  
  

  Rob Walton, the chairman of Walmart, traveled to Cancún this week to take part in Wednesday’s event promoting the controversial carbon market-based forest protection proposal known as REDD. Walton is the eldest son of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart and one of the wealthiest men in the world. He said sustainability has become a key issue for Walmart, but then refused to answer a question from Democracy Now! on his company’s effect on small businesses in local communities. [includes rush transcript]

• Prominent Indigenous Environmental Leader Tom Goldtooth Blocked from U.N. Climate Talks

  
  
  

  One of the most prominent North American indigenous activists attending the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Cancún was blocked from entering the summit on Wednesday, one day after he publicly criticized the U.N. process. Tom Goldtooth, the executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, who had received credentials from the United Nations, was denied entry and then removed from the summit grounds. [includes rush transcript]

• Offsetting Emissions or Pollution Profiteering? Debating the Surge of Cap-and-Trade Carbon Market

  
  
  

  At the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Cancún, World Bank President Robert Zoellick announced the launch of a new multi-million-dollar fund to help set up markets to trade carbon in China, Mexico, Chile and Indonesia. Carbon trading has been a hot topic here at the climate talks. John Hamilton files a report. [includes rush transcript]

• Commodifying Wildlife? World Bank Launches Market Scheme for Endangered Species

  
  
  

  At the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Cancún, World Bank President Robert Zoellick discussed a new initiative to create a financial market to help save endangered animals. Some critics have described the plan as an effort to turn wild animals into commodities. [includes rush transcript]

• Greenpeace: Climate Justice Movement Must Intensify Efforts Ahead of 2011 Climate Talks in South Africa

  
  
  

  While the U.N. climate talks in Cancún are reaching a critical stage, many delegates have begun looking toward the 2011 U.N. climate summit scheduled to take place in Durban, South Africa. Democracy Now!’s Mike Burke speaks with one of the leading South African climate change activists, Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace International. [includes rush transcript]