The World Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth has begun here in Bolivia. On Tuesday, Bolivian President Evo Morales opened the summit with a call for the creation of an International Climate Justice Tribunal at the United Nations and the passage of a UN Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. Morales said he called the summit in part to address the failure of the world’s richest countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Bolivian President Evo Morales: “We are gathered here because the so-called developed countries didn’t meet their obligation of establishing substantial commitments to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in Copenhagen. If those countries had respected the Kyoto Protocol and had agreed to substantially reduce the emissions inside their borders, this conference would not be necessary.”