Dear Friends,

 

The New Year has begun with a surge of activity. Here we come 2014!

 

On January 31st, the U.S. State Department released its final Environmental Impact Statement of the Keystone XL pipeline proposal. Things are literally heating up: according to the Sierra Club, Keystone XL will enable TransCanada to extract an additional 830,000 barrels of tar sands crude per day, meaning an additional 181 million metric tons of CO2 each year, equal to building 51 coal plants or putting 37 million more cars on the road.

 

We can't afford this. The planet can't afford this. 

 

President Obama has said that he would only approve  the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline if it does not "significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon  pollution."  We must urge the president to reject the  pipeline once and for all.

 

The Women's Earth and Climate Caucus and our Network, WECAN are fighting this project and supporting frontline communities who are being impacted by the tar sands and its associated infrastructure. Please see these links about what you can do and hear from our allies:

 

 350 Stand in Solidarity

 

The Oglala Lakota Nation has taken leadership by saying "NO" to the Keystone XL Pipeline:

 

The Beaver Lake Cree Nation fight against the Alberta tar sands developments. 

WECAN is organizing actions worldwide for Women and Climate Justice in collaboration with One Billion Rising, February 14th 2014

 

 

 

As part of Eve Ensler's One Billion Rising for Justice movement, on February 14, 2014, WECAN will take action for Mother Earth and Climate Justice! WECAN membership organizations will be documenting women-led solutions, women on the frontlines of climate change, testimonies and successes in the field of environmental/climate justice throughout the world. We are thrilled with all the amazing WECAN women who will be participating in this action, from the Maldives to Bolivia, from the DR Congo to Canada.

 

As stated by the One Billing Rising campaign: The action is a call to women, men, and youth around the world to gather safely on February 14th, 2014 outside places where they are entitled to justice - court houses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, work places, sites of environmental injustice, military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes, or simply public gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not. The campaign is in recognition that we cannot end violence against women without looking at the intersection of poverty, racism, war, the plunder of the environment, capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy. Impunity lives at the heart of these interlocking forces.

 

On February 14th, you can view the WECAN actions

 

Join us on twitter and Facebook on the Day of Action.

#WECAN_INTL    #rise4justice    

 


Photo Credit: Lori Waselchuk

The WECAN Day of Action will also be dedicated to the signing of WECAN Declaration, "Women of the World Call for Urgent Action on Climate Change & Sustainability Solutions." Please show your support by signing if you haven't already! 

 

WECC participated in the Rights of Nature Summit in Ecuador, 

January 13-17, 2014

 

WECC recently travelled to Ecuador as part of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature to analyze the experiences of communities in Ecuador, Bolivia, and United States that have implemented Rights of Nature laws and to devise a global strategy for advancing the movement worldwide. Shannon Biggs from Global Exchange and Osprey Orielle Lake from WECC and WECAN wrote a lively blog about their experience of the International Rights of Nature Summit in Pinsaqui and the Tribunal in Quito.
 
 
 Here is an excerpt:  
 

"Indigenous women leaders from many different regions of the Amazon met with Dr. Vandana Shiva, who delivered a deeply inspirational talk to the leaders. This was a particular highlight for the Women's Earth and Climate Caucus and our international network, the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network because we have recently launched a Women for Forests and Fossil Fuel Resistance program which partners with women in the Amazon and other rainforest communities. The meeting afforded the opportunity to have an in-depth deliberation about the resistance movements in various regions of Ecuador and how women are fighting to protect the rainforest and their way of life.

 

At the meeting, as they expressed their different views on wealth and Buen Viver (well-living or well-being), we were offered delicious roasted corn that the women had grown and prepared. One woman conveyed her experience of traveling to several cities in the United States and observing how people in the cities have only one kind of corn to eat and that it is also the same exact corn that the animals are fed. She said she was sorry people were so poor in the U.S. with having only one kind of corn because she and her community grow over ten different varieties of corn. They have special corn for all kinds of different activities, ceremonies and times of the year.

 

This is in part what is meant by living well as defined by Indigenous peoples, the wealth of diversity, which is central to the idea of Rights of Nature, Rights of Mother Earth."

 

Mounting Pressure with the Trans-Pacific Partnership: This trade agreement between the U.S., Canada, and 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, would if implemented govern about 40% of U.S. exports and imports, eliminating tariffs and trade barriers. As our friends at the Sierra Club point out, the TPP negotiations have taken place in extreme secrecy; no draft texts have been released, and more than 600 corporate advisors have access to the negotiating text while the public -- even Members of Congress -- are being kept in the dark. If approved, the treaty would grant unfettered rights to corporations, such as "the right to sue a government for unlimited cash compensation -- in private and not-transparent tribunals -- over any law or regulation that a corporation argues is hurting its expected future profits" - read, oil companies and other multinationals opposing environmental and labor regulations.  Using similar rules in other free trade agreements, corporations such as Exxon Mobil and Dow Chemical have launched more than 500 cases against 95 governments. Dozens of cases attack common-sense environmental laws and regulations, such as regulations to protect communities and the environment from harmful chemicals or mining practices. Finally, the TPP would allow for significantly increased exports of fracked and dirty shale oil, causing an increase in natural gas and electricity prices, impacting consumers, manufacturers, workers, and increasing the use of dirty coal power. Say no to the TPP here: 

Finally, we want to send a shout out to the Women's Major Group (of which we are a member) which has been actively involved in sessions of the Open Working Group on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in New York.  The WMG, representing a strong and diverse group of global advocates, is working hard to push forward a progressive, transformative, and holistic agenda to ensure ambitious SDG's that protect and promote women's human rights, gender equality and a healthy planet for all. http://www.womenrio20.org

 

Thank you for your support of our work for Climate Justice and care for our Earth and Future Generations,

The WECC/WECAN Team

 

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