ATTAC / Climate Justice - Copenhagen newsletter#1

ATTAC / Climate Justice - Copenhagen

15th weeks to mobilise!

It's the first mail in preparation of Copenhagen, next December. We'll try to send information and analysis to the ATTAC network at least once a month, and more for the last step of the mobilisation.

Several good reasons to mobilise for Copenhagen

Some people ask why ATTAC is mobilising for the climate and the Copenhagen summit, instead of letting this field to the environmental NGOs and movements.

It could be interesting to exchanges ideas in order to answer to this question. Here you have a first list of reasons to mobilise for Copenhagen:

1/ the climate issue is a key challenge for humanity, which requires the involvement of the broadest range of actors and movements… because of that, the Copenhagen conference, in December, will be the centre of the world for few days, with an incredible media coverage; an appointment impossible to miss!

2/ There is a strong link between globalisation and global warming, from goods transport (boats, trucks, plane…) to the so-called solutions as such as the carbon emission world market… ATTAC is born to build alternatives to the neo-liberal globalisation, and then global warming is also our issue!

3/ ATTAC, from the 1st WSF in Porto Alegre, is very active on social issues, in alliance with social movements as such as Via Campesina or unions… One of the main challenges today is to link social and climate issues, which has started to be done in the last years with the new coalition "Climate Justice Now" (with Friends of the Earth, Via Campesina, IFG, TWN, etc.). ATTAC France is active in this coalition which mobilises for Copenhagen and ATTAC Denmark is an active part of Klimaforum, one of the two main coalitions of civil society in Denmark, which works with Climate Justice Now…

What to do in the next weeks

Tree levels of actions are important from now:

1/ mobilise ATTAC members and activists… one of the most simple things to do is to exchange documents and texts among the ATTAC network, here you have the leaflet written by ATTAC France (in French, but a translation into english is ongoing and should be ready early October);

2/ to be part (or to built) national or local coalitions to mobilise for Copenhagen ; this letter could be a good tool to exchange on realities and practises;

3/ to be part of the international coalition for Copenhagen, registering to the Klimaforum which organise a forum during the COP in Copenhagen http://www.klimaforum09.org and calling for the December 12th international demonstration http://www.12dec09.dk/

Next appointments

1/ September 19th & 20th, Europe ATTAC encounter in Paris, several seminars will be organised on Copenhagen and Climate Issue;

2/ September 25th to 27th, ESF EPA in Diyarbakir, Turkish Kurdistan, where the involvement of the European Social Movements in the mobilisation will be discussed;

3/ October 4th & 5th, Bangkok, Climate Justice Now strategy seminar during the UN preparatory conference,

4/ October 16th to 18th, Copenhagen, last international meeting at the invitation of Klimaforum

Attaches files

1/ notes from the last international meeting in Copenhagen,

2/ in French, the leaflet written by ATTAC France on Climate issue (basic version without any layout, to lower the size of the file)