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By Daniel Weinshenker, Former FWW Intern

Last summer I was an intern for the New Brunswick, New Jersey office of Food and Water Watch, where I got to see state-level politics and environmental negotiations at work. So when The University Centre for Development Cooperation (Universitair Centrum voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking – UCOS) in Belgium gave me the opportunity to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference, informally referred to as Doha 2012 or COP 18, I knew I would get to see similar work on an international level.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy and increasingly erratic weather patterns, more Americans are accepting that global warming is real, and that we must take action both in the United States and in global agreements. Unfortunately, the U.S. did not sign the Kyoto Protocol to lower global green house gas emissions, and U.S. negotiators are widely considered to be playing a spoiler role.

At every passing round of climate negotiations, I hope that the United States will join this fold of the international community. As a global power, we should lead on this issue and set a good example. Instead we are receiving tongue-in-cheek awards like Fossil of the Day.

By Eve Mitchell

Eve Mitchell is EU Food Policy Advisor for Food & Water Europe.

This week The Telegraph splashed a story that the UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson, had announced the UK should grow and sell more genetically modified (GM) foods. The story was then picked up by other outlets, and a public outcry followed, including many strong comments on those papers’ websites against any such move.

Much of the media coverage was nearly identical, suggesting precious few sources were consulted, especially since some pieces repeated the same factual errors. Here are some of them:

• Paterson based his stand on his belief that GM crops have “real environmental benefits” saying, “I’m very clear it would be a good thing.” The UK ran Farm Scale Trials of GM crops to determine their safety. The results, published in 2004, showed damage to farmland wildlife, so GM cultivation was shelved – a fact conveniently forgotten by the UK government. The report also found that even if GM crops did ever manage to provide better environmental outcomes than conventional farming at some point in the future, what we do to our fields and streams now is extremely damaging and cannot be used as a comparison for anything called “sustainable”. In addition, countries growing GM crops like the U.S. are now suffering serious direct complications including the development of pests and weeds the technology cannot control and dramatically increased chemical applications by farmers trying to cope. The results for food production and toxic residues in food remain to be seen.
• There is a “block” or “ban” on GM cultivation in the EU. This is simply untrue. GM crops are grown in Spain and to a limited degree in a few other EU countries. The fact that more GM crops are not available for cultivation in the UK is due to the normal operation of the authorisation process and democracy. Even the pro-GM European Commission defended Europe’s right to operate it’s own approvals of GMOs when the U.S. complained to the WTO. The UK and the Commission now find the results of the democratic process inconvenient, so the Commission presses unwanted GMOs into the market, and the UK blames the EU for lack of “progress”.
  Continue reading “Are the GM Industry and Failed Bankers Controlling UK Agriculture Policy?”

By Gabriella Zanzanaini

Update: Firenze 10+10 brought together many civil society movements across Europe over 4 days of discussion and planning. Food & Water Europe coordinated the European Water Assembly where an agenda for 2013 was set for the water movement. We also participated in the convergence sessions on the Commons with groups working on food sovereignty, fracking, large infrastructures, health, education and sports. 

We invite all of you to join us on the following common European action dates decided in Firenze: 23-27 January 2013 will be a week against the financialization of nature and banks to coincide with the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, 22 March 2013 is World Water Day where decentralized actions on water will take place all over Europe with a common action in Brussels and 23 March 2013 will be an European Day of Action against the EU Summit in Brussels. Stay tuned and mark your calendars! 

 

What is Firenze 10+10 and How Is Food & Water Europe Central to It?

Food & Water Europe will participate in Firenze 10+10 by coordinating the pillar on the Commons; as part of the of the newly formed European Water Movement and through the Financialization of Nature network which fights to stop the “assetization” of our natural commons.

It has become increasingly evident that local movements need to coordinate at the European level as well. Local victories, though powerful, are no longer sufficient to withstand pressure coming from the Troika (European Commission, European Central Bank & International Monetary Fund), who is pushing through mass privatization through conditionalities for rescue funds.

Europe needs to build a new European Public Space. We need to look at the next 10 years with common objectives, agendas and strategies. The crisis –in its multiples facets – and austerity policies can be overcome, but we need to move beyond our fragmentation and our one-issue focuses to stand on common ground.

Ten years ago, Florence, Italy hosted the first ever European Social Forum. It constituted an extraordinary moment in the construction of a continent-wide demonstration, presenting analyses, proposals and solutions which – had they been translated into policies – would have helped to avoid the social and democratic crisis in which Europe finds itself now. 

Ten years on, there is neither nostalgia nor a desire to celebrate what we had then; even less do we intend today to repeat paths which belong to that time and that stage of development: the social movements have changed, new actors have emerged, there have been defeats but also victories, such as that of the water movement in Italy which won a crushing referendum against privatization last year.

So come join us in Firenze to build convergences and a common action for Europe. 

By Kate Fried

This past Saturday we convened a little event called the Global Frackdown. Maybe you heard about it? Thousands of activists on five continents came together for over 200 events to send one, definitive message—Ban Fracking Now.

The movement to ban fracking is growing nationwide—all because of the hard work of people like you. You and your peers, concerned citizens around the globe from all walks of life united in your desire to preserve the health of your communities, started to catch wind of the public health and environmental risks associated with fracking. You did your research, and even when you saw politicians on the news touting the so-called “benefits” of natural gas, you had your doubts. You talked to your neighbors, formed your own organizations and started speaking out in order to protect the health of future generations.

Then when you noticed the oil and gas industry ramping up its PR offensive, frantically running for its spin machine, you knew they were up to no good. After all, why would any industry so motivated by profits squander a cent on ads if they knew they didn’t have a serious public relations battle on their hands?

Yes, you’ve been fighting fracking for a while now, and the Global Frackdown gave you a chance to take action in concert with thousands of like-minded individuals around the globe. Maybe you were in Brussels, protesting outside the European Parliament; perhaps you said “non” to fracking in Paris or asked your elected officials not to frack with the Karoo in South Africa. Was that you we spotted in Buffalo, once again asking Governor Andrew Cuomo to ban fracking in New York? Or maybe you were one of the legions of activists who participated virtually.

Regardless of where you were, you joined with thousands of like-minded souls whose voices coalesced into one. You made your message clear—that you don’t want fracking anywhere on earth.

Ultimately, you know and we know that the fight to ban fracking is just getting started. The oil and gas industry has a seemingly endless supply of cash, but we have one thing on our side that they don’t—irrefutable facts, evidence that fracking is destroying our planet and our collective future. We won’t stand for it, and neither will you. And so, the fight continues. Thank you. Of course, we would also like to thank the more than 150 partner organizations around the world for their help in making the Global Frackdown possible.

By Gabriella Zanzanaini

Update: On the 10 December 2012, mayors from Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Genoa, Ghent, Leicester, Nantes, Naples, Paris and Vienna have joined forces with civil society and trade union campaigners to call for the implementation of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation into European Law.

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Have you heard of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI)? It’s a new tool launched by the European Commission to help citizens play a more active role in European political processes. Available since April 2012, it enables citizens to put an issue on the political agenda through an “ECI,” which involves collecting 1 million signatures from at least seven different EU Member States.

Not only do you need 1 million signatures, but an ECI has to be organised by at least seven people from seven different EU Member States. This group forms a so-called citizens’ committee, which is in charge of proposing the ECI and collecting signatures.

The first ECI approved by the European Commission is on the human right to water. Led by the European Public Services Federation, the citizens’ committee is formed largely by public service trade unions and supported by a broad variety of organizations working on implementation of the human right to water.

Food & Water Europe is working to support and promote this ECI because governments in the EU have to meet their obligation to provide water and sanitation services to all. The human right to water and sanitation means that all people are entitled to clean and safe water and sanitation. These services must be available, accessible, affordable and acceptable for the people. Currently, the criteria for clean and safe water and sanitation differ widely among and even within countries.

By Mark Schlosberg

The oil and gas industry knows it has a fracking problem. Oil and gas companies and their apologists are spending tens of millions of dollars on misleading propaganda touting the supposed benefits of fracking and natural gas as a so-called “bridge fuel.” They are spending millions more lobbying elected officials to open new lands to fracking. They are even trying to convince the public that natural gas is clean energy.

Tomorrow, communities across the world are fighting back with one unified message: our movement is growing, our movement is strong, and we do not accept fracking and its impacts on our water, air, health and communities. It’s time to ban fracking now.