The grassroots peasant organization considered this was a historic opportunity for the civil society to consolidate its space at the United Nations in view of the next round of official negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which will be held in Cancun in December.

According to the Via Campesina´s statement, one of the representatives of the organizations who joined Morales, Father Tomas Balduino, member of the Pastoral Commission of Land from Brazil, said that due to the action of Bolivian President, a “new door” was being opened for social movements.

“As a delegate of la Via Campesina, I can say to my colleagues from the social movements of Brazil, that thanks to the intuition and actions by Evo Morales, a new door was opened to express the requests of social movements to the UN through its Secretary General, and possibly in Cancun at the next international official negotiations on climate”, he said.

The “Peoples´ Agreement” is an alternative to the agreement reached in Copenhagen during the UN negotiations, that was influenced by the interests of industrialized countries. According to Bolivia´s Ambassador to the United Nations, Pablo Solon, the Copenhagen Accord aims to “undermine the Kyoto Protocol”, by establishing a soft system of greenhouse gases emission reductions, without establishing differences between rich and poor countries and without taking into account emissions from industrial agriculture, that represent a third of the world´s emissions.

“Agriculture is not being discussed in the UNFCCC negotiations as it should be, but it was a high point in the agenda of the People´s Conference, since a large amount of greenhouse gases emissions come from agriculture. Agricultural development should not be based on the development of businesses, but in sustainable development, peasant agriculture in harmony with nature. Food sovereignty must be put on the table”, said Solon, according to Via Campesina´s statement.

The statement also points out that US company Monsanto is exerting pressure so that its GM soy plantations receive carbon credits, while the UNFCCC Secretary is deciding whether GM tree monoculture plantations will be considered “forests” within REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).

Photo: http://api.ning.com/