Fidel on the challenge of climate change

Fidel Castro has long been interested in the environment, repeatedly pointing out the unsustainability of he current globalised system of capitalism.   Here are some of his recent observations (October 2009) in the context of  Kobenhavn.

…..The issue is no longer “Patria o Muerte (Homeland or Death)”; it is truly and without exaggeration a matter of “Life or Death” for the human race.

The capitalist system is not only oppressing and plundering our countries; the wealthiest industrial nations wish to impose to the rest of the world the bulk of the burden in the struggle on climate change. Who are they trying to fool with that? In Copenhagen, the ALBA and the Third World countries will be struggling for the survival of the species.

Fidel Castro Ruz,        October 19, 2009

Read on …

Emissions from the production, distribution, consumption and waste of the food eaten in Manchester are estimated at 3.35 m tonnes.

But wait a minute, isn’t this figure more than the total claimed for all Manchester’s emissions (3.2m)?   The answer is that most of these emissions occur outside the city, just as our much of our other consumption emissions do (it’s hard to even buy a bike that hasn’t been made in Taiwan).  So a total footprint approach would correct the discrepacy (just as it would foce consideration of the aviation emissions).   The point is that a focus on food, with local food production as a key element, would offer much of the 1.1m tones that the city council intends to save.

Overall agriculture around the world is responsible for nearly as much total greenhouse gas emissions as all forms of transportation.  And if distribution, preparation, consumption, flatulence and waste were also included, the figure would be even greater.

How did we arrive at the figure for Manchester?   Greenhouse gas emissions from London’s food system are  19m tones p.a.
London’s economy is approx 20% of national economy
Manchester’s is approx 3.5% of national economy

Therefore food based emissions from Manchester = 3.35 m tonnes

If you can fault this logic, then let us know.

“We’ve stuck with the market for a long time – we don’t think we can stick by it any more”

David Kennedy

Committee on Climate Change

see http://www.theccc.org.uk/reports/progress-reports

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Third runway plan crashes and burns – Manchester’s turn now.

Heathrow’s third runway plan is to be ‘postponed after the general election’ – but we know that this damaging plan is very unlikely to happen now. Why would you want to build a runway anyway when oil prices are going to go through the roof and climate change makes it urgent to end the needless burning of fossil fuel by Britons who think they are entitled to foreign holidays far away (translation – entitled to impose their unattractive and ignorant selves on other peoples and their cultures)? Yes I have flown many miles but don’t know if or when I will next, despite my yearning to go back to Latin America.

But what about Manchester- let’s see this as encouragement to include aviation emissions in Manchester’s forthcoming Climate Change Action Plan, and more generally to start doing some serious work (NWRDA, 4NorthWest, AGMA, MCC, Govt Office for the NW) on the replacement economy for the region’s unsustainable but up to now profitable industries.

“We already know about city farms, but now we need to go further, and think of cities as farms.” Andy Goldring, Permaculture Association  (“Permaculture and Energy”, Reforesting Scotland 35, Autumn / Winter 2006.)

why do it?  see http://www.fcrn.org.uk/  http://www.fcrn.org.uk/frcnPubs/publications/PDFs/CuaS_web.pdf

Urban food production

Cuba:

http://monthlyreview.org/090119koont.php

http://www.cosg.org.uk/mario.htm

http://www.hellocuba.ca/itineraries/472alamar3.php

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/foodprogramme_20090315.shtml

http://www.climate.org/topics/international-action/urban-agriculture/havana.htm

UK

http://www.wen.org.uk/local_food/index.htm

London

http://www.capitalgrowth.org/

http://www.sustainweb.org/news/response_to_the_london_plan/

http://www.sustainweb.org/urbanagriculture/about/

and especially http://www.sustainweb.org/pdf/food_growing_&_social_housing.pdf

figures on food and CO2 – and the argument of local food production at

http://www.capitalgrowth.org/links/climate_change/

Europe

http://www.cityfarmer.org/subeurope.html

http://www.eukn.org/eukn/themes/Urban_Policy/Economy_knowledge_and_employment/Urban_economy/Specific_sectors/Cities-Farming-for-the-Future_1030.html

http://www.ruaf.org/node/183

http://www.ruaf.org/sites/default/files/Multifunctional%20Land%20Use.pdf

USA

http://www.sustainweb.org/page.php?id=432

http://www.climate.org/topics/international-action/urban-agriculture/chicago.htm

Urban Aquaculture

http://www.cabi.org/pdf/books/9780851998299/9780851998299.pdf

http://www.greengeek.ca/sustainable-urban-aquaculture/

http://urbanaquaculturecenter.com/

MB

This link takes you to the glossary “Concepts for Bioregional Development.   It tries to explain in straigtforward tersms the concepts used throughout the site.  We think you’ll agree that this is an unusual conjuncture of concepts – but the situation we are facing calls for this use of ideas from more than one field.

read the full article

To make the move to a sustainable future where people are no longer threatened by an ecological catastrophe will require a number of things – above all a strong and broad movement with effective and intelligent leadership and an accurate understanding of the current problems and how they can be overcome.  Sadly only some parts of this constellation of forces is in place today.  In particular the green movement is not an effective political and social movement and the left is still in disarray, largely concerned with defensive politics and harking back to a world long gone.

As for ideas and analysis of the situation and what need to be done, some powerful critiques of the current economic orthodoxies have recently appeared that set out an alternative way in which the well being and prosperity of the population can be achieved and maintained.  However, these contributions are insufficient since they do not provide a sufficiently profound diagnosis of the causes of the problem.  Without such a diagnosis there can be no convincing prescription for a remedy.  But the situation is even worse than that.  There is also no convincing approach to obtaining the necessary changes.

The situation is not unlike that which Frederick Engels faced when he wrote “Socialism, Utopian and Scientific”
read more (takes you to the pdf file of this article.

Walden Bello (from Focus on the Global South) on Capitalism in crisis, regulation, the end of the neoliberal era, China and the need to go on the offensive to propose real and sustainable alternatives.  He makes a similar point to ours on the need to go beyond simply regulating the market.

This is a google machine translation of the original but it is reasonably good – at least you can get the gist.

Capitalism will not disappear unless we organize ourselves to have a different system.

Spanish original

The pamphlet, A Green Deal for the Manchester-Mersey Bioregion, is now available for purchase in printed from the Lulu site. You can buy a copy (or copies) or download a nice pdf version.

Copies will be available at a discounted price from me too: contactgdm@googlemail.com

Posted on the ‘occasional editorial’ page.