Re-posted from IRIN News

WARRI, 25 November 2011 (IRIN) – Two years after the Nigerian government granted amnesty to militants fighting mainly for development and job opportunities in the oil-rich Niger River Delta, violence has diminished, and oil revenues – which dropped at the height of the conflict – have increased. But analysts argue that the amnesty programme is flawed and will not lead to long-term peace. In the delta, former fighters are picking up their guns again, and resentment brews among those not included.

Under the amnesty, which ran from August to October 2009, militants who handed in their weapons were pardoned for their crimes, trained in non-violence, and offered vocational training in trades such as welding, in Nigeria or overseas. After attending non-violence training they are paid US$410 per month until they find work. Just over 26,000 young people have taken the amnesty package.

Most of the participants had been directly or indirectly involved in crimes including attacking oil infrastructure, oil bunkering, and kidnapping oil workers.

Amnesty was granted after record levels of violence in the Delta in 2008: in the first nine months of the year, 1,000 people were killed, 300 were taken hostage and the government lost $23.7 billion to attacks, oil theft and sabotage.

Carrying guns again

Those in favour of the programme say the reduced violence and improved flow of oil is a clear sign of success, but others worry the calm will not last. “Boys who accepted amnesty later went back to the creeks and carried guns again,” said Casely Omon-Irabor, a lawyer based in Warri, a major city in Delta State, who has represented militants groups for nearly six years.

His clients include John Togo, leader of the militant Niger Delta Liberation Front, who took amnesty but later returned to fighting. Omon-Irabor said the precarious peace could crumble. “[The militants] are already back – they just don’t have enough arms yet.”

Recent local and international news reports also cite “ex”-militants who say they are preparing to fight again.

Violence has declined but has not disappeared. Three civil society leaders in the Niger Delta told IRIN they were aware of cases where militants who had taken the amnesty later returned to fighting.

Other former militants are turning their skills to piracy. “A lot of the militancy has simply moved offshore – piracy is the new site for the armed militants’ activities,” Ben Amunwa, a researcher at Platform, an international human rights NGO, told IRIN.

WARRI, Frustrated by a lack of development and environmental degradation caused by oil extraction in the Niger Delta, Jeffrey James joined a militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, (MEND) and fought with them for seven years. Full report
An article in Africa Confidential magazine on 21 October supports this, saying many of the pirates in the maritime area off Nigeria and neighbouring Benin have links with militant groups in the Niger Delta. Other reports highlight the intricate knowledge of the oil industry some pirates appear to have, which could have been gained in the Niger Delta.

Root causes overlooked

By not addressing the root causes of the conflict the amnesty programme could not lead to sustainable peace. “Why did they go to the creeks? Why did they carry guns? Because we believed there was a monumental neglect of the region that produced the oil,“ said Delta lawyer Omon-Irabor.

“There was no infrastructure, no roads, development, schools, bridges or employment for the youth, and this was the region that produces the wealth of the nation,” he pointed out. “When the government wanted to reconcile, we thought they would address the issues [but] they started paying the boys as if that was the issue in the first place.”

Ledum Mittee, president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), told IRIN: “There has been no improvement in livelihoods in the region.”

Full article

Photo: Wendy Bruere/IRIN
In Delta State’s Oporoza community people say they still need development, including access to clean water

The Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) has called for a rally at the Contra Costa County Administrative offices to protest the appeal of Chevron’s tax assessment.

Protest Chevron’s Tax Grab

651 Pine Street, Martinez

Thursday December 15, 2011

11:30 AM – Gather and Leaflet Area

12 Noon Rally

RPA says:

“The Chevron Corporation is currently appealing its property tax assessment and trying to get the county to pay them a refund of $150 million dollars at hearings in Martinez. If ordered to pay these refunds, County, City, and school districts would have to slash vital health, education and public services and lay off employees.”

“Chevron, which has long had reduced property taxes thanks to loop holes in Proposition 13, is able to hire an army of expensive lawyers to try to bully the county into accepting a settlement. Community groups, unions, and everyone who cares about justice say it is time to stop the 1% from bleeding the rest of us. We are the 99%, Chevron is the 1%!”

The Richmond City Council Resolution asking Chevron to drop its property tax appeals notes the following:

• Chevron Corporation. (formerly Standard Oil) has successfully operated an oil refinery in Richmond since 1904, thus contributing to the corporation’s high profitability for over 100 years

• Chevron declares that it wants to be a good neighbor to Richmond and Contra Costa County residents

• Chevron has posted record profits in each of the last five years, and its profits of $7,830,000,000 ($7.83 billion) for the third quarter of 2011 are double its profits for the third quarter of 2010

•  Chevron’s charitable contributions to worthy local organizations in 2010 amounted to $3.7 million, which represents a mere 0.047% of the profit it made in just three months

• These cuts would inevitably result in the layoffs of city, county, school district, fire and water, etc. workers at a time when we are already experiencing record unemployment and the worst recession since the 1930’s Depression

• These layoffs would result in less income available to purchase goods and services contributing to a downward economic spiral damaging our business community

• Chevron has stated it wants to maintain good a good relationship with Richmond and that it specifically wants to help ameliorate the very problems that the cuts triggered by its potential refunds would exacerbate

• If Chevron were to withdraw all of its property tax appeals it would remain a highly successful and profitable corporation and would experience no negative consequences

• The Richmond City Council respectfully asks Chevron Corporation. to withdraw and dismiss all of its property tax appeals on past years’ assessments and pay the full amount due on current and future property tax assessments for the Richmond refinery.

Read the full resolution by the Richmond City Council

Get the flyer for the protest and rally

A great review of the “No REDD Papers, Volume 1″ is re-posted below, in honor of Forest Day, where about 1,050 people, including more than 200 official climate change negotiators, met on the sidelines of the 17th UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Durban on December 4, 2011.

By Chris Lang, 23rd November 2011

Re-posted from REDD Monitor

A recently released booklet, “No REDD Papers, Volume 1” (pdf file 2.5 MB), includes a list of 10 of the worst REDD-type projects affecting indigenous peoples. The booklet was produced by Carbon Trade Watch, Global Justice Ecology Project, Indigenous Environmental Network, Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative and Timberwatch Coalition.

The booklet also includes critiques of carbon trading, explanations of how REDD threatens Indigenous Peoples, local communities and forests. It looks at the potential beneficiaries of REDD and explains why REDD is not a solution. A fascinating article by Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network explains why REDD cannot be fixed by attempts to detach it from the carbon markets, by attempts to ensure that the money “goes to the right place”, or by attempts to include free, prior and informed consent.

See the list of the ten worst REDD-type projects, from No REDD Papers, Volume I.

image source:
http://www.forestsclimatechange.org/home.html

Audio program re-posted from National Radio Project

June 29, 2011

Global warming is no longer a fear for the future, it’s threatening human civilization now. But a good portion of humanity doesn’t seem that concerned. On this edition, part 1 of a special 2 part series, Brian Edwards-Tiekert takes us through the climate change that is happening, the political response that isn’t, and the people trying to break the gridlock.

Listen here:

Part One

Part Two

This series was made possible by a grant from The Lia Fund, with additional support from The Cultural Conservancy.

Featuring:
Tim Flannery, author of “The Weathermakers”; Professor Joseph Alcamo, United Nations Environment Program chief scientist; James Inhofe, US Senator from Oklahoma; Bernaditas Muller, South Centre climate change special advisor; Patrick Bond, Center for Civil Society director at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa; Enele Soapala, Tuvalu minister for foreign affairs, environment, and labor; Barack Obama, President of the United States; Stanislaus Lumumba Di-Aping, South Sudanese diplomat; Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International executive director; Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives; Terisa Turner, University of Guelph economist, Nnimo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International chair, Joe Romm, climateprogress.org editor; Anthony Leiserowitz, Yale University school of forestry and environmental studies climate change communication program director; Rob Willer , University of California at Berkeley Sociologist; Barack Obama, President of the United States; Florencio Quintero, Guayabal, Panama community leader; Christina Bonita, Ruben Mirana; Guayabal residents; Henry Derwent, International Emissions Trading Association CEO; David Hawkins Natural Resources Defense Council director of climate programs; Oswaldo Jordan Alliance for Conservation and Development Director; Pedro Albrego, Ngobe Center for Development and Technical Assistance worker; Michael Dorsey. Dartmouth College Climate Justice Research project director; Evo Morales, President of Bolivia; Angelica Navarro, lead Bolivian climate negotiator

image info: Mobilization for Climate Justice West
image source: http://west.actforclimatejustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/4154250769_75e5fd948a_b.jpg

News Segments
Wed, 11/23/2011 – 15:09

Reposted from Free Speech Radio News

Year: 2011
Length: 5:30 minutes (5.03 MB)
Format: MP3 Mono 44kHz 128Kbps (CBR)

Play audio

Nations are gathering in Durban, South Africa for the next round of climate change talks. Developing nations and those most vulnerable to climate change are calling for strong commitments of emissions reduction and funding from the world’s richer nations. Past meetings in Copenhagen and Cancun have failed to create a lasting accord to confront climate change and scientists warn that time is running out.

A new report from the UN’s agency of climate scientists, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, predicts extreme weather will increase in the coming decades, including heavy rainfall and hurricanes, heat waves and droughts.

Today, we go to Nigeria, where climate change is already having an effect on the livelihoods of women in the traditional occupations of farming and fishing.
Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.

Full transcript:

LEDE: The United Nations Climate Change Conference is due to start in Durban, South Africa, at the end of this month. The conference is aimed at working out an international agreement on limiting emissions of greenhouse gases which are responsible for climate change. Women in low income African societies are among those feeling the worst impacts of climate change. In particular, poverty is growing among African women whose traditional occupation is farming and fishing as changing weather patterns affect their source of livelihood. Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.

DISC: Actuality of ocean waves

SAM: Ocean waves are eroding Nigeria’s Atlantic coastline and the mostly poor residents of Nigeria’s coastal communities are living with the effects. Scientists say climate change is responsible for the rising sea levels.  Ibeno, a large community in South Eastern Nigeria made up of several small islands is one of the worst hit areas. Entire islands have been submerged, displacing thousands of their inhabitants. Many of those displaced – especially women – say they have become poorer because the displacement makes it difficult for them to continue fishing in a sustainable manner. Amuwa Tade is one of the displaced women.

DISC:  (speaks in Yoruba) Needs voice over

Translation: The Ocean seriously affected us. All the children in school have returned home. They have sent them away from school, because there is no money for their school fees. See the way I am dressed, see the shoes I am wearing. I have not eaten since morning. I am living on my past glory. This is how we have been affected.

DISC: Actuality of a woman clearing weeds.

SAM: A woman clears weeds on her farm in Kano Northern Nigeria. Like their counterparts who make a livelihood from fishing, African women who farm are also facing problems caused by climate change. In Northern Nigeria AND BORDERING REGIONS, declining rainfall and desert encroachment which are both attributed to climate change have seriously affected women farmers.

The West African State of Niger has also been affected.  Aminatou Daouda Hainikoye a lawyer from the country says available water for farming has been declining over the years. Hainikoye, who is a legal advocate for small farmers, says women are at a disadvantage in securing access to the shrinking supply of water for agricultural use.

DISC: Speaks in Hausa (Needs voice over)

Translation: The lands closest to the rivers are the most expensive.  The prices of such lands have been on the increase, because they contain the water that can be used for farming. Now where will poor women get the money to purchase expensive lands? We did a study and we found out that men are the owners of all the lands close to the rivers.

SAM: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says women are the majority of farmers in many developing countries like those of Africa. Experts say the effect of climate change on Africa’s food security would negatively affect the continent’s women farmers because of their role in agriculture. Desmond Majekodunmi is an environmentalist with the Lagos based Nigerian Conservation Foundation.

DISC: You have food scarcity because of the inclement weather, crops would no longer grow as well as they should because crops are used to certain timing schedules of rain and water and now those schedules are being disrupted and this would definitely affect food security and women are on the front line of food procurement and food marketing so it is affecting our women folks

SAM: Industrialized nations are mainly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, but poor countries like those in Africa are the ones bearing the brunt of climate change. Developed nations had in the last years made several promises including the provision of 30 billion dollars between 2010 and 2012, to enable developing nations to adapt to climate change. A report by the International Institute for Environment and Development released ahead of the climate change conference in Durban says the wealthy nations are not fulfilling their promise. The London based international research organization says the implication of this is that poor countries will find it harder to adapt to climate change caused by the actions of others. Sam Olukoya FSRN, Lagos.

image info: photo by go_greener_oz on Flickr, creative commons attribution
http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-3047060508

Re-posted from All Voices
By AkanimoReports

ENVIRONMENTAL rights advocacy groups in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s main oil and gas region, have joined Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) in expressing strong concerns over the stated agenda of the United States and a number of other developed countries at the forthcoming United Nations climate talks in Durban, South Africa, from November 28 to December 9.

Co-ordinator of the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), Mr. Patrick Naagbanton, told AkanimoReports in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, yesterday that the global grassroots environmental federation is calling on other governments to stop these countries from undermining the globally-agreed framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to ensure stronger targets for legally binding emissions cuts in line with science and equity.

The climate talks have been deadlocked since the beginning of the decade because of the failure of developed countries – those historically responsible for the bulk of the climate-changing emissions – to deliver on their moral and legal obligations for climate action.

Full article

photo credit: Kendra E. Thornbury
http://www.sweetcrudemovie.com/photoGallery.php?SECTION=1&SHOW_GALLERY=YES&DB_OFFSET=15