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FOCUS ON INDIA (FOI), Issue December 2007: Volume IV No 12 |
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Sunday, 16 December 2007 |
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Monthly e-newsletter from Focus on the Global South, India
Bali: that watered down feeling
Writing from Bali, Walden Bello of Focus on the Global South predicted early on that any attempt to get the USA on board would mean ending up with an ineffectual agreement to deal with the climate crisis. The much hyped UN Climate Change Conference (3-14 December 2007) at Bali will be remembered for several things. One is that countries bent over backwards to accommodate the USA to ensure that it joined the post Kyoto multilateral process to bring down greenhouse gas emissions. The US inclusion in the Bali consensus was at the cost of excising from the final document--the so-called Bali Roadmap--any reference to the need for a 25 to 40 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020 to keep the mean global temperature increase to 2.0 to 2.4 degrees Celsius in the 21st century. The second is that big business was in full force (egged on of course by the World Bank) showcasing 'market solutions' to benefit from the climate crisis. But importantly Bali also marked the entry of the global justice movement into the climate change debate. See article by Bello for a quick analysis of Bali.
The year ends on a low note for the UPA Government. As we write this
news comes in that the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by
the despotic Narendra Modi has won a thumping victory in the Gujarat
Assembly elections. Early on the Manmohan Singh Government was dealt
another body blow. Its showpiece, the India-USA nuclear deal, was
rejected by the majority in the Indian Parliament. CPM Secretary
General Prakash Karat argues that it is a clear sign that the deal
should now be dropped. The UPA is also likely to face the heat on its
trade policy in 2008 which has, since it assumed power in 2004,
increasingly taken on a big business bias. Urged on by India's MNCs
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath is negotiating some 27 Free Trade
Agreements (FTAs). (See 2.b)
The year end FOI also carries notes from the struggle against a steel
plant in Orrisa and a brave fight by friends in Phulbari (Bangladesh)
against an open pit coal mine. The open letter on the creation of the
Bank of the South in Latin America and the India call for action for
WSF 2008 are useful reads.
Best wishes for the New Year
Focus on the Global South - India Team.
Contents:
1. NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. a. World Social Forum India Call: Call for Day of Action on 26-27 January 2008
1. b. Call for Entries: ViBGYOR Short and Documentary Film Festival 2008- February Thrissur, Kerala, India
1. c. Applications invited for CACIM WSF Fellowships
2. STATEMENTS/REPORTS
2. a. Press Release: Bali: What's missing from the climate talks? Justice!
2. b. Press Release: India's FTA rush: Kerala's farmers and fishworkers stand to lose
2. c. Letter to ADB on open pit coal mine in Phulbari, Bangladesh: Sign on
2. d. Open Letter on the Creation of The Bank of the South
2. e. Letter to President of the Republic of Korea: On POSCO
3. ARTICLES
3.a. Bali: The Day After. By Walden Bello
3.b. Parliament says no to nuclear deal. By Prakash Karat
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