The Alternative Global Forum “For Life & Environmental & Social Justice” in Cancun from Dec. 4-10

Message from La Via Campesina North America

Global mobilization against the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP-16) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will take place in Cancun, Mexico from November 29th to December 10, 2010, where governments will convene to promote more false solutions to the climate crisis. As the follow-up to last year’s Cop 15 climate talks in Copenhagen, which demonstrated governments’ incapacity to tackle the root causes of the climate chaos, Cancun will be a decisive moment for the climate justice and food sovereignty movements to make our voices heard. It will also be a critical opportunity to move forward the People’s Agreement coming out of the Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth that took place this past April in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

There are a number of ways in which you can participate. First, we invite you to join us in Mexico, where we will be organizing a series of caravans departing from various parts of the country, which will be visiting important struggles against capitalist environmental devastation throughout the country, converging in Mexico City for a mass protest on November 30. From there, the caravans will continue south, arriving in Cancun on December 3rd, where Via Campesina and social movements will carry out the Alternative Global Forum for Life and Environmental and Social Justice, the Via Campesina encampment, and other actions as alternatives to the official sessions of the COP-16, December 4th-10th. Delegations on the caravans and mobilizations in Cancun will be divided into waves to accommodate those who are not available for all the days. Details on the specific dates and places will be announced soon.

We also call on our friends and allies to create “thousands of Cancuns” by holding events and actions in your own communities on December 7th to add strength and visibility to the mobilizations that will be taking place in Mexico. The climate crisis will not be solved in December by the COP-16, and most of us will not be present in Cancun; this is an opportunity to build on a global movement led by communities to counter the climate crisis. Please see the official Via Campesina call to action attached for further information.

Additionally, we ask for your help in fundraising to make the on-the-ground actions possible in Mexico and ensure that peasants, indigenous peoples and others most impacted by climate change will be able to have a large and powerful presence there. For further information and to make a donation, see http://viacampesinanorteamerica.org/en/donate/donate.php.

Please let us know as soon as possible if your organization commits to participating in any of these efforts. Please contact us at lvc.cancun@gmail.com for further details and to confirm your participation. For groups holding local actions on December 7th, we invite you to an organizing call that we will be holding on the afternoon of October 7th.

Speaking is Miguel from Frente Democrático Campesino de Chihuahua