Author Archive: roman

FoE appears before House of Reps

roman September 27, 2015

Cam Walker, from FoE Australia, reports:

We had our ‘day in court’ yesterday [Sept 21], appearing at the House of Reps hearing into green groups.

We had a solid and well prepared team at the table: Sam Castro, Julien Vincent, Nicola Paris and myself.

We had a fantastic support team, who helped us prepare (thanks to Ben Courtice for the research, Andrew Laird for channeling his inner George Christensen and grilling us with lots of hard questions, Leigh for media strategy, Phil for great images, and many people like Lou Sales and John Glue, who commented on drafts of our presentation).

And lots of people turned up at the hearing to support us.

Then we had the ‘defend the defenders’ rally outside the hearings, which had an awesome turnout. We had a great presence at that – nice visuals from yes 2 renewables, and Phil even handing out membership forms!

Pics here: https://www.facebook.com/events/430687940462368/

I think we presented really well, we mostly controlled the frame of the debate and questions, and they got no ammo to use against us. Strangely, the arch nasty, George Christensen delivered a very lacklustre performance. The many months spent on responding to ATO and Dept investigations paid off, as we were able to remind the committee we have been investigated 3 times, and been found to be compliant each time.

There’s a bit of commentary here: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/21/green-groups-call-on-malcolm-turnbull-to-keep-tax-deductible-status

Its certainly not over, but we are past a watershed moment in the government’s campaign against the movement. Thanks everyone, we pulled together and done good.

onwards

Cam Walker,

Campaigns Coordinator

Old_Notes

Nuclear Outlook Bleak

roman August 15, 2015

An interesting review of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2015 (WNISR 2015) in the current Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

Nuclear heavyweights. In both France and Japan, two of the three countries with the largest installed nuclear capacity (the United States is number one), the nuclear industry is in deep trouble. Although Japan still has 40 reactors that are counted as installed capacity, none of them operated in 2014. It was the first time in 50 years that Japan was without nuclear electricity for an entire calendar year. And no lights went out. As of today, it appears likely that two reactors, at most, will restart in Japan this year.

In France, long the world’s role model for how to successfully develop nuclear energy, the National Assembly passed an energy bill that defines a target to reduce nuclear’s share of the electricity mix from three-quarters to half by 2025. The French state-controlled energy group Areva—the self-proclaimed global leader in nuclear energy—went technically bankrupt after reporting massive losses for four years in a row. Credit-rating agencies have downgraded Areva’s long-term debt to “junk,” and the company’s share price plunged to a record low earlier this month, a level 90 percent below its record high in 2007.

Old_Notes

CANE update

roman July 26, 2015

We’ve put in the first two submissions to the Royal Commission on nukes (thanks to Robyn and Philip), and Nectaria, our anti-nuke campaigner, is busy working on the next two. Lots of dates for your diary this issue, and don’t forget the CANE meetings: Mondays at Kappys Tea & Coffee Merchants, in Compton Street near the market, from 5 to 6pm.

And a reminder: If you would like to give a one-off or ongoing donation to the Campaign Against Nuclear Expansion (CANE) you can use the online form at

https://www.givenow.com.au/foeadelaide

Donations are tax deductible.

Old_Notes

Making Solar Thermal Happen: wed 5th Aug

roman July 26, 2015

Join the Repower Port Augusta Alliance for an evening discussing why and how we can make Solar Thermal happen in South Australia.

When : Wednesday the 5th of August. Doors open 6pm for 6:30 start.

Where : Allan Scott Auditorium (H2-16), Hawke Building, City West Campus, University of South Australia (55 North Tce, Adelaide)

With Dr Keith Lovegrove a solar thermal expert with the Climate Change Institute at ANU (Canberra); Dr. Peter Burdon a Senior Lecturer at the Adelaide Law School; Gary Rowbottom the Chairperson of Repower Port Augusta, and technical officer at Alinta Energy’s Pt Augusta Power Stations. Plus Darrin Spinks the Executive Director of Heliostat SA.

Entry by donation to support the campaign.

RSVP on the Facebook event.

Old_Notes

Historic Progress Towards Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights

roman July 26, 2015

Notes from Cam Walker

Rules for Business

GENEVA, July 10 — The first session of UN negotiations on legally binding rules for transnational corporations (TNCs)[1] concluded today, with hopes high for the process towards a treaty that could finally bring justice and protection to millions.

Talks convened in Geneva on July 6th to begin elaborating a treaty on business and human rights. Civil society organizations from all over the world took part, demonstrating coordinated work, a wealth of proposals and thorough analyses of the urgent need for an international legally binding instrument to prevent TNCs’ human rights abuses and provide justice and remedy for affected people.

Preparatory work of civil society at national and international level was strong. Movements from Indonesia and Brazil, for example, combined proposals for the treaty built on the voices of affected peoples, on concrete cases of human rights violations by TNCs and on advocacy work to push national governments to engage in a proactive way.

TNCs are often responsible for human rights violations. These crimes frequently go unpunished due to glaring gaps in the international legal system, the absence or weakness of enforceable national policies, or judicial corruption in TNC host and/ or home countries. Many corporations are also richer and more powerful than the states seeking to regulate them. Corporate campaign financing for political candidates also creates a layer of impunity for TNCs.

“UN member States and expert panelists made great progress tackling this difficult but vital work. We also applaud the formidable mobilization of civil society organizations, whose presence really spurred the talks forward,” said Lucia Ortiz, Economic Justice International Program Coordinator, Friends of the Earth International.

The EU and several other, mostly rich, countries were largely absent from the talks, allegedly claiming that negotiation of a legally binding treaty would distract from the implementation of the existing UN Guiding Principles — a set of voluntary guidelines for businesses.

“The growing abundance of human rights abuses perpetrated by TNCs or on their behalf proves voluntary guidelines are absolutely insufficient and TNCs should not be trusted to police themselves,” said Anne van Schaik, Sustainable Finance Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe. “Many EU countries are home to TNCs with deplorable records of systemic rights violations in the global south. European civil society organizations have joined forces with great strength to defend rules for business and rights for peoples, making The EU governments’ lack of interest in pushing corporations to respect rights even more shameful.”

“For decades social movements have been demanding a legally binding treaty and insisting corporate influence of the UN must end. Yet even last year many people still believed that a treaty like the one the UN is now working towards would be impossible,” said Irhash Ahmady of Friends of the Earth Indonesia, “but this week has demonstrated that the political will exists, the experts believe it is possible, and many States and people are prepared to make it happen.”

“Most of the States came to the talks open minded and feeling brave enough to finally advance a devastatingly neglected area of international law,” said Ricardo Navarro, Director of Friends of the Earth El Salvador. “This bravery will be crucial ahead of the next round of talks. States and civil society must work hard to keep up momentum, bring even more States to the table, and consult widely. Affected people, whose struggles in the face of TNC violations, expertise and proposals must be part of this consultation, so we can truly condemn impunity to history!” he added.

A delegation from Friends of the Earth International attended the talks as part of the Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power and as member of the Treaty Alliance: together, a movement of over one thousand organizations representing tens of millions of individuals around the world.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Lucia Ortiz, Economic Justice International Program Coordinator, Friends of the Earth International: + 55 48 99150071 or lucia@natbrasil.org.br

Alberto Villarreal, Trade and Investment Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Latin America & Caribbean: +41 79 429 4275 or comerc@redes.org.uy

Anne van Schaik, Sustainable Finance Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe: +31 6 243 43968 or anne.vanschaik@foeeurope.org

Ricardo Navarro, Director of Friends of the Earth El Salvador: + 503 78 887 567 or email foeelsalvador@hotmail.com

Irhash Ahmady, Friends of the Earth Indonesia: +62-81572222066 orirhaz@walhi.or.id

Or visit http://www.foei.org/what-we-do/towards-binding-treaty-transnational-corporations-human-rights ; http://www.treatymovement.com/; http://www.stopcorporateimpunity.org and http://www.radiomundoreal.fm/basta-de-impunidad-corporativa-258

NOTES

[1] The open ended intergovernmental working group’s mandate as defined by United Nations Human Rights Council resolution 26/9 http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G14/082/52/PDF/G1408252.pdf?OpenElement

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