July 10, 2008

On July 7, the 130-member Ecuador Constitutional Assembly, elected countrywide to rewrite the country’s Constitution, voted to approve articles that recognize rights for nature and ecosystems. “If adopted in the final constitution by the people, Ecuador would become the first country in the world to codify a new system of environmental protection based on rights,” says Thomas Linzey, Executive Director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. The following clauses will be included in the constitution that will be submitted to a countrywide vote, to be held 45 days after Assembly finishes its work later this month. Chapter: Rights for Nature (Keep reading…)

DRAFT: FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY

From the Ecosocialist International Network website April 23, 2008 (Keep reading…)

Climate and Capitalism April 1, 2008

“Climate change is both a threat and an opportunity to bring about the long postponed social and economic reforms that had been derailed or sabotaged in previous era” (Keep reading…)

Socialist Resistance January 2008

This is an edited version of the main document that was agreed in September’s Annual General Meeting of Socialist Resistance. The document explains why Socialist Resistance is discussing changing its political programme, perspectives and public profile towards being an anti-capitalist, ecosocialist organisation. This is to make explicit a change in our perspectives that has been underway for at least a year and now needs to be signalled publicly. At the core of this change is the contention of the authors of the text that free-market, privatising neoliberalism has over 20 years arrived at a new and deadly phase – what we call ‘savage capitalism’. The document explains why now only a socialist response that centrally addresses the environmental crisis is adequate to the current period. (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension magazine, March/April 2008

In early June, 2007, I was one of seven Saskatchewan women who made their way to Boston to record the vocal tracks for an ecofeminist recording project, My Heart Is Moved. In all, 85 women from ten different bio-regions of North America — many of whom had never before met — gathered to sing songs based on the Earth Charter, a global peoples’ document on sustainable living. All who traveled to Boston brought with them the breath and life of their local communities, the voices of all those in their singing circles, the amazing preparation and intention of the local group into the focused work of rehearsals and recording. The experience was profound and continues to shape me, much as the songs continue to take shape in community. (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension Magazine, November/December 2007

The growing worldwide interest in ecosocialism is reflected in two political trends: (Keep reading…)

http://climateandcapitalism.blogspot.com/2007/07/uk-socialists-boost-intl-ecosocialism.html

In what promises to be a milestone event, ecosocialists are preparing to meet in Paris to launch a new international. Michael Lowy and Joel Kovel, authors of the ecosocialist manifesto, have called the meeting on October 7 in Paris to bring ecosocialists together. (Keep reading…)

From Socialist Voice January 29, 2007

This month, we’ve been treated to the bizarre spectacle of George Bush and Stephen Harper each declaring their deep concern about “the serious challenge of global climate change.” The U.S. president and Canada’s prime minister, both long-time opponents of any action to limit greenhouse gases, now want us to believe that saving the environment has become a top priority of their governments. (Keep reading…)