Bringing RC to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change
The RC Communities will be sending a diverse, international delegation of twenty-five Co-Counselors to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris, France, November 30 to December 4, 2015. We are calling the project “Sustaining All Life” (the same name as our RC care-of-the-environment journal).
This will be the first time that an RC delegation has attended a non-RC international environmental conference. The delegation will be presenting workshops, conducting public forums, holding listening projects, and leading support groups and other events. Wytske Visser and Diane Shisk* will be leading the delegation. Goof Buijs, <bunic@ziggo.nl>, is the organizer.
Here are the goals of the project:
- To bring to this worldwide gathering the tools, policies, and theory developed from our RC practice
- To help update and re-energize the global liberation movement and the global effort to build a movement to sustain all life
- To help build a base from which everyone has an equal voice in the effort to end destructive policies
- To learn a great deal from the expertise of the other participants from around the world
The climate negotiations at this conference are coming at a key moment in human history; it is vital that our governments reach a global agreement in the near future. Many, many people will be coming to Paris to show their support for the negotiations, and we hope to reach these people with our work. This is an exciting time in which to influence the world with what we’ve worked so hard to know, and a great opportunity to learn what we don’t yet know.
We will be fundraising to help cover the expenses of the delegates. Please contact Ellie Putnam <ellieput@w-link.net> to volunteer to help with fundraising.
We are also inviting many people who have been active in RC care-of-the-environment work to come to the conference as volunteers to help organize this big undertaking. They will pay their own expenses.
And we are working on a pamphlet that will put out an RC perspective on the environment, climate change, and oppression and present basic RC theory. It will be translated into many languages, including Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, and Spanish. If you can help with translation, please contact Anne Helgedagsrud <helgedagsrud@gmail.com>.
For more information and for updates on the progress of this project, see <www.rc.org/sustainingalllife>.
* Wyske Visser is the RC International Commonality Reference Person for Care of the Environment. Diane Shisk is the Alternate International Reference Person for the RC Communities.