Jennifer Marohasy » Away with Rio+20: The Voice of the Peasant

These systems of buying environmental services are being used to take lands and territories away from indigenous peoples and peasants. The mechanisms that are most forcefully promoted by governments and businesses are the systems known as REDD and REDD plus. They say that these are systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by deforestation and degradation of the forests, but they are being used to impose, for a ridiculous price, management plans that deny families and rural communities access to their own lands, forests, and water sources. In addition, they guarantee businesses unrestricted access to collective forest areas, enabling biopiracy. They also impose contracts that tie communities to these management plans for 20 years or more and that leave indigenous and peasant territories with mortgage liens, that increases the likelihood that these communities will lose their lands. The objectives of these environmental services are to take control of nature reserves and of the territories that are under the control of these communities…

You’re weighing the planet down: Global weight gain more damaging than rising numbers | JunkScience.com

Researchers say that increasing levels of fatness around the world could have the same impact on global resources as an extra billion people. The team estimated the total weight of people on the planet and found that North America had the highest average.

Revealed: how taxpayers fund climate change lobbyists - Telegraph

A new report found Europe has given £75 million to green lobbying groups, including Friends of the Earth and Climate Action Network.

It claims many of these groups campaign for new regulations that could lead to higher energy bills for British households.

“Taxpayers pay twice: once for the grants, then again with the higher prices that result when environmentalist groups successfully campaign for new regulations,” the report said.

One of the taxpayer-funded groups, Climate Action Network, has just produced a campaign video accusing Britain of seeking to “sabotage” European negotiations about tougher rules on energy usage.

It shows a spandex-clad climate “superhero” kidnapping a British official who is blamed for blocking the talks.

Rio+20: ICLEI Members Admit “Bait and Switch” to Boost Climate Agenda | JunkScience.com

To advance public action on global warming, participants attending the ICLEI World Congress admitted today that they are deliberately employing new terminology to misdirect opponents and gain acceptance of their efforts to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases.

By utilizing terms like “sustainability” and “sustainable development,” the group wants to mask its objectives and disarm would-be critics who might otherwise oppose their agenda, ICLEI attendees confided with CFACT representatives at the conference.