• Disengagement from the EU-IMF mechanism and from its neoliberal “know-how”.

• NO to the dissolution of social cohesion.

• NO to the demolition of the social security system.

• For a Front of social and political forces; for a shield of protection against the crisis.

Papandreou’s government pushed forward the appeal to the “EU-IMF support mechanism”. This action subjects Greece to the choices of the IMF and allows the IMF to enter the backyard of Europe, showing in the most profound way the big structural deficits of the monetary union, which came as a result of the neoliberal model that the conservative and social-democratic forces of Europe have commonly served in the last decades.

The technocrats of the IMF are already in our country and dictate the articles and the clauses of the new social security law proposal, to the Ministry of Employment. It is clear that, under the full responsibility of the government, the elaboration of strategic economic choices is assigned to a supranational directorate, which has no democratic legitimization.

The IMF is not a philanthropic institution. It dictates measures and “helps” governments, which state, from the start, their willingness to take the responsibility for the dissolution of the social security systems, the termination of collective agreements and the demolition of social and workers’ achievements.

Whatever the sickness might be, the IMF has but one remedy: Reduction of salaries and social rights. In any case, the basic condition for “support” by the IMF is the dismantling of social security systems, a process which has already been initiated in our country. We would like to underline the confirmation of the biggest part of our criticism on the way that the EU had been built; Our opposition to the content of the European Treaties that created the present neoliberal structure, which, under the present conditions of a deep economic crisis, reinforces the centrifugal tendencies and puts under question the cohesion of Europe as a whole. We would like to underline the major responsibilities of the directorate of the EU, which, in collaboration with Papandreou’s government, puts forward a mixture of neoliberal policy, that demolishes the workers, pensioners, women’s and youth rights.

The government has absolutely no democratic legitimacy to proceed with such agreements. It was elected six months ago, with a completely different program and does not enjoy social consent to take such measures. The only consent it enjoys is the one of the Union of Greek Industrialists (SEB), the big Media conglomerates, the ultra-neoliberal cycles inside the two bigger parties, and the extreme right-wing of Mr Karatzaferis (MP, President of LAOS party). The party of New Democracy (former right-wing government) also bares big responsibility, because, during their two terms in government, they decisively contributed to the creation of the present deficit and public debt. New Democracy and PASOK served and formulated the sociopolitical system after the fall of the military dictatorship in1974. They are responsible for the permanent productive deficit of the country. For the degradation and the privatization of the public sector. We should not underestimate the class aspect of today’s deficits.

We are pushed to this choice by the dominant neoliberal cycles of the EU. It is a choice that serves Euro-Atlanticism. Their aim is to apply the dead-end strategy of monetarism without restrictions, a strategy that is unable to offer substantial answers concerning the global economic crisis. Their aim is to transform Greece into a guinea-pig, on which they will test the hardest economic and social policy in the history of Europe, so as to export this model to the rest European countries.

The people haven’t expressed their opinion and neither has the Parliament. At the same time, Mr Papandreou does not even dare to organize meetings of the leading bodies of his own, governmental party.

All these are happening despite the fact that we are in front of a very crucial choice, which will change both the international orientation, and the internal balances in our country. The day after the intervention of the IMF in our interior, will signal a completely new reality, which will estrange Greece from any perspective of an economic and social outlet from today’s crisis. In this sense, here rises a crucial issue of a democratic legitimacy of the governmental policies.

We demand the immediate appeal to the public verdict, for the disengagement from the EU-IMF mechanism and its neoliberal “know-how”.

This means the disengagement from a choice that will define the future of the country for decades and will initiate an unprecedented social regression, through measures like the dissolution of the social security system, the liberalization of lay-offs, the reduction of salaries and pensions.

We demand a referendum, in order to have a popular verdict concerning the interference of the IMF, through the form of the EU-IMF mechanism, to the internal issues of our country.

Against the criminal policy of the government, which leads the country to the total dominance of the IMF, through the mechanism that was constructed under the decision of the Eurogroup, in 25 March, and is already slandered by the speculators, Synaspismos proposes an alternative program to the Greek people, for an exit-strategy from the crisis.

Because the choice of social degradation is not a one-way choice. Another way exists. We propose to our society to follow this other way and fight, in order to demand it.

Everybody in struggle!

A precondition for this alternative way is to activate popular and social actors for the composition of a front of social and political forces, which will fight to raise a shield of social protection and solidarity. The contribution of the left forces, trade-unionist and social actors to the creation of such a front will be decisive. For this reason, we invite them to join our unitarian call.

An Immediate Alternative Program for a Progressive Exit from the Crisis

1. Disengagement from the EU-IMF mechanism of “support”. Renegotiation and demand for a direct loan from the ECB and the introduction of a euro-bond. Coordination and stable alliance with the countries of the European South, which face similar problems of debt and deficits. Demand for a change of the European Treaties. Immediate abolition of the Stability Pact and replacement of it with a Pact for Social Protection, guaranteed, decent employment and sustainable development.
2. Public social control of the financial system, in favor of public interest and real economy. A first step is the immediate intervention to the banking system, through the creation of a public pylon, together with the alternative administration of the support package.
3. Mid and long-term program for the productive re-composition of the Greek economy. With targeted public investments, for an alternative model of development, and with a special attention to the agricultural economy, renewable energy sources, sustainable tourism and new technologies. We fight for a different concept and function of the public sector.
4. Political demand, on an international level, for a partial abolition of the public debt and the optimization of the conditions of payment, under the framework of its complete restructure. The problem of the public debt is not only a Greek problem; in this sense, we demand a complete mechanism of solidarity for its confrontation under a European framework.

5. Creation of a shield of social protection. With a complex of immediate social interventions, which will aim at the reduction of employment and of new forms of poverty, together with the stimulation of development. The necessary immediate interventions should focus on the following issues:

   • Tax reform, against the diachronic injustices of our taxation system, which will enlarge the tax basis against tax-defaulters. Taxation of the church.

   • Immediate reduction of all military expenditure. Withdrawal of all campaigning Greek troops from all foreign soil.

   • Funding of the social security system and reinforcement of its public, re-distributive character, in contrast with the dismantling strategy that is today applied by the government.

   • Protection of the short, mid and log-term unemployed. Special programs of employment in the social and productive sector.

   • Immediate reform of the employment legislation, targeting at the limitation of lay-offs and the protection of jobs.

   • Reinforcement of the minimum wage. Introduction of a guaranteed minimum income and guaranteed access to public goods and basic services of public benefit.

The aforementioned minimum framework for a progressive exit-strategy includes proposals for the immediate confrontation of the crisis and the interception of the attack that the society and the labor forces are facing.

Synaspismos and SYRIZA need to develop informative actions and reinforce the resistance of our society. With our powerful participation to the struggles of the trade-unions and social actors. With our contribution to the formation of wider Committees of Struggle in neighborhoods and work places, against the measures of the government and their consequences. Our Party must express its solidarity in actions, through relevant initiatives, towards those who are struck by the crisis.

Taken as a fact that we are facing a structural crisis of capitalism, the struggle for an alternative, progressive exit-strategy must be linked to the fight for a radical change of the present balance of power, for the radical change of society and socialism.

Our alternative proposal must be clarified to the people, through consecutive, systematic and permanent interventions.

We must organize press conferences and public interventions of our MPs and members of the party, in the neighborhoods of Athens and the regions of the country. It is our duty to propose an alternative way and invite our society to fight and demand it.

The Central Political Committee of SYNASPISMOS

Athens, 25/04/2010

Carbon Trading: how it works and why it fails outlines the limitations of an approach to tackling climate change which redefines the problem to fit the assumptions of neoliberal economics. It demonstrates that the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, the world’s largest carbon market, has consistently failed to  ́cap ́ emissions, while the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) routinely favours environmentally ineffective and socially unjust projects. This is illustrated with case studies of CDM projects in Brazil, Indonesia, India and Thailand.

UN climate talks in Copenhagen are discussing ways to expand the trading experiment, but the evidence suggests it should be abandoned. From subsidy shifting to regulation, there is a plethora of ways forward without carbon trading – but there are no short cuts around situated local knowledge and political organising if climate change is to be addressed in a just and fair manner.

The new book is published by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation (www.dhf.uu.se) as part of its Critical Currents series.

[via]

COP15 (the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference) is the UN-speak for the 15th meeting of the parties of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change…and is fast approaching. Set to take place between 7^th-18^th December, it is yet one more of those international events that attracts the hopes of the global civil society. The conference traces its origins to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which aimed at coordinating international action against climate change. Six years later the Kyoto Protocol was signed in Japan and two years ago signatories gathered in Bali, Indonesia, to launch negotiations for stronger action against climate change.  This process will now culminate at the meeting in Copenhagen.

The Independent notes that it will be one of the most significant gatherings in history, surpassing the 1814-1815 Congress of Vienna or the 1945 Yalta & Potsdam meetings, since between 10,000 and 15,000 officials, advisers, diplomats, campaigners and media personnel from nearly 200 countries, are expected to attend. The mission of the conference is none other than to achieve a global agreement on ways to tackle climate change and global warming. In other words which countries should cut CO2 emissions and by how much. This essentially means, to agree on who will pay the bill. The goal? To limit global warming to 2°C above the pre-industrial levels. The big challenge for governments?  To agree on a treaty that will reduce developed country emissions by at least 40% by 2020.

I think 100 days is a good milestone to get us all interested in this summit and here are a few good resources to get you started. After all, this is one of those cases that we expect a lot from the web and its historically unparalleled power for global mobilization. The information available is huge but it is good to get a few simple facts straight.

1. Of course one could start with the official COP15 Climate Facts page and also read the Guardian’s Q&A which gives you a quick run-down of the issues under discussion.

2. The UK’s Department for International Development also has a quick list of fact-checking like:

• The world has warmed by nearly 1° C over the last century. The rate of warming over the last 50 years is nearly twice that of the last 100 years.
• The costs of ignoring climate change have been estimated at more than that of the two world wars and the Great Depression (5 to 20% of GDP) (Stern Report).

3. If you need a good rundown of the issues involved from the NGO perspective and what someone should aspire to from the COP15, read the WWF – The New Climate Deal – A Pocket Guide.

4. America.Gov, (US Dept.of State) has a nice infographic which explains the carbon cycle and also “what carbon looks like” or “how scientists measure carbon”.

5. The Carbon Quilt is an impressive independent project. It is an online greenhouse gas visualisation tool that attempts “to create a visual language for showing greenhouse gases that helps communication.” It brings the abstract concept of a ‘carbon footprint’ to life and works on all scales – users can see the actual carbon footprint of a whole continent or a single light bulb. I am still exploring the tool which as a prototype is not so intuitive to use but looks like it’s certainly worth the effort.

6. CARMA (Carbon Monitoring for Action) is a global inventory containing information on the carbon emissions of over 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies worldwide. Since, power generation accounts for about one-quarter of global emissions, it is worth looking at their interactive maps (yes, it covers Greece also, with Kozani area topping the list).

7. Sandbag, is a not-for-profit organization which aims to exploit the emissions trading scheme in a creative way, allowing anybody to “take out” of the system, “permits to pollute”. So, if you part with €25 per tonne (=one transatlantic flight), you can also have a positive contribution to climate change. “I suppose it’s a bit like burning money in front of someone so they can’t spend it on something bad,” as Bryony Worthington, the brain behind Sandbag explains. See also a Map of EU installations currently covered by the EU emissions trading scheme.

8. Yes, this is the ideal subject for map and mashup enthusiasts, so Google itself would of course have something to show here and it does. A map that visualizes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by a number of industrialized countries, released by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and members of the Google team (you can read the Google LatLong post explaining the project). This map provides truly rich information and all the interactivity you can expect. You can also download a full pdf report of the country you are interested in (here is the GHG emissions report for Greece, which ranks 7^th in emissions growth since 1990). By the way, I love the capability of filtering results on the EU15 and EU27 level, something that is a glaring omission in most data related analyses especially from the USA.

9. Yet another impressive interactive map (this post should be titled “environmental maps”) is the Climate Wizard, developed by the Nature Conservancy, the University of Washington and the University of Southern Missisipi.

This interactive user-friendly map allows users to access climate change that has occurred to date (past 50 years) or predicted to occur (2050 and end-of-century) and visualize the impacts anywhere on Earth. After setting your filters, you can download the map image or a GIS ready file or a zip file with all the documentation info.

10. The Guardian pages on Environment are a very good resource and naturally they dedicate sections on carbon emissions and the Copenhagen Summit. Of course, you can see a graph showing carbon emitters by country or a graphical countdown of major events leading to Copenhagen. Incidentally, the paper also carries this very interesting story on Internet’s carbon footprint, which seems to be significant and growing by more than 10% each year, according to scientists, a fact which burdens not only the environment but since this is the outcome of huge energy demands, also threatens the financial stability of net companies like YouTube.

The Guardian has also put together a very useful and straightforward list of the demands that 15 leading NGOs and charities are making of the negotiators, in this article aptly titled “What should we be asking world leaders to agree to in Copenhagen?”

11. On this activist front, one should observe the oddly named  TckTckTck campaign, an impressive effort which brings together an alliance of leading INGOs like Oxfam, WWF, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, Christian Aid and others. The Chair of the campaign is none other than the venerable Kumi Naidoo who incidentally also had an article in yesterday’s Guardian explaining the movement (some may remember he was also the force behind the GCAP campaign).

Things you can do at the TckTckTck  is to Explore the Climate Orb, where you can add your own story related to how climate change has changed your life; you can add your name to show your support to a meaningful agreement; you can use the toolkit to organize your local movement and of course spread the word via all the latest social media darlings. Here is a promotional video featuring actor Gael Garcia Bernal.

12. “Adopt a Negotiator” is a “sister” project which follows and reports on the actions of country negotiators in the period leading to the summit. In effect, a person called “Climate Tracker” is assigned one negotiator and he reports on the progress made. All the campaign asks from you is to support it and follow progress which means that each negotiator will feel the public pressure.

13. The “Seal the Deal” campaign is the UN-led campaign which encourages users to sign an online, global petition to be presented by civil society to governments of the world urging them to reach a fair, balanced and effective agreement in Copenhagen. You can also upload your photo which is added to complete a nice photomosaic application called “Climate Warriors”, essentially the earth which gradually shapes up. At the time of this post, only 12.121 signatures were collected…

14. Hopenhagen is a movement created by the United Nations together with the International Advertising Association and a coalition of the world’s leading advertising, marketing and media agencies. It is a nicely designed web application where you write “what gives you hope” and you watch the stream realtime. Impressive it is, but at the same time I would call it “shallow” since one cannot really see the benefit of such a project. Yet another sign of the advertising world’s introversion and self-importance.

15. I personally find “Climate Thoughts” much more interesting. It is another application by the official Copenhagen website, which “makes possible to read many of the thoughts passing through people’s minds on the issue of climate change and add your own personal thoughts to the collection of climate thoughts – a three-dimensional version of the globe-like COP15 logo….Thoughts added by people are represented as shining stars, growing brighter when supported by other users of the site.” The screenshot shows the most popular one currently which is ” We must have a climate bailout”.

16. Finally, Climate Game is another application that lets you take part in an interactive flash game where you upgrade and optimize buildings and plants learning the various processes as you go, again in the official COP15 website.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, so if you know of any significant resource or movement not included here, please share it. I will update the post as we approach the 7^th December 2009 milestone. Potentially this is a true web moment and we should all watch how the next 100 days unfold.

Today at the European Parliament, the Telecoms package was debated in Strasbourg. You can read on this issue, an interesting article but also follow discussion on the hashtag #eutelecoms on twitter. A lot of information is also available on FB group Blackout Europe. The vote will be tomorrow. (an update will follow)