** Participate Today in the Model World Parliament/Mexico **
Rob Wheeler
Planetafilia and the World Alliance to Transform the UN are holding a
Model World Parliament in the Mexican Congress Chambers during the
next several days; and the World Parliament Experiment is providing an
opportunity for everyone to participate in the process through the use
of the internet.
There are 7 primary issue areas that we are discussing and that you
can respond or contribute to:
World Security
World Hunger & the Financial Crisis
Human Rights
Science and Technology
Climate Change and Environment
Global Democracy
World Tribunals
You can read the list of sub-topics at:
http://www.wparliament.com/workshops.html
and you can find out more about the Model World Parliament meeting by
going to: http://www.wparliament.com
If you have specific proposals or resolutions that you would like
everyone to vote on, you can post these on the World Parliament
Experiment website at: http://www.tgde.org/fvotes.phtml. If you are
not registered yet, you will have to do so before you can post
comments or vote there. Please make sure that you save your password
so that you can log in again in the future.
You can also vote in favor of the proposal to "accept the invitation
of the organizers of The Mexico World Parliament Conference to create
online interaction between this event and the WPE members who cannot
attend in person" by going to:
http://www.tgde.org/showvote.phtml?id=976 Again you will have to have
registered on the WPE website to vote or post comments.
There is also a Discussion and Editing page on the WPE wiki at:
http://worldparliament.a.wiki-site.com/index.php/Real_Life_events
where you can post comments, suggestions, or questions. I am including
below a report on a couple of the sessions that I attended today,
along with specific topics of discussion for the remaining two days.
Thank you for your interest and contributions. Sincerely,
Rob Wheeler
Chair of the World Alliance to Transform the UN
robwhe...@gmail.com
www.watun.org
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Several hundred people attended the opening day of the Model World
Parliament conference in Mexico City yesterday. The morning session
included presentations by a Federal Deputy of the Legislature, a
retired Supreme Court Justice, and the President of Political
Coordination of the Chamber of Deputies of PAN, all of whom spoke
eloquently on the need for a World Parliament and the direct
representation of the world's people in international affairs.
Bob French spoke stirringly about Vote World Parliament's referendum
and campaign in support of establishing a World Parliament; and I
spoke about the need for a World Parliament, ways that the UN could
operate much more effectively and operate as though it were a World
Parliament, and the opportunities that we have to insist that the Rio
+20 Earth Summit Conference be organized so as to operate like a World
Parliament. During the next two days we will be drafting and
considering proposals and resolutions and adopting some type of a
Conference Declaration, which will subsequently be forwarded to the
United Nations, etc.
I participated in two Working Sessions. During the environment and
climate change session one of the speakers talked about the negative
effect that is occurring due to the increasing level of green house
gases in the environment and how this results in their being more
toxic chemicals in the air which we breathe in. There was also a
discussion about the accumulation of toxic chemicals which are
permeating the soil and causing the need to drill deeper to get to
clean water.
Another speaker talked about a technology he had developed which can
pull noxious elements out of the natural environment. He has presented
it to a number of governments but has had trouble getting support to
develop it. He said that once it is developed then the government will
buy it, but he wants it for the whole world. Thus we need a way to
fund the development of promising technologies that are thus produced
for the good of humanity as a whole. Another participant said it
sounded like a great technology but that there was no use cleaning the
environment if we are going to keep producing toxic chemicals and
polluting the environment.
Another speaker suggested that we ought to collect reparations in
order to restore the natural environment. Here grandmother was well
enough connected with the natural world that they knew how old the
trees were by the thickness of the bark. But now we cut down 700 year
old trees in minutes with no thought at all about what that tree had
to go through to live to 700 years. She suggested that we ought to go
back to our roots through traditional dance, costumes, and culture in
order to reconnect with nature.
A participant asked us to keep in mind that all native peoples have
the knowledge and awareness to take care of the earth. Traditionally
there was no concept of private property; this is really a European
invention and has resulted in increasing levels of greed. One everyone
had the knowledge and knew how to read the sky, the seasons, etc. Now
we have lost even the ability to look after ourselves. We need to
return to the understanding that everything and everyone is equal and
thus deserving of full respect and regain the natural knowledge to
look after the earth
It was suggested that we need to promote health in all aspects: head,
heart, soul, body, environment, community etc. If we don't educate to
use all aspects of ourselves then one thing can take over - resulting
in rationality and greed. We thus need to educate the children with
love and respect for nature and each other.
Another speaker told us about a school she teaches at where the
children learn to be leaders looking after the world and the
environment. They naturally learn to become responsible; proactive;
learn how to work together, negotiate and influence life around them;
and see how everything is connected and needs to be integrated. This
is a good model for developing responsible citizens.
It was suggested that we need to collect the wisdom that was shared
and include it in resolutions and proposals that would be considered
during a real world parliament. In addition we have an excellent
opportunity with the Cancun Climate Negotiations being held in
December. It was mentioned that NGLS published a report showing that,
"Emissions in most industrialized countries have actually climbed by
9.9
percent since 1990. Global emissions, in developed and developing
countries, are now growing at 3.5 percent a year, compared to 0.9
percent in the 1990s. Even though developing countries have
historically contributed less to emissions and most continue to have a
small carbon footprint, as a group they will suffer earliest and most
from harmful shifts in the environment. Developing countries have 98
percent of affected people and 99 percent of all deaths from weather
disasters. They bear 90 percent of the total economic losses.
Even though there are many good solutions, one ought to be a global
carbon tax. Sweden adopted a national tax on carbon emissions in 1990.
Since then, it has seen an 8 percent decline in emissions while GDP
has risen by 48 percent. In any case, the developed countries are
failing us and the only thing that will change the situation is if the
people insist that changes are needed and force the political will
that is needed for governments to act more responsibly.
It was then stated that no law or code is being kept because of a lack
of education and awareness and thus no demands from the people for
implementation. Thus a world parliament with a people's house is
needed to change this.
On Nov 21a Mayors Summit of the World is meeting in Mexico in
preparations for the Cancun conference. It was suggested that we
should make this a model for continuing to hold such city summits
around the world. It will provide us with a good opportunity to phrase
our message and to give it to those attending and to encourage them to
think about how they can implement it.
A group of those participating in the WPM are drafting a charter for
the rights of nature which they intend to present in Cancun. They are
filming the WPM with the intention of producing a film which tells our
story and about the need to protect and guarantee the rights of mother
earth.
It was again stated that we need a bicameral World Parliament at the
UN where people can speak as well as governments.
-----------------------------
During the initial session on Science and Technology the importance of
communication and global communications was stressed. It was pointed
out that new technologies are making the world a much smaller place.
One concern that was raised was the brain drain when people leave a
country to take advantage of economic opportunities elsewhere. It was
suggested that governments to create incentives to encourage people to
stay or come back to their own country.
It was also mentioned that civil society has a very important role to
play in planning for the future and must be proactive in coming up
with solutions. We can perhaps better understand what people need.
This is another reason that we need to create a World Parliament.
A few of the negative characteristics of technologies and
communications were also pointed out. People no longer relate to each
other in their communities as they used to; and violence and sexuality
are pervasive in the media and throughout society now. We thus need to
be aware of other negative impacts as well.
---------------
Rob Wheeler
Thank you Rob, in particular for the report on the first day, this is also a form of connection between people in Mexico and the rest of us.
All the best for day 2,
Rasmus