Monthly Archives: December 2005

Human Rights for Renewables

The World Council for Renewable Energy, organised by EUROSOLAR and supported by NRW Energy Agency, UNESCO, EUFORES, International Solar Energy Society and others, have concluded that “Energy is the fundamental prerequisite of every life, and all humans have a right to renewable energy.” This comes at the heels of recent investments totalling more than 500 billion into fossil fuels and nuclear energy, more than 5o times the investment into renewables.

All human beings are born with equal rights and the availability of energy is a fundamental human right, but the established systems of energy supply based on fossil and nuclear energy “are not in a position to provide this human right to everybody,” it continues. “Due to the near depletion of conventional energy sources and their dramatic environmental and climate damages, this right cannot be provided to an ever increasing number of people. The human right for renewable energy can only be accomplished by renewable energy.”

The Assembly welcomes the official plan of the new German government to take the initiative for creation of an International Renewable Energy Agency. It wants a Renewable Energy Proliferation Protocol to be added to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and an international university for renewables to be established under the auspices of UNESCO.

Right Livelihood Award

Right Livelihood Award
Congratulations to Maude Barlow, National Chair of the Council of Canadians, and Tony Clarke, Director of the Polaris Insititute, for winning the Right Livelihood Award (RLA). The RLA was created in 1980, and is awarded by the Swedish Parliament. It is known around the world as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.”

The RLA is presented to those who embody “the principle that each person should follow an honest occupation which fully respects other people and the natural world. It means being responsible for the consequences of our actions and taking only a fair share of the earth’s resources.” The award acknowledges the personal sacrifices of its recipients, and also recognizes that the work of those recipients is often accomplished despite powerful opposing forces.

Barlow and Clarke, two of four recipients of the award this year, were chosen because of their work promoting the “fundamental right to water.” They published a book called Blue Gold in 2002, which explores the privatization of water around the world. The book has been published in 12 languages and is sold in 40 countries.

Barlow and Clarke will be presented with the RLA on December 9, and will receive a share of the $300 000 (Cdn) prize with the other winners.

You can read the Council of Canadians press release here.

Meet Us Things

ThingsAreGood.com is going to have a general meeting for all peoples interested in changing the world for the better! Come out and talk about the world, meet like-minded people, or just come to drink.

Our first meet up will be in Toronto next week:
Where: The Last Temptation in Kensington Market (on the West side of Kensington Ave close to Dundas)
WhenThursday December 15th, 8:00 PM and on!

Look for the group of people who look like they’re talking about goodness!

India to publish traditional medicine

In a move meant to combat the growing trend of ‘biopiracy’ (companies or countries patenting organisms or techniques which originated elsewhere), India will be releasing an encyclopedia of traditional ayurvedic, unani, and siddha medicine next year.
The project, dubbed Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, is meant to showcase and protect India’s cultural heritage.

Dig for the Truth

A new website, Truthdig.com, that “drills” beyond the headlines to get to the truth.

From their About page:

“Truthdig is a Web magazine that provides expert in-depth coverage of current affairs as well as a variety of thoughtful, provocative content assembled from a progressive point of view. The site is built around major “digs,” led by authorities in their fields, who will drill down into contemporary topics and assemble packages of content—text, links, audio, video—that will grow richer with time and user participation. To offer frequent change and surprise, the magazine will also present a diversity of original reporting and aggregated content culled by the site’s editors and staff.”