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Written by Earth Peoples

Tuesday, 21 April 200

Our planet is heating up at an alarmingrate, threatening our very survival. What needs to be done is simple: Thepollution and destruction of Earth must be stopped immediately. But instead,there is a lot of greed, false solutions and lies about how to save our future.It seems that leaders of the world are more concerned about making money thansolving the climate crisis.

This is a quick guide to the truth about false solutions to climate change. These market-basedscams allow polluters to avoid reducing their pollution, continue to destroynature and make millions while they are at it. The United Nations, the WorldBank, industry, multinationals, governments and even some NGOs promote thisclimate fraud. Could it be that crimes against humanity and the planet arebeing committed and nobody knows?

But what does all this have to do with Indigenous Peoples?

Unfortunately, most of these falsesolutions are violating not only the law of nature but also Indigenous Peoples’rights. Many of these so-called “solutions” to Climate Change are grabbingIndigenous Peoples land and devastating our planet. Indigenous Peoples need toknow what’s going on so that they fight back.

“Capitalismis in deep crisis, but it still has a green card to play. Rather than takingeffective action against climate change – which would mean a radical reductionof industrialized countries’ emissions and questioning the forced growthof the capitalist system itself – they are reaping mega profits from biofuelsand carbon trading. These market mechanisms and techno fixes will be a disasterfor the poor, and will result in a new form of colonialism. They are alreadyprivatizing the atmosphere and subsidizing enormous corporate land grabs ofpeoples’ lands and forests in the Global South. Instead of business asusual,  emissions must be drasticallyreduced, which means that fossil fuels must stay in the ground.” Oliver Demarcellus, Youth ClimateAdvocate

Three Types of False Solutions:

The Carbon Market buys and sells permits to pollute called “carboncredits”. It claims to solve the climate crisis but really just allowspolluters to buy their way out of reducing their emissions. This multibillion-dollar pollution trading mechanism privatizes the air andcommodifies the atmosphere. The International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change opposes the carbon market. “We cannot condone activities that defile the sacredness of Mother Earth. Carbon trade-induced conflicts.endanger our survival.” Northern polluters can also get permits to pollute through projects in the South like a dam or a tree plantation under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change calls the CDM “a new form of colonialism.” Permits to pollute could also soon be generated by promising not to cutdown forests and plantations that absorb pollution. This is called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). The International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change says “REDD will not benefit Indigenous Peoples, but in fact, will result in more violations of Indigenous Peoples‘ Rights.UnderREDD, States and Carbon Traders will take more control over our forests.

Dirty “Clean” Energy (NuclearEnergy, “Clean” Coal, Natural Gas, Dams, Agrofuels and Hydrogen)  – What got us into this mess inthe first place is certainly not what’s going to get us out! Fossil fuels andother energy sources that cause environmental devastation and violate human rightsare being green-washed, labeled “clean” and wrongly called solutions to climate change. Indigenous Peoples worldwide have suffered from nuclear energy and nuclear testing, fossil fuel extraction, big dams and plantations.  Now comes more destruction in the name of saving the climate.

Playing God – Let’s dump tons of iron filings in the ocean, spraythe stratosphere with banned sulfates, genetically modify trees and wrap thedeserts in white plastic! Is that a way to save your children’s future? Crazyschemes that sound like comic book science fiction are being implemented tosell permits to pollute and to try to modify the weather. Needless to say, these climate change mitigation strategies corrupt the sacred.