Worlds in movement…

Time for Big Green to Go Fossil Free

Naomi Klein

“I am proud to have been part of the group at 350.org that worked with students and other partners to develop the Fossil Free campaign. But I now realize that an important target is missing from the list: the environmental organizations themselves.

“”People are fed up with being told that the best way to fight climate change is to change their light bulbs and buy carbon offsets, while leaving the big polluters undisturbed. And they are raring to take the fight directly to the industry most responsible for the climate crisis.”

“… some of the most powerful and wealthiest environmental organizations have long behaved as if they had a stake in the oil and gas industry. They led the climate movement down various dead ends: carbon trading, carbon offsets, natural gas as a “bridge fuel”—what these policies all held in common is that they created the illusion of progress while allowing the fossil fuel companies to keep mining, drilling and fracking with abandon. We always knew that the groups pushing hardest for these false solutions took donations from, and formed corporate partnerships with, the big emitters. But this was explained away as an attempt at constructive engagement—using the power of the market to fix market failures.

“Now it turns out that some green groups are literally part owners of the industry causing the crisis they are purportedly trying to solve.”

Read on….

Top UN climate change official Christiana Figueres said that it is ‘no longer necessary’ for the World Bank to rely on coal in its energy projects, saying that the organization should now focus on bringing alternative energy sources forward.

Figureres commended World Bank Director Jim Yong Kim on his commitment to climate action and acknowledged that coal has understandably played an important role in past energy development projects. She went on to say, however, that it is time for the World Bank to move on from coal.

Figueres said:
“It is one of the very serious challenges that the World Bank has, and it’s very understandable, because [coal] was a fuel that was critically important to developing countries at a certain stage in their development. So the fact that the bank has a portfolio of investment in coal is understandable from a historical perspective. …it is no longer necessary to do that, because we have many other technologies that can come forward.”

Her remarks come as the World Bank draws criticism for its support of a new coal power plant in Kosovo. Director Jim Yong Kim has defended the project because of unmet energy needs in the area, but many have challenged Kim’s assumption that coal power is a solution – including Kosovars.

Citing the alarming health consequences of coal, Kosovar activists have launched a major public health campaign against the new power plant through ads on national television and social media outlets, as well as a light projection on the World Bank building in Washington D.C. Opponents believe that Kosovo’s energy needs can be met more safely and effectively through greater energy efficiency and modest renewable energy projects.

Figueres, like the Kosovar activists, is highlighting the discrepancy between the World Bank’s commitment to mitigating climate change and its continued support for coal – one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, as well as an enormous burden on public health and the environment.

As an international funding organization, a decision from the World Bank to halt funding for coal would be a powerful statement of its decreasing viability as an energy source.

READ: Where Fossil Fuels Come From?

BY Katy Migiro

Photo by Survival International

Half a million Kenyans and Ethiopians are likely to be displaced, go hungry and face conflict due to a controversial dam linked to a forcible resettlement programme ‘bankrolled’ by British taxpayers, the lobby group Survival International said on Monday.

The Gibe III hydropower dam, due for completion in 2014, is being built on the Omo River in southern Ethiopia. It will reduce the flow of water to farmers and pastoralists living downstream, including those 600 kilometres to the south in Kenya, where the river flows into Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake.

The British government’s Department for International Development (DFID) is one of many international donors funding Ethiopia’s Protection of Basic Services (PBS) programme, which subsidises basic services and local government salaries. This includes areas where people are being relocated to make way for the dam, part of a wider programme to resettle people into designated villages – known as villagisation – begun in 2010.

Survival argues that the forced resettlment of thousands of tribal people could not be carried out without the DFID-funded PBS programme.

“UK money is bankrolling the destruction of some of the best-known pastoralist peoples in Africa,” Stephen Corry, director of Survival said in a statement. “The UK government is renowned for only paying lip service to human rights obligations where tribal peoples are concerned. When it comes to human rights in Ethiopia, DFID’s many commitments are worthless.”

It is not the first time that the PBS programme has come under fire.

Last year, the London-based law firm Leigh Day began legal action against DfID on behalf of an Ethiopian man, known as Mr O, who claims he suffered severe abuse under the villagisation programme.

DFID visited the Lower Omo, where it heard reports of rape and intimidation, but it has not been able to substantiate the claims.

Survival International cites three recent reports by Oxford University, International Rivers and the Africa Resources Working Group to support its case.

The Africa Resources Working Group report warns of “an impending human rights and ecological catastrophe” and a “very real threat of mass starvation and armed conflict in the border region.”

The International Rivers report says that those who lose their homes and livelihoods are “likely to seek out resources on their neighbours’ lands in the Kenya-Ethiopia-Sudan borderlands.”

“Well armed, primed by past grudges and often divided by support from different state and local governments, these conflicts can be expected to be bloody and persistent,” it said.

The Ethiopian government is planning to use the water to develop large-scale irrigation schemes, create jobs and generate huge amounts of electricity to power the region.

By: CATHERINE SASMAN, for the Namibian

Why does Government want to build Orokawe Dam by force? (Photo © Earth Peoples)

STANDING THEIR GROUND … Himba and Zemba communities yesterday protested against the planned Baynes hydro-electric dam, and made a plea for Government food relief.

The communities staged various demonstrations last year to express their sentiments about these issues, but they feel that they are not being heard.
Rebecca Sommer, a German researcher of the human and natural rights group Earth Peoples, told The Namibian that the groups  signed letters a week ago, one addressed to President Hifikepunye Pohamba and one denouncing a meeting that took place in Windhoek with three members of the Himba community who spent some time in Windhoek to get clarity on the Baynes dam matter.
Sommer said at the contested meeting a 22-page report was handed out that states that an open-door approach would be pursued in which the communities would be consulted to avoid resettlement.
She said the Himba leaders on 21 March held a meeting at which the document was considered, adding: “… and they are angry. They say there is no door open, they say no. Therefore they feel that they are not heard.”

Himba and Zemba Protest March 25, 2013 (Photo © Earth Peoples)

“The report falsely states that we Himba have the door open for further negotiations and that forced resettlements could be therefore avoided,” said one of the Himba chiefs, Mutambo Omuhonga, who was part of the delegation to Windhoek.
He continued: “We are outraged. We said over and over ‘no’, and we mean it. There is no negotiation from our side, and there is no consultation, because they do not hear us when we say no. That is why we protest again to show our collective objection to the planned dam construction once again. We’d rather die and throw ourselves in the river before we allow the destruction and invasion of our land. We explained all that in our declaration.”
The groups issued a declaration to the United Nations last year in which they rejected the dam project.
Yesterday’s march was also to call for drought relief from the government. The communities want the government to subsidise fodder for their livestock, and to look into improving the distribution of drought relief food.
The Himba and Zemba communities are especially hard hit by the current drought because of their remoteness and the inaccessible terrain in which they live.
The communities fear that their cattle might start dying because of the extremely dry and hot weather conditions during this rainy season. With little or no rain this year yet, the communities have also not been able to plant gardens, so they do not have any maize to sustain them.
Sommer said the Himba delegation that was in Windhoek also met with solar-energy experts and concluded from this that the planned Baynes dam “does not make sense, not for the Himba and not for Namibia “.
The Himba headmen are now reportedly going to select 10 “bright men and women” willing to learn about solar power in the capital city. The Himba have also planned a trip to Tsumkwe where they can see a large off-grid power system.

His Excellency the President
Office of the President (OoP)
No. 1 Engelberg Street Auasblick,
Windhoek
P/Bag: 13339, Windhoek

c.c. Office of the Prime Minister (OPM)
c.c. Minister of Presidential Affairs
c.c. Advisors to H.E. the President
c.c. Political Advisor to the President
c.c. Office of the Auditor-General (OAG)
c.c. Office of the Ombudsman Head Office
c.c. Office of the Ombudsman Oshakati
c.c. Prime Minister Mr. Hage Geingob
c.c. Chairman of the National Council Mr. Asser Kuveri Kapere
c.c. Chairman of the National Assembly Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab
c.c. Judge-President of the High Court
c.c. Ministry of Justice and Attorney General (MoJ)
c.c. Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF)
c.c. Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET
c.c. Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR)
c.c. Ministry of Health and Social Services (MHSS)
c.c. Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration
c.c. Ministry of Youth, National Services, Sport and Culture (MYNSSC)
c.c. Ministry of Education (MoE)

Opuwo, March 25, 2013

His Exellency, Mr. President Hifikepunye Pohamba,

We, the Himba and Zemba people gathered here in Opuwo are preparing for our third manifestation in Opuwo this year, because we are unhappy.

We decided to write you a letter and to reach out to you in the hope that you will hear the sorrows, fears and concerns of Himba and Zemba, and that you care for us, like a father cares for his children. We are children to the soil from Namibia. Like all Namibians, we deeply love our land, especially our Himba territory Kaoko, as well as our Zemba territory in Ruacana, to which we belong for centuries.

We also wanted to thank you, we acknowledge and appreciate that you allowed the UN Special Rapportuer on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Mr. James Anaya, to enter Namibia and to visit us. We are aware that you could have said no. It is this kind of openness that Namibia showed, that we envision for our future in our country, so that we can enter in a new era of mutual respect and understanding and dialogue. But that also means for us, in the case that we do not want a project or program to be implemented on our traditional land, that we want our collectively made decision to be heard, and to be respected.

We are and remain in distress, because we feel that we are often overlooked as well as marginalized by your Ministries and Offices. Our collective feeling of grievance is growing so much that we wish that you and your Prime Minister will invite us, the Traditional Leaders of our people, to speak with you in person.

We are Namibians, but we are also born as indigenous peoples, Himba and Zemba. We are what we are by tradition, culture and heart, and want to remain that way. Laws and policies in Namibia are more often than not against us, and interfere or even contradict with our culture, customs, traditions, our needs as well as with our aspirations. We believe that does not need to be this way. We would like to discuss our issues and suggestions with you directly.

You received our three Declarations in 2012 (Two Himba Declarations, one Zemba Declaration), in which we tried to explain in detail our unresolved and for us very serious problems as well as our needs and hopes. Unfortunately we do not feel that they have been taken into serious consideration. For your convenience we include our two Himba Declarations with this letter, as well as our Zemba Declaration. Please do not take offense, we send you our Declarations in good faith that you will take steps to address our legitimate needs a well as that they will encourage you to communicate with us directly.

One of our main concerns of the many that we Himba people do have is the dam. We do not want the dam, we never agreed to it in the past, and we won’t agree to it in the future. It would be constructed on our traditional land. We Himba live on both sides of the Kunene River. Our people in Angola do not want the dam either. Recently, we got hold of a report in Windhoek that was commissioned by one of your Ministries, but the report didn’t said the truth, but claimed that the “door would be open for further negotiations “ with us regarding the dam. We need to let you now, that the door is not open. We refuse to accept the dam.
Kindly do not try to force the dam upon us, on our beloved land and the Water. Allow it to live. Allow us to live as well. We recently learned that there are other solutions for energy, such as solar. The sun is always shining in Namibia, the sun can be used in its abundance to make energy, but the Water and the River are too precious to interfere with it.

The sun is burning the vegetation, and there is no rain in sight, the drought will make us suffer; soon our animals are going to die. The insufficient rain hindered us to plant our gardens, we have no maize. Please ensure that drought relief will reach also us Ovahimba, Ovatwa, Ovatjimba and Ovazemba living in the remotest area of your country. Please ensure that nothing get’s lost during the long way until actual relief is reaching us.

We, the Signees gathered here in Opuwo, on behalf of our communities and members that stayed behind with our animals, children and Elders urge you to grant our chosen representatives a meeting with you as soon as possible,

Respectfully yours:

Namibia: Growing frustration in Kaokoland: 1000 Himba and Zemba protest again against dam and human rights violations, March 25, 2013

By Rebecca Sommer

Indigenous Himba and Zemba Protest (March 25, 2013) Photo © Earth Peoples

EARTH PEOPLES- Namibia, March 26, 2013: Yesterday, about a 1000 Himba and Zemba held a protest march in Opuwo to show the Government of Nambia (GoN) that they had enough.

This was the third protest in a row, but by far the largest.

The two Indigenous semi-nomadic tribes, from the semi-desert northern region of Namibia, began their well-organized and peaceful protest march outside Opuwo town. They came from all directions and remote areas of their traditional territory, Kaokoland, despite prevailing drought conditions due to Climate Change, and their growingly frantic search for grazing and water for their livestock.

Each Himba and Zemba community sent members that they could spare, while those staying behind tended to the needs of their goats, sheep and cattle that are increasingly weakened by the drought, upon which the Himba and Zemba depend for their very survival.

Himba girl with goat (Photo © Rebecca Sommer)

The drought has caused already enormous damage for the self-sufficient semi-nomads, with nearly no rain they weren’t able to farm their gardens, thus they have no maize and other nutritional crops.
The indigenous peoples have already called on government to subsidize fodder for their livestock, and to look into improving the distribution of drought relief food. The community made formal requests to the chairperson of the Kunene Regional Council’s Management Committee, Dudu Murorua, at Opuwo.

But as much as they fear for their livestock and to face soon hunger and thirst, they are also hungry and thirsty for something else: Their human rights. They want to see changes, and they want to be heard by the majority tribe’s party SWAPO, that rules the Government of Namibia.

The Himba and Zemba protest is about their continuous human rights grievances, which made headlines in Namibia and the world after being published for the first time in form of three Declarations signed by all the traditional Himba and Zemba chiefs at the beginning of last year.
On behalf of the Himba and Zemba, the international human rights group Earth Peoples submitted the Declarations to the United Nations system.

Read: DECLARATION OF THE DIRECTLY AFFECTED OVAHIMBA, OVATWA, OVATJIMBA AND OVAZEMBA AGAINST THE OROKAWE DAM IN THE BAYNES MOUNTAINS

Read: DECLARATION OF THE TRADITIONAL HIMBA LEADERS OF KAOKOLAND IN NAMIBIA

Read: DECLARATION OF THE ZEMBA PEOPLE OF NAMIBIA

Months later, the United Nations Special Reporter visited the Himba and Zemba and met them in Opuwo, were Himba read their Declaration and handed him another copy, this time in person.
The UN Special Rapportuer Anaya confirmed in his Statement the human rights violations that he had heard the Himba people are facing, which can be read here

Police Car blocking street of Himba and Zemba protest (Photo © Earth Peoples)

Yesterday, when the protesting indigenous tribes arrived near Opuwo town, a Namibian police car blocked the road in front of the marching masses but the Himba and Zemba just passed the police car calmly and peacefully.

Once in the center of Opuwo’s, usually quite empty with nothing much happening there, the streets were flooded by hundreds and hundreds of singing and dancing people, walking towards the place where they were going to meet the governor of the Kunene Region Joshua /Hoebeb.

A letter from the Himba and Zemba letter addressed to the Governor December 5, 2012, remained up-to-date of the protest unanswered. (Read the first Himba Zemba letter to the governour)

Until finally, a security tape was blocking the agreed meeting area.

Himba and Zemba at protest against dam: March 25, 2013 (Photo © Earth Peoples)

It was a stark contrast, when the governor finally arrived, as can be seen on the photograph. There was a visible barrier of a flimsy yellow security tape between the governmental authority, and the indigenous peoples of the country that are seeking a dialogue and answers to their pressing human rights grievances that they feel have not been addressed.

To the surprise of the Himba and Zemba, governor Joshua /Hoebeb read with a stiff voice a prepared speech, and instead of looking at them and into the eyes of the indigenous leaders in front of him, his eyes were locked on paper.

Instead of having a dialogue with the people, which was what they had envisioned, he chose to underline the fact, that there is the government on one side of the security barrier, flimsy as it was, and the people on the other side of it.

Governor of the Kunene Region Joshua //Hoebeb at Himba Zemba protest (Photo © Earth Peoples)

But Himba and Zemba waited patiently that he would finish reading from his paper, because they wanted answers, and wanted to heard.

The governor accused in his speech a white supporter that would help the Himba and Zemba with their unreasonable requests, such as the demand to stop any further plans to construct the Orokawe dam (Neckartal Dam project) in the Baynes Mountains. He didn’t explained what kind of help he was referring to. He also accused the Himba and Zemba of being too emotional about the entire issue, and mocked the protesters that their march would bring no results, and informed that there will be held a referendum and that the 88 thousand inhabitants of the Kunene region will decide on the dam. He explained to the Himba and Zemba that the GoN would work hard to resolve the lack of adequate doctors in hospitals, and that the people must be patient, it wouldn’t be that easy as they would think. He didn’t mention anything about the grievance of the leaders, that Ovatwa, a Himba group of hunters and gatherers, are being held up-to-date in a Camp like prisoners or refugees, in the area of chief Kapika. Or why the Government of Namibia is refusing to recognize their rights to culturally appropriate education.

After the speech of the Governor, a young man read the peoples grievances which was translated. A senior Himba headman had a few words. He said that they are not stupid, that they did not come from all directions of Kaoko, to be treated without respect and to listen to empty words, as if they are not intelligent to understand that they meant nothing.

Himba and Zemba at Zemba Himba (Photo © Earth Peoples)

That they came to hand over their complaints, as well as a letter directed to the President, and that they want answers. A Himba protester, holding a protest banner that read “We Himba and Zemba are also humans” stood next to him.

The headman reminded the governor that Kunene is not the original traditional territory of the Himba people, and those areas such as Outjo and Kamanjab would have nothing to do with the Himba and Zemba in the north. That Kaokoland is the land that they are inhabiting for centuries, and that they have the right to decide if they want such a large destructive dam project that would negatively affect them.

He began to outline their repeated reasons why the Himba do not want the construction of the dam, all that can be found in their numerous letters written to governmental authorities including to the Governor, as well as in the Declarations. But the governor, saying that they are unreasonable, cut him short with the promise that he in person would come out and consult with the chiefs and convince them about the dam.

The people met his comment with an uproar, saying that they are not to be forced, nor to be convinced, united they say said “no” to the dam, and that the government should respect that.

The senior headman continued that the Himba and Zemba don’t believe that the GoN was going to allocate more funds to address the shortage of doctors. “The apartheid regime left us with no doctors. But after 24 years the new government could still not solve the problem”, he said.
A female Himba protester said, “Do they really think the Himba and Zemba are that stupid? How many of our problems were addressed? Did the Government of Namibia, or any official, including you (the governor) , came to consult with us? No.”

The Himba and Zemba handed the governor a second letter addressed to the President, signed by the traditional Himba leaders, and left. disappointed.

The governor promised that the President would receive the letter tomorrow (Read Letter to President here: http://earthpeoples.org/blog/?p=4082).

It will be interesting to see, if the President of Namibia after receiving the letter feels that it is time to speak to two tribes living in his country, that have a very differentiated way of life, customs and culture as the rest of the citizens, and that are clearly not happy.

The Himba and Zemba wrote an additional letter to the Head Office of Ombudsman John Robert Walters, which they will deliver tomorrow to the regional office in Oshakati.

They also forwarded sans of the original signed letters to international human rights group Earth Peoples, with the request to submit them to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as to the UN Special Rapporteur James Anaya. They also mailed today copies to Earth Peoples partners Namrights, a Namibian human rights organization that will forward the letters to the African Union.

What is important to mention, the Himba and Zemba had previously a meeting with solar experts, that gave them an overall view about the possibilities of green, alternative energy that would not block the Kunene River, and would not have the negative impacts on the environment. Also the flooding of the forefather’s graves of the Himba, as well as forced resettlement of the the indigenous peoples wouldn’t be necessary.

Earth Peoples received two days ago notes of a discussion that the Himba and Zemba had over the weekend while gathering in Opuwo for their protest march, in which the Himba that had the meeting with the solar experts shared what they have learned about the alternative of solar, and the hydroelectric dam. Here are the points that the Himba and Zemba would have liked to discuss further with the Governor:

NOTES: Pro and Contra — Dam / Solar:

Orokawe dam in the Baynes Mountains:

• Will cost a minimum of 22bn N$ if not more
• Will need a complete overhauled stronger power line from the dam site to Omburo
• Will have a surface of 5900ha, which evaporates 590000 tones of water per day, which is in the region of 20% from the low-season run-off
• Will take minimum 10 years to come online
• Will need a lengthy power contract to be signed with Angola
• Will need to share the power 50/50 with Angola
• Will only be a peaking station because not enough water to run the 600MW turbines 24/7 (Only 1.7 TWh energy for the year vs. 5.0 TWh (if water would be enough)
• Will again not be Namibia’s own power because of the sharing
• Will again mean an investment that puts all eggs in one basket relying on the Kunene
• Will cause forced resettlement
• Will destroy special safety areas for indigenous peoples livestock at drought
• Will destroy sacred sites of indigenous peoples
• Will destroy special medicine plant areas of the Himba and Ovazemba
• Will damage the River
• Would make no sense in a country were Water is so rare
• Will damage fish stock
• Will cause enormous environmental impact
• Will cause large destruction of nature by building road construction grids
• Will violate human rights, UNDRIP, FPIC, ILO Nr 169
• Will harm tourism long-term

Solar at locations of need for energy:

• Take up only 900 ha for the same output (1.7 TWh per year)
• Cost 15 bn without storage for the same output (without storage)
• Storage for Solar becomes more and more available with new technologies and would cost together with solar roughly then the same as Baines
• Solar could be built where the need for power is and not in the most remote corner of the country with all the losses involved
• Solar could start right now and would be built as appropriate installments; no need to pre-finance in one go!!
• Solar would really be NAM’s own indigenous energy solution
• Solar investments will attract all the money in the world, hydro investments for Kaoko will not.
• Solar would means appropriate power for the Himba’s own use for energy and water pumping etc.
• Solar will give the people modern energy AND much more time to adapt!
• Would make Namibia stand out for it’s green, environmental and human rights friendly energy approach
• Would make sense in such a hot, sunny country
• Would get more funds from international sources to implement green energy as well as for Climate Change adaptation and mitigation measures
• Would be longer lasting, as Climate Reports estimate the increasing reduction of waters in Kunene
• Solar would be supported by the worlds’ tourists, the public is aware about the damages of dams
• Could be negotiated with the Himba people, and places for grids could be agreed upon
• Solar would be good for the Climate, Namibia’s Nature, Cunene River, and good for Namibia’s people

By Rebecca Sommer

EARTH PEOPLES - NAMIBIA 23 March, 2013: Growing numbers of semi-nomadic Himba and Zemba people are gathering in Opuwo town in the heart of Himba territory for their third Protest in 2013. The protest will start Monday morning.

Indigenous Himba protest against dam and human rights violations, 2013 (Photo © Earth Peoples)

The young and old are arriving by foot, in overloaded trucks and on donkey’s from all four directions of Kaokoland (Kunene region), despite prevailing drought conditions due to Climate Change, and their growingly frantic search for grazing and water for their livestock.

Each Himba and Zemba community has sent members which they could spare, while those staying behind will tend to the needs of their goats, sheep and cattle that are increasingly weakened by the drought, upon which the Himba and Zemba depend for their very survival.

The drought has caused already enormous damage for the self-sufficient semi-nomads, with nearly no rain they could not make gardens, thus they have no harvest of maize and other nutritional crops.

The indigenous peoples in the Kunene Region are already calling on government to subsidize fodder for their livestock, and to look into improving the distribution of drought relief food. The community made formal requests to the chairperson of the Kunene Regional Council’s Management Committee, Dudu Murorua, at Opuwo.

Indigenous Zemba protest 2013 in Namibia (Photo © Earth Peoples)

But as much as they fear for their livestock and to face soon hunger and thirst, they are also hungry and thirsty for something else: Their human rights. They want to see changes, and they want to be heard by the majority tribe that leads the Government of Namibia. They want to have the right and means to maintain their culture, way of life, language, religion, traditional governance structure and so much more.

The protest is about their continuous human rights grievances, which made headlines in Namibia and the world after being published for the first time in form of two Declarations signed by all the traditional Himba chiefs at the beginning of last year.

On behalf of the Himba and Zemba,  Earth Peoples submitted both Declarations to the United Nations system. Our dear colleagues from Namrights submitted the Declarations to the African Union.

Read: DECLARATION OF THE DIRECTLY AFFECTED OVAHIMBA, OVATWA, OVATJIMBA AND OVAZEMBA AGAINST THE OROKAWE DAM IN THE BAYNES MOUNTAINS (Neckartal Dam project)

Read: DECLARATION OF THE TRADITIONAL HIMBA LEADERS OF KAOKOLAND IN NAMIBIA

Months later, the United Nations Special Rapporteur visited the Himba and Zemba and met them in Opuwo, were Himba read their Declaration and handed him a copy in person.

The UN Special Rapportuer Anaya confirmed in his Statement the human rights violations that the Himba people are facing, which can be read here.

The Himba will draft and sign two additional letters. One will be addressed to the President of Namibia, and the other handed to the Governor of Opuwo on Monday. Both Declarations will be submitted once again to both of them.

“They got our Declarations, the responsible including the President are aware about our situation. But nothing has been done, we continue to be ignored” said community leader D. Muharukua from Opuwo.

Additionally, the Himba are furious about a 22-page report that was handed to three of their representatives that had traveled to Windhoek to seek information and clarification on the proposed hydroelectric dam (Neckartal Dam project) in the Baynes Mountains.

Namibia and Angola are planning to finance and build the Orokawe dam jointly.

Himba women at human rights protest in Opuwo, Namibia, 2013 (Photo © Earth Peoples)

“The report falsely states that we Himba have the door open for further negotiations, and that forced resettlement could be therefore avoided” said Mutambo, a leader from the Himba community Omuhonga who was at the meeting in Windhoek. “We are outraged, we said over and over no, and we mean it. There is no negotiation from our side, and there is no consultation, because they do not hear us when we say no. That’s why we protest Monday again, to show our collective objection to the planned Neckartal Dam construction once again. We rather die and throw us into the River, before we allow the destruction and invasion of our land. We explained all that in our Declaration ” He added. (http://earthpeoples.org/blog/?p=1070)

The Himba will also discuss this weekend the idea to propose Solar systems as an alternative to the dam. They plan a trip to Tsumkwe so that they can see a large off-grid system. The Himba Elders and chiefs will also choose about 10 bright young men and women that speak english and can read and write, to learn more about Solar systems these coming weeks.

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+++++++++++++++++ PRO AND CONTRA :

Orokawe dam in the Baynes Mountains:

• Will cost a minimum of 22bn N$ if not more

• Will need a complete overhauled stronger power line from the dam site to Omburo

• Will have a surface of 5900ha which evaporates 590000 tones of water per day which is in the region of 20% from the low-season run-off

• Will take minimum 10 years to come online

• Will need a lengthy power contract to be signed with Angola

• Will need to share the power 50/50 with Angola

• Will only be a peaking station because not enough water to run the 600MW turbines 24/7 (Only 1.7 TWh energy for the year vs. 5.0 TWh (if water would be enough)

• Will again not be Namibia’s own power because of the sharing

• Will again mean an investment that puts all eggs in one basket relying on the Kunene

• Will cause forced resettlement

• Will destroy special safety areas for indigenous peoples livestock at drought

• Will destroy sacred sites of indigenous peoples

• Will destroy special medicine plant areas of the Himba and Ovazemba

• Will damage the River

• Would make no sense in a country were Water is so rare

• Will damage fish stock

• Will cause enormous environmental impact

• Will cause large destruction of nature by building road construction grids

• Will violate human rights, UNDRIP, FPIC, ILO Nr 169

• Will harm tourism long-term

Solar Energy

• Take up only 900 ha for the same output (1.7 TWh per year)

• Cost 15 bn without storage for the same output (without storage)

• Storage for Solar becomes more and more available with new technologies and would cost together with solar roughly then the same as Baines

• Solar could be built where the need for power is and not in the most remote corner of the country with all the losses involved

• Solar could start right now and would be built as appropriate installments; no need to pre-finance in one go!!

• Solar would really be NAM’s own indigenous energy solution

• Solar investments will attract all the money in the world, hydro investments for Kaoko will not.

• Solar would means appropriate power for the Himba’s own use for energy and water pumping etc.

• Solar will give the people modern energy AND much more time to adapt!

• Would make Namibia stand out for it’s green, environmental and human rights friendly energy approach

• Would make sense in such a hot, sunny country

• Would get more funds from international sources to implement green energy as well as for Climate Change adaptation and mitigation measures

• Would be longer lasting, as Climate Reports estimate the increasing reduction of waters in Kunene

• Solar would be supported by the worlds’ tourists, the public is aware about the damages of dams

• Could be negotiated with the Himba people, and places for grids could be agreed upon

• Solar would be good for the Climate, Namibia’s Nature, Cunene River, and good for Namibia’s people

What the hydro people at NamPower and the Governments have not yet fully acknowledged: Solar Panels only cost 25% of what they were in 1995 during the Epupa Dam Debate

EARTH PEOPLES  JOINED WITH HUNDREDS OF ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS FORCES:

First growth Atlantic Rainforest (Photo © Rebecca Sommer)

LETTER TO THE UN AND ITS INSTITUTIONS AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FOREST ISSUES
(FAO, CBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD AND UNFF)

21 March – the first ´International Day of Forests´

An appeal to urgently halt forest destruction, addressing the underlying causes

The UN has launched one more initiative to call attention to the fate of the world´s forests: 21 March from 2013 onwards will be the International Day of Forests. But will the Day make any difference to the forests and people who depend on them, considering that the UN International Year of Forests in 2011 went largely unnoticed?

Indeed, the UN should lead the measures to halt tropical deforestation, and therefore it should know and appropriately address the causes of forest loss. The most important direct causes of deforestation are quite well known, and include logging, the conversion of forested lands for agriculture and cattle-raising, industrial tree plantations, urbanization, mining, oil and gas exploitation, hydroelectric dams and industrial shrimp farming.The underlying causes that drive deforestation, however, are multiple, interrelated, less easily visible, and often little discussed and understood. A thorough process of analyzing underlying causes of deforestation, undertaken in the late 1990s by the UN with significant civil society participation, concluded that these drivers of deforestation are related to land tenure, resource management, trade, international economic relations in general and social exclusion.

The FAO claims that deforestation was lower in the period 2000-2010, compared with the previous decade. Still, 13 million hectares of mainly tropical forests, including mangrove forests, were destroyed each year in this period; and the actual figure is likely to be even higher because FAO continues to consider industrial plantations as forests. By defining “forests” as any land with a certain quantity of trees on it, the FAO distorts the data: the real forest loss appears lower than it actually is because for the FAO, industrial tree monocultures are the same as diverse forests that provide home and food for forest dependent peoples.

The International Day of Forests comes in the wake of renewed international attention to tropical forests that started with climate negotiators putting the role of forests in climate change on the agenda of UN climate talks: since 2007, the UN climate summits have been debating REDD – Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. But have the efforts put into REDD+ resulted in reduced deforestation or at least a reversal of the current trend? Have the many initiatives undertaken since REDD emerged slowed the loss of forests worldwide? Are mangrove forests (“blue carbon”) less degraded today than they were in 2007? Are forest peoples’ rights better protected today than they were in 2007? Have the pledges of Northern governments to contribute US$ 7.7 billion, as well as the renewed attention itself for forests internationally really been able to slow, and eventually halt the loss of forests?

Recent reports from Brazil and Indonesia, the two countries where most of the forest was lost during 2000-2010, indicate that after a short dip in the rate of deforestation according to FAO statistics, deforestation is going on and many new forest areas are under threat of large-scale corporate-driven activities that destroy forests.

Those same actors involved in forest destruction are often at the same time involved in projects that allegedly aim to protect forests, for example through REDD+ projects. These actors include transnational corporations, Northern but also Southern governments, financial market institutions including the World Bank, big conservation NGOs and certification organizations.With the UN at the forefront, all of these key actors defend the so-called “green economy”,presented as a “win-win” approach that tackles both the economic-financial and environmental crises, by redirecting investments to unlock so-called “natural capital”, as well as new, supposedly clean technologies (such as those based on biomass) and the “carbon market”, as well as the trade in “environmental services” in general. In tropical forest countries, this is leading to increasing conflicts, human rights violations and resistance. The destruction, if anything, has increased, not decreased, let alone stopped.(1)

Forest destruction must be halted – urgently!

This letter is an international appeal that forest destruction needs to be urgently halted – and not just “reduced”. Forests are vital for forest peoples, whose way of life depends on them. An indigenous leader from Eastern DRC states: “The forest and the indigenous peoples could be described as inseparable friends. The life of a pygmy depends 100% on the forest because the forest is our home ‘par excellence’. I can state that without the forest, there can be no life for indigenous peoples”.(2) Halting deforestation and the recognition of land rights are of special importance for indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. An increase in land grabbing, much of it in forest areas, and the ongoing destruction of forests, particularly through the “concession model” of logging, agriculture and mining, put at risk the continued voluntary isolation because most often the areas where peoples in voluntary isolation are able to still survive on this planet and maintain their way of life are the very areas targeted by land grabbers.

Halting forest loss is also crucial to combat social exclusion and to respect the rights of Nature and its intrinsic value. Furthermore, forests are important for humanity in general, especially the populations in tropical forest countries. It is extremely concerning that forests are increasingly affected by the effects of climate change. The perpetuation of the current unsustainable production and consumption model is at the root of both, the climate and forest crises. Initiatives aimed at truly halting deforestation – or avoiding runaway climate change – will therefore need to address these root causes.

To halt deforestation, the underlying causes that drive forest loss need to be eliminated. Urgent actions needed towards this end include:

-   Recognition of the rights of forest and forest-dependent communities over their communal territories with special attention to the indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation; these rights must include the right to control decisions affecting the territories of forest dependent communities.

-    Define forests by their true meaning for forest-dependent peoples; exclude industrial tree monoculture plantations from the definition: Plantations are not forests.

-   Expose and halt the destruction caused by transnational corporations (TNCs) and other actors who lead the land grabbing process; the past decade has shown that TNCs cannot be regulated: their existence and increasing influence are a main threat for the future of tropical forests.

-   Expose and break the pattern of corporate-driven false solutions like ´sustainable’ large-scale activities in tropical forests, REDD+, trade in environmental services, public-private partnerships, certified “green economy”, etc.. Instead, propose and defend true solutions which mean defending locally sustained economies, in terms of the use of for example minerals, biomass and energy. We reiterate the call of the international Oilwatch network: Leave the oil in the soil and the coal in the hole!

-    Support efforts to consume less forest destroying products instead of initiatives that promote buying the certified products from large-scale operations and companies that continue to destroy forests.

Above all, on this first International Day of Forests we call on the UN and its forest-related institutions to heed the lessons of past initiatives aimed at ending deforestation: Halting forest loss will remain an illusion until action is undertaken to eliminate the underlying causes that drive deforestation.

(1) For more information on Deforestation, see bulletin 188 of the WRM: www.wrm.org.uy
(2) FORESTS MUCH THAN ONLY TREES