THIRD WORLD RESURGENCE #209/210 (Jan/Feb 2008)

This issue’s contents:

COVER: Bali Climate Conference: A step forward, but tough road ahead

Bali conference ends, new group to take up unresolved issues
By Martin Khor

The UN Climate Change Conference held in Bali on 3-15 December 2007 constitutes an important milestone in that for the first time all governments accepted the scientific finding that global warming is 'unequivocal' and delayed remedial action will result in more severe climate change impacts.  However, it failed to secure specific binding greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments from the developed countries. Instead, the conference agreed to launch a 'comprehensive process' to discuss and resolve outstanding issues and establish an ad hoc working group to tackle these issues, including how to mitigate and adapt to climate change, as well as provide the financial resources and technology to developing countries to do so.

Final hours of drama that led to the Bali decision
By Hira Jhamtani & Meena Raman

The final agreement at the Bali Climate Change Conference was clinched only by stretching the conference for an additional day. Hira Jhamtani and Meena Raman, who witnessed the dramatic events that closed the conference, report.

Bali and the future of the Kyoto Protocol - A clarification
By Martin Khor

As the date for the Bali Climate Change Conference approached, there was a steady stream of western media reports and analyses suggesting the need for 'comprehensive' negotiations for a new agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which, it was suggested, was due to expire in 2012. Writing on the eve of the conference, Martin Khor dispels the myths behind this call for a new Protocol.

US ploy to wreck Bali conference fails
By Martin Khor

A US attempt to introduce its own proposal on climate change which would have had the effect of jettisoning the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol was rejected by the Bali Climate Change Conference.

Developing countries resist pressure, threats at Bali climate talks
By Meena Raman

Moves to pressurise developing countries at the Bali Climate Change Conference to accept caps on their greenhouse gas emissions which would have undermined their development objectives failed.

Notorious WTO 'Green Room'-type procedure surfaces at Bali Climate Change Conference
By Martin Khor

At a critical juncture during the Bali climate change negotiations, there was an attempt to replace the more inclusive and transparent processes of the UN with selective and secretive processes reminiscent of the WTO trade talks.

South criticises North for not fulfilling climate commitments
By Martin Khor

At the Bali conference, developing nations criticised the lack of commitment by the rich countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and provide the finance and technology needed by developing countries to address climate change.

UNDP report focuses on climate change impacts
By Esther Ong

The United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report 2007/2008, which was released just before the Bali conference, paints a stark picture of the threat posed by global warming and challenges the entire human community to undertake prompt and collective action to save our planet. Esther Ong highlights the report's findings and recommendations.

ECOLOGY

Running on empty
By Susanne Wong

China is gambling on massive water transfers to solve a chronic water crisis.

Colombian palm oil biodiesel plantations: A 'lose-lose' development strategy?
By Zack Zimbalist

Colombia is expanding palm oil production for the production of biofuels by violently dispossessing Afro-Colombian, indigenous and peasant communities. Ultimately, it is the US and European appetite for alternatives to oil that is fuelling these gross human rights violations.

HEALTH & SAFETY

Germ warfare
By GRAIN

The US, largely through its military-industrial complex, is busy building its own network of laboratories to locate and get control of virus samples from around the world, under the guise of combating bio-terrorism. There is a growing fear that virus samples forwarded by member states under the World Health Organisation's Global Influenza Surveillance Network may end up in these labs!

ECONOMICS

Is what is good for 'sealing' the Doha talks good for the trading system?
By Chakravarthi Raghavan

The recent, almost desperate moves by World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy to conclude the Doha Round of trade negotiations before the end of the Bush presidency will not only prove to be futile but may well end up eroding international confidence in the global trading system.

EU resorts to 'divide and rule', 'stick and carrot' tactics to push through free-trade agreements
By Cornelius Adedze

The European Union has resorted to all kinds of chicanery in a bid to enforce the signing of the so-called Economic Partnership Agreement with its former colonies in the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group. If implemented on the existing terms, these 'free trade' agreements will make these countries even more dependent on the EU.

Global meltdowns and the perversions of lucre
By Abid Aslam

No explanation of the financial malaise afflicting the world economy would be complete without mention of Wall Street's bankrolling of politicians, pay practices, and shifting of risk to investors, says Abid Aslam.

WORLD AFFAIRS

Indonesia: Death of a dictator
By Carmel Budiardjo

The action of the Indonesian government in according ex-President Suharto a state funeral is nothing short of macabre, considering the record of repression and corruption that characterised his rule.  Carmel Budiardjo profiles the life of a Third World dictator with whom the West had a cosy relationship.

Undermining Bolivia
By Benjamin Dangl

Declassified documents and interviews on the ground have revealed that the US government is using so-called 'development aid' to undermine the Bolivian government of Evo Morales.

Iraq: The corpse on the gurney
By Tom Engelhardt

The US media may be filled with discussion on just how 'successful' President Bush's surge plan has been, but, says Tom Engelhardt, Iraq is the corpse in the room.

Iraqi children pay heavy price of war
By Cesar Chelala

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has painted a dramatic picture of the situation of children in Iraq and warned that increased assistance is needed to improve their dire situation.

How the Pentagon planted a false Hormuz story
By Gareth Porter

Gareth Porter explains how the spin doctors in the Pentagon managed to succeed in portraying the 6 January US-Iranian incident in the Strait of Hormuz as a blatant act of aggression by Iran.

Christian Zionists feel 'betrayed' by Bush's road map
By Bill Berkowitz

While President Bush's Annapolis Road Map for peace in the Middle East has been widely criticised for failing to meet the basic demands of the Palestinians, his Christian Zionist backers have charged him with betraying Israel by putting forward this plan. Bill Berkowitz explains.

HUMAN RIGHTS

1960s-era Black Panthers fight legal persecution
By Linda Averill

Many victims of the FBI's counterintelligence programme (known by its acroynm COINTELPRO) in the 1960s and 1970s are still languishing in US prisons, despite the fact that the programme was exposed for its illegal methods of securing convictions, including frameups. Further new moves have been afoot to revive charges against those previously released.

VIEWPOINT

The service-delivery revolts: What do they mean?
By Ronald Wesso

Since 2005, South Africa has been racked by uprisings of local communities. Ronald Wesso considers the significance of these revolts.

ACTION & ALTERNATIVES

The Community Police in Guerrero: An alternative justice system?
By Gabriel Baeza Espejel

The establishment in 1995 of a Community Police by indigenous peoples as an alternative to the State and Municipal Police in the Mexican state of Guerrero to reinstate security in one of the most lawless regions provoked a strong response from state and federal authorities. Gabriel Baeza Espejel describes this experiment in alternative systems of indigenous community public security.

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