Season’s greetings.

Just a quick note, before I head home for tea, cookies, some good books and rest for the holidays, to recap recent climate justice campaign highlights.

It seems practically impossible to highlight all of the different interventions and actions we took as the Council of Canadians and as part of a global climate justice movement in Cancun, and I’m sure many of you received the Cancun team blogs, media coverage and more. There are a couple of things that may have slipped past the radar, so bear with me about the repetition, but here are some highlights:

Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that, "Bolivia threatened Sunday to take court action to block the compromise (climate) deal reached in Mexico... ‘We will file a complaint with the International Court of Justice in The Hague against the text approved in Cancun,' Boliva's UN Ambassador Pablo Solon told the government daily El Cambio."

"Despite a lack of unanimity (required under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change rules), conference chairman Patricia Espinosa approved the comprise... Solon claimed the way Bolivia's position was overruled represented jettisoned the principle of consensus and was an ‘abuse of the framework agreement on climate protection'."

4:30 am local time - At this hour, the Associated Press is reporting that, "A UN conference has approved one of two key climate agreements, overriding objections from Bolivia."

"The South American nation tried in vain to stop the president of the conference, Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa, from gaveling the decision at the climate talks in Cancun. Decisions at the UN climate talks are typically taken by consensus, but Espinosa says consensus doesn't ‘mean that one country has the right to veto' decisions supported by everyone else."

Late Friday afternoon Bolivian president Evo Morales addressed more than 2,500 cheering supporters at the Via Campesina alternative forum.

As the crowd of people from around the world gathered, lively Andean music was played, and people clapped and danced and celebrated. Those gathered have undoubtedly felt the palpable frustration here with the dismal state of the climate talks, but somehow that was transformed into a moment of hope and genuine inspiration.
Morales said that the powers at the climate conference don't want to change the system, they want to privatize nature. But change is possible because organized peoples have changed economic systems and presidents throughout history.