UN Speech on “The Human Right to Water and Sanitation”

Intervention of the Permanent Representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia

“The Human Right to Water and Sanitation”

July 28, 2010

Mr. President,

Allow me to begin the presentation of this Resolution by recalling that human beings are essentially water. Around two thirds of our organism is comprised of water. Some 75% of our brain is made up of water, and water is the principal vehicle for the electrochemical transmissions of our body.

Our blood flows like a network of rivers in our body. Blood helps transport nutrients and energy to our organism. Water also carries from our cells waste products for excretion. Water helps to regulate the temperature of our body.

The loss of 20% of body water can cause death. It is possible to survive for various weeks without food, but it is not possible to survive more than a few days without water. Water is life.

Comparision of the People’s Agreement and the Copenhagen Accord

The debate about climate change is divided between the “Copenhagen Accord” that failed to be imposed by a group of countries led by the United States at the Copenhagen Conference held in December 2009, and the “People´s Agreement” that synthesizes the conclusions of the 17 working groups at the World People´s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth carried out in Cochabamba, Boliva from April 20th to 22nd, 2010.

News bulletin: The world comes to Cochabamba..

When President Morales of Bolivia launched his invitation to the world to come to Bolivia to develop a Peoples’ Agenda for Climate Change, we never imagined the overwhelming response it would generate. With less than a week to go before the conference, here are some of the astonishing statistics related to the conference:

• At least 15,000 people are expected to attend from 126 countries
• Around 70 governments are expected to attend to listen to the voices of civil society, including Presidents of Ecuador, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Venezuela, the Vice-President of Comoros Islands, government ministers, delegates and parliamentarians from Europe, Asia and Africa.
• The following international organisations will also be sending representatives: UNICEF, FAO, UNESCO, UNFPA, WTO, OICA, OPS, FIDA
• 180 self-organized events have been registered by different networks on every aspect of climate change policy
• More than 50 scientists, social movement leaders, researchers, academics and artists have agreed to speak on 14 panels including NASA scientist Jim Hansen, Bill McKibben, environmental journalist and leader of 350.org, Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva, best-selling author Naomi Klein, Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, Miguel D’Escoto, former President of UN General Assembly, Lumumba Di-Aping, former lead negotiator for the G77 along with leaders from leading environmental organizations and communities at the front line of climate change.
• More than 300 press have registered including major news networks and newspapers such as BBC, Radio France International, Guardian in the UK, Telesur, l Jazeera, and Democracy Now

It is clear that the conference and its objective of putting forward a just and effective response to climate change have touched a chord worldwide. It shows more than ever, after the failure of Copenhagen, that the hope that we can address the climate crisis lies with the people of the world.

NEWSLETTER #2, February 17, 2010

CONFERENCE GATHERS MOMENTUM AND SUPPORT

Since Bolivia announced that it will hold the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of the Mother Earth in Cochabamba (April 20 – 22, 2010), it has been greeted with ever more support and enthusiasm internationally. At the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, participants gave firm support to the conference as the next key step in the struggle against climate change. So did many international networks, such as Friends of the Earth, Climate Justice Network, Via Campesina, and 350.org. Prominent individuals such as Noam Chomsky, Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff, and former UN General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto as well as Green and Left parliamentarians from Europe and elsewhere have praised the initiative.

NEWSLETTER #1, January 25, 2010

Registration Opens for World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth

Just over a month after President Evo Morales of Bolivia issued his call at Copenhagen for “the people to decide,” registration has opened for the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth. You can register for the conference at: http://200.105.147.98/indexe.php

Join a Working Group

The work of organizing the conference begins in February, when more than 16 working groups will begin the preparation via email on key climate issues. These

working groups include Structural Causes, Harmony with Nature to “Live Well,” Rights of the Mother Earth, Referendum on Climate Change, Climate Justice Tribunal, Climate Refugees, Indigenous Peoples, Climate Debt, Shared Vision, Kyoto Protocol and Emission Reduction Commitments, Adaptation, Financing, Technology Transfer, Forests and Climate Change, Dangers of Carbon Markets, Action Strategies, and others based on the suggestions of participants.

The working groups will discuss these issues in advance of the conference and prepare draft documents for discussion in Cochabamba.

The Conference Program

In addition to the working groups, there will also be a series of main plenary events and self-organized events put together by participants. The conference will end with a dialogue among peoples and governments and a mass event in Cochabamba’s football stadium on April 22nd, 2010. More information on the program of the conference can be seen at: http://cmpcc.org/2010/01/05/call/

More than 10,000 people are expected to attend the summit, to be held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, from April 19th to 22nd, 2010. Many more will also participate via the Internet, and in campaign actions on the final day of the conference, April 22nd, which marks UN International Mother Earth Day.

Groups mobilize to make conference success

From the moment the conference was announced, Bolivia has received countless requests for information from a wide range of civil society organizations. For what Copenhagen showed was that while the leaders of the world’s richest nations failed to deliver a just and binding accord, peoples’ movements were hugely successful in putting climate change on the international agenda. Many of those groups are now engaging with the Peoples’ World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of the Mother Earth to put forward a constructive and effective agenda and platform for tackling climate change.

Many initiatives are in the early stages, but there are already proposals from Britain for a working group on labor and green jobs, youth activists in Bolivia are talking of putting on a parallel youth climate event, activists in the US are exploring bringing delegations of people affected by environmental contamination in industrialized countries. Other groups are already announcing platforms that they would like to be adopted globally. The hosts of the conference are open to all ideas for making this unprecedented event a success. The key to this will be for social organizations to push forward these initiatives and put the resources into them to make them succeed.

What you can do to support the conference?

If you represent a social organization, academic institution, youth, women, labor or religious organization committed to tackling the root causes of climate change…

• Register and come to the conference http://200.105.147.98/indexe.php
• If you can’t come, put it on your calendar. We hope to set up virtual participation
• If we can find the resources
• Publicize it to your networks
• Blog, write, twitter, and talk about it
• Get involved in one of the working groups

If you represent the media…

• Sign up to attend or receive press releases by emailing media@cmpcc.org
• Cover the event

If you represent a funding body…

• Look to fund the participation of delegates from other Southern countries and from low-income communities who wouldn’t otherwise be able to participate

CONTACTS

General inquiries and registration – info@cmpcc.org

Working Groups – workingroup@cmpcc.org

Self-Organized events – selforganized@cmpcc.org

Press inquiries – media@cmpcc.org

www.cmpcc.org