Eco-Social Justice on the Global Frontlines
Despite the position of the Trump administration, which has labeled climate change a “hoax” concocted by China, there is virtual universal unanimity that the Earth’s temperature is rising and that human activity is largely responsible. In the face of this crisis Trump is cutting the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency and laying off staff. Is this the kind of response required at this critical juncture? The window for collective action to mitigate the effects of global warming is narrowing. Corporate-driven policies toward the Earth as just a place to extract resources and make money must be reversed if long-term tragic consequences are to be avoided. Sustainable agricultural practices and nutritious food are key to healing ourselves and our planet. Ecological and social justice are inseparable.
Speaker
Vandana Shiva
Vandana Shiva is an internationally renowned voice for sustainable development and social justice. She’s a physicist, scholar and social activist. She is a founder of Navdanya and Director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy in New Delhi. She said, “I started Navdanya, nine seeds, as a political act so that farmers would have free seeds in their hands. Using that free seed, they would be able to resist the kind of control system that corporations were trying to establish in India. Through those seeds, they can establish sustainable organic agriculture again.” She is the recipient of the Sydney Peace Prize and the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize. She is the author of many books, including Water Wars, Earth Democracy, Soil Not Oil, Oneness vs the 1%, and Terra Viva.
Surya Manickam –
Vandana Shiva delivered a clear and eloquent message around some very crucial scentific facts that have been ignored the past 5years.