The world is teetering on the brink of unstoppable climate change. Many now recognise the need for serious change in the way we produce and use energy, our transport systems, food production, urban design and forestry practices. Yet politicians are still mouthing platitudes while allowing corporations to continue to profit from polluting our atmosphere and destroying our ecosystem.
The need for social change has become an urgent part of preventing catastrophic climate change. Can the market fix the problem? What is the real record of carbon trading? How can we build a social movement capable of averting this disaster? What models and experiences can offer real solutions?
To strengthen the exchange of ideas and contribute towards that urgent action, Green Left Weekly is organising the Climate Change|Social Change conference on April 11-13, 2008, in Sydney.
We are pleased to have confirmed the following speakers:
John Bellamy Foster, author of Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature, editor of Monthly Review (<http://sociology.uoregon.edu/faculty/foster.php>)
Patrick Bond, Director of the Centre for Civil Society, University of Natal, South Africa; editor of Climate Change, Carbon Trading and Civil Society (<http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/patrickbond>)
Roberto Perez, Cuban permaculturalist, featured in The Power of Community: how Cuba survived peak oil (<http://www.powerofcommunity.org>)
Sandino Carrizales, Venezuelan environmental science student, student activist and community organiser.
We invite your participation in making this more than just an exchange of ideas — important as that is — but a part of building up resistance to corporate-led climate change and strengthening the movement for sustainable development.
If you would like to participate — present a workshop, take part in a panel, exhibit your artwork or simply register your interest — please email climatechange.socialchange@gmail.com. To receive updates about the conference, send an email to climatechange_socialchangeconf_announce-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Please forward this conference call through your networks.
[Kamala Emanuel and Pip Hinman are Change | Social Change conference organisers.]