Belem, Brazil. Feb 1 2009
Of the myriad issues addressed at the World Social Forum this year, climate had both the first and last word, beginning with the Amazonian downpour which drenched the opening parade several days ago, and ending with today’s heavy rainstorm just prior to the final meeting, the ‘assembly of assemblies’, where the remaining participants gathered in a wet and muddy grass field to listen to the spokespersons from the many issue groups announce their conclusions from several days of discussions.

YouTube video of closing report from the Palestian issue group (English with Portuguese translation)

World Social Forum 2009, Belem, Brazil.
The events at the UFRA University can be very far apart and as one ran late today there wasn’t time for one envirobeat.com blogger to make the 45 minute walk between locations. Local bicyclist/taxis can be hired to speed you to your destination, well, except for the fact that thousands of social activists are filling the only road. This video features that ride though the crowd and past one of the tent cities to give a feel for the scene on the ground, an especially useful view for those who didn’t want to fly out to Brazil and leave that big floating carbon footprint for future generations.

Jan 30, 2009. Belem, Brazil, Forum Social Mundial

Tom Goldtooth, Navaho/Dakota: “Climate change is a very serious issue, especially when we look at how certain communities across the world are disproportionally effected…the most impacted are the poor people, the disenfranchised.”

Jutta of FERN: “Some of the dirtiest polluters in the Global South have found a way to use these carbon markets”
“This carbon market has already created a whole new industry… and you have brokers … who have speculative capital to invest.”

Michael Karikpo, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria:
“The best way to address the climate change issue … is to stop the extraction of carbon from the ground.”
“We see this [oil extraction in Nigeria] as a continuation of colonization, a continuation of inequalities that exist around the world.”
“You need to come to Niger Delta. You need to see the level of destruction.”
“We built solidarity…It was solidarity the set off the Niger Delta struggle that you hear about today.”

Ben Powless, Indigenous Environmental Network
“I think the solution revolves around several simple concepts that we can all agree on: respect, democracy, justice.”

Jan 28, 2009 Belem, Brazil

Breaking down into smaller groupings at the real work begins at the World Social Forum. Powerful testimony from Amazonian peoples makes it personal.

WSF: Ivaneide Bandeira Cardozo of Kaninde.org.br speaking on deforestation, dams, and environmental destruction in the Amazon region.

“We don’t want development with death. We don’t want the death of our rivers”
Ivaneide featured in earlier online articles at survival internation and Panda.org

Inside this meeting

More images of the day:

Arildo Surui (center)