Category Archives: global

Past Virtual Events: November 11-19

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Here are events from November 11 to 19 that were previously listed on the CPNN page for upcoming virtual events. Unless otherwise noted the events are in English.

26 October – 18 November

WSFTE 2020 – Part II
The World Social Forum on Transformative Economies continues to unfold and move forward, with challenges more urgent than ever in a world in full reconfiguration. In the framework of the new conditions, the registration of participants, organizations, activities and initiatives has been reopened !
You can register or log your self managed activity HERE.
Continue here to know HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Access the PROGRAM
November 4 : Presentation of the selected initiatives of the techno-scientific challenge and knowledge.
November 9 : Presentation of the selected initiatives of the environmental challenge.
November 11 : Inter-confluences I
November 16 : Inter-confluences II
November 18 : Closing and presentation of the Transformative Economies agenda

November 5 and 12 (in Spanish)

The UNESCO CHAIR: Citizenship, Coexistence and Pluralism invites you to the conferences of:
” SCHOOL OF DEMOCRACY ”
Thursday, November 5 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Spanish time)
CONFERENCE: “THE DECADENCE OF PARLIAMENTARIANISM”
AGUSTÍN RUIZ ROBLEDO, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Granada.
Thursday, November 12 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Spanish time)
CONFERENCE: “THE RISE OF THE EXTREME RIGHT”
MIGUEL ÁNGEL SIMÓN, Doctor in Political Science and Public Administration
Free registration through the following link: https://bit.ly/37djSKi

November 5, 12 and 19

November 5, 12, & 19, 2020: Nonviolent Action Lab with the Pace e Bene Team. As we gear up to use nonviolent action if needed to defend democracy in the wake of the November 3 election, people are organizing nonviolent actions and we’re here to help! Learn more and register for these free sessions here.

Wednesday – Nov 11, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

International Peace Bureau Webinar. With the Biden campaign’s victory in the US 2020 election, many expect large changes in policies. However, the US’ role as a hegemonic global power has maintained a level of consistency throughout decades of different administrations. What can we expect to change and what will remain the same?
We have invited three US peace activists to share their insights with us:
— Joseph Gerson, president of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
— Emily Rubino, Director of Policy and Outreach at Peace Action New York State
— Kevin Martin, President of Peace Action
Register by sending an email to info@ipb-office.berlin
Or simply join with the following details:
https://zoom.us/j/97839342293 Meeting ID: 978 3934 2293

November 11-13

COVENTRY’S RISING Global Peace Forum will go ahead next week despite the latest Coronavirus lockdown.
— Organisers of the internationally-recognised event, taking place from November 11 to 13, have decided to move the whole event online in light of the Government’s new restrictions.
The annual event, now in its fifth year, was due to have been held as a ‘virtual hybrid’ event at Coventry Cathedral and live-streamed online to reach its global audience with only UK-based speakers and around 50 delegates in physical attendance.
— The revised plan means that the whole event will now take place online and without any face-to-face gathering in the Cathedral.
— The ‘Culture of Peace’ theme of this year’s event recognises that as well as being the UK’s only City of Peace and Reconciliation, Coventry will be the UK City of Culture for 2021.
— The Forum will also be the main event in the run-up to the 80th anniversary of the bombing of the Cathedral in 1940 on November 14, which led to the City of Peace and Reconciliation status.
— Prof Mike Hardy, chair of RISING, said: “This year’s RISING Global Peace Forum has so many great speakers lined up that we were determined not to let the Covid-19 lockdown prevent us from sharing their inspiring ideas.
— “It has a more important role than ever in promoting peace at a time of huge global uncertainty and by being held online, will be more accessible and therefore able to attract a larger audience from around the world.”
— Speakers include writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch, who has recently fronted BBC Two’s Enslaved with Samuel L Jackson, Judge Shira Scheindlin, who famously ruled on police use of stop and search in the US, commentator Will Self, and Daniel Bruce, CEO of Transparency International UK.
— Prof Sir David King, former government Chief Scientific Adviser and Special Representative for Climate Change, will also deliver the Lord Mayor’s Peace Lecture on the environment and Covid-19 on November 12.
— The Forum is free to access and to register, visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rising-20-the-culture-of-peace-tickets-79314510837

Nov 18, 2020 06:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Venezuelans Want to Vote! Defending Venezuelan Elections Against US Intervention
— A discussion with Venezuelan peace organizations on the upcoming legislative elections in Venezuela and how peace forces around the world can help protect the people’s right to vote in the face of U.S. blockade and intervention.
— Organized by: Simon Bolivar Institute (ISB) — Venezuela; Committee for International Solidarity and the Struggle for Peace (COSI) — Venezuela; U.S. Peace Council; Canadian Peace Congress
— Moderator: Bahman Azad, Executive Secretary of U.S. Peace Council
–Speakers: Carlos Ron, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Gabriel Aguirre, General Secretary, Committee for Peace and International Solidarity; Miguel Figueroa, President, Canadian Peace Congress; Margaret Flowers, Director, Popular Resistance; Ajamu Baraka, National Organizer, Black Alliance for Peace; Monisha Rios, International Affairs Coordinator, VAMOS Puerto Rico; Vijay Prashad, Executive-Director, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
— Followed by Q/A Period
— Language: English & Spanish
— Click here to register

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

I am Generation Equality: Ixchel Lucas, youth advocate for girls’ leadership

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from UN Women

I am Generation Equality because…

Adolescent and young girls should have the space and opportunity to lead without fear of discrimination or violence.

I was selected by my peers to represent my class and organize students when I was seven. I liked having the opportunity to express my opinion and to participate in social and cultural events. Over time, I started raising awareness about the challenges that adolescent and young girls face in Guatemala, where I am from. More of our voices should be heard.


Ixchel Lucas. Photo: Las Niñas Lideran
Stepping up during the global pandemic

Even before COVID-19 hit, the situation was difficult for girls and women. In many places, women are still not allowed to speak up. Food is served first to boys and men, and the best pieces of food are reserved for them.

The challenges young girls face in Guatemala have worsened during COVID-19. Lack of access to the Internet, smart phones and computers is hampering their access to education. Additionally, girls are facing increased domestic violence and have been forced to continue living with their abusers, and support services are limited. As a result, we are seeing an increase in teenage pregnancies and maternal and child mortality – particularly in the rural areas, where there is a marked lack of access to proper healthcare.

(continued in right column)

Questions for this article
 
Does the UN advance equality for women?

Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

(continued from left column)

I had the opportunity to raise these issues during a high-level meeting  of the UN General Assembly on behalf of other young girls. Governments should invest more in supporting us by increasing healthcare services, enhancing services to survivors of violence and increasing access to education.

What keeps me going is that I have seen that [when given a platform] we can achieve.

I am part of the “Las Niñas Lideran” (Girls Lead) organization and following our advocacy work a few years ago, our municipality, Concepción Chiquirichapa adopted a new policy covering education, health, protection, participation and culture. The municipality held education fairs with multiple schools, providing children and adolescents with information on HIV, teenage pregnancy, girls’ leadership and more. There were also numerous cultural activities led by adolescent girls, [to raise awareness of] and mitigate the risk of rising suicide among adolescent girls. .

Society has a lot to learn from adolescent and young girls, as we see problems through very different lens.

* * * * *

Ixchel María José Lucas Adolfo, 21, is the Training Coordinator at Las Niñas Lideran in Guatemala and a youth leader in the Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence. She is also currently studying Physiotherapy. The Action Coalitions are global, innovative partnerships with governments, civil society, international organizations, and the private sector, convened in the context of the Generation Equality Forum. They aim to catalyze collective action, drive increased public and private investment, and deliver game-changing results for women and girls everywhere..

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

Youth invited to sign letter to disband NATO

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

An invitation from the International Network to Delegitimize NATO

Youth are invited here to sign the following letter addressed to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg,

We want to voice our opposition to the fact that you will host the NATO 2030 Youth Summit on November 9th.
 

As young people concerned about our future and the future of our planet, we are very concerned that the focus of the event is ‘keeping NATO strong militarily, making it stronger politically and more global’. We do not believe that strengthening NATO is the best way to secure our future. Instead we would like to see NATO disbanded.

One of the main challenges of the 21st century is to reimagine our concept of security. We are living in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, of unfolding climate change disaster and racial unrest. Addressing these challenges is the priority, by working alongside the international community and cooperation of the people, not strengthening a nuclear-armed military alliance that provokes mistrust and conflict.

NATO is committed to an interventionist military agenda and causes instability across the globe.

(continued in right column)

Questions for this article:

Can NATO be abolished?

(continued from left column)
 
We urge you to use the NATO 2030 Youth Summit to discuss how we build a more sustainable, more peaceful and fairer world, and to start the discussion about how the world that we will inherit would be better served by bringing an end to your alliance.

Best wishes,

The next generation,

Bela Irina Castro, Research Manager and Junior Researcher at the
Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal

Sean Conner, Staff International Peace Bureau, USA

Dr. med. Lisann Marie Drews, Physician and member of IPPNW & Stop Airbase Ramstein Campaign, Germany

Eskil Grav, Staff International Peace Bureau, Norway

Sara Medi Jones, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, UK

Ellie Kinney, Youth and Student CND convenor, UK

Vanessa Lanteigne, National Coordinator of the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace

Quique Sánchez Ochoa, Project manager at Centre Delàs of Peace Studies and GCOMS, Spain │
Lisa Silvestre, Mouvement de la Paix, France

Lucas Wirl, International Network No to War – No to NATO, Germany

Mikis Wulkow, Peace Activist, Germany

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Europe, global,

Past Virtual Events: October 30-November 10

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Here are events that were previously listed on the CPNN page for upcoming virtual events. Unless otherwise noted the events are in English.

October 30

17:00 – 19:00 CET. Do Black Lives Matter in British History? A Conversation with Professor David Olusoga OBE. David Olusoga is a British-Nigerian historian, broadcaster and BAFTA award-winning presenter and filmmaker. His television series include Black and British: A Forgotten History, A House Through Time, Civilisations, and The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files. His books on colonialism and empire have won numerous accolades, including the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize. His latest book is Black and British: A Short Essential History. Join Aston University students and staff for a virtual conversation with Professor Olusoga. Admission is free and open to the public.
This live online event is organised and hosted by the Department of History, Languages and Translation at Aston University.

October 30

The Office of the Envoy of the African Union for Youth in collaboration with the Women, Gender and Development Directorate will organize the Baraza Beijing + 25 of the Youth of North Africa, as part of the “Beijing + 25 Mobilization of Young African Women” co-organized with the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) Young Women Leaders Caucus and the International Youth Task Force for Beijing + 25.

October 30

Invitation: UN75 Dialogue in observance of World Cities Day
Better City, Better Life:: Valuing our Communities & Cities
Friday, October 30, 2020 3:00 PM – 5:45 PM (New York time)
Hosted by the Permanent Mission of Slovakia and the Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN, NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY and UN-Habitat
Our UN75 Dialogue in observance of World Cities Day: “Better City, Better Life: Valuing our Communities and Cities” will address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our communities and cities while strengthening our resilience to build back better. Thnt World Urban Forum – WUF10 and the UN Economist Network for the UN 75th Anniversary: Shaping the Trends of Our Time Report showed us the megatrends which shape our world. The present report focuses on five of these megatrends: climate change; demographic shifts, particularly population ageing; urbanization; the emergence of digital technologies and inequalities. While many are utilizing innovative communication platforms that allow for better engagement to strengthen the resilience of their communities and cities, through the pandemic, others without access are falling further behind. It is vitally important that we continue our focus on the SDGs and the UN2030 SD Agenda to build partnerships with Member States, UN-Habitat, national and local authorities as well as stakeholders from civil society and the private sector in order to be better prepared to achieve the inclusive, safe, resilient and healthier future we want with the UN we need – to “Leave No One Behind.”

November 2

You are invited to a follow-up webinar on Target 2045: A new rallying call for nuclear weapons elimination , which was one of the calls made in the appeal Protect People and the Planet: Appeal for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World.. The event will take place on Monday November 2 from 10am-11:30am Eastern Time (USA). It will include presentations from:
·       H.E. Mr Magzhan Ilyassov, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Nations;
·       Mr Ramesh Jaura, Editor-in-Chief & Director-General, IDN-InDepth News, flagship agency of the non-profit International Press Syndicate group;
·       Mr Saber Chowdhury MP, Honorary President, Inter-Parliamentary Union. Co-President, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament;
·       Ms Vanda Proskova, Vice-Chair, PragueVision Institute for Sustainable Security. Co-chair, Abolition 2000 Youth Network.
 The presentations will be followed by comments, questions and answers from the audience. Click here for the event flyer.

November 2-6

2 – 6 November 2020, the Geneva Center for Peacebuilding is hosting a free online event called Geneva Peace Week. All week there will be talks and lectures freely available to anyone. This year, the theme of the week is “Rebuilding trust after disruption: Pathways to reset international cooperation”. It is meant to have speakers and participants from around the world, sharing learning on peacebuilding and facilitating interactive discussions. Seems to be well organized for facilitating online participation. It’s free to sign up and attendees can participate in live workshop sessions. Details on how to participate are at the following link: https://eu.eventscloud.com/website/3030/

November 5 and 12 (in Spanish)

The UNESCO CHAIR: Citizenship, Coexistence and Pluralism invites you to the conferences of:
” SCHOOL OF DEMOCRACY ”
Thursday, November 5 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Spanish time)
CONFERENCE: “THE DECADENCE OF PARLIAMENTARIANISM”
AGUSTÍN RUIZ ROBLEDO, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Granada.
Thursday, November 12 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Spanish time)
CONFERENCE: “THE RISE OF THE EXTREME RIGHT”
MIGUEL ÁNGEL SIMÓN, Doctor in Political Science and Public Administration
Free registration through the following link: https://bit.ly/37djSKi

November 7

The Peace Studies Program and the Centre for Peace Studies at McMaster Universitycpresents The 20th Annual Mahatma Gandhi Lecture on Nonviolence: From the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter
Reflections by Rev. James Lawson and The Hon. Jean Augustine
Saturday, November 7, 2020, 4-6pm EST
Rev. James M. Lawson Jr.
An activist, minister, and the pioneer of nonviolence in the American Civil Liberties Movement. Reverend James M. Lawson Jr. was inspired by  Gandhi’s use of nonviolence  in securing justice and peace. Dr. Martin Luther King described Rev. Lawson as “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.” 
The Hon. Jean Augustine
The Hon. Dr. Jean Augustine made history as the first Black woman elected to Canada’s Parliament and served from 1993-2006.  Her legislative successes include the historic Black History Month Motion. She has dedicated her life to  the pursuit of social justice.
To join the event, click on: https://youtu.be/t1uZ6gURHb0
 If you have any questions about this event, please contact Director,Centre for Peace Studies, Dr. ChandrimaChakraborty (chandri@mcmaster.ca)

Tuesday, November 10th, 2020

Join us this Tuesday 6 pm PDT, 9 pm EDT and visit with Dot Maver – who is our founding Executive Director, and co-founder of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures of Peace, the Global Silent Minute, the National Peace Academy, and the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding. In 2004, Dot served as National Campaign Manager for Kucinich for President.
Dot’s “keynote” is “inspiring cooperation on behalf of the common good,” and she consistently delivers on that theme.
We will also hear an update from the Department of Peacebuilding Committee, and we hope to hear from YOU! Join the Conversation!!
Once again, we will be hosting our Monthly Field Call using Zoom technology. Those who download the Zoom software can join the call using video tools – seeing the speakers and being seen if you wish. Others may phone in as usual, using the number provided via email after you register.
Here is the link to Register for this Call!

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

Peter Kuznick on the Significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from World Beyond War

Peter Kuznick answered the following questions from Mohamed Elmaazi of Sputnik Radio and agreed to let World BEYOND War publish the text.

1) What’s the significance of Honduras being the latest country to join the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons?

What a remarkable and ironic development, especially after the U.S. had been pressuring the previous 49 signers to withdraw their approvals. It is so fitting that Honduras, the original “banana republic,” pushed it over the edge–a delicious fuck you to a century of U.S. exploitation and bullying.


Peter Kuznick on Sputnik

2) Is it possibly a bit of a distraction to focus on countries that have no nuclear capability?

Not really. This treaty represents the moral voice of humanity. It may not have a universal enforcement mechanism, but it clearly states that the people of this planet abhor the power-hungry, annihilation-threatening madness of the nine nuclear powers. The symbolic significance can not be overstated.

3) There already is a Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation which came into force in 1970 and which has been nearly every country on the planet is a party to. Is the NPT being lived up to?

The NPT has been lived up to to a surprising extent by the non-nuclear powers. It is amazing that more countries have not gone the nuclear path. The world is fortunate that more haven’t made that leap at a time when, according to El Baradei, at least 40 countries have the technological capability of doing so. The ones who are guilty of violating it are the five original signatories–the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, and France. They have completely ignored Article 6, which requires the nations possessing nuclear arsenals to reduce and eliminate those arsenals. The total number of nuclear weapons may have been cut from an absolutely insane 70,000 to a slightly less insane 13,500, but that is still enough to end life on the planet many times over.

4) If it isn’t, what good will yet another treaty, such as the one Honduras just joined, be in such an environment?

The NPT didn’t make possession, development, transportation, and threat to use nuclear weapons illegal. The new treaty does and explicitly so. This is a major symbolic leap. While it won’t put the leaders of the nuclear weapons states on trial by the International Criminal Court, it will put pressure on them to heed global sentiment as has been the case with chemical weapons, land mines, and other treaties. If the U.S. wasn’t concerned about the effect of this pressure, why did it make such an effort to block the treaty’s ratification? As Eisenhower and Dulles both stated during the 1950s, it was the global nuclear taboo that stopped them from using nuclear weapons on several occasions. Global moral pressure can constrain bad actors and sometimes even force them to become good actors.

In 2002 the US administration of George W Bush Jr withdrew from the ABM treaty. The Trump Administration withdrew from the INF Treaty in 2019 and there are questions as to whether the New START treaty will be renewed before it expires in 2021. Both the ABM and the INF treaties were signed between the US and Soviet Union to reduce the risk of nuclear war.

(Continued in right column)

Question related to this article:
 
Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

(Continued from left column)

5) Explain the consequences of the US withdrawal from key nuclear controls treaties such as the ABM and the INF treaty.

The consequences of U.S. withdrawal from the ABM Treaty were enormous. On the one hand, it allowed the U.S. to continue with implementation of its still unproven and costly missile defense systems. On the other, it induced the Russians to begin research and development of their own countermeasures. As a result of those efforts, on March 1, 2018, in his State of the Nation address, Vladimir Putin announced that the Russians had now developed five new nuclear weapons, all of which can circumvent U.S. missile defense systems. Hence, abrogation of the ABM Treaty gave the U.S. a false sense of security and by putting Russia in a vulnerable position, it sparked Russian innovation that has put the U.S. in a weakened position. Overall, this has only made the world more dangerous. Abrogation of the INF Treaty has similarly resulted in introduction of more dangerous missiles that can potentially destabilize relations. This is what happens when shortsighted, advantage-seeking hawks make policy and not responsible statesmen.

6) Why do you think the US has been moving away from these nuclear arms control treaties that it originally signed with the Soviet Union? Have they not been serving their purpose?

The Trump administration policymakers do not want to see the U.S. constrained by international treaties. They believe the U.S. can and will win an arms race. Trump has said so repeatedly. In 2016, he declared, “Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all.” This past May, Trump’s chief arms control negotiator, Marshall Billingslea, similarly stated, “We can spend Russia and China into oblivion in order to win a new nuclear arms race.” They are both insane and should be taken away by the men in white coats. In 1986, during the previous arms race before Gorbachev, with a little late help from Reagan, injected some sanity into the world, the nuclear powers had accumulated approximately 70,000 nuclear weapons, equivalent to some 1.5 million Hiroshima bombs. Do we really want to get back to that? Sting sang a powerful song in the 1980s with the lyrics, “I hope the Russians love their children too.” We were lucky that they did. I don’t think Trump is capable of loving anyone other than himself and he has a straight line to the nuclear button with no one standing in his way.

7) What is New START Treaty and how does it fit into all of this?

The New START Treaty limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear weapons to 1,550 and also limits the number of launch vehicles. Because of technicalities, the number of weapons is actually higher. It is all that is left of the nuclear arms control architecture that has taken decades to erect. It is all that stands in the way of nuclear anarchy and the new arms race I was just talking about. It is set to expire on February 5. From Trump’s first day in office, Putin has been trying to get Trump to extend it unconditionally for five years as the treaty allows. Trump disparaged the treaty and established impossible conditions for its renewal. Now, desperate for a foreign policy victory on the eve of the election, he has tried to negotiate its extension. But Putin refuses to accept the terms that Trump and Billingslea are proposing, making one wonder just how firmly Putin really is in Trump’s corner.

8) Where would you like to see policy makers go from here, in particular among major nuclear powers?

First, they need to extend the New START Treaty for five years, as Biden has promised he will do. Second, they need to reinstitute the JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal) and the INF Treaty. Third, they need to take all weapons off hair-trigger alert. Fourth, they need to get rid of all ICBMs, which are the most vulnerable part of the arsenal and require immediate launch if an incoming missile is detected as has happened numerous times only to be found to be false alarms. Fifth, they need to change command and control to insure that other responsible leaders have to sign off besides just the president before nuclear weapons are ever used. Sixth, they need to reduce arsenals below the threshold for nuclear winter. Seventh, they need to join the TPNW and abolish nuclear weapons entirely. Eighth, they need to take the money they’ve been wasting on weapons of annihilation and invest them in areas that will uplift humanity and improve people’s lives. I can give them lots of suggestions of where to begin if they want to listen.
 
Peter Kuznick is Professor of History at American University, and author of Beyond the Laboratory: Scientists As Political Activists in 1930s America, co-author with Akira Kimura of  Rethinking the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Japanese and American Perspectives, co-author with Yuki Tanaka of Nuclear Power and Hiroshima: The Truth Behind the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Power, and co-editor with James Gilbert of Rethinking Cold War Culture. In 1995, he founded American University’s Nuclear Studies Institute, which he directs. In 2003, Kuznick organized a group of scholars, writers, artists, clergy, and activists to protest the Smithsonian’s celebratory display of the Enola Gay. He and filmmaker Oliver Stone co-authored the 12 part Showtime documentary film series and book both titled The Untold History of the United States.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global

Red Cross : Nuclear ban: “Today is an historic day. We call on world leaders to act with courage and join the right side of history”

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A press release from  The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

October 24. Fifty States have now ratified the Treaty, meaning that it will enter into force as an instrument of international humanitarian law in 90 days. The Treaty is the first globally applicable multilateral agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons. It prohibits their use, threat of use, development, production, testing and stockpiling. It also commits States to clearing contaminated areas and helping victims. By providing pathways for the elimination of nuclear weapons, the TPNW is an indispensable building block towards a world free of nuclear weapons


Photo: ICRC

Francesco Rocca, President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said:

“Today is an historic day: even a few years ago, the dream of a nuclear ban recognized by the international community seemed unfathomable. This is a victory for every citizen of the world, and it demonstrates the importance of multilateralism. I would like to congratulate all 50 States that have ratified the treaty and to call on all the other world leaders to act with courage and join the right side of history.

“The simple reality is that the international community could never hope to deal with the consequences of a nuclear confrontation. No nation is prepared to deal with a nuclear confrontation. What we cannot prepare for, we must prevent”, Mr Rocca said.

(Continued in right column)

Question related to this article:
 
Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

(Continued from left column)

There are over 14,000 nuclear bombs in the world, thousands of which are ready to be launched in an instant. The power of many of those warheads are tens of times greater than the weapons dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said :

“Today is a victory for humanity, and a promise of a safer future. Too many times we have seen the dangerous logic of nuclear deterrence drag the world to the brink of destruction. Too many accept nuclear weapons as an inevitable part of the international security architecture. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons allows us to imagine a world free from such inhumane weapons as an achievable goal.”

Red Cross and Red Crescent leaders have over the past years advocated with government leaders, parliamentarians, academics and with the public to reflect in depth on the humanitarian consequences of Nuclear weapons and the need to have a legally binding commitment for their prohibition and in the long term for their elimination. They also have urged the Nuclear possessing states to urgently take interim steps to reduce the immediate risks of use of nuclear weapons by intent, miscalculation or accident, and in the long term to sign and ratify the treaty.

Prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons is a humanitarian imperative, and a promise to future generations that they will never have to live under the threat of nuclear catastrophe as we have experienced the past 75 years.

“The use of nuclear weapons is, under any circumstances, unacceptable in humanitarian, moral and legal terms. We are ready, together with our Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies, to continue our advocacy to build a world without nuclear weapons: we need to scale-up and intensify our efforts. We must do it for future generations,” concluded Mr Rocca.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global, United Nations,

Scientists Found A New Way To Break Down the Most Common Plastic

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Dharna Noor in Gizmodo

The petrochemical industry produces more than 88 million tons of polyethylene, making it the most common plastic in the world. Scientists have found a new way to upcycle it, according to a study published in Science on Thursday. It could help deal with the growing plastic pollution crisis.


This could all be turned into useful chemicals. Photo: Prakash Singh (Getty Images)

Polyethylene comes in several different forms and is used in everything from plastic bags and food packaging to electrical insulation and industrial piping. Since it’s so common and our recycling system is so broken, we end up throwing away a shitload of the stuff. It can end up in landfills or the ocean where it breaks down veeeery slowly, or get burned up in waste incinerators that emit toxic chemicals.

But in the new study, the authors found a way to speed up the process of breaking down polyethylene and turn it into alkylaromatic molecules, which are used as surfactants in cosmetics and laundry detergent, lubricants for machinery, and refrigeration fluids.

“Globally, it’s a $9 billion market today,” Susannah Scott, a chemical engineer at University of California, Santa Barbara who co-authored the study, said in an email in reference to alkylaromatic molecules. “There is economic value and scale here.”

(Article continued in the right side of the page)

Question for this article:

How can we ensure that science contributes to peace and sustainable development?

(Article continued from the left side of the page)

This isn’t the first time scientists have figured out how to break down polyethylene—there are other methods of chemically recycling the material. But conventional methods of breaking the plastic down require heating it up to temperatures between 983 and 1832 degrees Fahrenheit (500 and 1000 degrees Celsius) and using solvents or added hydrogen to speed up the process.

By contrast, the authors’ new method only requires heating it up to around 570 degrees Fahrenheit (300 degrees Celsius) and uses no solvents or added hydrogen, instead relying on only a comparatively gentle catalyst of platinum with aluminum oxide. Their process helped disassemble the plastic’s polymers in a less rough manner, allowing them to extract the valuable intact alkylaromatic molecules. Scott said the catalyst works to “cut the bonds which hold the polymer chain into smaller pieces,” eventually turning the solid plastic into a liquid they can extract the valuable chemicals from.

The authors’ new process is far less energy intensive than other means of breaking down polyethylene. That’s good news for the environment. It’s also cheaper, which is good news for companies who may want to scale this up. The technique isn’t ready for that scaling up just yet, but the discovery could eventually be used to give plastics a new life as valuable raw materials instead of as polluting waste.

“We dig a hole in the ground, we produce, we make, we use, we throw away,” Mahdi Abu-Omar, a chemical engineer at University of California, Santa Barbara who co-authored the study, said in a statement. “So in a way, this is really breaking that way of thinking. There’s interesting science to be done here that will lead us into new discoveries, new paradigms, and new ways of doing chemistry.”

To be clear, this new method should in no way give the petrochemical industry license to produce even more plastic. Though it’s great to have a better alternative to tossing it out, the creation of polyethylene also threatens public health through toxic emissions as well as the climate. We still need to be working to wean the world off of plastic production and consumption in the first place. But the new technology could help play a role in eventually reducing the amount of waste that gets produced and help clean up the mess we already have on our hands.

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

UNESCO-sponsored Nanjing Peace Forum

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

A compilation by CPNN of information provided by Palas Athena, J. Frederick Arment,, and UNESCO Kazakhstan

The UNESCO-sponsored Nanjing Peace Forum, October, 2020 will start in Nanjing and, as time zones change, travel virtually to Paris, France; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Baghdad, Iraq; Bamako, Mali; and Brasilia, Brazil. This prerecorded video speaks about HOW peace can be won globally through decentralized NGOs. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay will kickoff the event with officials and scholars around the globe in attendance.

Question related to this article:

Will UNESCO once again play a role in the culture of peace?

The video from Brazil will addess the challengs and opportunities for a culture of peace in Brazil in the post COVID-19 era. It will be moderated by the UNESCO representative in Brazil, Marlova Noleto and will include as speakers Lia Diskin of Palas Athena (See CPNN January 30, 2005) and Leoberto Brancher, the judge who has worked for restorative justice in Brazil (See CPNN October 14, 2016).

One of the guest speakers at the forum will be J. Frederick Arment, Executive Director of International Cities of Peace

The video from UNESCO Kazakhstan addresses the role of youth in peacebuilding.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations

77 Heads of State and Ministers address UN High Level Meeting on Nuclear Weapons

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A message from Unfold Zero

77 Heads of State and Ministers took the opportunity to address the United Nations High Level Meeting on the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons held yesterday (October 2) in the UN General Assembly and by virtual participation.

This is probably the highest number of Presidents, Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers to have addressed any of the high level meetings which have taken place annually since 2013 to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Such participation indicates widespread global concern, especially amongst non-nuclear governments, about the threat from nuclear weapons.


Volkan Bozkir, General Assembly President

Representatives from several regional groups and international organisations, as well as two representatives from global civil society, also addressed the meeting. The civil society representatives called on UN Member States to ‘de-escalate the nuclear arms race, redirect nuclear weapons budgets and investments to meet human security needs, and commit to the total elimination of nuclear weapons by 2045, the 100th anniversary of the UN.’

Click here for the full list of speakers for the event.

UN leadership

The event was chaired by H.E. Vlokan Bozkir, President of the UN General Assembly, who opened the event with a strong presentation reminding us that the UN was born out of the ashes of WWII and the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan, and calling on UN member states to fulfill their obligations to end the nuclear arms race and achieve the comprehensive elimination of nuclear weapons.

H.E. António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, followed with an impassioned speech warning that the world continues to live in the shadow of nuclear catastrophe. He urged nuclear armed states to take practical steps to reduce nuclear risks, and on all members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty to work towards a positive outcome to the Review Conference next year that takes forward concrete nuclear disarmament steps.

(Continued in right column)

Question related to this article:
 
Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

(Continued from left column)

Statements by governments were introduced by their UN ambassadors sitting in the UN General Assembly, but then presented by the leaders (Presidents and Ministers) by pre-recorded video statements due to pandemic constraints on UN physical meetings.

The six hours of statements included many reports on nuclear disarmament action and calls for further action. These included to:

-adopt nuclear risk reduction measures such as de-alerting and no-first-use;

– support existing nuclear-weapon-free-zones and establish additional ones especially one in the Middle East;

– cut nuclear weapons budgets/investments and redirect these to addressing the pandemic and achieving the sustainable development goals;

– support existing treaties such as the NPT, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons;

– negotiate a comprehensive nuclear weapons convention which includes the nuclear-armed countries and would prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons globally;

– commit to the total elimination of nuclear weapons by the 100th anniversary of the UN.

Click here for a short video (2mins) with selected quotes from speakers at the High Level Meeting. Click here for the video recording of Session 1 (3 hours). The videos of both sessions and all presentations will be posted online here early next week.

Civil society presentations

Two members of global civil society were invited to make presentations to the High Level event. They are Mr Saber Chowdhury MP (Bangladesh), Co-President of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, and Ms Vanda Proskova (Czech Republic), Vice-Chair of PragueVision Institute for Sustainable Security and one of the convenors of #Wethepeoples2020.

Mr Chowdhury noted that ‘We all have a key role to play and engage with governments to ensure implementation of nuclear disarmament obligations, and in diverting resources from nuclear weapons to positive impacts for the economy, livelihoods and protection of nature.’ (Click here for his video presentation).

Ms Proskova noted that nuclear weapons ‘are dangerous whether they are used on purpose or due to a miscalculation. They are extremely harmful to the environment which we are so vehemently trying to protect. In the 21st century they are simply obsolete. And, what is more, they are phenomenally expensive.’ (Click here for her video presentation).

Both of the civil society representatives called on UN members to de-escalate the nuclear arms race, redirect nuclear weapons budgets and investments to meet human security needs, and commit to the total elimination of nuclear weapons by 2045, the 100th anniversary of the UN.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global, United Nations,

October 2nd a Nonviolence Day in the White West

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Pressenza (reprinted under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license)

This year it’s really complicated in this part of the world to hold a joyful celebration about nonviolence. The International Day of Nonviolence is a celebration of Gandhi’s birthday and an opportunity to commemorate the work of many others who have opened a path a to nonviolent conflict resolution, built a culture of peace, opposed systemic discrimination, and fought against the destruction of humanity’s habitat.


NYC Walk for Nonviolence (Image by David Andersson)

It is very suspicious that mainstream media will be not be covering this day, since corporate media makes large profits from reporting all forms of violence and bias. There will be no trending on Twitter, no special debate in Congress. Joe Biden will not be announcing his plans for developing nonviolence curricula for Kindergarten to college students. CEOs won’t unroll their strategy for reinvesting the money, concentred today in very few hands, to serve the community at large. And we probably won’t see the police addressing their entrenched discrimination against communities of color, and talking about how to stop being hypermilitarized agents beating and killing people on the street. This list can go on and on.

Now, of course, we have seen some opportunist politicians asking protestors — after seeing the killing of their brothers by police — to organize nonviolently, but without themselves condemning the immoral and disproportionate use of violence by the police and city officals. For them, it seems nonviolence is to be used by minorities fighting against a violent system that created the problem at the first place.

(Article continued in the right column)

Question for this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

(Article continued from the left column)

Today, we recognize nonviolence’s power of transformation. Nonviolence has transformed countries, changed the face of continents, and given cultural identity to discriminated communities. We are perhaps in front of the total collapse of this violent system we live in and we need to actively build a culture of nonviolence. It is the only real option for the future of the human race and our environment.

In closing, here are few words from Silo, an Argentinian leader in nonviolence, extracted from one of his most important speeches, “The Healing of Suffering,” given in Punta de Vacas, Argentina on May 4, 1969:

“There are other forms of violence that are imposed by the Philistine morality. You wish to impose your way of life upon another; you wish to impose your vocation upon another. But who has told you that you are an example that must be followed? Who has told you that you can impose a way of life because it pleases you? What makes your way of life a model, a pattern that you have the right to impose on others? This, then, is another form of violence.

Only inner faith and inner meditation can end the violence in you, in others, and in the world around you. All the other doors are false and do not lead away from this violence. This world is on the verge of exploding with no way to end the violence! Do not choose false doors. There are no politics that can solve this mad urge for violence. There is no political party or movement on the planet that can end the violence. Do not choose false doors that promise to lead away from the violence in the world… I have heard that all over the world young people are turning to false doors to try to escape the violence and inner suffering. They turn to drugs as a solution. Do not choose false doors to try to end the violence.

My brother, my sister, keep these simple commandments, as simple as these rocks, this snow, and this sun that bless us. Carry peace within you, and carry it to others. My brother, my sister—if you look back in history, you will see the human being bearing the face of suffering. Remember, even as you gaze at that suffering face, that it is necessary to move forward, and it is necessary to learn to laugh, and it is necessary to learn to love.

To you, my brother and sister, I cast this hope—this hope of joy, this hope of love—so that you elevate your heart and elevate your spirit, and so that you do not forget to elevate your body.”

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global