One idea dominated the opening and first working day of the global forum “For Life, Environmental and Social Justice”, organized by La Via Campesina and its allies at their camp in Cancún: we must foil the carbon markets and the REDD programme which governments intend to legitimize at COP16.

The verdict is that the programme for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) doesn’t significantly reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, although it does open the door to the privatization of land, and also rewards polluters, and threatens national sovereignty and the survival of indigenous communities.

Alberto Gómez Flores, representative of La Via Campesina for the North America region, said: “It’s a disgrace that the United Nations space intended to tackle climate change has been converted into a platform to legitimize the commercial strategies of transnational corporations.”

He added: “Multinationals benefit from an ever increasing number of compensating mechanisms for carbon capture, all of which are only new opportunities for them to grow and consolidate their control over water, land and seeds.”

“We denounce the false solution of carbon markets and the fact that numerous governments have reconciled themselves to it and don’t seek a compromise with their populations. Our task is to foil the carbon markets. This is why we came”, said Gomez.