Responding to injustice in the world caused by war and other violent conflict
Afri supports the call by the Citizen’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss to insert the ‘Rights of Nature’ into the Constitution, which was recently discussed at a meeting of the |Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action. Continue reading “The Rights of Nature”
Stop Climate Chaos welcomed the statement by Minister for the Environment, Alan Kelly TD, that he will bring forward amendments to the Government’s Climate Bill. The Minister was speaking during the Committee Stage debate, where the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill passed without amendment. Several opposition amendments were withdrawn following assurances from the Minister he will consider the issues raised by TDs ahead of the next stage in the Dáil.
Commenting, Ciara Kirrane, Coordinator of Stop Climate Chaos Coordinator, said
“The Minister’s commitment to amending the Climate Bill is welcome. Now we need to see his proposed changes. The final Bill needs to make clear how much we’ll reduce emissions by 2050, guarantee the independence of the Advisory Council, and ensure Ireland pursues the principle of climate justice.”
Before the Committee’s debate Stop Climate Chaos presented the Minister with a petition from more than 5,000 people calling on him to bring forward amendments that would strengthen the Climate Bill and to ensure it is passed into law before the summer recess. Continue reading “Stop Climate Chaos welcomes the Minister’s commitment to amend Climate Bill”
Saturday, 23 October 2010, Kimmage DSC, Dublin
The Afri Hedge School 2010 was organised in partnership with Kimmage Development Studies Centre (KDSC) and took place on Saturday, 23 October in Kimmage DSC in Dublin.
The event focused on the fundamental right to food and discussed the importance of food sovereignty as a precondition for food security and tackling world hunger. Introductory talks were given by Alan Matthews, from the Economics Department at Trinity College Dublin, Former UN Assistant Secretary General Denis Halliday, and Clare O’Grady Walshe, who launched her new pamphlet, entitled Seeds of Hope in a World of Insecurity. The pamphlet deals with issues of food insecurity and loss of biodiversity and was edited by Dervla Murphy.
Continue reading “Hedge School 2010: Food Sovereignty – Rooting out the Causes of Global Hunger”
Afri would like to thank the hundreds of people who joined us on a wonderful sunny day for our 22nd Annual Famine Walk from Doolough to Louisburgh on Saturday, 22 May.
The walk leaders Justin Kilcullen of Trócaire, Felicity Lawrence, writer and journalist for the Guardian, and Jo Newton of the Irish Seed Savers Association opened the event with short reflections on the walk theme: Hunger in a World of Plenty: Sowing Seeds of Hope.
The various speakers outlined how the injustices that led to the Irish Great Famine continue today in terms of unequal global food distribution and the way in which multinational companies increasingly control agriculture and the food processing system, while small farmers and food producers struggle to survive. A linking thread was that food insecurity will continue and intensify today unless we tackle issues such as loss of biodiversity, global warming, corporate control of food production, and the patenting and aggressive marketing of genetically modified seeds.
Afri Famine Walk 2010 from Dave Donnellan on Vimeo.
Continue reading “Famine Walk 2010 – ‘Hunger in a World of Plenty: Sowing Seeds of Hope’”