Dear Friends,
We Encourage You to Read This Memo
From the Leadership Staff of the International Forum
on Globalization and
Join the Summer Fund Drive for the IFG!
MEMORANDUM FROM: Victor Menotti, Jerry Mander,
Claire Greensfelder, Yeshica Weerasekera
RE: Updates,
Opportunities, Emergencies
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We write you today for two purposes:
to update you on IFG activities and opportunities for the
rest of this year---in direct response to the global emergencies
we now face, both ecological and financial. And,
alas, to seek your help with our own economic emergency!
Odd Times
These are surely the
oddest of times. Despite
oncoming global crises of potentially catastrophic scale, there's
a tremendous sense of movement, renewal and change. Seismic political shifts are upon us; the opportunity to
break out into new directions. In some ways these crises
are overdue, as it's certainly time to reset the compass.
As many of you may recall,
the IFG started predicting major global ecological and
financial breakdowns even before Seattle in 1999. The fundamental
flaws of the economic system were already in clear view.
The idea of a global economy utterly dependent on
never-ending, always expanding resource consumption and growth,
on a finite planet with limited resources, is absurd; preposterous
on its face. Now we are up
against reality. The three huge ecological crises of climate
change, energy shortages, and global resource depletion,
including such basic needs as fresh water, arable soils,
forests, life in the seas, key industrial minerals like coltan,
phosphorous, et al, have all, in turn, accelerated the economic
crisis.
But,
here's the good news: the doors are open. It's an exquisite
time for bold new steps, and we're working hard to seize
the moment. The snake is changing its skin.
Please donate
generously to the International Forum on Globalization so
that we may continue to actively participate in negotiations
and help shape the framework for a strong international climate
agreement in Copenhagen this December. Your donation will
also help us champion the rights of indigenous peoples; address
the intersection of climate change and growing global population;
and continue to raise the question "Is Capitalism Over?"
We want to keep working hard to reach tens of
thousands of people around the world on issues of trade,
economics, capitalism and sustainability within the global
justice framework.
The financial crises
of the moment do not only affect banks and megacorporations;
lots of NGOs are on the ropes, and the IFG is far from
immune. But
this is not the moment for any of us to back off, downsize,
or slow down our activities. We're living in crisis times,
but as we said, these are also exciting times. Everything
is shifting; great change is possible. We have the chance,
working together, to shape a different kind of sustainable
future.
Let's do it. Please
help us seize the opportunity that is at hand.
Read
our full fundraising appeal letter from IFG Executive Director,
Victor Menotti, Distinguished Fellow Jerry Mander, and Deputy
Directors Claire Greensfelder and Yeshica Weeresakeera.
Donate ($50
or more) and receive one of our most recent IFG publications
on energy, agriculture, indigenous rights, the global economy
and more. |
IFG Executive Director, Victor Menotti,
and Board Member, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, in The Guardian
"We
are fighting for our lives and our dignity"
Amazonwatch.org
Across the globe, as mining and oil firms race
for dwindling resources, indigenous peoples are battling
to defend their lands – often paying the ultimate price...
Read
more... |
Shell
to Pay $15.5 Million to Settle Nigerian Case
Reuters
June 8, 2009, NYTimes.com: Royal Dutch
Shell, the big oil company, agreed to pay $15.5 million
to settle a case accusing it of taking part in human rights
abuses in the Niger Delta in the early 1990s, a striking
sum given that the company has denied any wrongdoing.
Read
more... |
RECENT NEWS FROM IFG
BOARD MEMBERS
(more
board news)
A
Cautionary Video About America's 'Stuff' - Annie Leonard on the New York Times
front page, May 11, 2009.
"Capitalism's
crisis and our response" - by Walden Bello,
April 27, 2009
Maude
Barlow Addresses the UN on Water and Human Rights,
April 22, 2009
"Europe
falling short on global water vision" - by Maude
Barlow, April 6, 2009
IFG ANNOUNCES OUR NEW AFRICAN SCHOLAR IN
RESIDENCE
Mr. Oronto Douglas, 42, is a leading human rights attorney in Nigeria,
and served
as one of the lawyers on the defense team for the Ogoni leader Ken
Saro
Wiwa, who was executed by Nigeria's military rulers in 1995. Read
Full Bio.
|


RECENT NEWS FROM IFG:
(more news)

CLIMATE CHANGE AND CHINA: Technology,
Market and Beyond, a report by IFG China Scholar, Dale Wen.
download
the article (pdf)
IFG Board announces leadership transition. Victor
Menotti promoted to Executive Director of IFG (read
more)
1999 Joint Statement by IFG, IPS, TWN and FOE on Global Financial Reform
download
the article (pdf)
IFG's "Greensumption" Video
and Jerry Mander Interview Featured on New York Times blog Dot Earth
November 14th, 2007:
Jerry
Mander Interview on Dot Earth - NY Times' Climate BLOG
(edited
version)
Full Text of Jerry Mander Interview with New York Times Reporter Andrew Revkin (pdf)
Check out IFG's
YouTube video
"GREENSUMPTION"

|
IFG
Recommended Reading:
Voices From Africa
African farmers and environmentalists speak out against a new green revolution
in Africa. Written by The Oakland Institute.
download the report
Read more...
Field
Guide to the Global Economy, by John Cavanagh, IFG
President, with Sarah Anderson and Thea Lee.
This updated edition of Field Guide to the Global Economy
presents the latest facts to help make sense of the rapidly
changing international economy. A great resource!
Read more...
Green
Alternatives to Globalisation, by
Michael Woodin and IFG Associate Caroline Lucas. The authors,
both UK Green Party members, show how economic localization
can help solve many current international crises.
Read more... |
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