Teresa K. Miller, poet and essayist

// system change in lima

Today is the third day of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference of the parties in Lima, one of a string of major political events around climate this year. I have a new piece on FoodFirst.org about the fundamental contradiction between binding free trade agreements and nonbinding emissions-reduction agreements, using mining industries in Peru as a case study.

Though I hold out hope that Lima will mark a new era of realism and cooperation to shift away from fossil fuels—and quickly—we cannot expect a silver bullet from scientific innovation or government policy. To combat climate change, we need to demand system change from the grassroots up. Agroecology—as an agricultural practice and a political project—offers a proven, readily available, open-source method for transformation.

Read the piece here:
As UNFCCC Convenes in Peru, Free Trade and Extractivism Undermine Climate Justice