Climate Justice and sustainable livelihoods

DTE is campaigning for climate justice. We want equitable solutions to climate change which are based on the rights, needs, participation, and agreement of the communities who are feeling the greatest impact of climate change or who will be affected by mitigation attempts.

We believe that community management of natural resources that support livelihoods offers a better chance of long term sustainability than top-down development schemes which serve the interests of business elites and reinforce global inequality.

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Down to Earth No.79, November 2008


International pressure to get pilot schemes for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) up and running between now and the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009 could mean that crucial issues - including land and resource rights in forests - are sidestepped.


Why the pressure for REDD? Land use change and forestry are estimated to account for around 20% of annual carbon emissions, second only to the energy sector.

Down to Earth No.78, August 2008

NGOs have called on British MPs to take action on climate justice and sustainable livelihoods, impunity, Aceh and West Papua.


In a meeting with British parliamentarians in London, June 3rd, a group of UK-based NGOs, including Down to Earth, called on the British government to take action on a range of issues related to human rights and development.

Down to Earth No.78, August 2008

A DTE workshop at this year's UK climate camp drew attention to climate change concerns in Indonesia.

Down to Earth No.78, August 2008

As the intergovernmental process to agree a post-Kyoto climate agreement moves towards the 2009 deadline, Asian civil society groups meeting in Bangkok in July have called again for climate justice. Global anti-poverty campaigners have also criticised the richest countries of failing to live up to promises of strong commitments on climate change at June's G8 meeting in Hokkaido.

Down to Earth No.76-77, May 2008


There are many strands to the ongoing international climate change debate.

Down to Earth No. 74, August 2007


Mounting global concern over climate change and the link to deforestation has refocused international attention on the need to protect the world's forests. Rampant forest and peatland destruction in Indonesia means that the country is one of the world's top three emitters of carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming.