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Red Lines: It's Up To Us To Keep It In The Ground
On Saturday, the 12th of December, at noon (that is 12-12-12), thousands of people will gather in the streets of Paris carrying red flowers to honour past and future victims of climate change, driven by respect, determination and hope.
Dec 11, 2015
This gathering is about respect.
It's about respecting the laws... of physics. We know that the agreement discussed at Le Bourget comes up way short, putting the world on a path to a three-degree Celsius increase in temperature or more. That's a grave failure, given the fact that we're already seeing dangerous consequences of climate change.
"We know that our leaders have shown little respect--not for the rights of people on a planet torn by inequality and racism, nor for the red lines for a just and livable planet. Lines we should dare not violate. So we will stand with our bodies to draw red lines, committed to protect our common home from burning up."
It's about respecting those who have already died from the effects of global warming--from New Orleans a decade ago to Chennai a week ago. The people hurt the most are those who've done the least to cause this problem, which makes climate change the ultimate injustice in an unjust world.
It's about respecting those who will die in the future--we bring flowers to lay at their feet as well, because the inaction of our leaders for the last decades has already doomed so many, in low-lying islands and on high melting glaciers, in pasture land turning to desert and tundra turning to swamp.
It's about respecting each other as a movement--the leadership that comes from frontline communities and Indigenous Peoples, and the strong commitments we've made to each other to stay peaceful, non-violent, and loving.
We know that our leaders have shown little respect--not for the rights of people on a planet torn by inequality and racism, nor for the red lines for a just and livable planet. Lines we should dare not violate. So we will stand with our bodies to draw red lines, committed to protect our common home from burning up.
And we know that the richest, biggest companies on earth have shown no respect at all, not even for basic truth. They have lied about the consequences of climate change, and they continue to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into searching for more carbon. They are outlaws.
We are not. We are just citizens, who want finally for those in power to show respect for the red lines that scientists have drawn, that people have paid for with their lives, and which we will, today and in the years ahead, do our best to make real. We--and our children, and their children--deserve it. And we demand it.
Signed,
350.org,
Attac,
Confederation Paysanne,
Reseau Sortir du Nucleaire,
Climate Games
Bill McKibben
Naomi Klein
Vandana Shiva
Lidy Nacpil
Rebecca Solnit
Genevieve Azam
Thomas Coutrot
Tadzio Muller
Txetx Etcheverry
Maxime Combes
Pablo Solon
Patrick Viveret
Nick Dearden
Dominique Plihon
Clayton Thomas-Muller
Tom Goldtooth
Okalik Eegeesiak
Aile Javo
Tom Kucharz
Nnimmo Bassey
Laurent Pinatel
Aurelie Trouve
Becky Foon
Jesse Paris Smith
Tenzin Choegyal
Patti Smith
Thom Yorke
Flea
Peter Coyote
Darren Arenovsky
Ariel Dorfman
Roshi Joan Halifax
Terry Tempest Williams
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Red Lines Coalition
Led by 350.org, Attac, Confederation Paysanne, Reseau Sortir du Nucleaire, and Climate Games, the informal 'Red Lines' coalition is an ad hoc group of international NGOs and prominent climate leaders who came together at COP21 to make it clear that what's needed in Paris is an end to business-as-usual.
This gathering is about respect.
It's about respecting the laws... of physics. We know that the agreement discussed at Le Bourget comes up way short, putting the world on a path to a three-degree Celsius increase in temperature or more. That's a grave failure, given the fact that we're already seeing dangerous consequences of climate change.
"We know that our leaders have shown little respect--not for the rights of people on a planet torn by inequality and racism, nor for the red lines for a just and livable planet. Lines we should dare not violate. So we will stand with our bodies to draw red lines, committed to protect our common home from burning up."
It's about respecting those who have already died from the effects of global warming--from New Orleans a decade ago to Chennai a week ago. The people hurt the most are those who've done the least to cause this problem, which makes climate change the ultimate injustice in an unjust world.
It's about respecting those who will die in the future--we bring flowers to lay at their feet as well, because the inaction of our leaders for the last decades has already doomed so many, in low-lying islands and on high melting glaciers, in pasture land turning to desert and tundra turning to swamp.
It's about respecting each other as a movement--the leadership that comes from frontline communities and Indigenous Peoples, and the strong commitments we've made to each other to stay peaceful, non-violent, and loving.
We know that our leaders have shown little respect--not for the rights of people on a planet torn by inequality and racism, nor for the red lines for a just and livable planet. Lines we should dare not violate. So we will stand with our bodies to draw red lines, committed to protect our common home from burning up.
And we know that the richest, biggest companies on earth have shown no respect at all, not even for basic truth. They have lied about the consequences of climate change, and they continue to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into searching for more carbon. They are outlaws.
We are not. We are just citizens, who want finally for those in power to show respect for the red lines that scientists have drawn, that people have paid for with their lives, and which we will, today and in the years ahead, do our best to make real. We--and our children, and their children--deserve it. And we demand it.
Signed,
350.org,
Attac,
Confederation Paysanne,
Reseau Sortir du Nucleaire,
Climate Games
Bill McKibben
Naomi Klein
Vandana Shiva
Lidy Nacpil
Rebecca Solnit
Genevieve Azam
Thomas Coutrot
Tadzio Muller
Txetx Etcheverry
Maxime Combes
Pablo Solon
Patrick Viveret
Nick Dearden
Dominique Plihon
Clayton Thomas-Muller
Tom Goldtooth
Okalik Eegeesiak
Aile Javo
Tom Kucharz
Nnimmo Bassey
Laurent Pinatel
Aurelie Trouve
Becky Foon
Jesse Paris Smith
Tenzin Choegyal
Patti Smith
Thom Yorke
Flea
Peter Coyote
Darren Arenovsky
Ariel Dorfman
Roshi Joan Halifax
Terry Tempest Williams
Red Lines Coalition
Led by 350.org, Attac, Confederation Paysanne, Reseau Sortir du Nucleaire, and Climate Games, the informal 'Red Lines' coalition is an ad hoc group of international NGOs and prominent climate leaders who came together at COP21 to make it clear that what's needed in Paris is an end to business-as-usual.
This gathering is about respect.
It's about respecting the laws... of physics. We know that the agreement discussed at Le Bourget comes up way short, putting the world on a path to a three-degree Celsius increase in temperature or more. That's a grave failure, given the fact that we're already seeing dangerous consequences of climate change.
"We know that our leaders have shown little respect--not for the rights of people on a planet torn by inequality and racism, nor for the red lines for a just and livable planet. Lines we should dare not violate. So we will stand with our bodies to draw red lines, committed to protect our common home from burning up."
It's about respecting those who have already died from the effects of global warming--from New Orleans a decade ago to Chennai a week ago. The people hurt the most are those who've done the least to cause this problem, which makes climate change the ultimate injustice in an unjust world.
It's about respecting those who will die in the future--we bring flowers to lay at their feet as well, because the inaction of our leaders for the last decades has already doomed so many, in low-lying islands and on high melting glaciers, in pasture land turning to desert and tundra turning to swamp.
It's about respecting each other as a movement--the leadership that comes from frontline communities and Indigenous Peoples, and the strong commitments we've made to each other to stay peaceful, non-violent, and loving.
We know that our leaders have shown little respect--not for the rights of people on a planet torn by inequality and racism, nor for the red lines for a just and livable planet. Lines we should dare not violate. So we will stand with our bodies to draw red lines, committed to protect our common home from burning up.
And we know that the richest, biggest companies on earth have shown no respect at all, not even for basic truth. They have lied about the consequences of climate change, and they continue to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into searching for more carbon. They are outlaws.
We are not. We are just citizens, who want finally for those in power to show respect for the red lines that scientists have drawn, that people have paid for with their lives, and which we will, today and in the years ahead, do our best to make real. We--and our children, and their children--deserve it. And we demand it.
Signed,
350.org,
Attac,
Confederation Paysanne,
Reseau Sortir du Nucleaire,
Climate Games
Bill McKibben
Naomi Klein
Vandana Shiva
Lidy Nacpil
Rebecca Solnit
Genevieve Azam
Thomas Coutrot
Tadzio Muller
Txetx Etcheverry
Maxime Combes
Pablo Solon
Patrick Viveret
Nick Dearden
Dominique Plihon
Clayton Thomas-Muller
Tom Goldtooth
Okalik Eegeesiak
Aile Javo
Tom Kucharz
Nnimmo Bassey
Laurent Pinatel
Aurelie Trouve
Becky Foon
Jesse Paris Smith
Tenzin Choegyal
Patti Smith
Thom Yorke
Flea
Peter Coyote
Darren Arenovsky
Ariel Dorfman
Roshi Joan Halifax
Terry Tempest Williams
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