News | COP 24 en "We Are Living in Times of Multiple Crises"

Voices of our international delegation

This year again, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation attends the UN climate summit together with its international partners. Here, they raise their voices, report on their work and demand climate justice.

"The global ecological crisis is a direct by-product of the dominant capitalist system."  | Kashmira Banee, CARES, Mauritius

"Facing climate and ecological emergency, the Centre for Alternative Research and Studies (CARES) does not only hold national schools of ecology providing spaces for discussions and analytical tools to young people on the global ecological crisis - a direct by-product of the dominant capitalist system. CARES also...

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... holds international schools of ecology. This year for example Indian Ocean, Southern African and international as well as Mauritian participants discussed the systemic causes of climate and ecological degradations on a scientific basis as well as systemic alternatives and new politics l- ike Ecosocialism, Nature Rights, Well-Being, Eco-feminism, Deglobalisation and degrowth rowth.

Furthermore, CARES has also ardently supports social and ecological movements to actively resist beach grabbing politics which are not only weakening the resilience capacity of the local environmentally sensitive areas in the face of climate change, but also dispossessing people of their birth-rights to the beach. Last month CARES initiated a new platform called 'Lavwa Losean Indyen ('The 'Voice of the Indian Ocean') to voice out the Islanders’ concerns on Ocean Warming and the depletion-plundering, extractivism and re-colonisation of the ocean."



"We must change the predominant cultural and civilizatory model that turns life into a commodity."   | Anisley Morejón Ramos, National Program of Climate Change Kuba, Philosophie-Institut Institute of Philosophy Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Cuba

"The international UN climate negotiations have put much effort into  pushing mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. However, those measures  hide the real intentions behind the negotiations. And even more: these negotiations hide the real nature of climate change.
First of all...

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... climate change is not only a scientific, political and economic problem caused by the side effects of our model of development and its way to a sustainable development. We rather must consider climate change as an epistemic, axiological, political, economic and practical problem caused by our  predominant cultural and civilizatory model. That is why it is not enough to have reforms within our social system. We need to transform the system itself. 

Secondly, the measures taken in many countries to mitigate climate change and to adapt to it conceal the real intentions of those who want to privatize and monetarize  certain spheres of life through mechanisms as REDD+, CO2 market and agro fuels. Those mechanisms contribute to expropriating local communities from their territories and ancestral knowledge. Instead, they become big business for transnational companies and states.

We have to transcend the false negotiations and fight for climate justice and social justice. We must change the predominant cultural and civilizatory model that turns life into a commodity. We need  to build alliances to combat the false speech of 'sustainable development' and a 'green economy'."


"Mauritius is a small island in the Indian Ocean. An above 1.5° C global average temperature increase means genocide for us.  |  David Sauvage, CARES, Mauritius

"Being in Katowice we wish to learn from the daily struggles of other grassroot activists, build solidarity and reinforce our own local struggles based on these learning experiences. Mauritius is...

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... a small island in the Indian Ocean. An above 1.5° C global average temperature increase means genocide for us - if we are to consider the accelerated thermal expansion of the Indian Ocean, accrued coral bleaching, or flash flooding. We wish our government and the UNFCCC to come to sense and decouple themselves from this logic of nature CO2 commodification. At the crucial and unprecedented moment we are now at, only a radical in-depth socio-economic transformation could halt the ecocide.

We however doubt, whether change will come from above. The present political and economic power structure is part of the problem, not part of the solution! It is only when the people, especially the ordinary citizens from the south to the north come into movement for the radical change so needed, that can transformation start rolling."


"For the implementation of the Paris Agreement we must strongly promoate human rights, gender equality, just transition, and indigenous peoples' rights."   | Emilia Reyes, Gender Equity, Mexico

"The organization I work for is a feminist one based in Mexico. It is currently planning the implementation of a pioneering project on mitigation, gender equality and cities. It is also part of my work...

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... to attend the UN negotiations like the intersessional negotiation in Bonn this year. In Katowice I am officially negotiating for Mexico. While engaging for the Paris Agreement implementation guidelines I primarily focus on strongly promoting human rights, gender equality, just transition of the work force, food security, inter-generational equity, traditional knowledge and indigenous peoples' rights, right to participation and avoiding environmental harm.

This year I am very much interested in the outcome of the resolution on Just transition of the work force, as well as the Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Platform. I look forward to engaging with activists from all around the world to promote an ambitious outcome as a whole."


"We want to show how women and communities experience the climate crisis."    | Dinda Nuur Annisaa Yura, Solidaritas Perempuan, Indonesia

"We from Solidaritas Perempuan are working together with grassroot women in various contexts. Among them are women peasants, women in coastal areas, and indiginous women living in forests who experience climate crisis as well as false climate solutions and struggling for climate justice. We are also active...

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... with Feminist Participatory Action Research which method is not only focused on collecting data, but also on strengthening women in communities as well as encouraging them to develop collective advocacy strategies. The research is about Women’s Rights to Land where we identify and analyze how mining, large scale plantation, and forestry projects impact women‘s lives in four regions in Indonesia – by land grabbing and the destruction of the environment. Furthermore, we are conducting research on how a gender justice perspective is integrated into climate policies and actions in Jakarta and Makassar. We also work together with different civil society networks voicing demands of feminist climate justice and climate justice in general. This year we also took part in the World Beyond Banks Assembly (being a reaction to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund annual meetings) engaging for example in the thematic working group „Land, Territory, and Climate Justice“ and taking part in action opposing dirty energy.

All our activities aim at showing how women and communities experience the climate crisis. It also a part of our struggle to consolidate the climate justice movement and to advocate climate policies, and projects in order to integrate climate justice and gender justice principle."



"Governments should address climate change issue as a secuirty issue. It's about the lives of our people and continuity of our culture.”   | Susan Aleya, MADRE, Kenya

I'm from the Rendile indigenous peoples community, and  we experience food insecurity and lack of water due to lack of rainfall that can take five years. Last year november...

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... we had rain for the first time in five years and our village was flooded. We experienced loss of livestock, people and homes. The competition for water and pasture resources  across the region has also resulted in conflict causing displacement of people and impacting the children and women more.

During the past months I have been focused on working with women to ensure indigenous women are economically empowered and can participate in local leadership and advocacy forums for women land rights and peace issues.

For COP24 I expect that the policy makers will give the seriousness of climate change as a security threat to indigenous women and children. I look forward to engaging with RLS team at COP 24 and other indigenous peoples in the conference. Since it is also my first time, I want to experience how our governments make policy decisions."


“Time for governments to act is now, tomorrow will be too late.”   | Rosemary Mesopirr, MADRE, Kenya

"I'm from the Maasai indigenous peoples community, and  as indigenous women we do not have land rights even though it's in law...

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... but the realization is still not there. During the past months I have been focused on work with indigenous women on environmental conservation, economic empowerment and  engaging local leadership in addressing indigenous women issues of water access etc. Aim of advocating for women land rights is because indigenous women are dependent on land for sustenance and when they have rights they can ensure food security etc.

I expect that the policy makers will give the seriousness of climate change as a security threat to indigenous women and children.
I look forward to engaging with RLS team at COP 24 and other indigenous peoples in the conference. Since it is also my first time, I want to meet our government negotiators and interact with indigenous peoples from other parts of the world and other women groups."