Ecocide

Evo Morales: 'Ecocide' Will Result From Governments Avoiding Strong Emissions Reductions At COP 16 Climate Change Conference

Delegates from almost 200 nations worked Thursday to clear away a host of disputes and to take small steps forward in easing the impact of climate change at a conference whose limited goals drew an accusation of "ecocide" from Bolivia's President Evo Morales.


Once again this year, as it neared its end, the annual negotiations under the U.N. climate treaty will not produce an overarching deal to slash emissions of global warming gases. From the start, the talks focused instead on secondary areas, including setting up a "green fund" to help poorer countries cope with global warming.


But in that and in a half-dozen other areas, as they approached Friday's final gavel, world environment ministers and other delegates still haggled over the wording of texts. Environmentalists accused the U.S. of holding the green fund hostage until it is satisfied on other items.


Bolivia's Morales, addressing the full conference, cited families already being deprived of water because of warming and drought, and islanders facing the loss of homes from seas rising from global warming.


If governments move away from strong, mandatory emissions reductions, "then we will be responsible for `ecocide,' which is equivalent to genocide because this would be an affront to mankind as a whole," he said.

He's living in a dream world. Worried about lives over wallets and profits. That's not how we roll.