|
WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
||||
|
No.29/2000 |
Dateline: October 6, 2000 |
|||
This is the weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail:
INES homepage: http://inesglobal.org
INES International Office
INES Chair: Prof. Armin Tenner
CONTENTS of WNII No. 29/2000
Re: Open Letter to Next US President (see WNII 27-00)
In addition to David Krieger's "Open Letter to Next US President: Abolish Nuclear Weapons" to which I referred to in WNII 27-00, I'd like to make available the website address of the Green US Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader because his positions are differing remarkably from the candidates of both the Democratic and the Republican Party:
http://www.votenader.org/issues.html
Among other things, you can find there Nader's positions on
Tobias Damjanov, WNII editor
USA: Project on Defense Alternatives of The Commonwealth Institute
Aaron Katz, Communications Director of the Project on Defense Alternatives (PDA), has sent the following information to WNII:
PDA has just posted several new, full-text resources relevant to the [US] defense budget debate:
I hope you find these useful. Please feel free to contact us by e-mail or by phone at .
Sincerely, Aaron Katz Director of Communications
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/
60 Million Signatures for the "Appeal from Hiroshima and Nagasaki"
Dear Abolition 2000 members,
On October 3, The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo) submitted 6,770,215 signatures in support of the "Appeal from Hiroshima and Nagasaki" to the National Diet, urging them to adopt a total ban and the elimination of nuclear weapons as a national policy. One day before this action took place, the total number of the signatures collected nationwide surpassed the goal of 60 million, representing roughly 50 percent of the Japanese population. Another 4,844,509 signatures were submitted earlier this year on July 14 to the Prime Minister's Office. During the two action days on October 3-4, representatives of Gensuikyo local groups visited the headquarters of all the political parties that were ready to receive them, to ask their MPs to support the petition.
Simultaneously, Gensuikyo leaders visited the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and a number of embassies of declared and non-declared nuclear weapons states, New Agenda Coalition and Non-Aligned Movement member Governments, and those that opposed last year the UNGA resolutions for abolition of nuclear weapons.
At the foreign ministry, Gensuikyo leaders met Yukio Takenouchi, director-general of Foreign Policy Bureau, and urged him that the Japanese Government should not cast an abstention vote any longer on the resolutions standing for the abolition of nuclear weapons as priority during this ongoing UN Millennium General Assembly. He admitted that it would not press for the "abolition as an ultimate goal," but did not promise that it would work together with New Agenda Coalition or any other Governments that stand for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Nor did he clearly say that Japan would support Non first use, Negative Security Assurance or any other urgent measures on nuclear weapons issues in the current disarmament discussions at the UN. (&)
Hiroshi Taka, Japan Gensuikyo: < > http://www.twics.com/~antiatom/
NGOs' directory
An International Roster of Prominent Global Connections International Non-Government Organizations Advocating Abolition, Containment, or Cleanup of Nuclear Weapons can be found at: http://www.globalngo.org/Plain/Home_plain.htm
Crops for Sustainable Enterprise by Yorick Benjamin Hans van Weenen, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2000
There is now a global recognition that we have to move to more sustainable modes of production and consumption. To this end, policy makers, industry and workers are engaged in the beginning of a fundamental shift as to how we realise our materials for production purposes. Slowly, we are moving from unsustainable fossil based systems of production to ones based on renewable resources.
This publication explores the uses of fibre crops in the Non Food Agriculture (NFA) sector and the underlying issues this raises for the European Union. It scrutinizes the agro-industry production system that is currently emerging, and presents a model for Bionetic SMEs - companies engaging in sustainable production within a Bioregional framework. The report also describes some of the concepts that support sustainable development such as Bioregionalism, full resource potential, Permaculture, Biorefining and industrial ecology.
The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has made this report freely available from SD ONLINE: http://susdev.eurofound.ie/download (Portable Document Format (pdf): 548k)
P.S.: To read pdf files, you need an Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have one, you can download it for free from: http://www.download.com/PC/Result/TitleDetail/0,4,0-34297,1000.html?st.dl.results.list.tdtl
or: http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html
Statement against inclusion of sinks in the Clean Development Mechanism
A number of Indigenous Peoples Organisations and NGOs who oppose the inclusion of Land use Change and Forestry activities in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol have issued a 10-arguments statement entitled "$inks, who win$ who loses?" (these are no typos but the original title).
If you wish to obtain this interesting statement in English, French or Spanish, please contact either Sobrevivencia/Friends of the Earth Paraguay: < >
or the WNII editor.
New BASIC publications
A new BASIC Paper on National Missile Defence (NMD) has just been released by BASIC (British American Security Information Council). Entitled "Keeping Tabs On Big Brother: UK debates on US plans for Ballistic Missile Defences," it examines the proposed role of the UK in the NMD system, the debates within the British Government concerning this role and the decisions it will have to face in the future.
Also recently released is a new BASIC Research Report, 'NATO and Arms Control: A Blueprint for Action.' This report and the NMD paper can be found on BASIC's website at: http://www.basicint.org .
CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS
Abolition 2000 Review and Strategy Meeting
Those who are not able to come to Nagasaki this time are encouraged to contribute to this meeting by raising opinions though email to the abolition-caucus listserve or directly to Hiro Umebayashi < > and Akira Kawasaki < >. Also, Abolition 2000 will have a booth to show it up at the Assembly, so any Abolition 2000 groups are welcome to ship their materials, including brochures, documents, posters, and buttons to the following address (Please do not ship too much; The number of the participants of the Assembly is estimated about 500, most of whom cannot enjoy English without assistance.): Hirotami Yamada c/o Hisaikyo 8-20, Okamachi, Nagasaki 852-8115, Japan Tel:+81-95-844-0958 Fax:+81-95-847-9135
9th Annual International Conference on Conflict Resolution "Sharing Tools For Personal/Global Harmony"
The overall purpose of the conference is to create an open learning community for sharing highly effective skills in conflict resolution participants can walk away with and immediately implement in their personal/professional lives. Of the hundreds who gather each year on the Gulf of Finland, most are in key positions in their respective societies and cultures to model and teach to hundreds more. This is based on the premise that as individuals in a society are adequately equipped and empowered with tools to positively manage differences, appreciate diversity day to day, and value all forms of life, the society as a whole can effectively commit to healthy alternatives to violence and abuse as a means of resolving conflicts.
Submissions Requested by: March 1, 2001 (Early submission is recommended for best choice of sessions. Submissions after this date are considered for evening or replacement sessions as space permits)
For more details, contact Steve Olweean or Sandra Friedman, Conference co-coordinators: mailto: http://ahpweb.org/cbi/home.html
Individuals from the regions of the Former Soviet Union ONLY should contact Harmony Institute directly to submit proposals and register at significant subsidized rate: < > or < >
No new or changed email or web addresses in this issue. All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
< < < < < end of No. 29/2000 what's new in ines < < < < <