COP 20 Lima: The Climate Talks: Former US Presidential Candidate Jill Stein: “This delegation has changed my life!”

As the climate talks begin their second week, civil society is growing more weary of the validity that the United Nations climate negotiations have in addressing climate change. Youth groups have expressed in their panel discussions and in interviews with KGNU that they are further shut out of the negotiations. Youth supporters are advising them to skip the talks in the future all together and to do their work at home. This year’s talks have already been labeled as a failure by civil society groups.

Taking this failure into account, human rights and environmental groups, the indigenous, youth, and other progressive groups have routinely held an alternative to the climate talks called… The People’s Summit. Last night, one forum of the summit took place in Lima. The gathering of the Left and Green parties talked about solutions to the climate crisis. James Jordan is co-coordinator of the Alliance for Global Justice in the United States and spoke about US imperialism… that is standing in the way of climate justice. He has led a delegation of participants that are in Peru to speak to those who are working for climate justice and who are working to stop the expansion of gold mining projects in Cajamarca, Peru that are owned by Denver’s own Newmont Mining Corporation.

One member of the delegation of human rights observers in Peru right now is the 2012 US Presidential candidate for the Green Party Jill Stein. She attended the forum of the Left and Green Parties in Lima, and then spoke to KGNU about what she has seen so far on the delegation.

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