Global Compact International Yearbook 2009

News around the world
North America
so also the greenhouse gas emissions, of
2.4 million households or 3.1 million
automobiles. The study “Carbon Footprint
of Spam” by the consulting firm
ICF International calculated that, in the
U.S.A. alone, 8.2 billion kilograms of CO2
are created by junk mail. By the way:
The production of spam mails itself uses
hardly any energy. Rather, 80 percent of
the energy consumption results from
viewing and deleting spam, 16 percent
from its filtering.
Environment
U.S.A. voted onto UN Human
Rights Council
The U.S.A. has been elected to the Human
Rights Council by the UN General
Assembly. Until recently, America had
boycotted the Council due to anti-Israel
statements. The new Obama Administration
has now moved away from the
previous rigid rejectionist stance and has
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announced it would work constructively
on the Council. Julie de Riviero of Human
Rights Watch praises this move:
“We hope that the Americans will bring
to the Council a new dynamic and a
new commitment to human rights –
especially as a country that is coming
to terms with its own human rights
offenses.” Many human rights activists
had accused the U.S.A. of avoiding the
Council in large part due to its own human
rights violations. The UN Human
Rights Council has existed since 2006,
when it replaced the UN Commission
on Human Rights. The Council is made
up of 47 elected member states, which
report directly to the General Assembly.
The seats are distributed proportionately
by geography: Africa and Asia each have
13 seats, Latin America and the Caribbean
8, Western Europe 7 and Eastern Europe
6. Besides the U.S.A., China, Russia, Cuba
and Saudi Arabia were also elected to
the Human Rights Council by the UN
General Assembly.
Canada & UN Security Council
seat: Water is the way
Maude Barlow, senior advisor on water
to the President of the United Nations
General Assembly and Council of Canadians
chairperson, says the Harper
government's goal of a seat on the UN
Security Council should be denied until
Canada formally recognizes water as a
human right. Canada and the United
States have been the strongest opponents
of the right to water at the United
Nations. There is speculation that US
President Barack Obama will change
the American position on the right to
water, but there is no indication to date
that Prime Minister Harper intends to
change his government's position on
the issue. By 2025, the United Nations
estimates that 2.8 billion people in 48
countries will be living in areas facing
water stress or scarcity. "It would be wonderful
to see Canada on the UN Security
Council helping to address the critical
global challenges of our day," concludes
Barlow. "But if the Harper government
fails to act on the global water crisis, then
it simply does not deserve to take that
seat." The Canadian government under
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made
securing a seat on the 15-member UN
Security Council for the 2011-12 term a
top foreign policy priority. The election
will take place in October 2010. Canada
is vying for this seat against Portugal
and Germany, countries which already
endorse the right to water.
Native Americans:
jobs vs. tradition?
With an unemployment rate of over 80
percent, the situation on the Northern
Cheyenne Indian Reservation is depressing.
Massive coal deposits on the reservation
could change this. A bitter dispute
has now broken out over mining rights
and ecological consequences. The newly
elected tribe president Leroy Spang is a
former mineworker and favors awarding
coal and gas concessions to big energy
corporations. Opposed are the traditionalists,
who fear for the tribe’s identity.
“This is the last war that our people are
going to face,” says Philipp Whiteman
to USA Today. Whiteman is founder of
Yellow Bird, a non-profit group promoting
respect for the land and environment.
Many reservation residents, like
him, fear that mining would destroy
the tribe’s culture and beliefs, which
are closely linked to the “Black Rocks”
mountains. Added to this is the worry of
being cheated by the mining companies.
The federal government as trustee had
already tried to sell the coal deposits in
the sixties. Back then, the land was sold
without the Native Americans’ consent.
It was only in 1976 that the U.S. Supreme
Court recognized the Cheyenne’s right
to own the reservation land. Local environmental
groups have now turned to
President Obama and hope for support
in expanding renewable energies as an
alternative to coal mining.
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