The Discussion Paper

The development to a global environmental catastrophe must be prevented.

Building strong organizations of the environmental movement across bordersto put through measures for climate and environmental  protection is necessary

The overexploitation of nature and the destruction of the natural basis of life worldwide has been taking on the dimensions of a beginning transition into a global environmental catastrophe in recent years. Essential factors are the release of large amounts of greenhouse gases, the clearing of the tropical rain forests, the dying out of species, a gigantic overexploitation of resources, the continuous poisoning of the environment by the release of more than 100,000 artificial chemical compounds and huge mountains of waste. The nutritional basis of humanity is directly endangered, especially in the developing countries. Mainly for reasons of profit the ecological system of our planet is being increasingly destroyed.

The world economic crisis serves as an excuse for most of the governments to cut back their environmental and climate protection goals which have been insufficient anyway. All previous UN climate protection conferences failed. They did not succeed in agreeing upon compulsory climate protection goals. Competition between governments, the lobby of the worldwide corporations and a still widespread ignorance among those politicians are responsible for that. We, on the contrary, believe that the change to a worldwide closed-loop economy is possible. This would mean to close the loop of substances, to avoid waste and to introduce environmentally protective production processes without damaging emissions, instead of overexploitation and the gigantic release of environmental toxins. This would also include drastically decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions and stopping the incineration of fossil energy sources. It is necessary to stop the use of nuclear energy immediately and to increase the use of renewable energy massively. In this way, millions of new

jobs could be created and the living conditions of hundreds of millions of people could be fundamentally improved. To carry out these goals, a strong international environmental movement is necessary. The workers’ and trade union movement and other social and political movements like the women’s movement, and the movements for peace and democracy also belong to it. The environmental movement should not be dependent on parties, corporations or governments. In Germany the environmental movement mainly lost its independence with the election success of the party Bündnis 90/Die Grünen [Alliance 90/The Greens] and the march through the institutions. We need forms of organization to develop the activity and consciousness of the people and contribute to an active and internationally linked resistance.

Instead of “green washing” and “pollution trade”, compulsory protective measures have to be pushed through. There has been a growing number of local

activities, local demonstrations, national and international days of actions and movements in the national and international environmental movement in recent years. These activities are still limited with respect to their area and in their objectives. But essential aims of environmental protection like the closed-loop economy have to be pushed through against vehement resistance, coming especially from politics and economy. This is why it is necessary

to further develop the various initiatives and struggles to a comprehensive movement for closed-loop economy. This task cannot be accomplished by any one single existing environmental organization or one single movement. To solve this task we need a network of organizational forms in which all different kinds of people and different movements could get active on the same eye level and with common goals. It would be possible to develop an international resistance front to save the environment and the climate if environmental initiatives, social movements, workers’, women’s and

anti-imperialist movements etc. join closer and synergy effects are sensibly used. For that purpose we suggest the broad discussion of the proposal to build an international umbrella organization step by step for saving the environment. From our point of view it could be an important contribution for the cooperation, exchange of experiences, mutual information and coordination of the activities of the different movements and initiatives. As a joining together of independent organizations, individuals, local initiatives and alliances, we think that it would need democratic and binding organizational structures, as well as common demands for carrying out closed-loop economy and environmental and climate protection worldwide.

Executive committee of the Citizens’ Movement for Cryogenic Recycling, Closed-Loop Economy and Climate