Hi all!

Begin forwarded message:

From: Cathy Brown <nepalcathy@...>

Date: February 13, 2012 4:26:17 PM EST

To: <greenteammbrs@...>, <agoldfeder@...>, <margaretkohr@...>

Subject: FW: Time sensitive- Ecocide notice and meeting

To all gree teamers!
from Margaret Kohr
 

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From: margaretkohr@...
To: nepalcathy@...
Subject: Fw: Time sensitive
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:20:11 -0500

Hi Cathy

 

This was sent to me from someone who seems to be from the Toronto  Quaker meeting. I think it would be more appropriate to be posted by the Green Team, provided the GT is on side with the issue.

 

Thanks

Margaret

 

From: Rita Bijons

Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 12:30 PM

To: janet@... ; margaretkohr@...

Subject: Time sensitive

 

Hello,

 

 The following pertains to an invitation for members of First Unitarian Congregation to meet Polly Higgins, who will be in Toronto as of this Friday afternoon.

Would you be able to please share word of this invitation to your members?

         Please be in touch for further information.

 

   Thank you kindly.

   Rita Bijons (416) 766 6331

 

Meet Polly Higgins and learn about the campaign to make Ecocide a crime

 

Friends’ Meeting House

60 Lowther Avenue (fully accessible, 2 blocks north of St. George subway)

Saturday, February 18^th, 4:00 – 6:00 P.M. followed by a potluck dinner

(this is a free event, donations  are welcome!)

          Polly has been a vocal spokesperson on Earth Law for a number of years and is recognised as an expert in her field. Her book, Eradicating Ecocide: Laws and Governance to Prevent the Destruction of our Planet is published by Shepheard-Walwyn, Winner of the Peoples Book Prize 2011 for non-fiction and finalist for the Book of the Year. Polly has now mounted a global campaign to have Ecocide recognized as the 5th Crime Against Peace at the 2012 Earth Summit. Seewww.eradicatingecocide.com

 

For more information contact:

Lyn Adamson, 416-731-6605,

Widely known as “Earth’s Lawyer”  British lawyer Polly Higgins has dedicated her life to one client – the Earth, and founded the campaign to make Ecocide a crime.  Ecocide is defined as the mass “damage, destruction to or loss of ecosystems of a given territory whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished.”

She has refused to accept business as usual where her client was concerned.  Polly realized that existing laws are not protecting Earth's interests. As a barrister she was short of the tools she needed to represent her client, so she set about examining what new laws were required.

Next June, Heads of State gathering in Rio for Earth Summit 2012 will be asked to endorse Ecocide, the environmental equivalent of genocide, as the 5th International Crime Against Peace alongside Genocide itself, Crimes Against Humanity, Crimes of Aggression and War Crimes. During war it is a crime to destroy vast tracts of land, but during peace-time there is no crime against it. This anomaly in the law has allowed the damage and destruction of the planet to escalate out of control. The aim of making Ecocide a crime is a way to achieve climate justice—ultimately to prevent environmental destruction happening in the first place. It would stop the flow of destruction at source and create a pre-emptive duty on corporate activity to prohibit the mass damage and destruction from the outset.  It is a feasible amendment to international law that could catapult global society into a sustainable future.

“Law can be an enormous lever for shifting consciousness” says Polly.  “What happens with legislation is that everybody follows it – you realign people’s value systems”.  In a Mock Trial, September 30, 2011, in London’s Supreme Court, eminent lawyers showed how the Ecocide law would be applied to man-made ecocide.  Tackling a case involving the Earth’s greatest ecocide, the Alberta Tar Sands, it took just 50 minutes for the jury to return unanimous guilty verdicts against two corporate oil company executives, operating in the Tar Sands.

Polly Higgins is visiting Toronto Feb. 18 – 20^th on a North American Tour and will meet with faith, environmental, youth, political leaders, legal professionals and the general public to outline how to make Earth law at the Earth Summit Rio+20.  

This event is organized by the Toronto Climate Campaign and hosted by the Peace and Social Action Committee of the Toronto Quaker meeting.

"I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it!" (attributed to Thomas Paine).