ABSTRACT
In April 2010, more than 35,000 people attended the ‘World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth’ in Cochabamba, Bolivia. 2 Invited by Bolivian president Evo Morales, participants discussed climate change, international climate policy, agriculture, food sovereignty, and the relationship between nature and humankind. By focusing on climate change and by attracting representatives of indigenous groups, social movements, and NGOs, the conference provided an alternative forum to the intergovernmental climate negotiations within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). At the end of the Cochabamba conference, the participants agreed on a final declaration outlining their vision on the issues discussed: The so-called People’s Agreement expresses an alternative understanding of climate change and its socio-economic and political causes. Furthermore, the agreement also proposes alternative solutions to tackle climate change.
