Claudia Lopez Pardo's articles

Reporting from Cochabamba, Bolivia

After three days of arduous debate, discussion and cultural meetings, the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of the Mother Earth ended on Thursday, "Earth Day," with big expectations for the upcoming summit late this year in Mexico.

The conference attracted over 30,000 participants and resulted in proposals that emphasized needs for a world referendum on climate change, a climate justice tribunal, and the protection of the rights of Mother Earth.

"The United States has not even signed the Kyoto Protocol, so we must develop a mandatory and binding proposal,” said Alberto Acosta, an economist and former president of the Constituent Assembly of Ecuador.

Reporting from Cochabamba, Bolivia

Bolivian President Evo Morales launched the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth on Tuesday, welcoming over 10,000 people from 135 countries and dozens of social organizations to what he declared to be an alternative to the United Nations climate talks.

In a moving multicultural ceremony in a stadium outside Cochabamba, amautas — indigenous cultural leaders — performed an official opening ceremony offering a gift to mother earth "Pachamama".

A written goal of the conference is “to save the planet,” and Morales, who opposed the U.S.-backed Copenhagen Accord during the last international climate conference, was clear about where he'd like to start.

"We can not have equilibrium in this world with the current inequality and destruction of Mother Earth," Morales told the crowd. "Capitalism is what is causing this problem and it needs to end."