Issue 428 of New Internationalist

Reader-owned global journalism

December 2009

December 2009

As government negotiators, corporate lobbyists, NGOs and protesters all gear up for the biggest international climate jamboree of all time, the NI asks: should we believe the hype?

Is the Cop 15 UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen this December really our last chance to save the planet? Is there any hope of getting a deal that can deliver climate justice to the world's poor, or has the UN process become a dangerous distraction from the real challenge of a rapid transition away from fossil fuels? And, if the latter is true, what should we do about it?

As activists deliberate over whether to shut negotiators in until they've made a breakthrough, or whether to shut the whole show down, cartoonist Marc Roberts beams inquisitive aliens Gort and Klaatu down to commentate on the 'Copenhagen slam-down – a night of bone-crushing, planet-trashing, wrestling mayhem'.

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In this issue

  • The MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra – Brazil’s landless people’s movement) – has been described as the world’s most dynamic social movement. *Gibby Zobel* joins in its 25th anniversary celebrations and explains why its existence is more important than ever.
  • Cartoonist *Marc Roberts* beams his inquisitive aliens down to commentate on ‘a night of bone-crushing, planet-trashing, wrestling mayhem’.
  • The country, once one of Italy’s few colonial possessions, covers an 800-kilometre strip along Africa’s Red Sea coast, stretching from Sudan in the north to Djibouti in the south.