Arxiu de Articles de premsa - ODG https://odg.cat/odgpremsa/ Observatori del Deute en la Globalització Thu, 12 Feb 2026 10:59:03 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://odg.cat/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/cropped-logO-32x32.png Arxiu de Articles de premsa - ODG https://odg.cat/odgpremsa/ 32 32 Climática | The Peoples’ COP Called On Us to Change the Script https://odg.cat/en/odgpress/climatica-the-peoples-cop-called-on-us-to-change-the-script/ Fri, 19 Dec 2025 10:57:13 +0000 https://odg.cat/?post_type=odgpremsa&p=21086 Under the slogan “We are the answer”, traditional and indigenous communities are calling for a new focus in climate justice. The People’s COP has make a call to change the script. After four years, the COP has once again been held in a democratic country. I say “democratic” but I’m not sure that’s the word to describe a system that allows more than 120 people to be massacred at the hands of the police, even if what happened in the outskirts of Rio just a few weeks ago already seems to be old news. Then again, in Spain we’re still flaunting our impunity regarding the 2014 Tarajal incident and nobody has called our democracy into question, so I guess we can just take the term “democratic” with a pinch of salt. Anyway, let’s move on. This COP, in contrast to those held in Egypt, Dubai and Azerbaijan, had a strong grassroots turnout. Global media was able to spread the story of the Munduruku people’s protest as they blocked the entrance to the official COP headquarters, the practice of mass public demonstrations was revived, and dozens of fringe spaces popped up, bringing together thousands of people to synthesise and fine-tune alternative proposals. With a strong presence of Indigenous voices in every debate (whether official or informal), as well as the momentum of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) and other traditional communities (ribeirinhos, quilombolas, and so on), this was truly “The Peoples’ COP”. Aside from providing a platform for these groups’ demands to be heard, this diversity could also bring about a much more profound change of direction. Allow me another tangent. If you have read the manifesto of the Peoples’ Summit, you will have come across the somewhat confusing concept of “extractivist communities”. After all, isn’t extractivism what we’ve been fighting against? In Brazil, this concept was coined by organised Indigenous communities, ribeirinhos (riverside dwellers) and seringueiros (rubber collectors) together with Chico Mendes to refer to traditional practices – fishing, gathering, family farming, and so on – that enable communities to sustain themselves while also preserving ecosystems. Thanks to their efforts, Extractivist Reserves were created in the 1980s to protect these territories and the Indigenous and traditional communities that inhabit them. READ THE FULL ARTICLE

The post Climática | The Peoples’ COP Called On Us to Change the Script appeared first on ODG.

]]> Under the slogan “We are the answer”, traditional and indigenous communities are calling for a new focus in climate justice. The People’s COP has make a call to change the script.

After four years, the COP has once again been held in a democratic country. I say “democratic” but I’m not sure that’s the word to describe a system that allows more than 120 people to be massacred at the hands of the police, even if what happened in the outskirts of Rio just a few weeks ago already seems to be old news. Then again, in Spain we’re still flaunting our impunity regarding the 2014 Tarajal incident and nobody has called our democracy into question, so I guess we can just take the term “democratic” with a pinch of salt.

Anyway, let’s move on. This COP, in contrast to those held in Egypt, Dubai and Azerbaijan, had a strong grassroots turnout. Global media was able to spread the story of the Munduruku people’s protest as they blocked the entrance to the official COP headquarters, the practice of mass public demonstrations was revived, and dozens of fringe spaces popped up, bringing together thousands of people to synthesise and fine-tune alternative proposals. With a strong presence of Indigenous voices in every debate (whether official or informal), as well as the momentum of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) and other traditional communities (ribeirinhos, quilombolas, and so on), this was truly “The Peoples’ COP”. Aside from providing a platform for these groups’ demands to be heard, this diversity could also bring about a much more profound change of direction.

Allow me another tangent. If you have read the manifesto of the Peoples’ Summit, you will have come across the somewhat confusing concept of “extractivist communities”. After all, isn’t extractivism what we’ve been fighting against? In Brazil, this concept was coined by organised Indigenous communities, ribeirinhos (riverside dwellers) and seringueiros (rubber collectors) together with Chico Mendes to refer to traditional practices – fishing, gathering, family farming, and so on – that enable communities to sustain themselves while also preserving ecosystems. Thanks to their efforts, Extractivist Reserves were created in the 1980s to protect these territories and the Indigenous and traditional communities that inhabit them.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

The post Climática | The Peoples’ COP Called On Us to Change the Script appeared first on ODG.

]]> Green European Journal | Empire of the Sun: Big Oil’s Foray in the Green Transition https://odg.cat/en/odgpress/green-european-journal-empire-of-the-sun-big-oils-foray-in-the-green-transition/ Thu, 03 Jul 2025 10:56:27 +0000 https://odg.cat/?post_type=odgpremsa&p=20280 In a bid to diversify their business strategies, oil multinationals are buying up land and investing in solar megaprojects. However, these projects often employ creative strategies to avoid environmental scrutiny. They also bypass local communities, fuelling opposition to renewable energy. This cross-border investigation sheds light on the risks of a profit-driven transition in Spain and Italy. According to Josep Nualart Corpas, energy researcher at ODG Catalonia and member of the Catalan Network for Energy Sovereignty, this growing presence of fossil fuel giants in the renewable sector should be treated with caution. “Big oil and fossil gas companies are not truly committed to shifting energy production towards renewables or to deeply transforming the energy system,” he explains. “Their interest surged when public funds became available. If fossil fuel projects continue to benefit from historical financial and tax advantages, these companies will step back from renewables or pursue only the most profitable ones.” Indeed, many of these large-scale solar and wind projects are driven by economic logic rather than public interest. “The energy transition is being used to retain power within the existing energy system,” Nualart Corpas continues. “These corporations promote flagship renewable projects, but their main focus remains on false solutions – like hydrogen and biogas – that maintain centralised control and profitability.” FULL ARTICLE

The post Green European Journal | Empire of the Sun: Big Oil’s Foray in the Green Transition appeared first on ODG.

]]> In a bid to diversify their business strategies, oil multinationals are buying up land and investing in solar megaprojects. However, these projects often employ creative strategies to avoid environmental scrutiny. They also bypass local communities, fuelling opposition to renewable energy. This cross-border investigation sheds light on the risks of a profit-driven transition in Spain and Italy.

According to Josep Nualart Corpas, energy researcher at ODG Catalonia and member of the Catalan Network for Energy Sovereignty, this growing presence of fossil fuel giants in the renewable sector should be treated with caution. “Big oil and fossil gas companies are not truly committed to shifting energy production towards renewables or to deeply transforming the energy system,” he explains. “Their interest surged when public funds became available. If fossil fuel projects continue to benefit from historical financial and tax advantages, these companies will step back from renewables or pursue only the most profitable ones.”

Indeed, many of these large-scale solar and wind projects are driven by economic logic rather than public interest. “The energy transition is being used to retain power within the existing energy system,” Nualart Corpas continues. “These corporations promote flagship renewable projects, but their main focus remains on false solutions – like hydrogen and biogas – that maintain centralised control and profitability.”

FULL ARTICLE

The post Green European Journal | Empire of the Sun: Big Oil’s Foray in the Green Transition appeared first on ODG.

]]> EU citizens poorly involved in recovery funds’ design and spending, report shows | Euroactiv https://odg.cat/en/odgpress/eu-citizens-poorly-involved-in-recovery-funds-design-and-spending-report-shows-euroactiv/ Tue, 04 Jul 2023 10:27:57 +0000 https://odg.cat/?post_type=press&p=15089 NGOs warned of “opacities” in the way the pandemic recovery funds have been designed and spent across a number of European countries, which have often locked citizens out from decisions affecting them. “There has been a massive lack of public involvement and participation in designing and actually implementing the recovery funds,” Daniel Thomson, policy officer at CEE Bankwatch Network, told EURACTIV. “The decisions on how and where to invest these funds have been really taken behind closed doors, without properly involving civil society, the public or relevant stakeholders,” he added, pointing to the findings of a recent report analysing recovery funds spending in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Spain. Lack of transparency The report, published by the Citizens’ Observatory for Green Deal Financing, found that the public was not involved in the design of the national recovery plans and was often not given tools to monitor their implementation. “In Italy, there has been opacity since the beginning, because the government did not let the parliament see the draft recovery plan until three days before presenting it to the Commission,” said Eva Pastorelli, campaigner at the Italian NGO ReCommon. While there were positive investments, “the plan had no bottom-up approach and it has not been easy for territories and communities to co-programme the investments based on their needs,” she said. On top of this, civil society organisations encountered difficulties in finding and accessing information regarding the projects funded, pointing to a lack of transparency for the public. “We’ve really struggled to find a lot of information about what’s actually been financed and who are the beneficiaries. So the fact that civil society has really been struggling to find this information means that citizens have not been involved at all,” Thomson said. As the funds needed to be spent over a short period of time, in some cases the period available for public consultation was shortened, to respect the deadlines imposed. “There was a lack of transparency and time for people to really assess if infrastructure was really needed,” said Pastorelli, pointing to the example of a breakwater in Genoa, a €2 billion infrastructure project which NGOs said has been carried out without citizen involvement and could potentially damage sea biodiversity. The lack of involvement at the local level was criticised by the European Parliament in a report adopted in June 2022, which called on member states to “ensure clarity in the distribution of responsibilities and adequate management systems of RRF [recovery and resilience] funds to take into consideration the specific needs of the citizens at regional and local levels.” Against public interests “Failing to include civil society in making these decisions led to a series of investments that don’t really reflect the interests of the general public,” Thomson said. According to the report, investments under the national recovery plans often went to large companies rather than SMEs or the public sector or towards big infrastructure projects which could potentially harm the environment. “The recovery funds were supposed to help people and those countries especially hit by the COVID pandemic and recover by creating more resilient economies,” said Bruna Cañada Roca from the Debt Observatory in Globalisation, adding however that the money has not reinforced the healthcare system or other public services. “The whole decision-making process was just a dialogue between the national government and the European Commission and the management was very centralised,” she said, explaining that a social dialogue table for the recovery created in Spain included only representatives of two trade unions. A lack of staff and resources has also prevented municipalities and regions as well as social enterprises from accessing the funds, she added. In other countries, however, citizen participation had more influence on decisions taken on the spending of funds. In Poland, for instance, the construction of a hydro project on Vistula was criticised and removed from the recovery plan. “The lower citizens’ involvement, the higher risk bad projects are included in the plan,” Krzysztof Mrozek from the Polish Green Network told EURACTIV, adding that strict eligibility criteria also prevented projects which could be beneficial for local communities to be funded through the EU recovery funds. Better involvement The authors of the report also conducted a survey among citizens finding low levels of awareness regarding EU recovery funds and citizen involvement in the decisions taken by the governments. In the survey, respondents suggested increasing the use of social media, television, radio and podcasts to raise awareness. To boost involvement of citizens, respondents also pointed to the possibility of introducing mandatory public participation or setting up citizens’ assemblies at the city level allowing inhabitants to exchange about their needs. “National authorities, the member states, see public participation as a really bureaucratic kind of red tape and tick-the-box exercise, whereas in fact, they should view it as a real asset to align spending with the needs of the citizens,” Thomson said. By: Silvia Ellena Date: 4 jul 2023 Image: European Comission Link: https://www.euractiv.com/section/participatory-democracy/news/eu-citizens-poorly-involved-in-recovery-funds-design-and-spending-report-shows/?utm_source=dlvr.it

The post EU citizens poorly involved in recovery funds’ design and spending, report shows | Euroactiv appeared first on ODG.

]]> NGOs warned of “opacities” in the way the pandemic recovery funds have been designed and spent across a number of European countries, which have often locked citizens out from decisions affecting them.

“There has been a massive lack of public involvement and participation in designing and actually implementing the recovery funds,” Daniel Thomson, policy officer at CEE Bankwatch Network, told EURACTIV.

“The decisions on how and where to invest these funds have been really taken behind closed doors, without properly involving civil society, the public or relevant stakeholders,” he added, pointing to the findings of a recent report analysing recovery funds spending in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Spain.

Lack of transparency

The report, published by the Citizens’ Observatory for Green Deal Financing, found that the public was not involved in the design of the national recovery plans and was often not given tools to monitor their implementation.

“In Italy, there has been opacity since the beginning, because the government did not let the parliament see the draft recovery plan until three days before presenting it to the Commission,” said Eva Pastorelli, campaigner at the Italian NGO ReCommon.

While there were positive investments, “the plan had no bottom-up approach and it has not been easy for territories and communities to co-programme the investments based on their needs,” she said.

On top of this, civil society organisations encountered difficulties in finding and accessing information regarding the projects funded, pointing to a lack of transparency for the public.

“We’ve really struggled to find a lot of information about what’s actually been financed and who are the beneficiaries. So the fact that civil society has really been struggling to find this information means that citizens have not been involved at all,” Thomson said.

As the funds needed to be spent over a short period of time, in some cases the period available for public consultation was shortened, to respect the deadlines imposed.

“There was a lack of transparency and time for people to really assess if infrastructure was really needed,” said Pastorelli, pointing to the example of a breakwater in Genoa, a €2 billion infrastructure project which NGOs said has been carried out without citizen involvement and could potentially damage sea biodiversity.

The lack of involvement at the local level was criticised by the European Parliament in a report adopted in June 2022, which called on member states to “ensure clarity in the distribution of responsibilities and adequate management systems of RRF [recovery and resilience] funds to take into consideration the specific needs of the citizens at regional and local levels.”

Against public interests

“Failing to include civil society in making these decisions led to a series of investments that don’t really reflect the interests of the general public,” Thomson said.

According to the report, investments under the national recovery plans often went to large companies rather than SMEs or the public sector or towards big infrastructure projects which could potentially harm the environment.

“The recovery funds were supposed to help people and those countries especially hit by the COVID pandemic and recover by creating more resilient economies,” said Bruna Cañada Roca from the Debt Observatory in Globalisation, adding however that the money has not reinforced the healthcare system or other public services.

“The whole decision-making process was just a dialogue between the national government and the European Commission and the management was very centralised,” she said, explaining that a social dialogue table for the recovery created in Spain included only representatives of two trade unions.

A lack of staff and resources has also prevented municipalities and regions as well as social enterprises from accessing the funds, she added.

In other countries, however, citizen participation had more influence on decisions taken on the spending of funds.

In Poland, for instance, the construction of a hydro project on Vistula was criticised and removed from the recovery plan.

“The lower citizens’ involvement, the higher risk bad projects are included in the plan,” Krzysztof Mrozek from the Polish Green Network told EURACTIV, adding that strict eligibility criteria also prevented projects which could be beneficial for local communities to be funded through the EU recovery funds.

Better involvement

The authors of the report also conducted a survey among citizens finding low levels of awareness regarding EU recovery funds and citizen involvement in the decisions taken by the governments.

In the survey, respondents suggested increasing the use of social media, television, radio and podcasts to raise awareness.

To boost involvement of citizens, respondents also pointed to the possibility of introducing mandatory public participation or setting up citizens’ assemblies at the city level allowing inhabitants to exchange about their needs.

“National authorities, the member states, see public participation as a really bureaucratic kind of red tape and tick-the-box exercise, whereas in fact, they should view it as a real asset to align spending with the needs of the citizens,” Thomson said.

By: Silvia Ellena
Date: 4 jul 2023
Image: European Comission
Link: https://www.euractiv.com/section/participatory-democracy/news/eu-citizens-poorly-involved-in-recovery-funds-design-and-spending-report-shows/?utm_source=dlvr.it

The post EU citizens poorly involved in recovery funds’ design and spending, report shows | Euroactiv appeared first on ODG.

]]> Alfons Pérez / OpenDemocracy: A Green New Deal for whom? https://odg.cat/en/odgpress/alfons-perez-opendemocracy-a-green-new-deal-for-whom/ Tue, 27 Apr 2021 07:59:01 +0000 https://odg.cat/?post_type=press&p=10052 The European Green Deal falls far short of the demands being put forward by feminist, Indigenous and Global South movements. Here’s how to bridge the gap In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world are turning to ‘Green New Deals’ as a win-win solution to both economic crisis and climate catastrophe. Nowhere is this more apparent than the all-encompassing European Green Deal (EGD), launched by the European Commission to bring the continent’s carbon emissions down to net zero by 2050. One might assume that the environmental movement would be happy with this policy initiative, but since the EGD’s launch it has been met with fierce criticism. The ecosocialist Daniel Tanuro has argued that US President Roosevelt’s original New Deal, upon which Green Deals are conceptually modelled, was ultimately aimed at maintaining social order during the Great Depression and thereby upholding the capitalist status quo. In the same way, many are challenging the new wave of Green New Deals for not questioning the fundamental structures of our existing economic model. How green is ‘green’? The psychologist Abraham Maslow once said that “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”. The European Green Deal embodies this maxim. The hammer is the market and the nails include growth, debt and financialisation. Criticisms of the European Green Deal generally fall into three categories. The first is that the European Deal clings to the idea that absolute decoupling of economic growth and environmental impact is possible. In other words: the plan assumes that we can achieve ‘green’ economic growth at the same time as dramatically reducing CO2 emissions. Absolute decoupling can be made to work on a regional level by outsourcing polluting activities, but there is no evidence that this can happen on a global scale. For example, the European Commission claims that between 1990 and 2017 emissions decreased by 22% while the economy grew by 58%. What it fails to mention is that over the past two decades, imports from China have quadrupled from €90bn in 2002 to €420bn in 2019. The second criticism is the plan’s blind faith in technology. Renewables are without a doubt a huge improvement on fossil fuels, but they lock us into multiple dependencies on scarce raw materials. This could lead to a shortage of lithium, cobalt, nickel and other rare earth metals by 2050 – elements that are mainly concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and China. This would cause severe impacts for those communities suffering under extractivism. Author: Alfons Pérez Published: 23 d’abril de 2021 Image: Valentin Sama-Rojo/Alamy Live News Link: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/green-new-deal-whom/

The post Alfons Pérez / OpenDemocracy: A Green New Deal for whom? appeared first on ODG.

]]> The European Green Deal falls far short of the demands being put forward by feminist, Indigenous and Global South movements. Here’s how to bridge the gap

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world are turning to ‘Green New Deals’ as a win-win solution to both economic crisis and climate catastrophe. Nowhere is this more apparent than the all-encompassing European Green Deal (EGD), launched by the European Commission to bring the continent’s carbon emissions down to net zero by 2050.

One might assume that the environmental movement would be happy with this policy initiative, but since the EGD’s launch it has been met with fierce criticism. The ecosocialist Daniel Tanuro has argued that US President Roosevelt’s original New Deal, upon which Green Deals are conceptually modelled, was ultimately aimed at maintaining social order during the Great Depression and thereby upholding the capitalist status quo. In the same way, many are challenging the new wave of Green New Deals for not questioning the fundamental structures of our existing economic model.

How green is ‘green’?
The psychologist Abraham Maslow once said that “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”. The European Green Deal embodies this maxim. The hammer is the market and the nails include growth, debt and financialisation.

Criticisms of the European Green Deal generally fall into three categories. The first is that the European Deal clings to the idea that absolute decoupling of economic growth and environmental impact is possible. In other words: the plan assumes that we can achieve ‘green’ economic growth at the same time as dramatically reducing CO2 emissions. Absolute decoupling can be made to work on a regional level by outsourcing polluting activities, but there is no evidence that this can happen on a global scale. For example, the European Commission claims that between 1990 and 2017 emissions decreased by 22% while the economy grew by 58%. What it fails to mention is that over the past two decades, imports from China have quadrupled from €90bn in 2002 to €420bn in 2019.

The second criticism is the plan’s blind faith in technology. Renewables are without a doubt a huge improvement on fossil fuels, but they lock us into multiple dependencies on scarce raw materials. This could lead to a shortage of lithium, cobalt, nickel and other rare earth metals by 2050 – elements that are mainly concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and China. This would cause severe impacts for those communities suffering under extractivism.

Author: Alfons Pérez
Published: 23 d’abril de 2021
Image: Valentin Sama-Rojo/Alamy Live News
Link: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/green-new-deal-whom/

The post Alfons Pérez / OpenDemocracy: A Green New Deal for whom? appeared first on ODG.

]]> Alfons Pérez / ctxt / Fondos europeos: ¿transacción o transición energética? https://odg.cat/en/odgpress/fondos-europeos-transaccion-energetica/ Sun, 21 Mar 2021 15:33:23 +0000 https://odg.cat/premsa/fondos-europeos-transaccion-energetica/ Las administraciones públicas han perdido la capacidad de gestión y de inversión, y eso es un problema no solamente para la transición energética con fondos europeos sino para la democracia. Si alguna vez pensábamos que las administraciones públicas podrían hacer una apuesta decidida por la transición energética, ese momento es ahora, en tiempos de pandemia. Los fondos europeos de recuperación NextGenerationEU (NGEU) son un impulso inusitado para la transformación de la economía hacia un futuro verde y digital que nos permita llegar a la neutralidad climática en 2050, y tienen mucho de energético. Cuantitativamente, sus 750.000 millones de euros (140.000 millones para el Estado español) son una inyección considerable para la inaplazable transición. Cualitativamente, tienen la marca y el diseño europeo, lo que favorece una mayor concentración: grandes corporaciones moviendo grandes inversiones para financiar grandes proyectos. Además, su ritmo frenético obliga a asignarlos en poco más de dos años, lo que dificulta su control. Autor: Alfons Pérez Publicado en: ctxt, 16 de marzo, 2021 Enlace: https://ctxt.es/es/20210301/Firmas/35311/  

The post Alfons Pérez / ctxt / Fondos europeos: ¿transacción o transición energética? appeared first on ODG.

]]> Las administraciones públicas han perdido la capacidad de gestión y de inversión, y eso es un problema no solamente para la transición energética con fondos europeos sino para la democracia.

Si alguna vez pensábamos que las administraciones públicas podrían hacer una apuesta decidida por la transición energética, ese momento es ahora, en tiempos de pandemia. Los fondos europeos de recuperación NextGenerationEU (NGEU) son un impulso inusitado para la transformación de la economía hacia un futuro verde y digital que nos permita llegar a la neutralidad climática en 2050, y tienen mucho de energético.

Cuantitativamente, sus 750.000 millones de euros (140.000 millones para el Estado español) son una inyección considerable para la inaplazable transición. Cualitativamente, tienen la marca y el diseño europeo, lo que favorece una mayor concentración: grandes corporaciones moviendo grandes inversiones para financiar grandes proyectos. Además, su ritmo frenético obliga a asignarlos en poco más de dos años, lo que dificulta su control.

Autor: Alfons Pérez
Publicado en: ctxt, 16 de marzo, 2021
Enlace: https://ctxt.es/es/20210301/Firmas/35311/

 

The post Alfons Pérez / ctxt / Fondos europeos: ¿transacción o transición energética? appeared first on ODG.

]]> Alfons Pérez / El Salto / “El Pacto Verde Europeo es eurocéntrico y no nos ofrece un futuro deseable” https://odg.cat/en/odgpress/pacto-verde-europeo-eurocentrico/ Sat, 20 Mar 2021 11:56:43 +0000 https://odg.cat/premsa/pacto-verde-europeo-eurocentrico/ El activista ecologista Luis González Reyes, autor de ‘La espiral de la energía’, conversa con Alfons Pérez, integrante del Observatorio de la Deuda en la Globalización, sobre su último libro, ‘Pactos verdes en tiempos de pandemias’. Necesitamos pensar nuestras tácticas, nuestra estrategia concretada en las conyunturas que vivimos. Por eso, Pactos verdes en tiempos de pandemias de Alfons Pérez es un libro importante. Nos ayuda, y mucho, a actuar con eficiencia en el contexto actual de crisis económica y ecosistémica considerando las herramientas y estrategias que está impulsando la UE. Intentamos desgranar en esta entrevista algunos de los aspectos fundamentales de la obra. LUIS GONZÁLEZ REYES: Siguiendo la estela de Ramón Fernández Durán, parto de la base de que la UE fue creada como herramienta para fortalecer la competitividad del capital europeo, lo que le ha llevado a ser un actor de primer orden en el proceso de destrucción ecosistémica global. Pero una de las cosas que subrayas en el libro es que, a diferencia de otras grandes crisis, sin ir más lejos la de 2007/2008, en esta ocasión la UE no está sacrificando “lo verde”, sino poniéndolo en el frontispicio, al menos retórico, de su plan de recuperación. ¿Cuáles crees que son las causas de esto? ¿Significa un cambio de fondo en el sentido de la UE? ALFONS PÉREZ: Creo que, a pesar de los delirios negacionistas de la extrema derecha, existe un consenso mayoritario de que hemos superado los límites del planeta y eso tiene consecuencias catastróficas. Autor: Luís González Reyes Publicado en: El Salto, 21 de marzo, 2021. Enlace: https://www.elsaltodiario.com/ecologia/entrevista-alfons-perez-pacto-lavado-verde-europeo-eurocentrico-no-ofrece-futuro-deseable  

The post Alfons Pérez / El Salto / “El Pacto Verde Europeo es eurocéntrico y no nos ofrece un futuro deseable” appeared first on ODG.

]]> El activista ecologista Luis González Reyes, autor de ‘La espiral de la energía’, conversa con Alfons Pérez, integrante del Observatorio de la Deuda en la Globalización, sobre su último libro, ‘Pactos verdes en tiempos de pandemias’.

Necesitamos pensar nuestras tácticas, nuestra estrategia concretada en las conyunturas que vivimos. Por eso, Pactos verdes en tiempos de pandemias de Alfons Pérez es un libro importante. Nos ayuda, y mucho, a actuar con eficiencia en el contexto actual de crisis económica y ecosistémica considerando las herramientas y estrategias que está impulsando la UE. Intentamos desgranar en esta entrevista algunos de los aspectos fundamentales de la obra.

LUIS GONZÁLEZ REYES: Siguiendo la estela de Ramón Fernández Durán, parto de la base de que la UE fue creada como herramienta para fortalecer la competitividad del capital europeo, lo que le ha llevado a ser un actor de primer orden en el proceso de destrucción ecosistémica global. Pero una de las cosas que subrayas en el libro es que, a diferencia de otras grandes crisis, sin ir más lejos la de 2007/2008, en esta ocasión la UE no está sacrificando “lo verde”, sino poniéndolo en el frontispicio, al menos retórico, de su plan de recuperación. ¿Cuáles crees que son las causas de esto? ¿Significa un cambio de fondo en el sentido de la UE?

ALFONS PÉREZ: Creo que, a pesar de los delirios negacionistas de la extrema derecha, existe un consenso mayoritario de que hemos superado los límites del planeta y eso tiene consecuencias catastróficas.

Autor: Luís González Reyes
Publicado en: El Salto, 21 de marzo, 2021.
Enlace: https://www.elsaltodiario.com/ecologia/entrevista-alfons-perez-pacto-lavado-verde-europeo-eurocentrico-no-ofrece-futuro-deseable

 

The post Alfons Pérez / El Salto / “El Pacto Verde Europeo es eurocéntrico y no nos ofrece un futuro deseable” appeared first on ODG.

]]> Blanca Bayas / Crític / “Els feminismes i els ecologismes són els que millor expliquen la crisi que vivim” https://odg.cat/en/odgpress/entrevista-blanca-bayas-feminismes/ Tue, 09 Mar 2021 11:15:07 +0000 https://odg.cat/premsa/entrevista-blanca-bayas-feminismes/ Blanca Bayas Fernández és investigadora de l’Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (ODG) i membre d’Acció Ecofeminista, especialitzada en els impactes de la privatització, de l’especulació i de la manca de sobiranies en la vida de les persones. Per Bayas, les principals vulneracions de drets es perpetren per un sistema capitalista que, en connivència amb un patriarcat, exposa les dones i qualsevol identitat dissident a la vulnerabilitat. En aquest sentit, la Covid-19 ha posat encara més en relleu que la crisi climàtica i la de les cures van de la mà i, per això, des dels ecofeminismes es reivindica la sobirania completa, “la que ens faci aspirar a viure, per fi, vides dignes”. Això implica, segons ella, trobar-se en l’encreuament entre els feminismes i els ecologismes, allà on la lluita contra el patriarcat i la cerca de les sobiranies es donen la mà. La crisi de la Covid-19 s’ha atribuït, en gran part, als efectes del canvi climàtic. Les seves conseqüències han estat gravíssimes per a les dones i per a les persones dedicades a les cures. Aquesta conjuntura ens farà donar més pes a l’ecofeminisme? Els ecofeminismes consideren que els impactes sobre els cossos de les dones i sobre altres col·lectius vulnerabilitzats, i també els impactes sobre els territoris, tenen una arrel comuna. El model econòmic actual és extractivista de recursos naturals, del temps i del treball de les dones. Per això, també és responsable dels canvis en els ecosistemes i de la vulneració de drets d’una part important de la població, així com de l’agreujament de les desigualtats socials. En síntesi, els ecologismes alerten de la crisi climàtica, i els feminismes, de la crisi de les cures. Les mateixes crisis i emergències que, d’una banda, han provocat aquesta pandèmia i, de l’altra, han agreujat les seves conseqüències pel que fa a impactes i desigualtats. En l’encreuament dels feminismes i dels ecologismes hi ha moltes respostes per entendre el context actual i sistèmic, però també, i sobretot, hi ha moltes propostes diverses i alternatives per fer-hi front. Autora: entrevista a Blanca Bayas per Sandra Vicente Publicat a: diari Crític, 8 de març, 2021 Enllaç: https://www.elcritic.cat/entrevistes/blanca-bayas-els-feminismes-i-els-ecologismes-son-els-que-millor-expliquen-la-crisi-que-vivim-84771  

The post Blanca Bayas / Crític / “Els feminismes i els ecologismes són els que millor expliquen la crisi que vivim” appeared first on ODG.

]]> Blanca Bayas Fernández és investigadora de l’Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (ODG) i membre d’Acció Ecofeminista, especialitzada en els impactes de la privatització, de l’especulació i de la manca de sobiranies en la vida de les persones. Per Bayas, les principals vulneracions de drets es perpetren per un sistema capitalista que, en connivència amb un patriarcat, exposa les dones i qualsevol identitat dissident a la vulnerabilitat. En aquest sentit, la Covid-19 ha posat encara més en relleu que la crisi climàtica i la de les cures van de la mà i, per això, des dels ecofeminismes es reivindica la sobirania completa, “la que ens faci aspirar a viure, per fi, vides dignes”. Això implica, segons ella, trobar-se en l’encreuament entre els feminismes i els ecologismes, allà on la lluita contra el patriarcat i la cerca de les sobiranies es donen la mà.

La crisi de la Covid-19 s’ha atribuït, en gran part, als efectes del canvi climàtic. Les seves conseqüències han estat gravíssimes per a les dones i per a les persones dedicades a les cures. Aquesta conjuntura ens farà donar més pes a l’ecofeminisme?

Els ecofeminismes consideren que els impactes sobre els cossos de les dones i sobre altres col·lectius vulnerabilitzats, i també els impactes sobre els territoris, tenen una arrel comuna. El model econòmic actual és extractivista de recursos naturals, del temps i del treball de les dones. Per això, també és responsable dels canvis en els ecosistemes i de la vulneració de drets d’una part important de la població, així com de l’agreujament de les desigualtats socials. En síntesi, els ecologismes alerten de la crisi climàtica, i els feminismes, de la crisi de les cures. Les mateixes crisis i emergències que, d’una banda, han provocat aquesta pandèmia i, de l’altra, han agreujat les seves conseqüències pel que fa a impactes i desigualtats. En l’encreuament dels feminismes i dels ecologismes hi ha moltes respostes per entendre el context actual i sistèmic, però també, i sobretot, hi ha moltes propostes diverses i alternatives per fer-hi front.

Autora: entrevista a Blanca Bayas per Sandra Vicente
Publicat a: diari Crític, 8 de març, 2021
Enllaç: https://www.elcritic.cat/entrevistes/blanca-bayas-els-feminismes-i-els-ecologismes-son-els-que-millor-expliquen-la-crisi-que-vivim-84771

 

The post Blanca Bayas / Crític / “Els feminismes i els ecologismes són els que millor expliquen la crisi que vivim” appeared first on ODG.

]]> Press release: book publication “Green deals in a time of pandemics. The future will be contested now” https://odg.cat/en/odgpress/book-green-deals/ Mon, 01 Mar 2021 17:30:56 +0000 https://odg.cat/premsa/libro-pactos-verdes/ The pandemic has accelerated the arrival of a new cycle of crisis and with it the deployment of the European Green Deal, which coincides with the arrival of the historic Next Generation EU funds.  Analysing this context, the Debt Observatory in Globalisation (ODG) has published the book “Green deals in a time of pandemics. The future will be contested now”, by the engineer and researcher Alfons Pérez, which analyses in depth these economic policies and instruments and their intersection with elements such as green growth, digitalisation, extractivism, over-indebtedness (and new austerity measures) and plausible ways out of the economic, social and ecological tsunami that is brewing. Book available for download. “This is the first time that administrations and states have recognised that the recovery from a crisis must be green,” explains Alfons Pérez. The EU has on the table the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050 and to this end has promoted and approved the European Green Deal (EGD); a comprehensive plan of reforms to reorient the European economy towards a green transition. The EGD is the most tangible green deal to date, but it has serious limitations and risks that call into question its effectiveness. The EGD proposes the possibility of decoupling economic growth and production from energy and materials consumption, generating less waste and emissions. This is the recipe for green growth, but it does not take into account the outsourcing of industrial processes or the impact of imports. Emissions fall within the EU but continue to impact on climate change outside. “It is not proven that it is possible to continue to grow and at the same time reduce emissions consumption,” says Alfons Pérez. Another factor at play is the Next Generation EU funds, which will mobilise 750 billion euros in grants and credits, financed by issuing EU debt. The huge availability of public money is pushing for a “green consensus” among institutions such as the OECD, the IMF and the European Commission, with the risk that millions will be channelled into false solutions such as green hydrogen and greenwashing of large mining and oil corporations. These funds also point to a green recovery based on technology and digitisation, which will dramatically increase the extraction of critical materials such as nickel, cobalt or lithium, ignoring the severe social and environmental impacts that will occur in countries such as the Congo, Indonesia, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Zambia or Australia, among others. Alfons points out that we are facing “astronomical budgets that are, perhaps, in terms of public investment, the last opportunity to undertake the economic and social transition necessary to address the climate emergency”. In closing, the book points out some of the keys that the EGD ignores: recognising and respecting biophysical limits, building an economy oriented towards generating well-being, putting jobs that care for life at the centre, redistributing work and reducing working hours, and assuming that our recovery policy cannot be at the expense of other territories. Book available for download.

The post Press release: book publication “Green deals in a time of pandemics. The future will be contested now” appeared first on ODG.

]]> The pandemic has accelerated the arrival of a new cycle of crisis and with it the deployment of the European Green Deal, which coincides with the arrival of the historic Next Generation EU funds. 

Analysing this context, the Debt Observatory in Globalisation (ODG) has published the book “Green deals in a time of pandemics. The future will be contested now”, by the engineer and researcher Alfons Pérez, which analyses in depth these economic policies and instruments and their intersection with elements such as green growth, digitalisation, extractivism, over-indebtedness (and new austerity measures) and plausible ways out of the economic, social and ecological tsunami that is brewing.

Book available for download.

“This is the first time that administrations and states have recognised that the recovery from a crisis must be green,” explains Alfons Pérez.

The EU has on the table the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050 and to this end has promoted and approved the European Green Deal (EGD); a comprehensive plan of reforms to reorient the European economy towards a green transition. The EGD is the most tangible green deal to date, but it has serious limitations and risks that call into question its effectiveness.

The EGD proposes the possibility of decoupling economic growth and production from energy and materials consumption, generating less waste and emissions. This is the recipe for green growth, but it does not take into account the outsourcing of industrial processes or the impact of imports. Emissions fall within the EU but continue to impact on climate change outside.

“It is not proven that it is possible to continue to grow and at the same time reduce emissions consumption,” says Alfons Pérez.

Another factor at play is the Next Generation EU funds, which will mobilise 750 billion euros in grants and credits, financed by issuing EU debt. The huge availability of public money is pushing for a “green consensus” among institutions such as the OECD, the IMF and the European Commission, with the risk that millions will be channelled into false solutions such as green hydrogen and greenwashing of large mining and oil corporations.

These funds also point to a green recovery based on technology and digitisation, which will dramatically increase the extraction of critical materials such as nickel, cobalt or lithium, ignoring the severe social and environmental impacts that will occur in countries such as the Congo, Indonesia, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Zambia or Australia, among others.

Alfons points out that we are facing “astronomical budgets that are, perhaps, in terms of public investment, the last opportunity to undertake the economic and social transition necessary to address the climate emergency”.

In closing, the book points out some of the keys that the EGD ignores: recognising and respecting biophysical limits, building an economy oriented towards generating well-being, putting jobs that care for life at the centre, redistributing work and reducing working hours, and assuming that our recovery policy cannot be at the expense of other territories.

Book available for download.

The post Press release: book publication “Green deals in a time of pandemics. The future will be contested now” appeared first on ODG.

]]> Alfons Pérez / Ràdio Silenci / Programa Món sostenible sobre llibre Pactes Verds https://odg.cat/en/odgpress/alfons-perez-radio-pactes-verds/ Mon, 01 Mar 2021 09:21:55 +0000 https://odg.cat/?post_type=press&p=9912 Entrevista: Alfons Pérez Publicat a: Ràdio Silenci, programa Món sostenible, 1 de març, 2021 Enllaç: https://www.radiosilenci.cat/programs/monsostenible/radiosilenci_podcast_11576

The post Alfons Pérez / Ràdio Silenci / Programa Món sostenible sobre llibre Pactes Verds appeared first on ODG.

]]> Entrevista: Alfons Pérez
Publicat a: Ràdio Silenci, programa Món sostenible, 1 de març, 2021
Enllaç: https://www.radiosilenci.cat/programs/monsostenible/radiosilenci_podcast_11576

The post Alfons Pérez / Ràdio Silenci / Programa Món sostenible sobre llibre Pactes Verds appeared first on ODG.

]]> Alfons Pérez / Diari Públic / “La transició ecològica que planteja la UE és colonial i impossible en termes de límits biofísics del planeta” https://odg.cat/en/odgpress/transicio-ecologica-ue-impossible/ Thu, 25 Feb 2021 18:08:55 +0000 https://odg.cat/?post_type=press&p=9850 L’investigador de l’Observatori del Deute en la Globalització publica ‘Pactes verds en temps de pandèmia’, on analitza críticament la transició ecològica que proposa la UE, perquè no té en compte els impactes externs que generaria ni els límits materials del món i, fonamentalment, pot afavorir grans empreses. El Pacte Verd Europeu (PVE) s’ha situat com l’element central de la recuperació econòmica post-pandèmia que planteja la Unió Europea, amb eines tan importants com els fons Next Generation EU, dotats amb 750.000 milions d’euros -140.000 dels quals per a l’Estat espanyol-. Desenes d’organitzacions han començat a mobilitzar-se per denunciar que, tal com estan plantejats, aquests fons fonamentalment afavoriran grans empreses, que podran finançar la seva particular reconversió verda. Alhora, és realment possible una transició ecològica com la que proposa la UE que impliqui una reducció de les emissions globals? Ho qüestiona amb rotunditat Alfons Pérez, investigador de l’Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (ODG) que analitza a fons i críticament el PVE al llibre Pactes Verds en temps de pandèmia. El futur es disputa ara editat conjuntament per l’ONG, Libros en Acción i Icaria editorial i que es pot descarregar al web de l’entitat. Atén Públic a la seu de l’ODG. Autor: Marc Font Ribas entrevista a l’Alfons Pérez Publicat a: Diari Públic, 25 de febrer, 2021 Enllaç: https://www.publico.es/public/transicio-ecologica-planteja-ue-colonial-i-impossible-termes-limits-biofisics-planeta.html    

The post Alfons Pérez / Diari Públic / “La transició ecològica que planteja la UE és colonial i impossible en termes de límits biofísics del planeta” appeared first on ODG.

]]> L’investigador de l’Observatori del Deute en la Globalització publica ‘Pactes verds en temps de pandèmia’, on analitza críticament la transició ecològica que proposa la UE, perquè no té en compte els impactes externs que generaria ni els límits materials del món i, fonamentalment, pot afavorir grans empreses.

El Pacte Verd Europeu (PVE) s’ha situat com l’element central de la recuperació econòmica post-pandèmia que planteja la Unió Europea, amb eines tan importants com els fons Next Generation EU, dotats amb 750.000 milions d’euros -140.000 dels quals per a l’Estat espanyol-. Desenes d’organitzacions han començat a mobilitzar-se per denunciar que, tal com estan plantejats, aquests fons fonamentalment afavoriran grans empreses, que podran finançar la seva particular reconversió verda. Alhora, és realment possible una transició ecològica com la que proposa la UE que impliqui una reducció de les emissions globals? Ho qüestiona amb rotunditat Alfons Pérez, investigador de l’Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (ODG) que analitza a fons i críticament el PVE al llibre Pactes Verds en temps de pandèmia. El futur es disputa ara editat conjuntament per l’ONG, Libros en Acción i Icaria editorial i que es pot descarregar al web de l’entitat. Atén Públic a la seu de l’ODG.

Autor: Marc Font Ribas entrevista a l’Alfons Pérez
Publicat a: Diari Públic, 25 de febrer, 2021
Enllaç: https://www.publico.es/public/transicio-ecologica-planteja-ue-colonial-i-impossible-termes-limits-biofisics-planeta.html

 

 

The post Alfons Pérez / Diari Públic / “La transició ecològica que planteja la UE és colonial i impossible en termes de límits biofísics del planeta” appeared first on ODG.

]]>