Democratic Money and Capital for the Commons: Exec. Summary and Full Report Strategies for Transforming Neoliberal Finance Through Commons-Based Alternatives By David Bollier and Pat Conaty. A Report on a Commons Strategies Group Workshop in cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation. 'You did not act in time': Greta Thunberg's full speech to MPs My name is Greta Thunberg. I am 16 years old. I come from Sweden. And I speak on behalf of future generations. I know many of you don’t want to listen to us – you say we are just children. But we’re only repeating the message of the united climate science.
Team Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics (Caroline Nieberding) One major open issue in Evolutionary Biology is to understand how the past and current species diversity has appeared on Earth. Genetic differentiation between populations can cause reproductive isolation and ultimately lead to the generation of new species, i.e. speciation. We aim at testing the relative importance of genetic drift versus selection in shaping genetic differentiation between populations through evolutionary time. We address this question testing different candidate adaptive traits in several biological systems: - male sex pheromones in butterflies; - life history traits in host-parasite interactions in rodents and nematodes - Evolution of dispersal and of host specialization in spider mites
Greta Thunberg condemns UK's climate stance in speech to MPs The UK government’s active support for fossil fuels and airport expansion is “beyond absurd”, Greta Thunberg has told MPs. The 16-year-old Swedish student, who sparked a global youth-based movement when she began a “climate strike” outside Sweden’s parliament last year, gave a typically blunt speech. She told MPs: “This ongoing irresponsible behaviour will no doubt be remembered in history as one of the greatest failures of humankind.” Neoliberalism has conned us into fighting climate change as individuals Would you advise someone to flap towels in a burning house? To bring a flyswatter to a gunfight? Yet the counsel we hear on climate change could scarcely be more out of sync with the nature of the crisis. The email in my inbox last week offered thirty suggestions to green my office space: use reusable pens, redecorate with light colours, stop using the elevator.
A rights revolution for nature Abstract Introduction of legal rights for nature could protect natural systems from destruction Scientific evidence indicates that the global environmental crisis is accelerating and that environmental laws have not been able to reverse the trend (1). A movement to recognize nature as a rights holder argues that existing laws regulate, rather than stop, the destruction of the natural world (2). Instead of incrementally reforming such laws, a growing number of jurisdictions around the world have recognized rights for nature (see the box).
The Death of Neoliberalism Is an Opportunity to Birth a New System President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn prior to his departure from the White House May 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images) Today in the US, as well as globally, we find ourselves in multiple reinforcing crises. Polly Higgins, lawyer who fought for recognition of 'ecocide', dies aged 50 Polly Higgins, one of the most inspiring figures in the green movement, has died aged 50. Higgins, a British barrister, led a decade-long campaign for “ecocide” to be recognised as a crime against humanity. She sold her house and gave up a high-paying job so she could dedicate herself to attempting to create a law that would make corporate executives and government ministers criminally liable for the damage they do to ecosystems. Such a legal instrument could be a powerful tool for conservationists, climate campaigners and activists trying to stop air and water pollution, but earlier proposals for this to be included in the Rome statute on international crimes against humanity were dropped in 1996.
Paul Ehrlich: 'Collapse of civilisation is a near certainty within decades' A shattering collapse of civilisation is a “near certainty” in the next few decades due to humanity’s continuing destruction of the natural world that sustains all life on Earth, according to biologist Prof Paul Ehrlich. In May, it will be 50 years since the eminent biologist published his most famous and controversial book, The Population Bomb. But Ehrlich remains as outspoken as ever.