concern 13

Full Resolution on Concern No. 13:
Science and technology for the people, environmental protection and the right to healthy food and water

Monopoly capitalism remains the main culprit of environmental degradation in the world.

As it is beset with an intensifying crisis today, monopoly capitalism has embarked on a renewed, more rapacious and vicious campaign of plunder that aggravates the already devastated and polluted world natural environment.

In its ascendancy in the 20th century, monopoly capitalism gave rise to exploitative classes who arrogated the control over ownership, utilization and appropriation of natural resources on a worldwide scale through technology. These covetous classes divided the world among themselves and dispossessed the majority of the world's peoples of the resources and land to survive.

Incessantly driven by the basic aim for and logic of profit, monopoly capitalism relentlessly exploits the working peoples and the world's natural resources. It creates unnecessary and wasteful "wants" and neglects to ensure access of the people to basic necessities while denying them of adequate resources for survival.

Having almost complete dominance over science and technology, monopoly capitalism directs the rapid advancement and development of the field to be on top amidst intense competition and to multiply and protect its profits. Under this set up, it abandons the potential of science and technology to maximize production responsive to basic human needs and capable of securing long-term human development. Science and technology under monopoly capitalism not only creates new commodities and processes but also develops products and technologies damaging to peoples welfare, health and the environment. Most destructive among these is the production of ever-more-powerful weapons of mass destruction to generate more profit, and used ot to invoke fear among opponents in its wars of aggression.

The present crisis of overproduction and intense rivalry among the few exploitative classes impels them to compete for more raw materials and to expand markets for its products and areas for investments that necessitates a continuous redivision of the world.

To undertake this, they have enforced "free market" globalization policies (liberalization, privatization and deregulation) upon the rest of the world to pave the way for their unhampered entry, control and exploitation of raw natural resources and of people, and more recently through a more barefaced and atrocious campaign of wars of aggression to expand its economic territories and gain direct or tighter control of land and natural resources.

A renewed onslaught and plunder of the world's natural resources have commenced.

The plunder of the world's natural resources has accelerated and even more destructive under monopoly capital.

1. Systematic and unabated deforestation through rampant industrial logging has multiplied. The destruction of the world's forest also led to its conversion to agricultural plantations for export-oriented crops, farms for cattle raising or monoculture tree plantations.

For the underdeveloped countries (Asia and Latin America), the forests remain as one of the main resources available for exports that meet the increasing demand for cheap and plentiful wood in Europe, Japan and the United States. About three quarters of the world's commercial timber output is utilized by only one quarter of its population.

This has stimulated the competition, concentration, expansion and control of a few multinational corporations (MNCs) involved in every stage of the timber production process - from raw material extraction, through manufacturing, to marketing and distribution.

Large-scale logging destroys forest lands, forest boidiversity and the livelihoods of forest-dependent peoples.

2. Relentless extraction of mineral ores and wanton destruction by mining MNCs in Asia Pacific, Latin Americaand Africa- countries that are naturally endowed with rich mineral deposits- persist. These mining MNCs are ever more determined to continue their destructive and exploitative commercial mining in these regions.

Like logging, commercial mining of these mining MNCs does not lead to development but only brings massive environmental destruction and pollution, widespread landlessness and displacement, loss of livelihood, distortion of local culture, and rampant human right violations to the peoples of these regions.

3. The blatant and brutal occupation of Iraq by the US (and the 'Coalition of the willing') gave them direct control over the vast oil resources of Iraq (estimated at 112 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and over 250 billion of potential reserves), the biggest in the world and, consolidated their domination over the world's oil resources.

After toppling the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the US gained more political foothold in Central Asiaand South Asia and further access to the oil and gas resources in these parts of the world.

The US launched its "second front against terrorism" targeting the Philippines, Indonesia and Southeast Asia- a region known for its oil, natural gas and other natural resources. It has unceasingly undermined the government of Venezuela, which has the biggest oil resources in Latin Americaand is continuously expanding its influence in in other Latin American countries (Colombia) and several African countries to tap potential oil and other mineral resources.

4. The most alarming trend is the move to control one of the most essential necessity of man - water. The biggest MNCs in the water industry have initiated the privatization of water distribution services in both the developed and underdeveloped countries as the first step toward the privatization and commodification of all aspects of water.

Already, the MNC-instigated construction of mega-dams and other water infrastructures have put them in strategic position to eventually gain total control of the water resources.

The occupation of Iraq has also positioned the US to control not only Iraq's oil resources but also the largest water resources found in the Middle East.

5. The contamination of air, water and land brought about by products and production processes mainly from the industrial and manufacturing plants of MNCs continue. These large-scale factories remain as top contributors of significant pollutants such as toxic and hazardous wastes in the world.

More and more underdeveloped countries (including India and China) have also become major dumping grounds for the wastes of industrial countries. The dumping of toxic and hazardous wastes are especially mounting.

Additionally, chemicals and obsolete technologies proven to be harmful to the environment and/or human health and that are already banned in the industrial countries are continually foisted in the underdeveloped countries.

6. The recent campaign on the wars of aggression of the US and its allies have not only increased the production, sale and use weapons of mass destruction but have also caused the massive destruction and contamination of human property, health and environment (i.e. use of depleted uranium etc) in the Afghanistan, Iraq and other war-ravaged countries. Forest clearings and land conversions necessitated by continued military exercises in different parts of the world led by the US pollute the environment and the destruction of natural habitats.

War products and technologies such as nuclear bombs, radar, electronics and computers were used in the previous World Wars and other wars of aggression.

The US accused Iraq of having weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for invasion and occupation despite it having the largest nuclear arsenal in the world. It has no less than 10,600 nuclear warheads in its possession with around 3,000 ready to deploy from its "Enduring Stockpile". Furthermore, the US is the only country that has used weapons of mass destruction in war - no less than 300,000 died as a result of the Hiroshima and Nagasakibombings in 1945.

The US has also used 320 tons of depleted uranium artillery in the 1990 Gulf war and in the Yugoslavian conflict. It is still being used in the current Iraq war despite the numerous health risks to soldiers and especially to civilians in areas.

Since the 1990, the US has exported USD 152B worth of weapons (in sales and military aid) and in 2001, it exported war material to no less than 170 nations and earned USD 13.1B in that year alone.

The "war against terrorism" is is used as a pretext to increase this military sales and/or aid. In the guise of counter terrorism it has increased military aid and activities such as training exercises in more countries than before.

Toxic waste from current and previous US military bases continues to wreak ecological havoc in the surrounding areas. US military joint exercises bring with them not only direct US military aggression but the dangerous weapons and waste from these activities.

The US has unilaterally rejected the Biological Weapons and Toxins Convention treaty and its protocols in 2001 on the grounds that inspections of facilities would jeopardize US national security. Since then, it has engaged in developing small weapons delivery devices for biological and chemical weapons and biodefense research activities. The Pentagon considers bioweapons work acceptable as long as "non-lethal" is appended in its activities.

The present crisis only invigorated the military-industrial complexes specially of the US.

Rapid scientific advances in the development of high technologies have been increasingly applied not only to amplify commercial production but to expedite intensified exploitation and damage caused to human and natural resources.

Not content with accumulating raw materials amassed from natural resources required for commercial production, these exploitative classes now imposes monopoly control over the world's genetic resources and now engage in the genetic manipulation of these resources.

The current trend initiated by MNCs is the application of modern biotechnology (genetic engineering and manipulation) in large-scale agriculture and food production and the commercialization of genetically-engineered crops.

Up to now, scientific consensus on the health and safety and environmental impact of of genetically- engineered crops have not been established.

The profit motivation of the MNCs in the so-called "life sciences" industry has magnified the risk factor posed by its products as greedy MNCs insist on the production and commercialization of biotech products negligent of possible safety concerns to the people and the natural environment.

"Free market" globalization and the current "war against terrorism" has fully exposed the deliberate collusion of the national governments and their elite, and monopoly capitalism - through the major monopoly capitalist governments, MNCs, international financial institutions and multilateral agencies (like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization), development and cooperation agencies, consultancy firms and civil society groups. Instead of protecting and defending the rights and welfare of its peoples, these governments willingly implement liberalization, privatization and deregulation policies that destroy all national, social and environmental safeguards. They have become the main endorser, collaborator and apologist of monopoly capitalism and its institutions. Worse these governments dragged their peoples in unjust wars of occupation against the peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq and other sovereign countries.

These institutions systematically propagate views and schemes of "environmentalism" that only obscure and mislead the people from the real causes of environmental degradation. These views justify and vindicate monopoly capitalism from its grave liability in the plunder, destruction and pollution of the natural environment.

Monopoly capitalism has waged war against the people and the environment.

The insatiable drive for profit and renewed appropriation of the world's resources have increased the depletion and destruction of the land and natural wealth.

The insatiable drive for profit and renewed appropriation of the world's resources have further deprived people of access to their means of survival and worsened their misery.

Gradually but systematically monopoly capitalism is destroying the world.

The people have not and cannot allow this. They have long resisted the assaults of monopoly capitalism. As these attacks escalate so has the resistance of the people.

The people have actively exposed and confronted all the deceptive schemes and coercive machinations of monopoly capitalism. They have launched spontaneous, organized and coordinated actions in various venues and arenas of struggle, and used all forms of struggles and at different levels. They have organized themselves in communities, established national organizations and alliances and are forming regional and international issue-specific networks and formations linked to other peoples issues and concerns.

As peoples actions grow and steadily resist every step that monopoly capitalism makes, they also confront the escalating repression existent in their home countries. As the opposition of the people of a nation becomes bolder, they face the threat of war or suffer a war of aggression.

But the peoples of the world have remained resolute and determined to struggle for their rights and defend their natural resources and land from monopoly capitalist plunder.

More and more, the peoples of the world call for the establishment of a new world to rid the world of the root causes of a socially destructive system- of overproduction, overconsumption and pollution for the motive of profit. They bravely struggle for a new world that truly provides for human needs.

In this light, we affirm and reiterate our general declarations laid down in the First International Assembly, namely to:

1. Struggle to challenge and end monopoly capitalism and other forces that appropriate control over the means of production in the hands of a few. For as long as monopoly capitalism and feudal forces control and dictate the use of the environment and science and technology worldwide, poverty, underdevelopment and the degradation of the environment will continue and intensify.

2. Assert peoples' control over the development and use of science and technology for their needs and all-rounded development. The high level of science and technology provide people with the knowledge and tools to judiciously use the material environment for appropriate and sustainable development.

3. Promote an environmental mindset and ethics that integrate the care and management of the environment with the advancement of the well-being of communities that most depend on them.

4. Work for the reorientation of the views and attitudes of the science and technology community of the world to free them from being appendages"of monopoly firms, and prevent corporate misuse of science and technology for ecological, social and ultimate human destruction. Motivate and instill dedication of scientists and technologists to serve the people and participate in struggles against modern imperialism and establish a world that is free, socially just and progressive.

5. Demystify science to allow people the opportunity of applying knowledge systems and technologies for their benefit and not for the generation of profits of a few. In addition, promote the value of indigenous and local knowledge and its role in the development of technologies to benefit the peoples of the world.

6. Work for a moratorium on the commercialization of genetically modified organisms in food and agriculture pending the resolution of scientific, social and ethical issues.

More specifically, we will:

• Strengthen, expand and develop linkages and cooperation with individuals, institutions, organizations and alliances especially of the peasants and workers in the Third World on issues of science and environmental issues;

• Launch and coordinate campaigns to expose and oppose the control, mis-orientation and misuse of the environment and science and technology by monopoly capitalism with focus on the plunder of mineral resources (i.e. MNC commercial mining and oil) and the destruction of human life, privatization and commodification of water resources, deforestation, pesticide poisoning, GMO commercialization among others.

• Hold regional and international conferences and other forms on the subjects of Concern 13 and/or on specific issues on science and the environment.

• Actively participate in existing major international and regional conferences that tackle science and environmental issues. Expose the deception and collusion of so-called "environmental" groups that defend privilege, divide people and serve directly the interests of monopoly capitalism.

• Develop a system of support/assistance of science and technology institutions, environmental groups and organizations with peoples organizations and alliances.

• Set up a "network for scientists, engineers and technologists for the people" and a "broad, anti-imperialist environmental network" on the regional and international levels

• Monitor and document developing environmental, scientific and technical issues and concerns and set up a system of information exchange and dissemination.

• Conduct in-depth studies on issues of the environment, science and technology confronting the world.

• Work on common ground on science and environmental issues through bilateral discussions with other study commissions in the ILPS.

Eventes to attend and/or initite:

• Water forum 2006

• WTO Ministerial Conferences

• Peoples' Health Assembly II (July 18-23 '05)

• Peoples' Scientist Conference (2006/7)

Strenghten linkages:

• People's Science Movement in India

• Latin American environmental and science groups

• link anti-mining and other environmental groups in First world and Third world (e.g. Australia-Phil, Canada-Phil, etc)

Things to do:

• environmental database

• mechanisms to exchange information (listserve)

• popular education programs- target youth groups

• regional network of anti-imperialist environmental groups

• bridge the language barrier

Internationally coordinated activities:

• Earth day

• Environment day

• Other significant science and environment related "red-letter" days.#