Translated By: Elissar News

“Elissar News” along with representatives of associations, activists and parties in various environmental fields from 28 countries participated in the international environmental conference “Eco-Crisis: Turning the Tide Conference” held  in Porto, Portugal, September 6-8, 2019, After receiving an invitation from the Dutch Party for the Animals and the Portuguese Party: PAN:People-Animals-Nature, to discuss further cooperation in addressing and discussing  solutions in tackling the eco-crisis the world is facing. The conference program was full of lectures and workshops by scientists and experts. 

28 Countries!

Representatives from 16 political parties for animal rights and 33 ecological-oriented organizations and professionals from 28 different countries came together to discuss further cooperation in tackling the eco-crisis (3 people participated from Lebanon, Nuhad El Sheikh from Pawshake, Rayan Kassouf from Animals Lebanon and Suzanne Abou Said Daou from Elissar News). The conference program was rich with lectures and workshops by scientists and experts.

 Protest In front Of Brazilian Consulate

The conference guests stepped out a couple of hours to collectively protests against the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and the so called “Mercosur-deal”, (4 South American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela) and the European Union, in front of the Brazilian consulate, and were joined by the Members of European Parliament Anja Hazekamp (Party for the Animals) and Francisco Guerreiro (PAN:People-Animals-Nature).

During the protest, some guests held up letters, together creating the slogan “Save the Amazon, stop Mercosur!”. Others held up pictures of the Amazon and statements like “Livestock production = deforestation”.

The Mercosur-deal is a trade deal between four South American countries, including Brazil, and the European Union (EU). It encourages Brazilian cattle ranching which is responsible for 80 percent of the deforestation of the Amazon. It is estimated that Brazil cuts down at least a football pitch of forest every minute, while soy plantations used as animal feed also contribute to ecological devastation.

National parliaments have to ratify the Mercosur-deal, so there is still hope that the deal will be stopped. Moreover, the European Parliament also has the power to say no to the deal. That’s why Members of European Parliament Anja Hazekamp (Dutch Party for the Animals) and Francisco Guerreiro (Portuguese PAN) led the protest in Porto and recorded a video message for the world.

Hazekamp explained during the protest: “Just talking won’t be effective if the EU keeps holding on to the current disastrous trade and agricultural policies. Forests are being burned down and human and animal rights sacrificed for cheap meat. We need a change of policy and legislation. As responsible politicians, we need to stop the Mercosur deal”.

The protest ended with the making of graffiti artwork in the city, led by local artist PANT Artworks.

Sustainability As The Norm... Not The Exception

In May 2019, an important report from “the United Nations Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services” (IPBES) was published, one of its conclusion is that current global efforts are insufficient to stop the unprecedented decline of nature and extinction of species, and that radical and fundamental social changes are needed to halt the loss of biodiversity and to restore nature.

This report was discussed further by key speaker at the conference and co-author of the IPBES report (Chapter 6 of the report) Ingrid Visseren, with emphasis that the livestock industry, deforestation, fishing, and hunting are a few of the main causes of the ecological crisis, Due to this crisis, our food safety and quality of life are at risk, Visseren argued for a more integrated approach between animal welfare and environmental policies, She pointed out the importance of the fact that in the latest IPBES report, animal welfare is mentioned for the first time and an animal rights based approach is used.

“We have to work with smart policy mixes, Pulling out of the unsustainable economy and going into a sustainable one. Help farmers transition to a sustainable, more plant-based agriculture and offer real choices to consumers. Sustainability should become the norm, not the exception”, Visseren concluded.

From Ego To Eco

Parallel to the conference, Marianne Thieme, the leader and founder of the Dutch Party for the Animals, gave a public lecture on the importance of a different kind of politics and cutting meat consumption in order to protect precious natural environments, like the Amazon. The lecture was introduced by Bebiane Cunha, councillor in Porto and candidate for the Portuguese parliamentary elections in October. As part of the Portuguese party for animal rights PAN, she emphasized the changes in policy PAN is trying to make to create a more eco-centric system. PAN now has one seat in the Portuguese parliament but is likely to win more in October.

Clearly these topics discussed in the lecture are topics the Portuguese public is very interested in, as Thieme’s lecture was completely sold out.

“Whether it’s forest fires, loss of biodiversity, climate change, or animal suffering”, according to Thieme, “it all comes down to the same problem: short-term thinking and selfishness of humans”.

Thieme concluded: “I am convinced that in order to change our way of life, to make it sustainable and be grounded on principles of compassion, we have to shift our focus from a man centered perspective to a planet centered perspective”.

A Message From Thieme To Arabs Via Elissar News

At the end of the lecture, Thieme sent a message to the Arab world via our website "Elissar News", saying: "I Inrtroduce myself, I am the president and founder of the Dutch Party for animals, a party completely different from other parties, not focused on human interest as a central point, but the interest of the whole planet and all its creatures, whether human or animal, we must take care of all the creatures  as well as our brothers in humanity and animals, If we don\ care about animals, how will we care about each other?, we have to give voice to the weakest creatures in this planet, that is the animals, they are innocent and vulnerable, and we must protect them".

Elissar News

During the conference, various environmental challenges in different countries and different ways to manage them were presented in the various workshops and activities to participants, including a presentation by  Suzanne Abou Said Daou, a journalist from our website “Elissar News” in the scientific and environmental field, who had the opportunity to introduce “Elissar News” and it’s goal of spreading awareness of scientific and environmental fields to more than 400 million Arab readers, and introduced samples of the different original articles that include challenges and the scale and different aspects of pressing issues facing the environment on the national (Lebanon), regional (Mediterranean) and international level.

Further discussions, included the environmental topics concerning Lebanon, such as overfishing and the waste crisis, (both solid and liquid), crimes against stray and wild animals, loss of and challenges to biodiversity, not excluding the positive aspects, as well as the role of specialized environmental media such as “Elissar News” in not only highlighting negative aspects, but as well as the positive ones, such as raising awareness about animal welfare, inspiring stories, and role of activists, etc…, and in addition, the development of policies to find sustainable solutions to several environmental challenges, and she concluded by the need to support the important role of objective environmental websites such as “Elissar News” to achieve the best results to address the eco-crisis the world is facing.

One of the conclusions of this successful world conference was that: “We need a system-wide change. Instead of focusing on economic growth, our economic, social, and political systems should serve the well-being of communities, animals, and ecosystems”.

Sources: Party for Animals and Elissar News