In recognition of her lifelong commitment to peace, the Sydney Peace Foundation is proud to announce the establishment of the ‘Dr Hannah Middleton Scholarship in Peace and Conflict Studies’ at the Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e (UNTL) in Timor-Leste. The cost of supporting a student through the Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies is around $5,000 per year, making each scholarship a meaningful and tangible investment in Hannah’s vision of solidarity and justice and opening opportunities for the next generation of peacebuilders

Through this scholarship, Hannah’s legacy of solidarity, courage and justice will continue to inspire and empower future leaders in one of the world’s youngest nations.

Emeritus Professor Stuart Rees has generously directed funds to support the inaugural scholarship. For those who wish to support the Dr Hannah Middleton Scholarship in Peace and Conflict Studies please email us at info@sydneypeace.org.au.

Ending a Journey
Barely concealed,
tears speak of goodbyes
plus invitations for a final chat.
Not acknowledged, courage
in a life of humanity
fueled this decision to end as you lived.
With common will for freedom
you gift wrapped selflessness,
because you needed no accolades.
Now you have decided
that immobility is no way to live
that refusing food and medicine
could show
that even in a final chapter
a way of leaving
might teach others how to live.
This hurried poem
ponders explanations,
precious days
still hold mysteries,
as in explaining courage,
just one more secret
to be unraveled.
Stuart for Hannah, June 9, 2025

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After 466 days of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, we welcome the limited ceasefire which came into effect on 19 January, and call on our Governments to support every effort to permanently end the ongoing atrocities. The past 16 months have illustrated with devastating clarity that Israel is not committed to complying with international law. The fragility of the Gaza ceasefire underscores the risk of further violations and the need to halt arms exports to Israel, including F-35s. This is also highlighted by Israel’s continued illegal use of military fighter jets in the occupied West Bank, especially Jenin. 

Partners to the F-35 programme have individually and collectively failed to prevent these jets from being used to commit serious violations of international law by Israel, most obviously  across the occupied Palestinian territory, including international crimes, despite overwhelming evidence in this respect. States have either been unwilling to observe their international legal obligations and/or claimed that the structure of the F-35 programme means that it is not possible to apply arms controls to any end-user, making the entire programme incompatible with international law.

Israel’s unprecedented bombardment and destruction of Gaza has led to immeasurable human suffering, environmental devastation, and humanitarian catastrophe. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered provisional measures on Israel to prevent genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza in January 2024. In December 2024, Amnesty International’s investigation concluded that Israel has committed and is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and Human Rights Watch reported that ‘Israeli authorities are responsible for the crime against humanity of extermination and for acts of genocide’.

A temporary ceasefire does not signify an end to Israel’s violations of international law or nullify the longstanding risk that arms transfers to Israel might be used to commit or facilitate such violations. This includes, but is not limited to, Israel’s ongoing occupation and annexation of the Palestinian territories, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concluded is unlawful.

Israel has killed more than 46,707 people in Gaza and the remains of an estimated 10,000 more people are still under the rubble. At least 90 percent of Palestinians in Gaza have been forcibly displaced, in conditions unfit for human survival. Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked civilian objects, including aid distribution sites, tents, hospitals, schools and markets. Around 69 percent of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by the bombardment. Despite these devastating realities and crimes on the ground, our governments have continued to supply Israel through the F-35 programme. 

F-35 programme

Governments from a number of F-35 partner countries – namely Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and the UK – have restricted some arms exports to Israel due to the risk of these weapons being used by Israel to commit violations of international law in Gaza. In September 2024, the UK government found that it was “unable to conclude anything other than” that for certain UK arms exports to Israel, including F-35 jets, there is a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law in Gaza. Alarmingly, despite these irrefutable admissions, there has been a concerted effort to sustain the transfer of components to the F-35 programme, allowing for ongoing direct and indirect transfer to Israel. 

A number of incoherent positions have been put forward by F-35 partner countries allowing for the continued export of F-35 parts and components to Israel, including stating that arms licences to Israel have been suspended while allowing transfers under existing licences or supplying “indirectly” via the US or other F-35 partners. The UK has argued that for reasons of international peace and security it has disregarded its own arms export licensing criteria and international legal obligations to continue exporting components to the F-35 programme, allowing for onward transfer to Israel, claiming that it is a “matter of such gravity that it would have overridden any […] further evidence of serious breaches of IHL”. Effectively, there are no circumstances in which this supply of F-35 components would be suspended.

These jets have been operating in Gaza armed with munitions, including 2,000 lb bombs – explosives with a lethal radius up to 365 m, an area the equivalent of 58 football pitches. In June 2024, a UN report identified these bombs as having been used in “emblematic” cases of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on Gaza that “led to high numbers of civilian fatalities and widespread destruction of civilian objects”. 

On 2 September 2024, the very day the UK Government announced an exemption for F-35 components, Danish NGO Danwatch revealed that an F-35 was used in July to drop three 2,000 lb bombs in an attack on a so-called “safe zone” on Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, killing 90 Palestinians. This bombardment follows the pattern of Israeli attacks in Gaza in violation of international humanitarian law.

Legal obligations and developments

All partners to the F-35 programme are States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), with the exception of the United States, which is a signatory. State Parties to the ATT are required to prevent both direct and indirect transfers of military equipment and technology, including parts and components, where there is an overriding risk that such equipment and technology could be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law (IHL) or international human rights law. 

These and other binding obligations are contained within Articles 6 and 7 of the ATT. States are also bound by the obligation to ensure respect for IHL under Common Article 1 to the Geneva Convention and customary IHL, which requires states “to refrain from transferring weapons if there is an expectation, based on facts or knowledge of past patterns, that such weapons would be used to violate the Conventions”.

All F-35 partners have additional legislation reinforcing these international obligations at either national or European level. Continued arms transfers to the Israeli government are contrary to US law, which for example, prohibits the transfer of military aid to governments that restrict the delivery of US humanitarian assistance. Additionally, all F-35 partners have ratified or acceded to the Genocide Convention, and have committed to “prevent and punish” the crime of genocide. 

These obligations are reinforced by pronouncements of the ICJ, including where the Court reminded States Parties to the Genocide Convention of their international obligations regarding the transfer of arms to parties to an armed conflict, to avoid the risk that such arms might be used to violate the Convention in April 2024 (para 24). In July 2024, the ICJ clarified that states must not aid or assist Israel in its unlawful occupation of occupied Palestinian territory, including through economic or trade dealings. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in November 2024.

Legal and political responses 

Across the jurisdictions of F-35 partner countries legal and political interventions have sought to enforce governments’ national and international legal obligations to halt arms exports to Israel, including parts for the F-35 jets. Legal cases have been undertaken in Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US. 

In the UK, Al-Haq and Global Legal Action Network are taking the UK government to the High Court in a Judicial Review challenging the decision to exclude components for the global F-35 programme from the September 2024 suspension of around 30 arms licences to Israel. In November 2024, the Dutch Supreme Court of the Netherlands was advised by its advocate general to uphold the ruling by the Hague Court of Appeal ordering the Dutch Government to block the export of F-35 parts from the Netherlands to Israel. It followed litigation brought by Oxfam Novib, PAX and The Rights Forum.

In Australia, Al Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, represented by the Australian Centre for International Justice, made submissions requesting the Defence Minister revoke all current or extant export permits to Israel including via this US. As a result, the Government undertook a review which revealed that Australia had ‘lapsed’ or ‘amended’ 16 export licences to Israel. The groups remain concerned that no transparency exists in relation to this review, including whether F-35 parts were in consideration. Further cases are ongoing in F-35 partner countries Canada and Denmark, as well as Germany and Belgium. 

Conclusion

The failure by all F-35 partner nations to apply their domestic, regional or international legal obligations by halting the supply of F-35 parts and components to Israel has led to devastating and irreparable harm to Palestinians in Gaza. This failure indicates that partner nations are effectively either unable or unwilling to implement their purported arms export control regimes, or that they chose to apply the law selectively, excluding Palestinians from its protection. We call on all F-35 partners to do everything in their power to bring the F-35 programme in line with their legal obligations and immediately halt the direct and indirect transfer of F-35 parts and components to Israel.

Signatories

Australia (F-35 Programme Partner)

Amnesty International Australia
AusRelief
Australian Centre for International Justice
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN)
Australian Social Workers for Palestine
Canberra Palestine and Climate Justice
Central West New South Wales for Palestine & We Vote for Palestine
Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine
Disrupt Wars
Free Gaza Australia
Free Palestine Melbourne
Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN)
Independent & Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) Geelong & Vic Southwest
Inner West for Palestine
Institute of non-violence
Jewish Council of Australia
Jews Against the Occupation ’48
Just Peace
Knitting Nannas, Central Coast and Midcoast
Medical Association for Prevention of War
Mums for Palestine
Neptune’s Pirates
No Weapons for Genocide
Northern Rivers Friends of Palestine
Palestine Action Group Muloobinba
Palestine Network Shining Waters Region (PalNet SW), The United Church of Canada
People’s Climate Assembly
Rising Tide
Settlement Services Australia
Social and Ecological Justice Commission (United Church of Canada)
Sydney Peace Foundation
Quakers Australia
Wage Peace

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The Peace and Social Justice Scholarship supports Master of Social Justice students at the University of Sydney, honouring Marty Morrison’s legacy of activism, compassion, and commitment to human rights and equality.

n 2025, the University of Sydney will launch the Peace and Social Justice Scholarship, established by Melanie Morrison and her siblings to honour their mother, Marty Morrison. Marty, a lifelong educator and activist, was dedicated to peace, human rights, and social justice – values she passed on to her family and inspired in countless others around the world.

A lifetime of activism

Marty Morrison’s scholarship will support students pursuing a Master of Social Justice within the School of Social and Political Sciences, helping to ensure her legacy continues to inspire future generations.

Early life and lasting influences

Born Martha Elizabeth Hessell in Winslow, Arizona, Marty grew up immersed in a deep commitment to social justice. Her father, Reverend William Hessell, was a Methodist minister who actively advocated for the rights of African Americans. Marty’s early experiences – such as organising meals for Japanese American friends following the Pearl Harbor internments – ignited her lifelong dedication to equity and compassion.

During her years at UCLA, her activism grew as she took part in civil rights actions, including sit-ins against racial discrimination. Her career later took her around the world as an educator, with teaching roles in Singapore, Thailand, Palestine, and Jakarta – each experience reinforcing her belief that education could drive social change. At the age of 82 in 2010, Marty took the extraordinary step of travelling to Palestine to teach and participate in peaceful protests, demonstrating the tireless passion and commitment she maintained throughout her life.

Stories of impact: Compassion in action

The impact of Marty’s work lives on in the stories her family remembers. One that stands out is her support for Jarnil, an Afghan refugee detained on Nauru. Marty’s advocacy – alongside that of other dedicated supporters – helped bring Jarnil and his family to Australia, where they have since thrived. His children now pursue promising careers, with one studying law in Melbourne. They often express how Marty “not only changed our lives but saved them.”

A scholarship to continue her vision

For her children, this scholarship feels like a natural continuation of Marty’s lifelong commitment to human rights and social justice.

Marty’s husband, Bill Morrison, attended the University on a government scholarship, and Marty herself had briefly studied anthropology there—a pursuit she greatly enjoyed.

Inspiring the next generation of advocates

Melanie and her siblings hope that the scholarship’s recipients will feel inspired by their mother’s unwavering dedication to peace and justice. Marty often questioned why societies have ministers for war but not for peace. Her children remember this as a reminder of her vision for a more compassionate world.

Empowering change through education

Through this scholarship, the Morrison family aims to support students committed to social justice, empowering them to work toward a more resilient and peaceful world. “By choosing a Master of Social Justice, these students gain the skills to stand for change,” Melanie explained. “We believe this scholarship will enable future advocates to continue her work and create a world that values peace and justice.”

This scholarship is valued at $8,000 per annum for one year for a recipient enrolled full-time, or $4,000 per annum for two years for a recipient enrolled part-time. Through this scholarship, students will gain not only financial support but also the opportunity to immerse themselves in the social justice landscape, helping them develop the skills to advocate for real, lasting change in their communities.

Marty’s broader influence

Marty was particularly focused on advocacy for refugees, the elimination of racial discrimination, and gender equality. Her work extended far beyond her immediate family, influencing policies and individuals worldwide. Her advocacy on behalf of refugees, her commitment to peace protests, and her work on gender equality and racial justice all reflect her belief that a better world is not only possible but achievable.

A family’s continued commitment

Through the establishment of this scholarship, the Morrison family hopes to carry forward Marty’s mission of peace and justice, both at the University and in their own lives. Melanie Morrison, through her work with the Sydney Peace Foundation, continues to advocate for the causes their mother championed.

“The Peace and Social Justice Scholarship is one of many ways the University of Sydney is working to build a future rooted in equity and compassion. Others who wish to honour Marty’s legacy can contribute to this fund, ensuring that future generations of social justice leaders continue to be supported.”

With this scholarship, Marty Morrison’s legacy of compassion, resilience, and dedication will continue to guide and inspire students to drive change and create a more peaceful, just world for years to come.

This scholarship was generously funded by Tanya Burrows, Kim Morrison, and Melanie Morrison.

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It is demonstrating in real-time what equality and equity looks like for complete populations, and what happens when vulnerable people in society are set aside for too long. We are living through a global lesson of how we can work together on a whole of society approach.

We must transfer these lessons in a collective response to climate change so that humanity can survive and prosper.

Climate crisis is an immediate threat. The impact of rising temperatures threatens human rights, peace and justice. Climate change and extreme weather events, environmental degradation, and water stress lead to hunger, famine, loss of livelihoods, displacement, and irregular migration. Unless climate change is addressed, millions of people will be denied food, water, housing, health, work and life.

Extreme weather events cause resource scarcity and make land inhabitable, intensifying inequality and conflict. Climate change has a disproportionate impact in conflict-affected and developing countries that depend on agriculture for their prosperity. Climate action is the most pressing peace work of our time.

As we are witnessing, and living through with COVID-19, equality for all needs to be at the centre of our global response to climate change. The virus is reframing our world perspective and it is up to all of us to learn from this experience, support each other through it, and transfer these lessons into our response to climate change. If we collaborate, we can achieve real outcomes on climate change.

When we get through this period, we will know that the changes needed to address climate change are possible – humanity can adapt through innovation and consolidation of our attitudes and behaviors.

Susan Biggs is Executive Director of the Sydney Peace Foundation

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Here are some of our favorite snaps from the event, courtesy of our photographer Robin Walton who photographed this event pro bono in support of the Foundation. An audio recording of the event is available below, and all photos are available online here

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December 12, 2019: Scott Morrison was having a so-so day. He had faced international criticism of the Government’s response to climate change. Bushfires were raging up and down the coast of NSW, and Sydney had been smothered in smoke for days on end.

He got up that day and felt the need to assure voters he really did understand that there was a link between the bushfires and climate change. This was, of course, after some earlier dog-whistling comments that suggested that there was no such link. Nothing to see here. Also, now is not the time. Thanks PM. Nothing a good trip to Hawaii couldn’t fix.

December 12, 2015: 195 nations came to a consensus about how best to tackle climate change and cinched the Paris Climate Agreement. Scott was the Treasurer, serving Malcolm Turnbull as Australia’s still quite new PM. Malcolm announced Australia’s willingness to join the Paris Agreement with aplomb, highlighting the great challenge facing humanity, a challenge that would be met head-on by human ingenuity and invention.

At a global level, the Paris deal was welcomed. There was ambition laid out in these new global plans. There was also a fair amount of hard-negotiated pragmatism. We had a commitment to limit global warming to under 2-degrees Celsius, coming at least close to the 1.5-degree limit that is expected to avoid catastrophic environmental changes. We had days and nights – over years, not weeks – of departmental advisers and UN officials crafting a document that courageously worked out the specifics of this commitment. The result: a final, smiling, hand-shaking photo of leaders in agreement. And a global plan to address climate change.

At the Sydney Peace Foundation, we’re all feeling more than a bit nostalgic for a time when there was positive energy from political leaders – founded on international collaboration and hard-won negotiation – on climate action. Actually, much more than a bit nostalgic. We’re desperate.

All around the globe, the climate crisis is happening right now. And it is an affront to human rights, peace and justice.

The connection between climate crisis and human rights violations is clear. Environmental degradation and water stress lead to hunger, famine, loss of livelihoods, displacement, and irregular migration. These connections are already impacting lives in the Pacific, Middle East, Libya, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The IDMC says that since 2008, an average of 26.4 million people per year have been displaced from their homes by disasters brought on by natural hazards. This is the equivalent to one person being displaced every second.

Savio Carvalho, Amnesty International’s Senior Advisor on International Development and Human Rights, draws the line directly:

Unless emissions are reduced significantly, around 600 million people are likely to experience drought and famine as a result of climate change…the right to life, health, food, water and housing are already under threat.

Climate change is also transforming the security landscape. In 2019, for the first time, the Global Peace Index identified climate change as a considerable threat to global peace in the next decade. This is because the impacts of climate change wear away the capacity of states to prevent conflict. Erratic weather patterns and extreme weather events cause resource scarcity and render land inhabitable, intensifying inequality and conflict.

Where there is lower capacity for states to respond, adapt to and recover from climate-induced disasters, marginalization and local grievances intensify. Climate change disproportionately impacts economic development in conflict-affected countries that depend on agriculture for their prosperity.

How will states the world over deal with this challenge in a just manner, at a time when the world continues to get hotter? Australia’s most recent experience with bushfires suggests that we – even as one of the wealthiest countries on the planet – are decidedly not ready. As past Sydney Peace Prize Winner Naomi Klein has said:

Make no mistake about it, it’s not just about things getting hotter and wetter, it’s about things getting a lot meaner and uglier.

So: there can be no choice. We must act now to curb climate change. We – and most importantly our political leaders – must act with the speed and drive of knowing that climate action is the most pressing peace work of our time.

The Sydney Peace Foundation will focus exclusively on this core challenge to global peace and justice in 2020.

Christiana Figueres is one woman who has risen to the task. It was her leadership of the UN climate body the UNFCCC way back in 2015 that saw a global climate deal become a reality. Her profound commitment to the principle of peace enabled her to effectively negotiate a deal with multiple nations harbouring a multiplicity of interests.

Today, she and her organisation Global Optimism remind us that we need to maintain both the outrage that leaders are failing to act, and the optimism to believe that change really is possible. Because

Outrage without optimism leads to defeatism, and optimism without outrage leads to unacceptably incremental approaches. Instead, they should be forged into effective action.

Action like the current call for a national Climate Act in Australia, that is gaining traction and would mandate a positive and transparent response to this challenge.

Today we will award the Gold Medal for Human Rights to Christiana Figueres, for forging the Paris Agreement and her ongoing global leadership, and for maintaining the pressure and the belief that change can happen. Christiana Figueres shows us that when it comes to the climate crisis, peace is possible.

Written by Susan Biggs, Dr Susan Banki, and Joy Kyriacou. Susan Biggs is Executive Director, Joy Kyriacou and Dr Susan Banki serve on the Governing Council of the Sydney Peace Foundation

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Her task was to bring the leaders of 195 countries together to negotiate a binding agreement to stop the world warming beyond 2 degrees celsius – no easy task after the disastrous failure of the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit.

In an interview with Hack‘s Avani Dias about her new book, she hit out at the Australian Government’s response to the bushfire disaster.

“I am deeply pained by the attitude of the current Australian Government, that still after the worst disaster that has ever hit the planet, the bushfires in Australia, that this government is still denying climate change and denying the fact that there is a lot that Australia can and should be doing,” Figueres said.

Australia at the coalface of climate change

A common argument against Australia doing more to reduce emissions and transition away from fossil fuels is that as a country, Australia is only responsible for around 1.3 per cent of global carbon emissions.

Figueres also criticised that defence, saying Australia is at the frontline of climate change.

“I see it the following way: we now know because of the consequences of the bushfires, that Australia is actually one of the most vulnerable countries to unmitigated climate change,” she told Hack.

“We also know Australia cannot single-handedly solve the problem.”

Labor has recommitted to its 2019 election policy of zero net emissions by 2050, saying Australia should pull its weight.

“Seventy-three countries, including the UK, Canada, France and Germany, many with conservative governments, have already adopted it as their goal. Australia should too,” Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said on Friday.

Mr Albanese said the Morrison Government had been “complacent” about the risk of climate change, even as bushfires tore through the country.

Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor told RN Breakfast on Monday that the Australian Government would not follow Labor’s net zero emissions, as the plan was “uncosted and unfunded“.

Mr Taylor was reticent to give an emissions target beyond 2030 ahead of the global climate meetings in Glasgow in November.

“We said by November we’ll have a long-term strategy with technology as a centrepiece… That work is going on.”

Minister Taylor’s office responded to Hack’s request for comment by citing a quote from Scott Morrison’s National Statement to the United Nations General Assembly: “Australia is doing our bit on climate change and we reject any suggestion to the contrary.”

Christiana Figueres called on the Morrison Government to lead by example when it comes to cutting carbon emissions and averting runaway global warming.

“Australia needs all other countries to help in solving what is a global problem, not a national problem. If Australia doesn’t put a firm foot forward, it stands in no position to actually ask all other countries to also put their best foot forward.”

Australia depends on the best efforts being put forward by all countries, but for that, Australia has to do the same.

However, Figueres acknowledged every country is falling short of what she regards as necessary to stop the world warming beyond 2 degrees.

“No one is doing enough. Frankly, we should all be moving much faster than we are.”

Carryover targets criticised

When it comes to meeting our Paris commitments, the Federal Government has kept open the option of using a “loophole” to reach the 2030 target of reducing emissions by 26-28 per cent on 2005 levels.

It’s often referred to as carryover credits – put simply, Australia’s record on the previous Kyoto Treaty targets would be used as credit that’s deducted from our Paris goal.

Christiana Figueres said that undermined the purpose of the Paris Agreement.

“I think it’s very dangerous to act as though this were a game of cards. This is not a game, we cannot play with emissions or emissions reductions of the past,” she said.

“It’s not about looking back and beginning to get credit where credit is not due, this is about looking into the future.”

However, she acknowledged the challenges facing Australia’s coal industry as the world transitions away from fossil fuels.

“It is definitely a complicated issue, I’m not going to underestimate how you transition those jobs out of coal into the present and the future.”

We cannot shy away from a challenge by simply admiring the problem.

Since leaving as the chief UN climate diplomat, Figueres founded the Global Optimism group, and has co-authored a new book, The Future We Choose, which focuses on what can be achieved if climate change is addressed in the coming decade.

She said there are many reasons to be optimistic about what’s in store.

“Yes we are facing the most important challenge that humanity has ever faced, but we have everything that it takes to address climate change! We have the technologies, we have the finance, we know what the policies are, we absolutely have all the tools in our hands.”

“Right now we’re holding the pen of history in our hands, it’s up to us to write what the history or humanity and of this planet will be.”

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Critics ask, “Can we afford it?” and complain that Green New Deal proponents confound the fight to preserve the planet, to which all right-minded individuals should agree, with a more controversial agenda for societal transformation. On both accounts the critics are wrong.

Yes, we can afford it. But more importantly, we must afford it.

Yes, we can afford it, with the right fiscal policies and collective will. But more importantly, we must afford it. The climate emergency is our third world war. Our lives and civilization as we know it are at stake, just as they were in the second world war.

When the US was attacked during the second world war no one asked, “Can we afford to fight the war?” It was an existential matter. We could not afford not to fight it. The same goes for the climate crisis. Here, we are already experiencing the direct costs of ignoring the issue – in recent years the country has lost almost 2% of GDP in weather-related disasters, which include floods, hurricanes, and forest fires. The cost to our health from climate-related diseases is just being tabulated, but it, too, will run into the tens of billions of dollars – not to mention the as-yet-uncounted number of lives lost. We will pay for climate breakdown one way or another, so it makes sense to spend money now to reduce emissions rather than wait until later to pay a lot more for the consequences – not just from weather but also from rising sea levels. It’s a cliche, but it’s true: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The war on the climate emergency, if correctly waged, would actually be good for the economy – just as the second world war set the stage for America’s golden economic era , with the fastest rate of growth in its history amidst shared prosperity. The Green New Deal would stimulate demand, ensuring that all available resources were used; and the transition to the green economy would likely usher in a new boom. Trump’s focus on the industries of the past, like coal, is strangling the much more sensible move to wind and solar power. More jobs by far will be created in renewable energy than will be lost in coal.

The war on the climate emergency, if correctly waged, would actually be good for the economy.

The biggest challenge will be marshalling the resources for the Green New Deal. In spite of the low “headline” unemployment rate, the United States has large amounts of under-used and inefficiently allocated resources. The ratio of employed people to those of working age in the US is still low, lower than in our past, lower than in many other countries, and especially low for women and minorities. With well-designed family leave and support policies and more time-flexibility in our labor market, we could bring more women and more citizens over 65 into the labor force. Because of our long legacy of discrimination, many of our human resources are not used as efficiently as they could or should be. Together with better education and health policies and more investment in infrastructure and technology – true supply side policies – the productive capacity of the economy could increase, providing some of the resources the economy needs to fight and adapt to the climate breakdown.

Some changes will be easy, for instance, eliminating the tens of billions of dollars of fossil fuel subsidies and moving resources from producing dirty energy to producing clean energy. You could say, though, that America is lucky: we have such a poorly designed tax system that’s regressive and rife with loopholes that it would be easy to raise more money at the same time that we increase economic efficiency. Taxing dirty industries, ensuring that capital pays at least as high a tax rate as those who work for a living, and closing tax loopholes would provide trillions of dollars to the government over the next 10 years, money that could be spent on fighting the climate emergency. Moreover, the creation of a national Green Bank would provide funding to the private sector for climate breakdown – to homeowners who want to make the high-return investments in insulation that enables them to wage their own battle against the climate crisis, or businesses that want to retrofit their plants and headquarters for the green economy.

The mobilization efforts of the second world war transformed our society. We went from an agricultural economy and a largely rural society to a manufacturing economy and a largely urban society. The temporary liberation of women as they entered the labor force so the country could meet its war needs had long-term effects. This is the advocates’ ambition, a not unrealistic one, for the Green New Deal.

There is absolutely no reason the innovative and green economy of the 21st century has to follow the economic and social models of the 20th-century manufacturing economy based on fossil fuels, just as there was no reason that that economy had to follow the economic and social models of the agrarian and rural economies of earlier centuries.

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Now Figueres and her strategic advisor, former Buddhist monk Tom Rivett-Carnac, have penned a book that shepherds climate activism from changing mental states to changing the world.

“Throughout our lives we have found that what we do and how we do it is largely determined by how we think,” Figueres told me via email. “While there is never a guarantee of success at any challenge, the chances of success are predicated on our attitude toward that very challenge….

“It is a lesson we learned as we prepared the Paris Agreement, and is a valuable guide for the urgent challenge we are facing this decade.”

In “The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis,” published today by Alfred A. Knopf, the authors recommend a mindset for climate activism that rests on three attitudes: radical optimism, endless abundance and radical regeneration.

Radical optimism echoes an organization the authors formed, Global Optimism, to combat pessimism and denialism. Endless abundance is the sense that there are resources enough for all, to combat competitiveness and tribalism. Radical regeneration means caring for both nature and oneself, to combat exploitation and burnout.

Then the authors get to action.

“We have discussed the mindset everyone needs to cultivate in order to meet the global challenge of the climate crisis, but on its own, this is not enough,” they write. “For change to become transformational, our change in mindset must manifest in our actions.”

“While there is never a guarantee of success at any challenge, the chances of success are predicated on our attitude toward that very challenge….

Many of the recommended actions also occur in the mind, at least initially, constituting a transformation in priorities. In a chapter titled “Doing What Is Necessary,” Figueres and Rivett-Carnac propose these ten actions:

1 Let Go Of The Old World

First, the authors propose that we honour the past—for example, it’s okay to acknowledge that fossil fuels have improved quality of life, for some—and then let the past go. Let the change come that is necessary to transform the world. That means not only pragmatic change like allowing offshore wind development but, they say, psychological change like resisting the urge to engage in tribalism and the illusion of certainty.

2 Face Your Grief…

but hold a vision of the future. The world under climate change will not resemble the world many us knew in our youth. “We cannot hide from the grief that flows from the loss of biodiversity and the impoverished lives of future generations,” the authors write. They advise readers to face this grief, rather than turn away from it—an approach that borrows from their Buddhist influences—and then to embrace an optimist vision of the future. “A compelling vision is like a hook in the future. It connects you to the pockets of possibility that are emerging and helps you pull them into the present.”

3 Defend The Truth

Here the authors defend objective science and warn readers not to give in to pseudoscience. But they also urge readers not to vilify those who embrace denialism. “If you reach them, it will be because you sincerely listened to them and strove to understand their concerns. By giving care, love, and attention to every individual, we can counter the forces pulling us apart.”

4 See Yourself As A Citizen…

not as a consumer. Here the authors depart from the usual approach of urging people to stop buying stuff. Instead, they focus on the psychology behind consumption. “Much of what we buy,” they say, “is designed to enhance our sense of identity.” Instead, they say, envision a good life that does not depend on material goods.

5 Move Beyond Fossil Fuels

As pragmatic as this action sounds, the authors depict fossil-fuel reliance as an attachment—an attachment to the past. “Only when this mindset is challenged can we migrate our thinking, finances, and infrastructure to the new energies.”

6 Reforest The Earth

Here the authors urge the most pragmatic actions: plant trees, let natural areas go wild, eat less meat and dairy, boycott products that contribute to deforestation. They mention palm oil in an example but not pork, beef or chicken—major products that drive deforestation. Instead they stay positive, emphasizing the benefits of a plant-based diet. “The future we must choose will require us to pay more attention to our bond with nature.”

7 Invest In A Clean Economy

Here the authors mean much more than putting money into wind and solar. They mean moving beyond a model of economic growth that rewards extraction and pollution, toward “a clean economy that operates in harmony with nature, repurposes used resources as much as possible, minimizes waste, and actively replenishes depleted resources.”

8 Use Technology Responsibly

Artificial intelligence has the potential to solve problems that have so far remained intractable, the authors argue, such as any attempt to shift from an extractive economy to a circular one. But that will happen only—they say—if AI is used responsibly. “If we make it through the climate crisis and arrive on the other side with humanity and the planet intact, it will be largely because we have learned to live well with technology.”

9 Build Gender Equality

When women lead, good things happen, the authors say, citing a wealth of studies. “Women often have a leadership style that makes them more open and sensitive to a wide range of views, and they are better at working collaboratively, with a longer-term perspective. These traits are essential to responding to the climate crisis.”

10 Engage In Politics

The authors are not just talking about voting. Mentioning Greta Thunberg, Extinction Rebellion, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela, Figuera and Rivett-Carnac urge civil disobedience.

“Civil disobedience is not only a moral choice, it is also the most powerful way of shaping world politics.”

The post 10 Things You Can Do About Climate Change, According To The Shepherds Of The Paris Agreement appeared first on Sydney Peace Foundation.

The effects of climate change represent the single biggest threat to peace with justice.

The Sydney Peace Foundation has chosen to honor the leadership of Christiana Figueres with the presentation of the 2020 Gold Medal for Human Rights because of her collaboration and influencing skills, her persistence in ensuring a global agreement on limiting climate warming (the Paris Agreement), her relentless drive to ensure we don’t sleepwalk into an environmental nightmare by keeping our outrage alive, and importantly for the reminder that we must be optimistic and hopeful about the possibility of a much better world.

‘We must spark the imagination and the creativity that comes with understanding that we have this incredible agency to create something completely different. Whatever we hold as being possible, and whatever values and principles we live by, determine the actions that we take. Whatever we hold to be near and dear to us is what we’re willing to work toward. And so to shift from doom and gloom to a positive, optimistic, constructive attitude is very important because it is what gets us up in the morning and says “yes, we can do this, we’re going to work together on that”, rather than pulling the blanket over our head and saying “it’s all too difficult”. So that change in attitude inside ourselves is critical’.

Ms Figueres is a Costa Rican citizen and was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010-2016. During her tenure at the UNFCCC she brought together governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and NGOs to jointly deliver the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, in which 195 sovereign nations agreed on a collaborative path forward to limit future global warming to well below 2C. For this achievement Ms. Figueres has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy.

Ms. Figueres is a founding partner of Global Optimism Ltd., a purpose driven enterprise focused on social and environmental change. She is currently the Convener of Mission 2020, Vice-Chair of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, World Bank Climate Leader, ACCIONA Board Member, WRI Board Member, Fellow of Conservation International, and Advisory Board member of Formula E, Unilever and ENI.

Christiana Figueres has co-authored a book called The Future We Choose, Surviving the Climate Crisis and is in Australia in March to promote it.

The Foundation is delighted that Ms Figueres has agreed to accept the Gold Medal, which will be awarded during her upcoming visit to Sydney.

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‘The risks associated with climate-related disasters do not represent a scenario of some distant future. They are already a reality for millions of people around the globe ……. We cannot lag behind. We must act now, with a sense of urgency and a commitment to place people, especially those most marginalized and vulnerable, at the centre of our efforts.’ (UN political affairs chief DiCarlo).

Where there is lower capacity for states to respond, adapt to and recover from climate-induced disasters, marginalisation and local grievances will intensify. Climate change disproportionately impacts economic development in conflict-affected countries that depend on agriculture for their prosperity.

The impacts of climate change wear away the capacity of states to prevent conflict. Erratic weather patterns and extreme weather events cause resource scarcity and render land inhabitable, intensifying inequality and conflict.

Climate change is transforming the security landscape. The 2019 Global Peace Index factored in, for the first time, climate change as a considerable threat to global peace in the next decade. ‘Research is clear that changes in the natural environment impose stress on human societies.’

Environmental degradation and water stress lead to hunger, famine, displacement, migration and conflict. These connections are already impacting lives in the Pacific, Middle East, Libya, Afghanistan and Pakistan. ‘Since 2008, an average of 26.4 million people per year have been displaced from their homes by disasters brought on by natural hazards. This is the equivalent to one person being displaced every second. The number and scale of huge disasters creates significant fluctuation from year to year in the total number of people displaced, while the trend over decades is on the rise’. (Global Estimates 2015, IDMC).

Climate change is not a future problem. It is already destroying ecosystems, livelihoods and lives. Imagine a future where these impacts are even more profound!

Inaction on climate change is an affront to justice and the most severe risk to peace in our time. In commitment to our goal of promoting peace with justice, in 2020, the Sydney Peace Foundation sheds light on solutions to address this crisis, and on the need to act immediately.

To provide peace and security, strengthen governance and justice systems and ensure a future where peace is still a possibility, we need to act now. Climate change is an urgent threat and we are not acting fast enough.

If we do not act, then change is coming by design or by disaster. We must forge alliances and work together to demand change and build a better system before it is too late.

Change is something we must demand from our leaders to support peace. We need to act – together, now.

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Jandali composes symphonies which integrate ancient folk melodies from Aleppo and the Silk Road to preserve the musical heritage of Syria.

“I’m trying to integrate these ancient melodies that Aleppo embraced into my symphonic, classic and chamber works in an effort to present it on an international stage,” Jandali told AAP.

“Someone in 200 years might say ‘what happened in Aleppo’ and someone can say ‘here’s how it sounds’ because there’s no Aleppo any more. The world is witnessing the eradication of Aleppo and total destruction, I’m trying to revive it and keep it alive through the music.”

The musician and composer makes his Australian debut this week for a series of concerts in Sydney to coincide with National Refugee Week.

Jandali left Syria in 1994 to study piano in the US. He has since become one of the first artists abroad to speak out against state oppression and the Assad regime, and has been awarded for his humanitarian work as well as founding Pianos for Peace, a non-profit promoting peace through music.

He returned to perform at a refugee camp in 2012 and last month travelled to the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, home to 80,000 refugees, where he performed in a benefit concert for Save The Children.

“Music evokes all these memories so when you have all these children and they hear a tune from their village or homeland, seeing that smile on their faces, or having them join us in singing the tune, that was just magical,” he said.

“You can sense the psychological effect of the war and being displaced and forced to leave home, it’s very tough. I could sense that in the children.”

His main goal is to spread a message of peace through music and give refugee children a voice.

“What we are trying to do through this meaningful concert and timely event is to unite all communities to change the narrative, make the art accessible to all and tell the world that these poor children are humans. We are trying to humanise their voice through music,” he said.

“The audience forgets the beauty of Syria and how beautiful it is, we only see the ugliness the bad news, the blood shed and the politics, how about presenting a beautiful piece about these innocent beautiful children and the music they have?”

*Malek Jandali will kick off a week of concerts and engagements in Sydney on Friday June 16 and will perform A Syrian Symphony for Peace in the Sydney Opera House on Saturday, June 24.

This article, written by Danielle McGrane (AAP) appeared on news.com.au on June 15. 

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At a recent public forum organised by Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney to mark the International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination at which Senior Alyawarr/Arrente woman Rosalie Kunoth-Monks spoke along with other Aboriginal leaders in support of a treaty between Indigenous peoples and the Australian government, which would guarantee the right to self-determination.

We support this call.

As actress Kylie Belling says in a recent campaign video calling for a Treaty presented at the forum:

“We are Sovereign peoples, who have never ceded our land.
We want to take control over our lives and determine our futures… the time is long overdue for governments to sit down with Aboriginal people across Australia and negotiate agreements and return to us our rights.”

In addition, the Sydney Peace Foundation enthusiastically supports the present move towards constitutional recognition and considers it an important step on the road towards a meaningful treaty.

The post Statement of Support to Aboriginal people in Australia appeared first on Sydney Peace Foundation.

“Watching Watchers and Saving Lives”

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