Friends of the Earth International ally themselves with US resistance to Trump

Friends of the Earth International have just issued the following unusually strong statement from their meeting In Lampung, Indonesia:

We, Friends of the Earth International, the largest federation of grassroots environmental justice organizations from 75 countries, gathered at our Biennial General Meeting 2016 held in Lampung, Indonesia, resolve to challenge, reject and resist the perverse and offensive policies and inflammatory rhetoric of Donald Trump. The election of Donald Trump is an affront to our collective vision of a society of interdependent people living in harmony, wholeness and fulfillment based in principles of equity and human rights.

We recognize that the rise of Trump is a manifestation of a deeply troubling global trend of xenophobia, authoritarianism and racism.

We condemn Trump’s bigotry and his statements that have threatened and denigrated women, people of color, immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQ people, and the differently abled. His rhetoric has stoked the flames of division, prejudice, hostility and hate; as we witness an increase in hate crimes in the United States, we reaffirm our commitment to create a society built on equity and diversity.

We refuse to legitimize, let alone support, his arbitrary and regressive policy proposals, including those that further deregulate industry, concentrate wealth and political power, eviscerate the social safety net, promote militarism, and erode human and civil rights. Among his most egregious and unconstitutional proposals are plans to deport undocumented immigrants en masse, to construct a southern border wall, and to create a registry for Muslims – all proposals that evoke the darkest days in our collective history, and to which we say, never again. Rooted in our commitment to equity, interdependence and community, we reaffirm our dedication to a society of inclusiveness and care for the most vulnerable, and assert our resistance to totalitarianism and fundamentalism in all its forms.

We express our outrage at his hubris and disdain for environmental protection, particularly with respect to climate change. His climate denialism, and that of his deputies, threatens to undo decades of progress in the U.S. and around the world. Drawing on the power of our grassroots base, and the strength of our global federation, we are fiercely committed to not let one man, nor one country, deny the validity of climate science and the popular will to stop momentum on climate action.

The election of Donald Trump reminds us that for millions of people in the United States there exists a shared experience of neo-liberalism and corporate globalization that has left them disenfranchised and angry. The harshness of this system of dominance has created economic insecurity, rising inequality, social alienation and political marginalization. The response to this experience must not be used to fuel corporate nationalism, xenophobia, racism, misogyny and the further destruction of our planet. 

We remind ourselves that the story of the 2016 U.S. election was not only about Donald Trump, but also the ascension of progressive political values to a level never seen in recent U.S. history. Senator Bernie Sanders, who drew 1.5 million people to rallies across the country, noted that “Election days come and go. But political and social revolutions that attempt to transform our society never end. They continue every day, every week and every month in the fight to create a nation of social and economic justice.”

Be it resolved, Friends of the Earth International expresses our deep solidarity with the growing resistance in the United States which refuses to normalize and legitimize Donald Trump’s inflammatory and irresponsible approach to public policy. We encourage and support positive actions by social movements, civil society groups and governments around the world to resist, discredit, and delegitimize Donald Trump’s odious exercise of power to inflame division and hate, and we encourage instead actions oriented towards building a world of equity, justice and peace.