*



View this email in your browser. [1]

Forward this email to a friend. [2]



[3]



[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]



HI ,



Home to the world's third largest rainforest, Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a

biodiversity as well as a cultural and linguistic diversity that is as

great as any region on Earth.



PNG's biological and cultural diversity is under assault by the global

economy. PNG's economy is dominated by foreign corporations engaged in

resource extraction that plunders PNG's wealth while leaving little for

PNG's ordinary people. This resource colonialism destroys habitat and

quickens global warming. It is accelerating the sixth mass extinction of

species in Earth's history.



Global logging companies have deforested over a third of PNG, often

replacing rainforest with palm oil plantations. Corrupt logging deals

between the PNG government and foreign corporations have left indigenous

landowners economically and culturally impoverished by the destruction of

their traditional means to life in the rainforest.



ECOLOGICAL DEBT TO PNG



We in the U.S. are linked to and ultimately harmed by this destruction of

biodiversity in PNG. Rainforest destruction increases atmospheric carbon

and global warming. Biodiversity maintains the stability and productivity

of ecosystems upon which we all depend for food. Biodiversity provides the

raw materials for new medicines. As habitat and biodiversity are destroyed

and replaced with monocultural plantations and factory farms, pathogens

like Covid-19 more frequently jump from animal hosts to humans with deadly

consequences.



U.S. consumers are linked to this destruction by the globalization of trade

that drives this destruction of biodiversity and impoverishment of people.

The ecological unequal exchange in this trade exploits the rainforests of

countries like Papua New Guinea in order to provide wood, palm oil, and

other products to the U.S. and other rich countries. The U.S. is the

world's biggest importer of tropical products, which under today's economy

means the U.S. is the top destroyer of biodiversity [8]. Papua New Guinea

is the world's third largest exporter of tropical products that destroy

biodiversity.



The U.S. and other rich countries now owe PNG and other exploited tropical

countries an ecological debt [9]. The rich countries expropriated their

resources, destroyed their habitat and biodiversity, and impoverished their

people. We must push the U.S. to lead a Global Green New Deal that invests

in the habitability of the whole planet by paying these countries for

reforestation, habitat restoration, and revenues lost from cutting the

international trade that drives biodiversity destruction.



PNG GREENS PARTY



Within PNG, the Greens Party is standing up against this ecological and

social devastation. It is the alternative to the dominant political parties

in PNG that are based on more personal advancement than political

principles and represent PNG elites who have enabled this plunder and taken

a cut for themselves. The PNG Greens Party is the alternative to the

political corruption and ethnic patronage systems that now dominate PNG

politics.



The alternative [10] that the PNG Greens represent starts with their

commitment to respect for diversity that honors the biological, cultural,

linguistic, and religious diversity of PNG and upholds the rights of

indigenous people, ethnic minorities, women, and LGBT people.



The PNG Greens call for a participatory democracy based on grassroots

community control of local affairs and electoral reforms in the national

political system, including proportional representation, public campaign

funding, and full disclosure of private campaign funding.



The PNG Greens advocate an alternative model of development based on

ecology and social justice. They want an economy featuring the sustainable

use of the renewable resources of the rainforest and ecological agriculture

and an equitable distribution of income and wealth.



2022 PNG PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS



The PNG Greens are now preparing for the 2022 parliamentary elections. They

recently acquired their first member of parliament when Richard Masere

switched to the Green Party. Their goal for 2022 is to run candidates for

30 of the 111 parliamentary seats with slate that is 75% female to

underscore their commitment to gender equality.



The PNG Greens Party is required by law to establish a party office, which

they have budgeted at $26,000 for the year and a half leading up to the

election. That budget includes a vehicle for security reasons. Andrew

Kutapae, the party's General Secretary who will run the office, lives in

the dangerous Maratta squatter settlement in Port Moresby, the capital

city. He is a member of the Engan ethnic group, as are the leaders of the

two largest political parties, who the Greens criticize for corruption.

Tribal warfare and clan-based political violence have marred previous

elections. The vehicle is a necessity for the safety of Kutapae and other

Greens who come to Port Moresby for party and government business.



In addition to covering the costs of the required party office, the PNG

Greens need to raise additional funds for party activities, including their

election campaigns.



The party is partly funded by membership fees. About 4,000 members pay 10

kinas per year, which equals $2.80 per year. That is about 1/10th of 1% of

PNG's per capita income of $2,900. For comparison's sake, 1/10th of 1% of

the U.S. per capita income $66,000 would be dues of $66/year in the U.S.



The PNG Greens also raise money from activities like BBQs, cleaning

business's yards, and car washes.



The PNG Greens Party is a member of the Asia Pacific Greens Federation

(AFPG) and the Global Greens. They hope to be able to participate in the

APGF and Global Greens concurrent congresses [11] in Seoul, South Korea in

January 2022.



HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE PNG GREENS PARTY



To meet their needs for the 2022 elections, the PNG Greens Party are asking

for support from Greens around the world. Australian Greens have helped. I

urge U.S. Greens to step up and make contributions as well.



You can transfer money to the PNG Greens Party via the General Secretary's

Bank Account.



ACCOUNT DETAILS:



Account Name: Andrew Kutapae

Address: 8Mile Ridge Port Moresby North East, PNG.



Bank Name: Bank South Pacific

Address: Waigani Drive, Port Moresby, NCD.

Account Number: 7014647122

BSB Code: 088-968

Swift Code: BOSPPGPM



In Solidarity,



[12]



[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]











Web: howiehawkins.us



Email: [email protected]



Phone: (315) 220-0101

Visit the Store [13] | Media Releases [14] | Sign up to Volunteer [15]



Unsubscribe [16]







Links:

------

[1] [link removed]

[2] [link removed]

[3] [link removed]

[4] [link removed]

[5] [link removed]

[6] [link removed]

[7] [link removed]

[8] [link removed]

[9] [link removed]

[10] [link removed]

[11] [link removed]

[12] [link removed]

[13] [link removed]

[14] [link removed]

[15] [link removed]

[16] [link removed]