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Claim the Sky

Claim the Sky

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This petition has been created by Ida K. and may not represent the views of the Avaaz community.
Ida K.
started this petition to
Governments of the World, UN General Assembly
Ice-caps are melting, sea level is rising, storms are intensifying, and the climate change negotiations are not moving fast enough.

It’s time to do something different.

For decades, we've allowed free access to anyone who wants to dump carbon into the atmosphere.

So let’s CLAIM OUR SKY!

You'll be in good company with the Club of Rome, David Suzuki, Paul Hawken, Richard Heinberg, Frances Moore Lappé, Hunter Lovins, Ashok Khosla, Gus Speth, Peter Barnes, Robert Costanza, Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir, and many others (see some below).

Follow us on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClaimtheSky
Twitter: @ClaimOurSky or #ClaimTheSky

By asserting that we all own the sky, we can begin to use the legal institutions surrounding property rights to protect our property, charge for damages, and provide rewards to those that improve this shared resource.

We need you to join us in reclaiming the sky by signing this petition to create an atmospheric trust to protect and restore our common property.

There's a simple tool to do that. The Public Trust Doctrine is a powerful legal principle that supports this argument. It says that certain natural resources should be held in trust as assets to serve the public good. It is the government’s responsibility, as trustee, to protect these assets from harm and maintain them for the public’s use.

The Doctrine has already been used in many countries to protect water bodies, shorelines, fresh water, wildlife, and other resources. So why not expand the doctrine to cover the atmosphere as well? The atmosphere is a global asset, shared by and benefiting all. As such, each nation is a co-trustee responsible for protecting the asset.

So how do we claim damages from the companies and individuals that are doing the majority of the polluting? Only about 90 companies globally are responsible for introducing two-thirds of the carbon emitted into the atmosphere. This means that damage claims could target a relatively small number of private interests, and since all governments would be co-trustees in the global atmospheric asset, a subset of nations would be able to bring these damage claims. This money could be deposited in an atmospheric trust to fund restoration projects or be used to aid those impacted by climate change. For future emissions, we could charge for ongoing damages via a carbon tax or other mechanisms.

To make this happen we need YOUR support. Please sign this petition and join in this campaign to save our planet.

For more information about Claim the Sky, see http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/237301


Supporting Organizations
  • Alliance for Sustainability and Prosperity
  • Club of Rome
  • Ecosystem Services Partnership
  • Our Children's Trust

Supporting Individuals
  • Roberto De Vogli
  • Tim Jackson
  • Rik Leemans
  • Kate Pickett
  • Richard Wilkinson
  • Janos Zlinszky


Posted (Updated )