Disarm! For a Climate of Peace – Creating an Action Agenda

Speakers  will  come  from  a  wide  range  of  disciplines  and backgrounds,  including  both  the  highest  levels  of  society  and grassroots voices, creative thinkers and cultural figures:

• Nobel and Alternative Nobel Prize winners;
• elder statesmen/women;
• the social sciences, economics and politics in particular;
• the peace movement and other civil society sectors;
• parliamentarians,  religious  leaders,  journalists,  community organizers and artists…

In 2014 the world’s governments spent over $1,700 billion on the military sector. We believe this money must instead be spent on:

• Climate change mitigation/adaptation, preserving biodiversity;
• Humanitarian programs to support the most vulnerable;
• Peace:  disarmament,  conflict  prevention  &  resolution,  human security;
• Public services / Social  justice,  human  rights,  gender  equality and green job-creation;
• Sustainable  development,  production  and  consumption patterns, anti-poverty programs, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We  strongly  believe  the  absolutely  necessary  ‘great transformation’  of  global  human  society  can  only  be  achieved when also reallocating military expenditure and handling conflict differently. After all, we are facing a crisis of civilization, which is more far-reaching than an ecological and economic crisis alone.

We  are  living  on  one  single  Planet  Earth  but  exploiting  its resources as if we had three. We witness how  our predominant economic and developmental model has failed to provide justice, livelihood  and  human  security  for  all.  We  now  also  face  the resurgence of militarism and confrontational politics.

Hence, we view this priority shift in government spending as one element in a much broader global transformation towards a green, socially just and peaceful society!

The aim of this congress is to bring the issue of military spending, often seen as a technical question, into broad public debate and to strengthen the global community of activism.

Hence, we aim at wide support that goes far beyond peace organizations, such as from development, environment, faith, human rights, social welfare, women, workers’ and youth organizations.