The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum is coming to Seattle in August. But what is APEC, and why are some of Front and Centered's coalition members and allies organizing a countersummit against it?

Jill and Edgar talk with Carly and Adrián of the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) Seattle-Tacoma, an anti-imperialist and democratic formation that encompasses a broad range of participating organizations. Carly and Adrián tell us how they got involved with ILPS Seattle-Tacoma before talking about why the US and big corporations are so invested in APEC, and why frontline communities need to stand up against APEC and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) to protect workers, women, migrants, and the environment.

Learn more about the People's Summit Against APEC, happening July 29–30, at pnw-pop.com.

Recorded on April 19, 2023.

Check out:

• Pacific Northwest People over Profit (PNW POP)
• PNW POP: NO to APEC Commitment Form (sign-up form to volunteer or commit other resources)
• PNW POP—People's Summit Against APEC! (four-minute video)

Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast

Jill and Edgar return to kick off Season 3 of On the Frontlines with a special live recording at Columbia City Theater in South Seattle!

Recorded during Front and Centered's week of programming for their Earth Deserves More Than a Day event, this episode features Jill and Edgar talking about the history of South Seattle, as well as the history of Edgar's union, Familias Unidas por la Justicia. Jill also takes time to remember Berta Cáceres, an Indigenous land defender who was assassinated almost ten years ago in Honduras.

Recorded on April 21, 2023.

Check out:

•  Our Responsibility to Indigenous Land Defenders (article on Berta Cáceres)

Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast

For this special episode of On the Frontlines, Jill and Edgar are joined by Donna Denina of the International Women's Alliance and GABRIELA Seattle, as well as Liz Darrow of CommunityVoz Radio, for a conversation on human rights. They discuss why December 10 is International Human Rights Day, who gets to define what human rights are, and how the concept gets co-opted to justify war and other uses of force.

Jill, Edgar, Donna, and Liz also get into the human rights issues under the spotlight at the World Cup, currently taking place in Qatar, as well as the human rights concerns of associated athletic apparel companies like Adidas and Nike. Donna also invites listeners to an International Human Rights Day Peoples Forum and Teach-In, which will take place in Seattle on December 10.

Recorded in December of 2022.

Check out:

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations)
• What Was Liberalism? Part 1: Ideology & Violence (Philosophy Tube)
• International Human Rights Day Peoples Forum and Teach-In (Event happening December 10, 2022)

Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast

Now that Edgar is back in Washington, what's next for movement leaders who went to COP27, such as those in the It Takes Roots coalition? How do international agreements at the COP affect what national, regional, and local governments do in the name of responding to climate change?

Jill and Edgar discuss the concept of "loss and damage," one of the provisions of the negotiated agreement released at the end of the COP. They also discuss the location of COP28 in 2023—Dubai—and how these locations seem intentionally chosen to limit civil society and the environmental justice movement's abilities to participate in the COP, influence proceedings, and build connections with local communities.

Ultimately, Jill and Edgar agree that there is a strong need for a People's COP, or Counter-COP, for frontline communities, and that the real power rests in the hands of those who are resisting capitalism and creating change.

Recorded on November 22, 2022. Crash #COP27 is a special season of On the Frontlines.

Music:

Maximalism by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deck
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast

For this installment, Jill checks in with Edgar during his last day of crashing COP27 to talk about some final updates before Edgar heads home, including the fact that Edgar ran into Governor Jay Inslee.

Edgar tells us about the run-in, why the governor was in Sharm El Sheikh, and his experience seeing Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the newly reelected President of Brazil, give a speech. Jill and Edgar then share some brief reflections on what the real solutions to climate change are, at the close of a global conference teeming with false solutions.

Recorded on November 16, 2022. Crash #COP27 is a special season of On the Frontlines.

Music:

Maximalism by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deck
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast

Is the COP rigged? Why does it feel like there's a predetermined agenda filled with false solutions? Is it time for an alternative to the COP, led by the grassroots?

In this week's episode, Jill and Edgar break down the idea of "climate finance"—where the most wealthy nations fund climate mitigation and adaption projects in countries without the resources to implement these projects on their own—and discuss climate reparations as well. They also go into how science and expertise are often co-opted by those trying to sell false solutions and hoodwink frontline communities.

Recorded on November 15, 2022. Crash #COP27 is a special season of On the Frontlines.

Check out:

• Fossil Fueled Foolery: An Illustrated Primer on the Fossil Fuel Industry’s Deceptive Tactics (NAACP report)

Music:

Maximalism by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deck
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast

What is the price of a whale? How many tons of carbon can you offset with a humpback?

For this installment of Crash #COP27, Edgar talks about the mental toll the COP is taking on him. From the tightly controlled atmosphere that limits dissent and on the ground actions from civil society representatives, to the absurdity of the false solutions being peddled (like whales as carbon offsets), it's difficult to find hope in the COP process. Is the COP really the place for action on climate change?

Jill and Edgar examine where the hope and future lies for frontline communities outside of the COP. They discuss the need for an alternative "People's COP," and how the Just Transition framework helps us ground our work by daylighting what the false solutions are and where the real solutions lie.

Recorded on November 12, 2022. Crash #COP27 is a special season of On the Frontlines.

Music:

Maximalism by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deck
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast

NOTE: We had some connectivity issues while recording speakers at COP27 for this podcast, so you may hear some low-quality audio at some points. Apologies!

In this special bonus episode of Crash #COP27, we present audio from different Black and Indigenous environmental justice leaders at COP27's Blue Zone. Listen directly to their stories and hear the sounds of the COP and Sharm El Sheikh, captured on the ground by Edgar.

Recorded on November 11 and 12, 2022. Crash #COP27 is a special season of On the Frontlines.

Music:

Maximalism by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deck
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast

NOTE: We had some connectivity issues while recording this podcast, so you may hear some choppy audio at some points. Apologies!

For this installment of Crash #COP27, Edgar tells Jill about his first day in COP27's Blue Zone, including meeting Dr. Robert Bullard (the "Father of Environmental Justice") and participating in an action honoring and drawing attention to those incarcerated for defending the environment and other prisoners of conscience.

This episode also touches on the connection between resource extraction and the extraction of people of color from their communities by carceral policies, as well as the deliberately alienating atmosphere maintained inside the COP. Also, our friend Ananda Lee Tan (from Season 1 of On the Frontlines) apparently gave John Kerry an important piece of literature!

Recorded on November 10, 2022. Crash #COP27 is a special season of On the Frontlines.

Check out:

• Hoodwinked in the Hothouse

Music:

Maximalism by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deck
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast

John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, is at COP27, and the United States' plans for climate finance were leaked prior to their unveiling at the COP.

Unfortunately, the funding the US is aiming to procure for developing countries is to come from carbon offsets and market mechanisms, and as the Climate Justice Alliance and the It Takes Roots coalition have argued, Biden's plan will accelerate climate change at the expense of Indigenous peoples and frontline communities.

Jill and Edgar take a few minutes to discuss these developments and take On the Frontlines' first-ever listener-submitted question! They then go down memory lane, discussing the significance of COP21 in Paris, both for the world and for Washington State.

Recorded on November 9, 2022. Crash #COP27 is a special season of On the Frontlines.

Check out:

• This Changes Everything (Naomi Klein, 2014)
• "SHELL NO!" Seattle Protesters Take to Kayaks to Decry Arctic Drilling (May 16, 2015)

Music:

Maximalism by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deck
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast