Johannes Wesemann (Founder) | Interview given to Ms. Maria Louisa Vafiadaki
-Please talk to us about the AllRise Project and your role in it. What is its vision and primary purpose ?
AllRise is a non-profit organization, we are focused on environmental litigation initiatives to bring to justice those who are directly or indirectly accelerating the environmental devastation of the world. Our team of legal experts prepared its first case to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, aiming to prosecute Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian President, for facilitating the environmental devastation of the Amazon.
The global climate crisis is human-made, the biggest threat that humanity has ever faced. We believe it is a crisis which affects us all. This is happening right now, everywhere. Global deforestation is the second largest contributor to CO2 emissions..
Another reason why we set up AllRise is that we want to empower all those who sit at home and ask themselves what they can do. The reflexive answer is “nothing – I am in here alone”, but we want to change this. Everybody can do something and the solution is collaboration.
The criminal complaint against Bolsonaro brought together legal experts, climatologists and communication experts as well as activists and entrepreneurs. A) to develop a high-end complaint, based on legal and scientific facts and B) to build a story, aiming to capture the attention of the Public. Frankly, climate change is such a complex topic: causalities, contributions, impact. A diverse group of experts is needed to understand this complexity and to illustrate the impacts. This complaint is also about fighting impunity, it’s about accountability. We have laws in place and just need to execute them.
Johannes Wesemann submitting the legal case against Jair Bolsonaro at the Criminal Court in The Hague
-You mention that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is constantly harming the Amazon. How is he conducting a crime against nature and what are the consequences of his actions to the environment ?
The overarching answer is that Bolsonaro’s crime is that he is destroying an ecosystem we all need to survive. Without the Amazon in Brazil, we have a severe problem. All ecosystems must be protected. Today the causalities between mass deforestation, climate change and human suffering are scientifically proven. So we can say that Bolsonaro has intentionally increased, enabled deforestation, severely harming traditional and local communities in the Amazon as well as accelerating the climate crisis.
When we started AllRise, we knew we need to bring in an international angle to this discussion. Our report shows the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions that result from the acceleration of deforestation which can be attributed to the government of President Bolsonaro. One number is that the emissions attributed to the Bolsonaro administration will cause over 180.000 excess heat related deaths globally over the next 80 years.
Last summer in Australia and this summer in Europe has given us a foretaste what is yet to come. The impact of climate change is substantial and in front of our doors. Climate change is causing more extreme weather events including heat waves, storms, floods, droughts or wildfires. Substantial impact of climate change is occurring within Brazil and Latin American region and around the world.
-There are certainly other places in the world, apart from the Amazon, which are being destroyed by human intervention. Why is your campaign only targeting Bolsonaro and focusing geographically on the Amazon ?
AllRise aims to bring powerful individuals who intentionally destroy the environment to justice. Jain Bolsonaro is the first case. As soon as it was created, AllRise invited the global community to help stop the destruction of the Amazon. We aim to set a strong precedent against Bolsonaro, as a first case.
It’s not a personal issue between AllRise and the Brazilian President. That would be ridiculous. We believe there are enough reasons for the International Criminal Court to look into the situation in the Brazilian Amazon and to start a preliminary investigation. Some numbers: each year since Bolsonaro was elected as President, over 10.000 km2 of the Brazilian Amazon have been deforested and approximately 4.000 km2 can be attributed to the Bolsonaro administration.
This is where I come in as an entrepreneur. It’s not only about using academic and scientific data to prove the admissibility to the ICC. It’s also about pitching this to the court of public opinion. To do so, you need to get their attention by translating the gravity of Bolsonaro’s crimes into a story, to make the public understand this is an urgent topic to deal with. Using Bolsonaro & the Amazon as a first case serves this purpose very well. This is also a reason why we decided to go for this case. Rest assured, we at AllRise are already looking into other topics.
-Does your campaign have a more holistic agenda to protect the natural environment worldwide ? What is your main message to the world and what are you hoping to achieve ?
Polluters of this magnitude who normally destroy the environment must be held legally accountable. Period. This is our first goal. It’s a matter of principle. We need to show attitude. Whether the existing laws are sufficient or whether we need new ones, is one of the subjects addressed by our initiative.
Our second goal is that we want to set a precedent. This case involves environmental degradation and global implications which can be pursued legally.
Thirdly, we want to onboard the public to become a strong stakeholder. We need to get public exposure and launch this campaign to educate the public, empower them and send a clear message to the ICC. Whatever position they will take to deal with this, we the public, will take a very close look.
-Is this a crowd funding campaign ?
The main call to action of this campaign is not crowd funding. We do have a “Donate” button on our website, but this is not our primary goal in the first phase of the campaign. Our CTA (call to action) is to listen to the campaign, share it and sign the petition. Singing the petition doesn’t have any legal relevance for our case, because the ICC does not require petitions. But it shall show public interest in this matter.
-Can you share some financial insights of your campaign ? Where do you get your funding from ?
I can tell you that we need approximately 350.000 euros to fund the drafting process of the criminal complaint and the campaign. It is a costly undertaking. Why? Because I clearly said that we need to pay all experts for their services and time. The pro bono concept never worked long term and you need to pay the people to get the best on board.
This amount is donated by individuals, companies with a green DNA, foundations & NGOs whose focus is climate litigation and lastly, crowd funding. The latter being a funding instrument in phase 2 of the campaign.
-In what ways can the climate crisis be dealt with by the law ? How should legislation be modified to protect the natural environment ?
I believe that as a first step, you need to build pressure onto the politics and ensure that state private sector or political actors such as Jain Bolsonaro are held legally accountable. We have international criminal law in place, in particular the provisions of crime against humanity under the ICC statute, which punish those who are principally responsible - in our case - for mass deforestation under article 25 and 7 of the statute.
We have existing laws; we just need to use them. I am not a legal expert but one thing is crystal clear - we don’t need to wait until we have new laws in place, but use the present ones and learn to interpret them differently. This is what we are doing.
In absence of well-educated and visionary politicians civil society needs to build pressure on the law makers by filing complaints or lawsuits. It’s up to us, civil society, to be bold and act now. Law is a very powerful instrument to fight the climate crisis.
-What does your campaign consist of and how are you spreading the word ?
We have a good case and we show it affects us all. Anybody who sees our campaign understands. The story is clear and too strong to neglect.
We don’t have the resources to run a campaign which is used to convince those who don’t know. We only target those who sit on the same side of the table. Apart from the website https://www.theplanetvs.org/, social media is a very powerful tool within the campaign. Additionally we use traditional media to spread our message.
The marketing agency 180 Amsterdam created the campaign. As you may have noticed, the campaign materials are not green but yellow and blue colors to support our message. It is actually about democratizing a campaign. Anybody can download the materials and personalize them.
-What are the biggest challenges you are facing in running your campaign ?
I would say the biggest challenge is to keep the momentum. Frankly, this is the biggest challenge in any campaign.
-Kindly share the ways that one can become involved.
One can help by getting informed on the website https://www.theplanetvs.org/ and signing and sharing the petition under the “Sign” button. In addition, people can donate through the donate-button. Our call to action is clear: Share. Sign. Stop his Crimes.
-Do you believe that crimes against nature can be truly stopped or mitigated using the law?
What’s the alternative ? I think it’s really upon the law makers to use the law appropriately. And we need to remind them to do so. We need to challenge existing law to show what works, what does not. Maybe it is a romantic approach, maybe it sounds naïve. But be aware, a final verdict is not negotiable. The law can be a very powerful tool. Let’s use it.
Thank you.