Fight for Climate Justice at COP17 Climate Change Negotiations

Jessie Dennis    |   Policy Director   |   Project Survival International Team    |     New Zealand    |   7th December 2011   |

Right now, in Durban, South Africa, thousands of people are gathered with all the ideas and cooperation and commitment needed to solve climate change in a fair and just way. People from all over the world have come together, ready to take action for our earth and our future.

In other news, there’s a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP17 climate conference going on. But lets stay out of the halls of the conference center for a moment.

On Saturday 3rd December, a global day of action took place to demand real and just solutions to climate change and in Durban an estimated 12,000 people took to the streets. The messages on banners and placards were as diverse as the cultures and people there. People had been pouring into Durban for the previous few days. 400 rural women, who traveled by bus to take part, and to hold a Rural Women’s Assembly to talk about how rural women will be effected by climate change, and how they are part of the solution. Hundreds of rural farmers, activists from all over the world, union groups, youth groups, organizations and delegations from all over the earth. Then there are thousands upon thousands who, like me, would love to be present and represented but who couldn’t due to lack of resources.

Activists shout slogans during a protest to demand action to combat global warming in Durban Photo: AFP/GETTY

Yesterday La Via Campesina marched in Durban, demanding the rights of small scale farmers be respected and declaring once again that it is those same small scale farmers of the global south who are cooling the planet through sustainable agriculture.

Many of the marchers have been involved, in the past week, in Occupy COP17; a alternative space in Durban for civil society groups, modeled in structure and process on the Occupy protests taking place all over the world. Many of the protesters demand are misrepresented in mainstream media. They are not there asking for a good deal, many are there protesting against the conference; against anti-democratic processes and for a genuinely democratic response to climate change.

Occupy COP17 General Assembly. Picture: Creative Commons, Adopt a Negotiator, 2011

Global youth are always a force to be reckoned with at COP, and again youth have been getting stuck in, organizing events and actions inside COP; against forest loopholes, tar sands and REDD+, and FOR inter-generational justice. As always, the curtailment of freedom of expression inside the conference is pretty concerning, with a peaceful and small demonstrations (necessarily small, due to UN restrictions) being harassed for holding up banners, or giving out flyers. Youth, as always, have not been letting these restrictions stopping them having their voice heard, and many are supporting the ‘outside’ civil society events as well as those on the inside.

Mokgadi Seemola, an African youth, delivers a very powerful testimony to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, party members and observers during the Intergenerational Inquiry organized for the Young & Future Generations Day on December 1, 2011 at COP17. Videography by Lauren Ressler, Editing by Angela Wiley.

Inside the Conference of Parties (COP), voices of courage and sanity can be heard. ALBA countries, a group of leftist South American countries including Venezuela and Ecuador, a handful of African states, the ‘Least Developed countries’ and members of AOSIS (Alliance of Small Island States) are holding firm on demands for scientifically based emission cuts, and resisting the urge to make concessions that would see their people suffer for their own self interest.

It may well be true that, as former Bolivian Ambassador to the UN Pablo Solon said at last week’s Wolpe Memorial Lecture, “COP17 will be remembered as a place of premeditated genocide and ecocide.” For those who are fearlessly demanding climate justice in Durban this week, I hope, from thousands of miles away, that it will also be remembered as a place of inspiration, genuine change, the building of a movement and courage by the 99%.

Related Posts:

• Durban COP17: You want the good news first or the bad news?

Durban COP17: You want the good news first or the bad news?

Jessie Dennis    |   Policy Director   |   Project Survival International Team    |     New Zealand    |    1st December 2011   |

We will start with the bad news. Let’s not beat around the bush. Three days into the COP17 climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa, and things are looking, well, pretty darn bleak. For those whose survival depends on the outcome, we cannot downplay the dire situation in which we find ourselves in Durban. Why am I so somber, you ask?

As COP negotiations started, civil society groups made opening demands of a global climate deal based on the science; a pathway to achieving the emissions reductions needed to limit temperature rises to 1.5%. For most civil society groups, and for most Developing Countries and Small Island States, this means a number of things are needed in Durban. Here’s the very modest wish-list:

1) A commitment to a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which is due to expire at the end of 2012. At this point, the Kyoto protocol is all the world has in the way of a binding deal to reduce emissions for developed countries. The Kyoto protocol is deeply flawed, some would say to a point which renders it useless, but most still agree that securing a second commitment phase is the only way to ensure developed countries do not back out of their previous commitments altogether.

2) Increased ambition, progress and cooperation for securing a global climate deal which will replace Kyoto or work alongside it, and bring in other non-annex1 parties. This deal must be binding and it must take into account the historical responsibility of developed countries for greenhouse gases. The market mechanisms which are riddled with loopholes which are included in the Kyoto Protocol must be, depending on who you talk to, removed completely or reformed extensively to remove loopholes. Ideally this would have been agreed upon two years ago in Copenhagen. Many civil society groups are now left hoping, optimistically, that it could be achieved by 2015; the date when emissions must globally peak according to scientific reports by the intergovernmental panel on climate change.

3) A fair, equitable and quick implementation of the Green Climate Fund. The Green Climate Fund must be governed by the COP itself, and be financed publicly, not by the private sector. At present, the involvement of the World Bank and the private sector in the governance and funding of the Green Climate Fund is causing significant concern, as it leaves the fund open to corruption, and makes transparency and accessibility for those in need of the funds difficult.

A view of the dais during the opening plenary of COP17 in Durban on 28th November 2011. Photo Credit: International Institute of Sustainable Development

In the first three days of COP, the Kyoto Protocol appears to be on a lifeline, with many predicting it will be history by the end of COP17. This process started in Cancun a year ago, with Japan formally backing out of the Protocol, and Russia and Canada signaling their intention to. On day one of COP17 in Durban, Canada announced it would withdraw formally from the Protocol. Other developed nations which were previously still signally support for the second commitment phase are now showing signs they will follow suit and drop out, such as the European Union nations.

Ambition for the deal to replace Kyoto has taken a massive drop too, according to statements made by developed nations saying they don’t expect a deal to be reached before 2020. This attitude seems to be being pushed by the US, whose head of delegation Jonathon Pershing stated, to the outrage of many, that reaching a deal in 2020 would leave many options open for still keeping temperature rise below 2 degrees, which the US has committed to in both the Copenhagen and Cancun talks.

In Finance, a text around the governance and plan of implementation is being tabled this week. Civil society is somewhat divided here, with some saying we need to adopt it quickly so that progress can be made, and others saying that the involvement of the world bank, lack of transparency in governance and high involvement of the private sector makes the current proposal unacceptable.

The least developing countries, small island states, and civil society are now in a position of accepting the crumbs being offered by rich states in order to make any kind of progress, if you can call it that, or demand more before engaging in talks which would secure a global deal: More ambition, more transparency and commitment by developed countries. With the US leading a path of falling ambition and reneging on existing commitments, some developing countries, such as India, are adopting a harder line of negotiation. ‘If they won’t play ball, why should we?’ appears to be a new mantra for some developing states. China, Brazil and India have now joined the chorus of countries saying no deal will be reached before 2020. But it is the behavior and attitude of the richest countries of the global north which have lead us to this point. It is those nations with the most power which, like bullies in a playground, are so used to getting their way that any kind of compromise is simply unacceptable to them. A new report It is the poorest of nations who are now left more isolated, as they continue to demand a science based approach, while the negotiations stray further and further away from this.

So what’s the good news? There is plenty of courage and hope to be found in Durban. Some of it is inside the negotiating rooms, and a lot of it is outside, in the streets. I will be focusing on these acts of courage and hope and the groups and individuals who are in Durban speaking truth to overwhelming power in my next blog. So don’t lose hope in the meantime, we can’t afford to.

Written by Natalie Ross-Lapointe – PSP Policy Coordinator and AOSIS liaison officer

Krishneil started the day at a meeting with the South African Minister for Environment and Water Edna Molewa, where he proposed with the new YOUNGO Focal Point Jean Paul Afana, that as the hosts of COP17, South Africa assist in organising next years’ Conference of Youth (COY). The Minister seemed keen on the idea and we will definitely work on fostering this partnership in 2011.

Krish then went on to assist the observers briefing with the chair of the AWG-LCA and the UN Secretary General’s brief on climate financing where Ban Ki-Moon released a report demonstrating that it’s possible to finance the $100 billion in the Copenhagen Accord entirely from public funds.

Krish, Romita and I then attended a press briefing with the Pacific Leaders from Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Tuvalu where the leaders emphasised the impact that climate change is already having on their island states. Krish and Romita then met several of the Presidents after the meeting.

Pen had a busy day facilitating the outsiders working group, attending meetings at Kilmaforum including one with the CEO of Greenpeace Kumi Naidoo who gave a very inspiring speech. She also worked on media blogs, press releases and articles, as well as having a meeting on the PSP video. Additionally, she worked with AYD on a database to share youth resources and on the 1.5 degrees campaign.

Lu wrote a letter for SustainUS and a blog for Unfairplay. She then headed to a stakeholder meeting with the New Zealand (NZ) negotiators and the head of the Kyoto Protocol working group.  She asked lots of hard questions including how NZ can say they have such a strong moral stance on Human Rights when they ignore the plight of their pacific neighbours on climate change. Go girl! This was followed by an interview with One Climate TV.

Romita spent much of the day at the Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) plenary, which I also partially attended.  This included speeches by numerous Presidents and Ministers, including the President of Kiribati who emphasised the importance of dialog between nations being affected by climate change, as well as with youth, whose future is being negotiated. He also associated himself with the AOSIS statement and the statement made yesterday by the President of Nauru on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS). The President of Nauru emphasised the impact that climate change is already having on the islands and stated “when you ask us to compromise, you are asking us to choose how many islands we will lose. This is not a choice we are prepared to make.”

Romita also watched the statements from Samoa and FSM amongst others, as well as attending the meeting on Climate Finance with Krish, a closed meeting on Climate Funding, then the Pacific Leaders press conference with Krish and I, followed by a closed AOSIS meeting.

As for me, my day began at the YOUNGO Spokes-council, after which I attended some of the Presidential speeches at CMP with Romita before rushing off to a Climate Action Network Australia (CANA) meeting with a group of other Australian NGOs to discuss the progress of the negotiations. I then attended the Australian delegations’ NGO briefing with Minister Greg Combet, after which AYCC had a private meeting with Combet and I presented him with a t-shirt with a quote from Christina Ora of the Solomon Islands who was 17 when she addressed the COP plenary last year. “You have been negotiating all my life. You can not tell me that you need more time.”

Then it was back to COP for a few more Presidential speeches and the Pacific leaders Press briefing with Krish and Romita and dinner.

We then joined Luana and Pen for a dinner in a combined Project Survival Pacific (PSP), Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) and New Zealand Youth Delegation (NZYD) and the Philippine youth dinner to celebrate our amazing partnerships in 2010.

So it was a busy day but productive day for all. I think it is really important to have the pacific youth here to let these negotiators know that they’re being watched by those whose future they will determine. Issues such as choosing a 1.5 degree target rather than 2 degrees will dramatically affect the islands and they need to be held accountable for this. It’s essential that countries stop looking out for their own interests and think of the collective outcome, as climate change is something which will affects everyone. The Pacific, who is one of the least responsible for the problem, is unfortunately one of the first effected and stands to loose the most. Their home, their culture and identity are at stake.

Lets hope the negotiators hear the plight of our pacific youth.

The End

Posted by Krishneil Narayan – PSP COP16 Media Coordinator

Hola  Amigos!!

So week 1 (29th November – 4th December, 2010) of United Nations COP16 climate change negotiations have just gone by.

We PSP team have been really busy. There is only 5 of us in the team to Cancun this year. Its difficult when certain expert members of such a small team like us have no excess to the negotiations in the first week and are only able to attend the official negotiations in the 2nd week.

However, I must say our team has done a massively impressive job in the first week of COP16 trying really hard to get the Pacific voices out.

Highlights of the week include:

• Krishneil meeting the Foreign Affairs Minister of Mexico Ms Espinoza, who also happens to hold the current Presidency of COP16 Negotiations

• Romita and Krishneil having an audience with the Chairperson of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Dr. Rajendra Pachauri

• Krishneil and Romita talking to the UNFCCC Executive Secretary Chrisiana Figueres

• Krishneil speaking on behalf of the whole youth movement on climate change in the plenary of the ‘UNFCCC Inter-generational Inquiry’ alongside UNFCCC Executive Secretary Chrisiana Figueres on the panel. A symbolic achievement for the Pacific Youth Delegation as this happened to be on the same day as ‘Young and Future Generations Day’

• The team meeting Barry Coates – the Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand

• Exclusive meeting with Louis Han – the Chief Negotiator for Australian Government at this conference

• Holding an action called “Our Future is on Sale” at the Cancun Messe lead by our action lady Luana where small islands were sold off to climate change as real estate properties.

PSP encourages communicating climate change through personal stories and narratives. Here is the PSP COP16 Delegations story of week 1 through images…enjoy Amigos