All posts by Rachitaa Gupta

Statements

COP28 is running into overtime, but your time is up to deliver climate justice

Statement from global climate justice groups

As we sit in the now nearly empty halls of COP28 in Dubai, governments are locked up in rooms, secretly negotiating texts that will either protect millions of lives or effectively sign the death warrant for so many around the world—communities of color, Indigenous Peoples, frontline and local communities, small peasant farmers, youth, and women. We are shut out, silenced, and left in the dark, even though it is many of our communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis that will be most directly impacted by what those in these halls do, or do not, deliver.  

But we know enough from what we have witnessed play out over the past two weeks during this round of UN climate talks to guess what is underfoot. And we know enough from having attended 28 COPs, all of which have failed to deliver the action needed to curb global emissions to Real Zero and implement a just transition along with the needed climate finance. We know enough, because we travel from around the world every year to stand for justice and to resist, while those in power, the political elite, and polluting corporations use this process to orchestrate their ‘get out of jail free’ card.

COP28 is in overtime, but we are here to say—time’s up. 

Time’s up to spend hours upon hours “taking stock” when we know we are grotesquely off track and nowhere near the mark. 

Time’s up to deliver the fast, fair, funded, false solutions-free fossil fuel phase out—of all fossil fuels—alongside the needed finance and technology for implementation, and without the use of adjectives like ‘unabated’ that mask the intent to actually ramp up fossil fuels.

Time’s up to announce the long overdue delivery of climate finance that those on the frontlines are owed. Finance that is public, community-controlled, and in line with each government’s fair share of climate action. There’s no point having ambition and setting lofty targets without a means for implementation for the Global South. 

Time’s up for Global North governments like the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Norway, Japan, and Australia to cease their climate bullying while proclaiming themselves climate champions, and to stop denying doing their fair share of climate action as the actors that are overwhelmingly responsible for the climate crisis. 

Time’s up to reject dangerous distractions and false solutions that are unproven, risky, do not meaningfully reduce emissions, cause great harm, and delay the needed end to the fossil fuel age. No more carbon markets, offsets, geo-engineering, nature-based solutions, nuclear, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen—all of which continue to enable the extractivist, racist, colonial, capitalist system that has perpetuated the climate crisis. 

Time’s up to finally enact just transitions that meet the urgent needs of the Global South and respects workers rights. A just transition that does not take into account historical responsibilities means nothing. 

Time’s up for Big Polluters, including the fossil fuel industry and industrial agriculture, to no longer be given the pen to write the rules of climate action, or the power to bankroll these talks and manipulate what happens here. We can no longer allow this process to be poisoned from the inside with Big Polluters’ profit and greed-driven motive. 

Time’s up on the complicit silence of the world while not far from Dubai, children, women, elderly, and men are being murdered by heinous acts of crimes against humanity, enabled by the same Global North actors that are here blocking every meaningful outcome these talks could and must deliver. We are over having to shout reminders that there is no climate justice without human rights, and no climate justice on occupied land. 

There is no more time for delaying and stalling. There is now only time for acting—urgently, fairly, and justly. The words “fossil fuels” in a text are meaningless if the rest of those pages are riddled with loopholes that not only enable but exacerbate the era of fossil fuels. Climate action is weakened if those who are most responsible are not held to account to lead by example. A phaseout is useless without the tools needed to actually achieve it. Climate action is pointless if it condemns billions to death and destruction. 

The Global North as perpetrators of the climate crisis are painting themselves as the victims trying to deliver a package here in Dubai. But what good is a package of false solutions, empty finance, and meaningless promises? COP28, now in overtime, risks setting a death trap for communities around the world. 

Climate Justice Now.  

From the undersigned organizations:

ActionAid International 

Alianza Socioambiental Fondos del Sur

Alliance Nationale de lutte contre la Faim et la Malnutrition ACFM Niger 

Artivistnetwork.org

Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD)

Association Nigerienne des Scouts de l’Environnement ANSEN 

Biofuelwatch

Casa Socio-Environmental Fund • Fundo Casa Socioambiental Brasil

Climate Emergency Fund

Climate Justice Alliance 

Colectivo VientoSur (Chile) 

Connected Advocacy for Empowerment and Youth Development Initiative 

Corporate Accountability

Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa 

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)

Debt Justice UK

Debt Observatory in Globalisation (ODG) (Barcelona)

[Earth]

EcoEquity

Ecologistas en Acción (Spain)

Emerger Fondo Sociambiental Colombia

Entertainment & Culture Foundation

ETC Group

Fondo Ñeque Ecuador

Fondo Tierra Viva Centro América

Fondo Socioambiental Semilla Bolívia

Friends of the Earth International

Friends of the Earth U.S.

Fridays for Future Spain – Juventud x Clima

Fridays for Future USA

Fundação Grupo Esquel Brasil 

Gaia Coalition Network

Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)

Global Forest Coalition

Global Justice Now

Grupo Ambientalista da Bahia

Help Initiative for Social Justice and Humanitarian Development 

Hivos 

IBON International 

Indigenous Climate Action

Indigenous Environmental Network

Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL)

International Student Environmental Coalition

ISPN – Instituto Sociedade, População e Natureza-Brasil

Konsorsium Pendukung Sistem Hutan Kerakyatan (KPSHK)

Oil Change International

Oil Watch Africa

PFC Family Office

Reacción Climática (Bolivia)

RedTailed Hawk Collective

Re:wild Your Campus

Pudú

The Zetkin Collective

Third World Network

TierrActiva Peru (TAP)

Viernes por el Futuro Perú

UKYCC

War on Want

WhatNext?

Women Donors Network

Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

World Animal Protection

Zero Hour

350 Côte d’Ivoire

350.org

7 Directions of Service

Photo Credit: Ja Valenzuela, APMDD

Statements

We stand with the People of Palestine! We stand for Justice, Human Rights and Freedom!

More than 350 organisations all over the world condemn the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and demand an end to apartheid and occupation of Palestine.

As movements fighting against systems of injustice that view black, brown and indigenous peoples as disposable, to be sacrificed by racist and colonial systems of exploitation and domination, we see the struggle of the Palestinian people against occupation and apartheid as part and parcel of our collective struggle for climate, racial, economic and political justice and for a world where everyone has the right to live with dignity, free from oppression.

We are enraged and grieve equally the loss of lives of all civilians – Palestinian and Israeli – that have taken place since 7 October and call for those responsible to be held accountable for their actions. 

We decry the fact that for many Northern Governments,  Palestinian lives are deemed as being of less value and worth as those of Israeli citizens. This has allowed tens of thousands of Palestinians being killed with impunity over the decades as a result of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. People whose names and dreams, like those of our peoples in the global South, sacrificed to colonialism. 

In the latest indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, Israel has already killed more than 8800 Palestinians including at least 3648 children, displacing over 1.4 million people, as it collectively punishes the Palestinian people. In just one week, between 7-12 October, Israel dropped over 6,000 bombs on the Palestinian people living under its illegal occupation, more than the US dropped in a whole year during its war on Afghanistan. Whilst Human Rights Watch has confirmed that Israel has used a banned chemical weapon – white phosphorous – in civilian areas in the Gaza Strip, causing severe burns and uncontrollable fires. 

We are devastated by the  bombing of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza which killed 471 injured and sick Palestinians, including women, children, doctors, nurses, and those seeking refuge from the retaliatory bombardment by Israel. To date, the World Health Organisation has documented 76 attacks on healthcare workers, 218 healthcare facilities including 17 hospitals have been attacked, as well as attacks on UN schools where Palestinians are sheltering for safety.

The Occupied Palestinian Territory of Gaza is facing a “complete siege” with the purposeful targeting of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and schools which constitute war crimes under international law. Israel is also blocking food, water, fuel and medicine to a captive population of 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom are children, as a weapon of war.

While in the Occupied Palestinian Territory of the West Bank, Israel has imposed a total blockade. The Israeli military is attacking Palestinians protesting the genocide in the Gaza Strip with lethal military force, and is providing thousands of weapons to Israeli settlers inside the West Bank, who are attacking and killing Palestinians.

Israel has openly made genocidal statements that ‘Gaza will be reduced to rubble’ and called the Palestinians ‘human animals’. As climate justice movements we recognise the language of racism and colonialism that has been used to justify the sacrificing and killing of so many of our people across the global South.

The current war in Gaza is not an isolated event but is deeply rooted in ongoing colonization, illegal occupation, systemic injustices, and historical oppression of Palestine by an apartheid state. Israel has repeatedly disregarded the international humanitarian law and human rights principles that demand the protection of civilians, especially in conflict zones, as it escalated its genocidal attacks in Gaza. 

Israel is planning a ground offensive with intent to indiscriminately kill Palestinians in north Gaza; and aims to ethnically cleanse more Palestinians in a single day than during the Nakba (Arabic for ‘catastrophe’) in 1948, when over 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes – or any day since in their ongoing settler-colonial occupation of Palestine. The vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza are refugees from the Nakba.

The situation has never been more urgent. In the words of the Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), “Gaza is running out of life”. As vital resources run out and Gaza’s health infrastructure – already battered by Israel’s 16 year-long blockade and periodic bombardment – ‘collapse before our eyes’, Gaza’s remaining hospitals are turning into morgues.

We call for an immediate ceasefire, and for the international community to break the blockade and end the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. We must bring an end to apartheid and occupation. 

We are appalled at the US and UK refusing to support the resolutions at the United Nations Security Council calling for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip. The complicity of powerful Western nations in enabling Israel to carry out these actions with impunity is a matter of grave concern. Despite the growing evidence of human rights violations, the provision of military and financial support to Israel from these nations continues unabated. The disregard for the lives of Palestinian people is inexcusable, and it is incumbent upon these nations to end their arming of Israel and prioritise human rights.

We also call out the role and bias of politicians and international media, led by northern media, fueling the islamophobic rhetoric and dehumanization of the Palestinian people as well as the role of international tech companies and platforms in allowing the rise of islamophobic and anti-semitic hate speech and fake news.

We condemn the attempt by Northern Governments – from Germany, France, to the UK, to attempt to criminalize and ban our movements from marching and calling for Justice for Palestine. The attacks on our right to protest mirror the attacks on climate protests that are taking place in countries that bear the greatest responsibility for these injustices.

We stand in immutable solidarity with the people of Gaza and all victims of brutality and demand upholding of international law and human rights principles to protect innocent civilians. 

We also stand in solidarity with Palestinians and Jews who are protesting Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and advocating for peace and justice in the region. We condemn actions taken by several governments around the world to stop these protests and the arrest of peaceful demonstrators.

There can be no peace without justice and it is a moral imperative for the global community to stand in unity with the oppressed. We call on all our governments and international bodies to work together to end the war, and to bring all those responsible for war crimes to justice. We demand an end to the occupation and genocide of the Palestinian people and urge for resolution that can ensure that both Palestinians and Israelis can live with security and dignity.

Our Demands

In light of the ongoing violence and the appalling human rights violations in Gaza by the apartheid state of Israel, we call for the following urgent measures:

Immediate Ceasefire: We echo the calls of the United Nations Secretary General and  humanitarian and human rights organisations for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

End the illegal blockade: Urgent humanitarian and emergency aid must be provided to civilians in Gaza. The people of Gaza are in dire need of medical supplies, food, water, and other essential resources, which need to be restored urgently.

Stop War Crimes: Israel must be held accountable for its actions that breach international law, including attacks on hospitals, forced evacuations, and the illegal blockade on Gaza for decades.

End Impunity: All those responsible for war crimes including the State of Israel must be held to account for their actions. All civilian hostages, including the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners held without charge or trial must be released. Western powers must stop their support for Israel, including ending arms sales to Israel particularly in the context of human rights violations and stop all support and funding to Israel immediately. Political alliances should not take precedence over human lives.

End Apartheid and Occupation: We support the self-determination of the Palestinian people. We call on Israel to end its system of apartheid and for the right of return and compensation to Palestinian refugees. We call on the international community to finally uphold the UN resolutions for a safe, secure and viable State of Palestine alongside a State of Israel.

Stop Racism, Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism: We stand in solidarity with our comrades in the Jewish and Muslim communities facing an increase in racist attacks. The struggle for climate justice is a struggle for racial justice.

Click here to sign the statement

Note: the statement will be regularly updated with new information as well as signatories

SIGNATORIES

REGIONAL/GLOBAL

Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND)

Arab States CSOs & Feminist Network

Asia-Europe Peoples’ Forum (AEPF)

Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD)

Asia Pacific Network for Food Sovereignty (APNFS)

Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD)

Association for Promotion Sustainable Development

Better Tomorrow Solar, Inc.

Corporate Accountability

Centre for Environment, Human Rights & Development Forum (CEHRDF)

Christian Aid

Climate Action Network Arab World  (CANAW)

Climate Action Network Southeast Asia

Comite O. Romero – Sicsal Chile

Commission for Filipino Migrant Organizations in Europe

Equal Right

Fight Inequality Alliance (FIA)

Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific

Focus on the Global South

Fridays For Future (MAPA)

Gender Action

Global Ecovillage Network

Global Forest Coalition (GFC)

Global Interfaith Network 

Global Law Thinkers Society (GLTS)

GRAIN

Habitat International Coalition (HIC)

Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN)

Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)

Integrated Policy Research Institute

La Verità Onlus International Diplomacy (V.O.I.D)

LDC Watch

Masimanyane Women’s Rights International

MENA Fem Movement for Economic, Development and Ecological Justice 

Migrant Workers Voice

Millennia2025 Women and Innovation Foundation

Networked Intelligence for Development (NID)

NGO Forum on ADB

Oil Change International (OCI)

OilWatch Africa

Pacific Islands Climate Action Network

Passionists International

Platform for Filipino Migrant Organizations in Europe

Politics 4Her

Regional Advocacy For Women’s Sustainable Advancement(RAWSA) Alliance for African & Arab States

Reseau TANMO

Rivers without Boundaries Coalition

Society for International Development (SID)

South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication  (SAAPE)

Southern Africa People’s Solidarity Network

Surge Africa Organisation

Sustainable Sarah

Sustainably Wise 

The Sunrise Project

Third World Network (TWN)

Transnational Migrant Platform Europe (TMP-E)

VIVAT International

Water Justice and Gender

Women & Gender Constituency MENA

WoMin African Alliance

World Friends for Africa Burkina Faso

Yes to Life, No to Mining (YLNM) 

COUNTRIES 

AOTEAROA /NEW ZEALAND

Aotearoa Maori

Auckland Peace Action

Climate Club New Zealand

Climate Justice Taranaki

Environmental Justice Ōtepoti

Generation Zero

Rise Up for Climate Justice Aotearoa

The Crooked Spoke

ARGENTINA

FUNAM (Environmental Defense Foundation)

Periodistas por el Planeta

AUSTRALIA

UN Association of Australia Queensland Branch

BANGLADESH

Bangladesh Adivasi Samity

Bangladesh Bacolight Shramik Federation

Bangladesh Bhasaman Nari Shramik

Bangladesh Bhasaman Shramik Union

Bangladesh Chattra Sabha

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA)

Bangladesh Jatyo Shramik Federation

Bangladesh Krishok Federation

Bangladesh Kishani Sabha

Bangladesh Krishok Sabha

Bangladesh Bhumiheen Samity

Bangladesh Rural Intellectuals’ Front

Bangladesh Sangjukto Shramik Federation

Bangladesh Shramik Federation

Charbangla Bittoheen Samobay Samity

COAST Foundation

Emarat Nirman Shramik Bangladesh

Equity and Justice Working Group, Bangladesh [EquityBD]

Ganochhaya Sanskritic Kendra

Jago, Bangladesh. Garment Workers’ Federation

KOTHOWAIN (Vulnerable Peoples Development Organization) 

La Verita Onlus Bangladesh chapter (V.O.I.D.)

Motherland Garment Workers’ Federation

Pittacchara Forest and Biodiversity Initiatives

Progressive Peasants’ Council 

Ready Made Garment Workers’ Federation

UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative)

Voices for Interactive Choice and Empowerment (VOICE)

Waterkeepers Bangladesh

Youthnet For Climate Justice – Youthnet Global 

BELGIUM

Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt (CADTM Belgium)

BOLIVIA

Plataforma Boliviana Frente al Cambio Climático

Ramonas

Reacción Climática

BRAZIL

FASE 

Fórum da Amazônia Oriental (FAOR)

Frente Ampla Democrática Socioambiental (FADS)

Gestos

SUSTENTAR Interdisciplinary Institute for Studies and Research on Sustainability

CANADA

Vision GRAM-International

CHILE

Alianza Basura Cero Chile

Antu Kai Mawen, Música tierra

Colectivo VientoSur

Comité dd.hh. y Ecológicos de Quilpué

Coordinadora Nacional de Inmigrantes de Chile

Fundación El Arbol

Movimiento por el Agua y los Territorios (MAT)

Observatorio del maltrato a personas mayores. Quilpué

Red de Acción por los Derechos Ambientales (RADA)

COLOMBIA

Censat Agua Viva

Habitat Bambú

Plataforma Colombiana de Niñez y Juventud

Vamos Por los Derechos

CZECH REPUBLIC

Ekumenická akademie (Ecumenical Academy)

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Organisation Paysanne Pour le Développement Durable

ECUADOR

Acción Ecológica

EGYPT

Colectivo de Geografía Crítica del Ecuador

New Woman Foundation

EL SALVADOR

CESTA Friends of the Earth El Salvador

FIJI

Diverse voices and Action (DIVA) for Equality

Fiji Youth SRHR Alliance

SISI Initiative Site Support Group 

FRENCH POLYNESIA

SOS Moorea

GERMANY

Kolumbienkampagne Berlin

#LifeNotCoal – #LebenStattKohle

GUATEMALA

Asociación Ceiba

GUINEA

Réseau des femmes pour l’ environnement et le développement durable

GUYANA

Justice Institute Guyana, Inc.

The Greenheart Movement

HONDURAS

Ecore Honduras

Foro Indigena 

INDIA

All India Women Hawkers Federation (AIWHF)

Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha (BJVJ)

Environics Trust

Himalaya Niti Abhiyan

Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF)

Kamgar Ekata Union

Mines, minerals and People (mmP)

National Alliance of Agriculture & Allied Workers Union (NAAWU)

National Hawker Federation (NHF)

People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL)

INDONESIA

Aksi Ekologi and Emansipasi Rakyat – AEER (Ecological Action and People’s Emancipation)

Gema Alam NTB

Indonesia for Global Justice (IGJ)

National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT)

WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia)

Women Working Group (WWG)

IRAQ

Darya Developing Women and Community

IRELAND

Ecojustice Ireland

Financial Justice Ireland

Friends of the Earth Ireland

IVORY COAST

Syndicat des Enseignants de l’Education Nationale, de l’Enseignement Technique et Professionnel (SYENET)

JAMAICA

Imani, Hope & Love Foundation

JAPAN

Friends of the Earth Japan

UNISC International

JORDAN

Dibeen for Environmental Development

KENYA

Daughters of Mumbi Global Resource Center

Hope for Kenya Slum Adolescents Initiative

MALAYSIA

Centre for Independent Journalism

Klima Action Malaysia  (KAMY)

Monitoring Sustainability of Globalization (MSN)

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) – Friends of the Earth

LEBANON

Learn Sustain 

MALI

Association for the Promotion of Young Girls and Women (AMPJF)

MEXICO

Alianza Mexicana Contra el Fracking

Asociación Ecológica Santo Tomás

CartoCrítica

Conexiones Climáticas

Equidad de Género: Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia

Freshwater Action Network Mexico

MONGOLIA

Oyu Tolgoi Watch

MYANMAR

Karen Environmental Social Action Network (KESAN)

Karen Rivers Watch (KRW), Myanmar 

Save the Salween Network (SSN), Myanmar 

NEPAL

All Nepal Peasants Federation (ANPFa)

All Nepal Women Association (ANWA)

Beyond Beijing Committee Nepal

Center for Good Governance and Peace (CGGAP)

Defenders of Nature

Digo Bikas Institute (DBI)

Fight Inequality Alliance Nepal (FIA) Nepal

Forum for Community Upliftment System Nepal (FOCUS-Nepal)

General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT)

Jagaran, Nepal

National Alliance for Human Rights and Social Justice (Human Rights Alliance Nepal)

National Campaign for Sustainable Development Nepal

Nepal Integrated Development Initiation (NIDI)

Rural Reconstruction Nepal

Tax and Fiscal Justice Alliance (TAFJA Nepal) 

WOREC Nepal

NIGER

Association Nigérienne des Scouts de l’Environnement (ANSEN)

NIGERIA

Green Leaf Advocacy and Empowerment Center

Peace Point Development Foundation (PPDF)

PAKISTAN 

Akhuwat Kissan

ALC Law 

Anjuman e Muzareen e Punjab

ASR Resource Center

Beaconhouse National Uni

Cholistan Development Council

Clean and Green Khai

Climate Activists Collective

Community Developers Association (CDA)

Community Initiatives for Development Pakistan (CIDP)

Crofter Foundation

Feminist Collective Pakistan

Gilgit-Baltistan Social Welfare Organization

Haqooq e Khalq Movement

Home Net Pakistan

Indus Consortium for Humanitarian, Environment and Development Initiative

Kissan Ikkat

Kissan Karkeela 

Kissan Ravi Club

Labour Education Foundation

Labour Qomi Movement

Lok Sujag

PakAid

Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee (PKRC)

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF)

Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER)

Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED)

Progressive Student’s Collective

Sanga

Sawera Foundation

Sindh Hari Porchat Council

South Asia Partnership Pakistan

Sukaar Welfare Organization

Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI)

Tameer e Nau Women’s Worker Organization

Textile Powerloom Garments Workers Federation

Vision Building Future

Visionary Forum

Young Reformers

PERU

Colectiva de Geografía Crítica Contingente Perú

Movimiento Ciudadano frente al Cambio Climático

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú

TierrActiva Peru

PHILIPPINES

350 Pilipinas

Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA)

Bantay Kita

Break- free Pilipinas, Break – free from Fossil Gas – Philippine Campaign

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP-Workers Solidarity)

Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA)

Computer Professionals’ Union

Ecological Justice Interfaith Movement (ECOJIM)

ETC Group Philippines

Fellowship for the Care of Creation Association, Inc. (FCCAI)

Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)

Gitib, Inc.

Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas

Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralita ng Lungsod (KPML)

Oriang Women’s Movement

Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM)

Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ)

SANLAKAS

SAVE Philippines

Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK)

Solidarity for People’s Education and Lifelong Learning (SPELL)

Task Force Detainees of the Philippines

Youth for Climate Justice –Mindanao

Youth for Climate Justice –Tacloban

PORTUGAL

Associação Academia Cidadã

SCOTLAND

Unite Community

SENEGAL

RECODEF Sénégal

SIERRA LEONE

Sierra Leone School Green Club (SLSGC)

SOMALIA

Kalkal Human Rights Development Organization (KAHRDO)

SOUTH KOREA

Korea Federation for Environmental Movement -KFEM ( Friends of the Earth Korea)

SPAIN

Ecologistas en Acción

Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (ODG)

SOUTH AFRICA

Biowatch South Africa

Centre for Social Change (University of Johannesburg)

groundWork, Friends of the Earth, South Africa

SOUTH SUDAN

OILWatch South Sudan

SRI LANKA

Lanka Fundamental Rights Organization

We Women Lanka Network

SUDAN

National Sudanese Women Association

TAJIKISTAN

Zan va Zamin (Women and Earth)

TANZANIA

Greener Tanzania Livelihood Organization (GTLO)

Integrating Capacity and Community Advancement Organization (ICCAO) 

THE GAMBIA

Extinction Rebellion Gambia

THE NETHERLANDS

Gender Justice & Sustainable Development Consultancy

TIMOR LESTE 

Dialektika Timor-Leste

TUNISIA

Association pour la Protection de l’Environnement et le Développement Durable de Bizerte (APEDDUB)

UGANDA

Disability Peoples Forum Uganda

Innovations for Development (I4DEV)

Paradigm for social justice and development

UNITED KINGDOM

Bretton Woods Project

Center for Alternative Technology

Climate Justice Coalition

Climate Live / Stop Rosebank

Ecoforensic

Global Justice Now (GJN)

Greener Jobs Alliance

Nerve Magazine

Seaford Environmental Alliance

Unite Wirral NW/96

War on Want 

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF-UK) 

USA 

CODEPINK

Earth Ethics, Inc.

Earth Justice Ministries

Faithfully Sustainable

Fossil Free Media

Jewish Voice for Peace

Justice is Global

Social Eco Education (SEE)

The California Allegory

The Oakland Institute

UZBEKISTAN

Ecoforum of NGOs of Uzbekistan

Ассоциация “За экологически чистую Фергану”(Association for an Environmentally Friendly Fergana)

Ziyo Nur

VENEZUELA

Fundacion Aguaclara

Venezuelan Political Ecology Observatory 

YEMEN

Center of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights 

ZAMBIA

Zambia Climate Action Network Foundation

ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD)

INDIVIDUALS

Tian Chua , Former Member of Parliament, Malaysia

Atty. Corazón Valdez – Fabros, Co-President, International Peace Bureau (IPB)

Alexandra Arntsen, Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom

Prof. Naser Abdelkarim, Arab American University, Palestine

Yasmine Ibrahim, The American University in Cairo, Egypt

Gert Van Hecken, Asso. professor, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Ray Bush, Professor Emeritus, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

Helen Saldanha, Social Work, India

Lisa Marie Smith, Retired Nurse, England

Amal Ibrahim Sabri, Retired Egyptian Environment & Development Consultant & Researcher, Egypt

Sohair Sabry, Retired Translator and Writer, Egypt

Cristina Santacruz, MA Student, Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Ecuador

Eleonoora Karttunen, Doctoral Researcher, University of Finland, Finland

Erich Vogt, Lecturer, University of Toronto, Canada

Lukas Slothuus, Post Doctoral Researcher, University of Sussex, United Kingdom

Mahar Safdar Ali, Social Activist, Association of People of Asia, Pakistan

Lama Dajani, Artist, Damascus, Syria

Luca Ferrari, Researcher, Mexico

Megan Fraser, Future Led, Vancouver, Canada

Lora Barry, Canada

Aleida Azamar Alonso, Researcher, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, México

Mark Vossler, USA

Español, LAC, Members' Resources, Region, Statements

La Victoria popular del Yasuní

Declaración

Desde La Plataforma Latinoamericana y del Caribe por la Justicia Climática y la Campaña Global para exigir Justicia Climática Latinoamérica y el Caribe (DCJ-LAC), expresamos nuestra más profunda alegría por el triunfo del Sí, en consulta democrática, mediante la cual el pueblo ecuatoriano decidió detener y desmantelar la explotación de petróleo en el bloque 43 ITT, del Parque Nacional Yasuní, ubicado en la Provincia de Orellana, Ecuador.

Saludamos el proceso histórico de defensa del Yasuní, iniciado hace más de veinte años, centrado en el protagonismo de las comunidades y organizaciones del Ecuador, hoy ejemplo de la lucha intergeneracional y diversa contra el extractivismo y la construcción de las alternativas a la explotación de la naturaleza y la garantía de sus derechos plenos. Como lo expresó la Campaña Sí Al Yasuní, esta es una una lucha por la vida misma.


Contra el miedo, contra el fraude, contra la visión desarrollista que busca instalar la muerte en territorios de sacrificio, hoy el pueblo de Ecuador nos señala la ruta a una verdadera democracia climática, y que no puede ser construída sin la participación de las voces de quienes cuidan las vidas en la Amazonía. En palabras de la Misión Internacional por el Yasuní: “no hay vuelta atrás. Ha comenzado una transición justa para los pueblos y la Naturaleza”, por mayor justicia socioecológica y una visión de un futuro cargado de esperanza.


Esta victoria muestra el camino para las futuras luchas por justicia climática, orientadas a terminar efectivamente con la explotación y consumo de combustibles fósiles, rechazar las falsas soluciones y exigir transformaciones estructurales en los sistemas económicos y políticos, inspiradas en la justicia y la soberanía y autonomía territorial.

Nos juntamos como organizaciones por la justicia climática para decirle a
Ecuador que no está sólo y que somos parte de los ojos, las voces y todas las fuerzas vivas – humanas y no humanas – que se suman a la veeduría
internacional para garantizar el cumplimiento del mandato popular expresado en un voto para “ el retiro progresivo y ordenado de todas las actividades relacionadas con la extracción petrolera en un plazo no mayor de un año”, tal como lo establece la papeleta aprobada en la importante consulta popular del 20 de agosto.


Esta es una victoria de AbyaYala y del mundo. Es una invitación a abrir la
imaginación política a un futuro post-extractivista y de justicia climática
democrático y cargado de reconocimiento de la necesidad de reparación y regeneración de la vida, no sólo en el Yasuní sino en todos los territorios asediados por la crisis climática producto del mandato de explotación de la naturaleza.


Hoy celebramos y permanecemos atentxs a los pasos que seguirán hasta
conseguir el reconocimiento pleno de los derechos de la naturaleza en el Yasuní. Nos sumamos a la observación del mundo al proceso que implicará la “remoción de la infraestructura, el cierre de las operaciones, taponamiento eficaz y cuidadoso de los pozos y la restauración y regeneración de las áreas afectadas”, y la garantía de no repetición de lo que nunca debió comenzar.


Exigimos a las autoridades del Estado Ecuatoriano el cumplimiento del mandato que el pueblo ha dado y a estar a la altura del compromiso histórico, que hoy representa la posibilidad de hacer justicia. Llamamos a todas las instituciones democráticas a proteger de cualquier manipulación y atentado de desconocer y obstruir el llamado del pueblo, con maniobras políticas que atentan contra el derecho constitucional de la consulta popular nacional

Es el momento de las acciones climáticas desde los pueblos. Por la
repolitización del pensamiento climático, más allá de la descarbonización, de la economía verde que mercantiliza a la naturaleza y las falsas soluciones. El destino del Yasuní, de la Amazonía toda, de la naturaleza en sacrificio, es ser la base de la vida hacia un mundo donde la justicia climática se traduzca en verdadera democracia con participación plena de quienes cuidan y co-crean los territorios.


¡Sí a la Vida!
¡Sí al Yasuní!

Campaña Global para Exigir Justicia Climática Plataforma Latinoamericana y del Caribe por la Justicia Climática

La-Victoria-popular-del-YasuniDownload
Press Releases, SB58

Civil Society Groups Raise Concerns Over Increasing Push for Carbon Markets, Offsets, and False Solutions like Geoengineering and Land Based Removals During Climate Negotiations

10 July 2023: More than 125 civil society groups have raised concerns over the increasing push for carbon markets, offsets, and false solutions like geoengineering and land based removals during climate negotiations.

“It is absurd that a mechanism under the Paris Agreement would consider accepting geoengineering technologies such as Direct Air Capture, Ocean Fertilization, and techniques to alter ocean chemistry, among others. None of them have a legitimate record of effectively and permanently removing carbon from the atmosphere. In reality, they all entail significant environmental and social risk, while providing an alibi for Big Polluters who won’t reduce emissions. The risks of these technologies are such that they are under moratoria from other UN bodies – the UNFCCC must respect these UN decisions!”, said Silvia Ribeiro, ETC group, México.

The science is as clear as the increasing frequency and violence of climate impacts across the world – no more time can be wasted to take climate action. Big Polluters are carrying on emitting under the cover of deceiving net zero claims while communities and ecosystems across the world suffer immensely. There is an urgent need for real, deep, and urgent emission reductions in line with principles of fair shares starting with just and equitable phase out of fossil fuels.

Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network said, “A global phase out of fossil fuels should be the primary discussion on climate mitigation, not more carbon markets, offsets, pricing and removals that give a free pass to polluters. Indigenous Peoples throughout the world are disproportionately impacted by fossil fuels and the increasing impacts of climate change. More carbon markets, offsets and removals must not be considered as solutions. Indigenous Peoples have experienced 20 years of history with these that have resulted in rights violations, land grabbing, and disproportionate impacts. The Supervisory Body of Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement must hear our demands to end the era of carbon markets, offsets and carbon pricing. Mother Earth demands that fossil fuels stay in the ground.”

“The UN body discussing provisions regarding carbon removals can’t allow itself to be influenced by the industry and open the door to dangerous distractions in the form of land-based and technological removals. The science and evidence couldn’t be clearer: offsets won’t save the day. They harm communities in the Global South, small peasant farmers, and Indigenous Peoples first and foremost. Let’s stop wasting time and commit to the urgent, deep, and real emission reductions we need,” said Lise Masson, Friends of the Earth International.

Rights groups have also raised concerns over engagement and consultation of stakeholders and other right holders for Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement by the UNFCCC Supervisory Body that have allowed for disproportionate influence of the Carbon Dioxide Removals (CDR) industry in the policy making process.

“There is a direct and obvious conflict of interest to allow industries that have been fueling climate change as well as distracting and delaying adequate action for decades to be a part of the policy making process. The consultation process held by the Supervisory Body for Article 6.4 has provided a strategic opportunity for pro-markets stakeholders and the CDR industry to strengthen their tactics and therefore render the process deeply flawed. The UNFCCC must not allow this disproportionate influence of the CDR industry to continue and instead prioritize voices of the communities for real, peoples led solutions”, said Gadir Lavadenz, Global Coordinator, Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice.

xxxxx

Read the letter here

Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice is a network of over 200 networks and organizations working globally, regionally, and locally on climate justice. Collectively we represent millions of climate activists on the ground.
Our members are available for comments and interviews in different languages. Please contact Rachitaa at [email protected] (+918447445543) to reach out to our members.

Letters, SB58

Civil Society Groups Raise Concerns Over Increasing Push for Carbon Markets, Offsets, and False Solutions like Geoengineering and Land Based Removals During Climate Negotiations

7 July 2023

To:

The Supervisory Body Members, Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement

Parties to the UNFCCC –

This open letter from civil society groups from across the world reiterates our demands regarding the processes surrounding Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement and the wider issue of carbon markets and offsets. Namely:

  • Carbon markets, offsets schemes, and carbon removals cannot offer solutions to the climate crisis and instead further prop up a system that has enabled Big Polluters and rich countries to profit off of the crisis. They should therefore not be enabled under any provision of the Paris Agreement.
  • Land-based removals do not result in emission reductions and further lead to unacceptable negative environmental and social impacts, and foster unsustainable development, which are contrary to the objectives of the Paris Agreement and to adequate climate action – they should therefore be rejected.
  • Geoengineering removals are unproven, risky, and costly technologies that put the profits of Big Polluters above the protection of our communities and environment, and further distract and derail from the urgent, deep, real emission reductions needed – they should therefore be rejected.
  • Emissions avoidance should not be considered as it does not compensate for ongoing emissions, but instead poses a significant risk for inflating baselines.
  • Carbon markets cannot be enabled to be propped as climate finance in lieu of the commitments urgently needed from rich countries, including toward the loss and damage fund and in other UNFCCC work streams.
  • The process surrounding Article 6.4 is proving increasingly biased in favour of the industry and needs to be reassessed if it is to remain credible, including concerning the timeline of consultations and who is given a say in it.

OUR DEMANDS

Carbon Markets and Removals

We reiterate our opposition, as climate justice, human rights, Indigenous and gender justice groups and movements, to global carbon markets, offsets schemes, and carbon removals.  

The science is as clear as the increasing frequency and violence of climate impacts across the world: we cannot waste any more time for adequate climate action. Whilst impacts wreak havoc over our communities and ecosystems, Big Polluters carry on emitting under the cover of deceiving net zero claims. These schemes open the door to dangerous distractions in the form of land-based and technological removal offsets to be traded on carbon markets for Big Polluters to profit from. This should not be the result of an international agreement that was intended to avert climate catastrophe.

We refuse to buy into the greenwashing ploy to prop up these false solutions as climate action given that they not only do not address absolute emissions reductions but also perpetuate global North-South inequalities and inequities relating to carbon emissions.

Crucially we express our deep concern over the unacceptable environmental and social risks and costs that these so-called ‘solutions’ put on our communities. Removals and offsets cannot be considered as solutions so long as they continue to result in Indigenous rights violations, additional Human rights violations, land grabbing, and disproportionate impacts especially on communities in the global South and small peasant farmers communities.

We also reiterate that carbon markets are not climate finance. The climate debt of developed countries should be discharged through provision of public financial resources as part of the obligation of developed countries under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement and in line with the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR), not via carbon markets and offsets.

Issues with Removals

Land-based removals, or so-called ‘nature based solutions’, cannot compensate for the permanent emissions from the fossil fuels and other high emitting industries. An increasing number of investigations have demonstrated that these offsets are, in the majority of cases, worthless, and do not result in actual, real emission reductions. Further, such projects including REDD/+ schemes, tree plantations, and soil carbon farming, have been linked to extremely concerning Human rights and Indigenous rights abuses. We cannot allow for the appropriation of land from Indigenous Peoples, small peasant farmers, and communities first and foremost in the global South, or for the erasure of ancestral practices that have maintained and protected ecosystems for centuries. Safeguards are needed but cannot be enough. Any land based removal activities will risk perpetuating the systemic causes of violations of Indigenous customary land rights and territories. 

Technological removals, or geoengineering, provide the illusion that polluters can keep on emitting based on the promise of future technologies that would allow for the removal of carbon from the atmosphere. Geoengineering approaches, such as Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) or ocean fertilization and alkalinization or enhanced weathering, are risky, speculative, technologically unproven and/or unable to be proven at scale, and pose new impacts and considerable and unacceptable environmental and social risks, including serious threats to Indigenous rights and Human rights in general, and negative transboundary impacts. Their development at scale would drive disproportionate economic cost as well as put an irreversible strain on scarce resources such as land and water that we desperately need to uphold living systems. Science says we need to urgently phase out fossil fuels. The IPCC states that the best way to curtail climate change is “deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions” this decade and that Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies are “uncertain and entail(s) clear risks”. The IPCC has been critically questioned for its over-use of CDR technologies in its mitigation scenarios. An equity assessment of global mitigation pathways in the IPCC 6th Assessment Report finds that the continued fossil fuel use in developed countries, even until 2050, is compensated for by higher sequestration (through land-based and Carbon Capture and Storage technologies in developing regions).

Crucially, the amount of land required for both types of removals (land-based or some geoengineering technologies such as Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage, BECCS) will result in competition with cropland and associated negative impacts on food sovereignty, biodiversity loss, Human rights abuses, and increased food prices. Techniques like Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement and Enhanced Weathering would demand an additional expansion of the mining industry, creating more ‘sacrifice zones’, more habitat destruction, and adverse impacts on water quality. Not only would they impact communities and land, they could be detrimental for marine ecosystems and life. All of these techniques require an increase in energy use across their value and supply chains. In the case of DACCS, immense energy is needed that would drive the continued use of fossil fuels causing more and more delay.

As civil society groups and communities impacted by climate change we reiterate our demands for real, deep, and urgent emission reductions in line with principles of fair shares; as well as our opposition to the dangerous distractions that carbon markets, offsets, and net zero schemes represent.

Article 6.4 and Article 6.2

  • There should not be carbon markets, especially those that enable offsets, under the Paris Agreement. To include removals in such mechanisms is profoundly dangerous, due to continuing concerns about lack of permanence, additionality, the negative impacts and pose high risk on people and the environment, and reliance on speculative technology that is unproven or/and unable to be proven at scale, among others.
  • Geoengineering-based removals need to be excluded. The moratorium under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) must be respected as well as the precautionary decisions of the London Protocol / London Convention (LC/LP) given the risks they pose to communities and the environment. All BECCS, DAC, CCS, CCUS, or any other marine or land-based geoengineering proposals must be excluded from Article 6.4 as well as any other articles of the Paris Agreement.
  • Removal activities risk fostering unsustainable development in developing countries, resulting in land grabs and competition with cropland which will increase food prices. This goes against the objective of Article 6 and is a form of climate injustice.
  • Removals into land and soils cannot compensate for permanent emissions from fossil fuels. This cannot be resolved by carbon accounting practices. Emissions avoidance should not be considered as it does not compensate for ongoing emissions, but instead poses a significant risk for inflating baselines.
  • Carbon markets are not climate finance, and cannot provide an escape hatch in lieu of the needed financial commitments with rich countries taking the lead – including toward the loss and damage fund as well as with financial agreements in other UNFCCC work streams. 
  • Not only must there be an independent and effective grievance redress mechanism in line with respecting the right to remedy – all techniques and projects being considered must first undergo independent and rigorous preliminary Human rights and biodiversity impact evaluations that take into consideration the full life-cycle impacts, pursued with meaningful, inclusive and participatory consultations with all right-holders and communities potentially affected.

Process Flaws

We express our concerns regarding the process surrounding Article 6.4 and the engagement with stakeholders and rights holders. 

Firstly, as the objectives of Article 6 aim to allow for higher mitigation ambition and to promote sustainable development, it seems an obvious conflict of interest to allow for the input of industries that have been fueling climate change as well as distracting and delaying adequate action for decades. In line with the Kick Big Polluters Out demands, we reiterate that Big Polluters should not be granted access to policy making. The consultation process held by the Supervisory Body for Article 6.4 provides a strategic opportunity for pro-markets stakeholders to strengthen their tactics and therefore renders the process deeply flawed. Rights holders, on the other hand, must be given adequate avenues to actively provide input and influence the process and provisions of Article 6.4.

We also express our disappointment in the way the additional June 19th  consultation process was carried out. The short turnaround time offered for rights holders and civil society to provide additional and more specific feedback – while in the heart of the SB58 negotiations – is on the verge of improper consultation that privileged time to the Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) industry. 

We are concerned that the unbalance of this process could lead to a disproportionate influence of the CDR industry on the process going forward, which would put into question the credibility of the Supervisory Body and the whole process. We therefore call on the Supervisory Body to maintain its impartiality in the process and to not allow for the influence of an industry that has so much interest in the question to weaken provisions regarding such risky and dangerous processes as carbon dioxide removals.

Sincerely,

Organizational Signatories

350.org

AbibiNsroma Foundation

Accelerate Neighborhood Climate Action

ActionAid International

Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development

Association des Agriculteurs Sans Frontières AASF DRC 

Association Jeunes Agriculteurs (AJA)

Association pour la protection de l’environnement et le développement durable de Bizerte APEDDUB 

Biofuelwatch

Break.The.Ice

Businesses for a Livable Climate

Call to Action Colorado

Catholic Network US

CCFD – Terre Solidaire

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

Centre for Rights and Democracy (CRD) South Sudan

Centre for Citizens Conserving Environment & Management (CECIC) Uganda

Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy (CFFP)

Centro Ecológico

Climate Justice Alliance

Climate Action Network Australia

Collectif Sénégalais des Africaines pour la Promotion de l’Éducation Relative à l’Environnement (COSAPERE)

Community for Sustainable Energy

Congo Basin Conservation Society CBCS network DRC

Consejo Shipibo Konibo Xetebo Peruvian Amazonia

Corporate Accountability

Corporate Europe Observatory

Earth Ethics, Inc. 

EcoEquity 

EcoNexus

Elders Climate Action

Emonyo Yefwe International 

Ensemble pour la Justice climatique et la Protection des Défenseurs de l’environnement 

Environmental Defence Canada

Equidad de Género: Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia

ETC group

Friends of the Earth Canada

Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Friends of the Earth Georgia

Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND e.V)

Friends of the Earth International

Friends of the Earth Japan

Friends of the Earth Spain

Friends of the Earth U.S.

Front Commun pour la Protection de l’Environnement et des Espaces Protégés (FCPEEP RDC)

GenderCC SA

Global Forest Coalition

Grassroots Global Justice Alliance

Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance

Green Revolution Initiative GRI ltd DRC

groundWork/ Friends of the Earth South Africa

Grupo para o Desenvolvimento da Mulher e Rapariga (GDMR)

Honor the Earth

I-70 Citizens Advisory Group

Iakwatonhontsanónstats of Kahnawake 

Indigenous Environmental Network

Indivisible Ambassadors

Innovation pour le Développement et la Protection de l’Environnement (IDPE)

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Institute for Globalization Studies

Institute for Policy Studies Climate Policy Program

Institute of Socioeconomic Studies (Inesc)

International Network of Liberal Women

Jeunes Volontaires pour l’Environnement Côte d’ivoire (JVE Côte d’Ivoire)

Just Transition Alliance

Khumbilo Agroecology Media Services

Larimer Alliance for Health, Safety and Environment 

Les Amis de la Terre-Togo

LIFE Education Sustainability Equality e.V.

Littleton Business Alliance

Mayfair Park Neighborhood Association Board

Mental Health & Inclusion Ministries

MenEngage Global Alliance

Milieudefensie

Montbello Neighborhood Improvement Association

Movement For Education And Advocacy Network Salone 

National Birth Equity Collaborative

National Campaign for Sustainable Development Nepal

National Family Farm Coalition

Natural Justice

NGO Forum on ADB

NOAH Friends of the Earth Denmark

Ntaamba Hiinta Development Trust

Peace Track Initiative 

Plateforme Ivoirienne sur le Climat (PIC)

RapidShift Network

Reacción Climática – Bolivia 

ReCommon 

Réseau Peace World International 

Rise Up Movement DRCongo 

Save EPA

Sahabat Alam Malaysia – Friends of the Earth Malaysia

Santa Cruz Climate Action Network

Sciences Citoyennes

Secours catholique- Caritas France

Small Business Alliance

Société Civile environnementale et Agro Rurale du Congo SOCEARUCO RDC

Southwest Organization for Sustainability

Spirit of the Sun, Inc.

Stay Grounded Network

System Change Not Climate Change

TEAL Climate

The Green House Connection Center

The Mind’s Eye

The People’s Justice Council

The RedTailed Hawk Collective 

Third World Network

Union Nationale des Marginalisés pour un Développement Durable UNAMDD DRC

Unite North Metro Denver

Vision Plus pour le Développement Durable (VIPDD/RDC)

Wall of Women

War on Want

Wen (Women’s Environmental Network)

Western Slope Businesses for a Livable Climate

WhatNext?

Women Changing The World

Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF) International

Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF-A0)

Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network

Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)

Womxn from the Mountain

Working for Racial Equity

Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity 

Zambian Governance Foundation

Zero Hour

Interventions, SB58

Intervention by Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice at SB58 Closing Plenary Session

Delivered by Chadli Sadorra of Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development on behalf of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice

Thank you Chair.

I am Chadli Sadorra from the Philippines and the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development, speaking on behalf of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice.

DCJ departs from Bonn deeply disturbed by developed countries’ doubling-down on their obstruction these past ten days.  

They are playing with peoples’ lives and livelihoods, and indeed our entire planet, as if it’s one more free trade deal to get done, and “stick it” to the Global South.  

It was thirty years ago in Rio when some countries claimed that their lifestyles were “not up for negotiation”.

Yet even today, as they choke on smoke from raging wildfires, they still reject their historical responsibility as “unacceptable”. 

North America’s 4% of the global population is responsible for almost one-quarter of all emissions since 1850.  Let me repeat, 4% is responsible for about 24%.

This crucial IPCC data point is pivotal if the Global Stocktake is to truly assess “how we got here, and how we correct course”.

Such data must be discussed in the Technical Dialogue’s synthesis report to inform the GST’s political dialogue, and any Dubai decisions.

DCJ will not let the GST become a sham.  Article 2.1c’s aim of “aligning all financial flows” is indeed important. 

But imposing a hierarchy that prioritizes this task before prior commitments – whereby developed countries SHALL provide finance to developing countries – is dirty diplomacy diverting discussion from legal obligations.  

Calling for new Renewable Energy targets without securing any new support for finance and technology is another trap we won’t fall for.

What we need for a big breakthrough in Dubai is for rich countries to “come clean” at COP28, to accept their responsibilities, to fully deliver on their obligations, and to help lead a rapid, just, and equitable phaseout of fossil fuels and building renewable energy systems that ensures everyone’s  just transition.

DCJ and allies are escalating our efforts over the next few months; we’ll make sure you feel the heat before you get to Dubai, so that the rest of the world won’t roast.

Thank you.

Press Releases, SB58

Rich Countries double down on obstruction in Bonn: Climate talks face sandstorm of uncertainty in Dubai

15 June 2023

Bonn, Germany

As the UN Climate Conference in Bonn, Germany comes to a close, it was not surprising to see US, backed by the EU, UK and other global North governments, historically responsible for causing today’s climate crisis, continue their dirty tricks to divert discussion away from their failure to deliver on their legal obligations under UNFCCC. The so-called ¨Developed¨countries blocked progress at every step during the climate talk to get away from their responsibility to provide finance and technology to developing countries, who are the first and worst hit by climate catastrophes. Bonn essentially became the staging ground for the Great Escape II.

Rich nations exhausted the capacity of the climate talks by trying to impose a discussion on mitigation without addressing means of implementation. These same countries have not only failed to meet their own mitigation targets, but are locking the world in a fossil fuel dependency. The US alone is planning to expand fossil fuel production by over 300% despite being historically responsible for  23% of emissions from 1859 to 2019 representing only 4% of the world’s population. As we head to Dubai for COP28 in November, there is growing uncertainty on the climate talks to deliver on the real solutions, real finance, real actions on reducing global emissions that can help the world set on the path of just transition.

Representatives of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice share their reactions on the UN Climate Conference at Bonn, outcome of the climate negotiations as well as the key demands that the climate justice movement will be raising at COP28.

Watch DCJ Press Conference here and here

Quotes in English

Titi Soentoro, Aksi! And Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development

It is disheartened to witness the hypocrisy here in Bonn. The developing countries’ governments are pressured to increase their emission reduction target ambitions, while the developed countries still maintain their fossil-fuel consumptions through coal trading and import from the developing countries. 

It is also disheartening to see that millions of people are suffering from climate change disasters like sea-level rise, typhoons, floods, that trigger forced displacement, loss of livelihoods, and impoverishment. On the other hand we witness the objections of the developed countries to their historical responsibilities. We also witness that the public climate finance for mitigation mostly go for massive mega-projects in the developing countries that trigger land and resource grabbing.

As long as the climate negotiations are market and profit based, the needs and interests of climate affected communities will never be a priority.

Marcos Nordgren Ballivian, PBFCC-Bolivia

Science forecasts that the first critical limit set in the Paris Agreement, with a maximum temperature increase of 1.5 Celsius C, will likely be exceeded in the next few years, possibly during the upcoming El Niño cycle warm phase 2023-2024. This development mean that the world is most certainly heading towards failure in meeting the Paris Agreement and on the brink of a global climate catastrophe.  Everything is at risk. However, instead of a collective response from the international community based on solidarity and the acknowledgement of historical responsibilities and capabilities of rich economies, the countries convened in Bonn over the past two weeks, primarily those from developed nations, seem to have opted to block progress as much as possible without getting the blame and see how bad things are really going to get the coming years as to decide how they best can keep on taking advantage of their economic and political advantages.They fail to recognize that we must either confront the necessary and substantial climate justice transitions together, or “accept” a world where even the most fundamental human needs and rights cannot be sustained, be it for the privileged or the underprivileged sooner or later. It is imperative that we raise our voices louder for the common people in Europe, the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and all across the developed world to hear: The Crisis is today and their governments are failing to defend their rights and the future of humanity.

Susann Scherbarth, Friends of the Earth Germany, Germany

“The path towards the global climate conference in Dubai this November remains uncharted. Instead of taking responsibility for curbing the climate crisis and providing trillions to support the poor and vulnerable, wealthy nations such as the United States and the European Union have pointed fingers at poorer nations for impeding progress. As a result, the upcoming climate negotiations in Dubai find themselves engulfed in a big sandstorm of uncertainty.

But it’s crystal clear what needs to come out of the world climate conference in November: a fast, fair and funded phase out of all fossil fuels and substantial financial commitments in trillions from wealthy nations. These funds are crucial to empower and support the poor and vulnerable in effectively tackling the climate crisis in a way that leaves no one behind. Wealthy nations like Germany need to end their shopping sprees around the world, where they fill their bags with gas and colonial patterns.”

Andrea Echeverri. Global Forest Coalition

We cannot achieve a just transition without addressing the interconnections between the energy and food systems. Our current industrial food system is heavily reliant on fossil fuels, from the production of synthetic fertilizers to the transportation of food across long distances. This system is not only unsustainable but also unjust, as it perpetuates inequalities and harms vulnerable communities, women and ecosystems. We must divest from the industries that perpetuate environmental and social injustices, including hunger, land grabbing, and gender based violence. We must demand that governments, development Banks, UN agencies take bold action to address the climate crisis and prioritize the needs of communities over corporate profits. That is divesting in large feed crops, in factory farming in fossils and investing in community energies and agroecology. 

Eduardo Giesen, Regional Coordinator, Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice

“The SB58 conference in Bonn has confirmed the farce that climate negotiations represent, captured by the power of corporations and rich countries.

We return to our countries convinced of the urgency of working and fighting from the territories against extractivism and false solutions, as well as denouncing the complicity of the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean, even those who describe themselves as progressive and environmentalists.”

Meena Raman, Third World Network

The climate talks at Bonn this year have been a Great Escape. As the negotiations progressed, we saw developed countries trying to delete references to the convention, to equity, to common but differentiated responsibility just to escape from their responsibility for the historical emissions that have led to the current climate crisis. It has been an absolute horror show. And if you saw what’s happening here it is the preparation for the big wrestling and boxing match during COP28 or what I call the Dubai Marathon. Developed countries have not been negotiating in good faith, which is actually wrecking the climate regime, the convention and the Paris Agreement. They are always shifting the goalposts, always breaking promises and all of this is geared towards rich countries to bring in green colonialism that will allow them to keep control ove the resources of the developing countries.

Romain Ioualalen, Oil Change International, France

“The Bonn climate conference was a missed opportunity. Over the past two weeks, climate negotiators bickered over arcane procedural points instead of charting a clear path towards a decision to phase out fossil fuels at COP28 and unlock a global renewable energy revolution. Governments should be ashamed of their delaying tactics.

“To fulfill the promise countries made in Paris in 2015, they must halt fossil fuel expansion, end public finance for fossil fuels, and agree to a fair, fast, and full transition away from end oil, gas, and coal and towards renewables. Thankfully, momentum is growing inside and outside the negotiations: over 70 countries have called for a COP28 decision on fossil fuel phase out in Bonn, and a growing list of countries and institutions have followed through on their COP26 promise to end international public finance for fossil fuels. Countries like Colombia and the members of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance are doing the hard work of implementing measures to keep oil and gas in the ground.

“The contrast between this leadership and the actions of the world’s biggest historic polluter, the United States could not be more striking. Under Biden’s leadership, the U.S. has failed in its responsibility to lead a global and just transition away from fossil fuels and avert further climate disaster and has instead actively promoted fossil fuel expansion including with public money. Fossil fuel companies, who are doing everything in their power to extract the last ounces of profits from its dangerous activities.

As COP28 approaches, it is crucial that we double down on efforts to build a clean, renewable energy future for all, free of fossil fuels.”

Rachel Rose Jackson, Director of Climate Research and Policy, Corporate Accountability

Yet again, these climate talks failed to deliver the urgent action we need to reduce emissions to Real Zero and scale up real, people-centered solutions. And we know why– as long as Big Polluters are allowed to roam the halls of the UNFCCC and undermine the global response to climate change, climate action will not prioritize people and the planet over profits. While civil society–including youth, women and gender groups, climate and climate justice groups, and trade unions– united to secure a long overdue victory with the first ever requirements for UNFCCC participants to have to declare their affiliation before participating, we have a long way to travel in a very short time to ensure the rules of climate action are no longer written by Big Polluters. We will not back down until we finally Kick Big Polluters Out and reset the system so it works for people, not polluters! 

Sara Shaw, climate justice and energy coordinator, Friends of the Earth International

It’s of grave concern that while rich countries have blocked discussions on climate finance and equity at every turn during these talks, carbon markets are quietly progressing. Big polluters must be delighted. There are no possible rules that can actually make the global carbon market work. Carbon markets are a distraction from real climate action and cause grave harm – preventing real emissions reductions and climate finance, opening the door to dangerous new technologies like geoengineering, and threatening communities in the global South with land grabs and human rights violations,” says Sara Shaw, climate justice & energy coordinator. 

Alex Rafalowicz, Executive Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative

We are in the midst of a climate crisis happening here and now. Some governments are taking this seriously like Fiji which publicly called for a fossil fuel treaty. The COP presidency, UAE, notably shifted and said that the phase down of fossil fuels is inevitable. So the question for these negotiations is how we are going to make that transition happen faster and fairer. The signs coming out of Bonn are concerning. During the climate talks, the United States and other countries that are some of the biggest producers of fossil fuels actively blocked proposals for full consideration of the just transition issue. If we can’t talk about just transition and how we work together, we are not going to accelerate that transition to meet the deadline that we have. For that reason people across the world have declared that they are going to fight back and fight for the end of fossil fuels, fast, fair and forever.

Victor Menotti, Oakland Institute / Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice

Signaling a showdown to come at COP28 in Dubai, developed countries doubled-down on their demands that developing countries mitigate more while shamelessly diverting discussion away from financing required under the UN climate convention. As always, they faithfully followed the lead of the largest historic polluter, the US. While Washington DC choked on smoke from Canadian wildfires and focused on the trial of its previous president, the Biden team’s Trump-like tactics defined Bonn’s political dynamics across all negotiating topics. It was a master course in gaslighting by insisting all countries align their financial flows with the 1.5C temperature goal even though Biden has been encouraging endless supplies of new fossil fuel production from investors by rolling back bedrock environmental laws to fastrack new projects. 

But Bonn also launched escalated efforts by climate campaigners to fight back against industry’s war on people and the planet, with the next few months to define what goes down in Dubai.

Elodie Guillon, World Animal Protection, UK

It is disheartening to witness the slow progress in taking action within the agricultural negotiation stream during SB58, despite the overwhelming evidence that immediate measures are necessary. 

The IPCC warns that even without fossil fuel emissions, emissions from our food systems alone could lead to a devastating global temperature increase. Destructive agribusiness practices contribute to emissions, environmental damage, and harm smallholders and indigenous communities. Addressing these injustices and implementing agroecology and dietary shifts, particularly plant-based proteins, are urgent and real solutions. Let’s harness the lessons learned from the COVID-19 emergency in acting collectively, swiftly, and decisively. It’s time for action.

Gaya, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung

The bottom line with climate finance is: if it isn’t funded, it won’t get done. If we don’t secure enough climate finance we cannot limit the impact of the climate crisis by reducing emissions or “mitigation”. We cannot protect billions of people from its worst impacts by assuring appropriate “adaptation”. We cannot help people and whole countries recover from its unavoidable damage by compensating them for “loss and damage” suffered.

Currently the discussions under the UNFCCC reveal that rich countries want to evade their responsibility to provide the finance needed. We have seen a push to overburden the existing humanitarian system with the task of addressing Loss and Damage. A reluctance to discuss finance in connection with the Mitigation Work Programme. And we have seen the eagerness of developed countries to unload the responsibility of climate finance onto multilateral development banks – risking piling more debt onto countries already overburdened by unfair debt burdens. These distractions from the core need to generate new, additional, predictable and accessible climate finance must be resisted on the road to CoP28.

We always hear that we need “bold” solutions to the climate crisis. But what does this mean? Aside from having the political will to urgently deliver their promises and obligations as enshrined in the Paris Agreement, it is time for global north countries to use their economic power to come up with bold solutions to generate climate finance now. It means we must be bold in reforming the financial system towards cancelling debt and creating fairer institutions and rules in global lending. We must be bold in the global taxation system and create huge new streams of climate revenue by getting corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair shares. We could re-divert money lost to tax loopholes and havens, and fossil fuel subsidies. We need to make critical climate technology available for free to developing countries so the green transition and adaptation are just and don’t constitute yet another financial burden to countries.

Alexia, Start:Empowerment, U.S 

I live in Texas but my family is in the global south  and I know all too well how rich governments continue to profit off the fossil fuel industry while Black and Brown communities both within the global north and in the global south die. We need the global north to commit to funding loss and damage and an equitable fossil fuel phase out. We can’t continue to have empty summits and throw away our future while those on the frontlines die. 

Quotes in other languages

Camila Romero, Colectivo Viento Sur, Chile

Desde el llamado Sur Global, enfrentamos diariamente los efectos devastadores del cambio climático y del modelo económico extractivista que ha colonizado nuestros territorios. Es imperativo que los responsables históricamente de las mayores emisiones e impactos asuman su responsabilidad y no solamente paguen con recursos financieros y tecnológico a las regiones más vulnerables, si no que se haga justicia, y caminemos hacia una transformación de los sistemas de vida donde se priorice las necesidades de quienes habitamos los territorios por sobre el lucro de las grandes corporaciones.

Susann Scherbarth, Friends of the Earth Germany, Germany

“Die bevorstehenden Klimaverhandlungen in Dubai stecken in einem gewaltigen Sandsturm der Unsicherheit. Statt Verantwortung für die Klimakrise zu übernehmen und Trillionen zur Unterstützung der Armen und Schutzbedürftigen bereitzustellen, schieben wohlhabende Nationen wie die USA und die EU den ärmeren Ländern die Schuld zu. Der Weg bis nach Dubai bleibt mit diesen enttäuschenden Ergebnissen ungewiss.
„Es ist glasklar, was aus der Weltklimakonferenz im November hervorgehen muss: ein schneller, fairer und finanziell abgesicherter Ausstieg aus fossilen Brennstoffen sowie bedeutende finanzielle Zusagen in Trillionen von wohlhabenden Nationen. Diese Mittel sind entscheidend, um die Armen wirksam in der Bewältigung der Klimakrise zu unterstützen und niemanden zurückzulassen.
“Wohlhabende Nationen wie Deutschland müssen ihre weltweiten Shopping-Touren beenden, bei denen sie ihre Taschen mit Gas und kolonialen Mustern füllen.”

Karola Knuth, Young Friends of the Earth Germany, Germany

“Die Staaten und vor allem die reichen, historisch verantwortlichen Länder, spielen hier mit der Zukunft der Welt, weil sie sich wegen Machtspielchen nicht auf grundlegende Dinge wie eine Tagesordnung einigen können. Zukünftig wollen wir deshalb eine bessere Partizipation der Zivilgesellschaft und vor allem der Jugend, indigener Gruppen, local communities und FINTA* sehen!” (FINTA* ist eine Abkürzung und steht für Frauen, Inter, Nicht-binäre, Trans und Agender Personen. Damit sollen alle geschlechtlichen Identitäten zusammengefasst werden, welche vom Patriarchat unterdrückt werden)
“Wir sehen wie sich der Globale Norden seiner historischen Verantwortung entziehen will und auf falsche Lösungen pocht, wie Geoengineering und Marktmechanismen. Aber das einzige, was uns hilft ist ein schneller, solidarischer Ausstieg aus fossilen Energien.”

Eduardo Giesen, Coordinador Regional de la Campaña Global para Exigir Justicia Climática

” La conferencia del SB58 en Bonn ha confirmado la farsa que representan las negociaciones climáticas, capturadas por el poder de las corporaciones y los países ricos. 

Volvemos a nuestros paises convencidos de la urgencia de trabajar y luchar desde los territorios en contra del extractivismo y las falsas soluciones, así como denunciar la complicidad de los gobiernos de América Latina y el Caribe, aun aquellos que se califican de progresistas y ecologistas.”

Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice is a network of over 200 networks and organizations working globally, regionally, and locally on climate justice. Collectively we represent millions of climate activists on the ground.

Our members are available for comments and interviews in different languages. Please contact Rachitaa at [email protected] (+918447445543) to reach out to our members.

LAC, Press Releases, Region, SB58

Articulación global de justicia climática denuncia en Bonn la promoción de falsas soluciones y reclama el fin del extractivismo y una transición justa en América Latina y el Caribe

Desde el 5 al 15 de junio se llevó a cabo la Conferencia de Cambio Climático de Naciones Unidas en Bonn, Alemania. En el lugar convergen gobiernos, tomadores de decisiones y también activistas que de todo el mundo llegan a poner el punto de la justicia climática sobre la mesa.

La mañana de este 13 de junio, a través de una conferencia de prensa, organizaciones de la Campaña Global para Exigir Justicia Climática (DCJ, por sus siglas en inglés) de América Laina y el Caribe dieron cuenta de la “decepción y escepticismo” que les provoca el curso de estas negociaciones a lo largo de su historia. “Se han alejado de su objetivo de enfrentar realmente el cambio climático y se han visto capturadas por los intereses de las grandes corporaciones, con la complicidad de los gobiernos”, declaró Eduardo Giesen, Coordinador Regional de la Campaña Global para Exigir Justicia Climática.

Para la defensora Camila Romero, proveniente del Wallmapu, en Chile, y parte del Colectivo VientoSur, expresó que “mujeres, jóvenes, indígenas, hemos venido para denunciar que el modelo de desarrollo actual lo está destruyendo todo”. Al mismo tiempo señala que el ritmo de crecimiento económico que busca sostener el sistema capitalista está “provocando el colapso climático y civilizatorio. El cambio climático es la crisis de la sociedad de consumo”.

Silvia Ribeiro, parte del Grupo ETC que hace parte de DCJ, puso la lupa en la propuesta de nuevo marco para mercados de carbono, calificándolo como “altamente preocupante”. “Especialmente a partir del artículo 6.4, se dirige a legitimar tecnologías de geoingeniería, las cuales conllevan altos riesgos e impactos sociales y ambientales, como la captura y almacenamiento de carbono (CCS) y otras relacionadas como la captura de aire (DAC) y la bioenergía con CCS. También de geoingeniería marina, como fertilización oceánica y alcalinización de los océanos, aunque por sus altos riesgos están bajo moratoria en otros convenios de ONU”, alerta. Además, esto sería una forma de proponer tecnologías que “no existen realmente, salvo CCS que fue desarrollada por la industria petrolera para extraer reservas profundas de petróleo, que es a lo que están destinados más de 85 % de los proyectos existentes, por lo que aumentarán las emisiones y la crisis climática”.

Alternativas al extractivismo
Junto al reclamo y exigencia, viene también la propuesta. “No podemos olvidarnos de construir las alternativas. El mecanismo desvinculado del mercado de carbono debe convertirse en una opción de desarrollar acciones de respuesta desde y para las comunidades indígenas, locales y los propios ecosistemas en los diferentes frentes de impacto alrededor del mundo”, declaró desde la Plataforma Boliviana frente al Cambio Climático, Marcos Nordgren. El defensor afirma que para que lo anterior se cumpla, es “imprescindible la activa participación y consulta de las comunidades locales e indígenas en el diseño de estas nuevas herramientas y asegurar el resguardo de sus derechos y territorios, evitando la instrumentalización de estos instrumentos para profundizar las soluciones falsas del mercado de carbono.

Interventions, SB58

Intervention by Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice at Closing Plenary on Global Stocktake

Delivered by Asad Rehman from War on Want on behalf of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice.

DCJ stresses the need for the GST Technical Dialogue’s summary report to clearly reference IPCC’s scientific findings on historic responsibility, as well as various assessments showing the shortfalls in developed countries’ support to developing countries.

Recently published academic research in Nature Sustainability estimates that the economic cost of the inequitable colonization of the carbon budget by rich countries is calculated at $170 trillion which is in addition to wealth & resource extraction from the global South which from 1960 to the present day is calculated as $152 trillion. 

For this Technical Dialogue to transparently inform the GST’s key political messages going into COP28, clear data points about “where we are, and how we got here” are essential inputs to equitably “correcting course” in any Dubai decision.

Including an honest assessment of the collective failure of developed countries to meet all the implementation gaps in Mitigation, Adaptation, Loss and Damage and Means of Implementation stemming from their historical responsibility.  

The only transparent way to equitably correct course is with a “fair shares” framework to inform Parties’ future NDCs, which must not be mitigation-centric but also include sufficient grant based support for developing countries as a down payment on their climate debt.


DCJ also emphasizes the need for renewed international cooperation to
ensure a just transition for everyone to have the right to live with dignity – including debt cancellation, economic diversification support, & an end to structural inequality by transforming today’s outdated multilateral rules & institutions governing global trade, finance, investment and technology – 

To ensure an equitable phaseout of fossil fuels and scale-up of renewables alongside measures recognizing material & ecological limits with the necessary support needed for truly just transitions.

Thank you.

Interventions, SB58

Intervention by Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice at Open-ended consultation by the Incoming COP 28/CMP 18/CMA 5 Presidency

Delivered by Gadir Lavadenz on behalf of Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice

Thank you Mr/Madam Chair,

The Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice would like to stress the following:

  • An equitable and funded phase out of fossil fuels is urgently needed and COP 28 should deliver a pathway to achieve that on the timeline needed
  • Carbon markets, offsets, so called ¨nature based solutions¨ and geo engineering, which is under a de facto moratorium under the Convention on Biological Diversity, are false solutions that are unproven, risky, cause harm and only divert us from addressing the real causes of climate change. 
  • A just, equitable and rapid transition is needed but through a delivery of climate debt and public finance under the principle of CBDR. Much of what has been provided in terms of finance including from the MDBs are mainly loans, with only a small portion being grants. With more and more developing countries in debt distress, loans are not the right instrument. There is clearly a greater need for non-debt creating instruments.
  • The principle of inclusivity is meant for the marginalized groups and not for the powerful ones to be able to shape the negotiations. The world is losing faith and we need to deliver in the right direction.

A legitimate COP is a fossil fuel free COP. We must end undue influence of polluters in climate action. There is no climate justice without human rights. 

Thank you