Category Archives: Press Releases

Rough Road to COP29: Rich Countries Pushing Global South Off the Tracks

13 June, 2023

Bonn, Germany

2023 was the hottest year on record with global temperatures close to 1.5 degrees. As the 60th Subsidiary Bodies meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: SBSTA and SBI come to a close, the global community faces stark realities about the ongoing climate crisis and the persistent inaction of developed countries. Recent UNFCCC reports reveal that rich nations, historically responsible for the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions, have only met a quarter of the emission cuts urged by scientists. These same countries are pushing developing nations for ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) while putting on a concerted effort to not commit or deliver on their own climate finance obligations urgently needed by the developing countries.

Adding to the injustice, rich countries continue to advocate for false solutions like nature-based solutions, geoengineering, carbon capture and storage, and carbon markets. These tactics allow them and their corporations to evade genuine emission reductions and delay the phase-out of fossil fuels, perpetuating the exploitation of the Global South communities at the frontline of this crisis. Rich countries need to step up and pay up for their responsibility by delivering on an ambitious New Common Quantified Goal that ensures new, additional, predictable and non-debt creating grant based public finance that goes towards real solutions and not towards dangerous distractions. The Global South is owed reparations in trillions and not billions and we need them to go towards solutions developed by peoples who are at the frontlines and suffer the disproportionate impacts of the climate crisis.

As we head towards COP29, it is imperative to hold these nations accountable and demand real, equitable climate action.

Quotes and Reactions from DCJ Members

Meena Raman, Third World Network

“If the developed world is serious about ambition in mitigation, they must in their forthcoming communication of their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) indicate that they will phase out from the use of fossil fuels urgently and will provide the scale of finance needed for developing countries to enable their just and equitable energy transition. The rich world must also indicate the financial resources they will provide for the new collective quantified goal on finance which has to be agreed to in Baku by the end of this year, to enable developing countries to address their mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage needs. Thus far, developed countries have refused to indicate any quantum of finance. They have money for bombs and war but have no money for paying up their climate debt. They must Step Up, Pay Up and meet their obligations under the Paris Agreement. They have the money but not the political will and this must change, if we are serious about enabling a liveable planet for all. “

Mariana Pinzón, CENSAT Agua Viva/Friends of the Earth Colombia

“One more round of climate negotiations ends and, once again, profound decisions are postponed for a new cycle. The discussions do not respond to the urgency of a crisis that is growing exponentially, but to the rhythm of large fossil fuel corporations, linked in turn to the world financial system, and to the wealth of the countries of the Global North. Those most affected, the communities of the Global South, are not heard. The recognition of an ecological debt owed by the Global North to the Global South does not appear in the discussions, let alone the obligation to reduce their GHG emissions to real zero not “net” zero. Neo-extractivist and debt-linked finance promise to maintain the status quo. Meanwhile, more people are being displaced by the climate crisis as right-wing governments gain space and promise to put up their walls.”

ASSEM Ekue, Les Amis de la Terre-Togo

“The false climate solutions we’re hearing about at the Bonn climate talks, such as carbon offsetting, carbon trading schemes and geo-engineering, are nothing more than technological or commercial schemes promoted by fossil fuel companies and their political allies. Their consequences include deforestation, land grabbing and violations of the rights of local communities in Africa. They are undoubtedly a danger to communities and ecosystems.”

Eduardo Giesen, DCJ Regional Coordinator, Latin America and the Caribbean 

“Once again in Bonn, climate negotiations continue to move away from the systemic change that requires solving the climate crisis with justice, collaboration, peace and care for nature. On the contrary, the logic of arrogance, war, commodification and corporate power, expressed in north-south relations and the imposition of false solutions within the framework of negotiations, continue to prevail.

For organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, it is a new frustration that reinforces our effort to focus on producing systemic change from our own territories and communities.”

Dr Tamra Gilbertson, Indigenous Environmental Network

“Negotiators at the SBSTA 60 continued geopolitical colonial practices that uphold power regimes in the global North putting Indigenous Peoples, women and local communities’ lives at risk. With the UN claiming lack of funds, close to a third of the budget is set aside to build and continue carbon markets in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and to continue the clean development mechanism running in a limbo status. The UNFCCC processes undermine efforts to stop the serious threat of climate change and its underpinning processes, which will certainly be apparent in Baku in November. We do not have time to continue down the path of colonial-development fossil fuel power regimes heightened by the UN; it is time to end this violence.”

Asad Rehman, Executive Director, War on Want:

“Transition is now inevitable, the question is what kind of transition? The answer from rich countries in Bonn is that the goal is an unjust and inequitable transition condemning the majority of the world to increased climate violence, keeping them trapped in unequal societies. Rich countries need to stop financing bombs and bullets and instead invest in the life-saving systems needed by those on the frontlines.

Global North countries appear determined to bully the Global South while billions around the world desperately need concrete international action, including sufficient additional non-debt creating finance and technology transfers. This must be enabled by securing trade justice, implementing a fairer global taxation system, and redirecting damaging subsidies.”

Souparna Lahiri, Global Forest Coalition

“With 6 years to go for 2030 and what looks like a pretty ambitious but scientifically deduced benchmark of 1.5, the UNFCCC has lost the plot. We are facing a climate chaos and not a climate crisis anymore! Where the markets dictate, the dirty polluters preach and the rich west wants to come out clean of its historical responsibility of ravaging our planet,  our mother earth. We have had enough of these false promises and false solutions. It’s time to reclaim our land, our forests, and justice for Indigenous Peoples, women and local communities who are victims of colonialism, capitalism and climate colonialism. That’s our pathway to climate justice, real solutions and real zero.”

Sara Shaw, Friends of the Earth International 

“Developing countries need trillions in new public finance for adaptation, loss and damage and for a just transition away from fossil fuels. But developed countries are not even offering crumbs from the table and are blocking all progress. They want developing countries to accept loans which will further fuel debt, and are pushing already discredited carbon market finance schemes which causes grave harm in the Global South. This is a disaster.”

Rachel Rose Jackson, Corporate Accountability

“The Bonn climate talks produced wanting and watered down outcomes totally out of touch with reality.  Millions of lives are already being lost and impacted as a result of the climate crisis, yet urgency and fairness is totally lacking in this process. What is not lacking is the chokehold the fossil fuel industry and other Big Polluters have over this process, and there is no shortage of bullying by Global North governments evading their fair share. Until we end the ability of Big Polluters to write the rules of climate action, climate talks will continue to condemn rather than save lives.”

Rachitaa Gupta, Global Coordinator, Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice

“We saw deepening distrust at the climate talks in Bonn as rich countries continued to block progress and refused to step up and own up to their historical responsibilities for the ongoing climate crisis. We call out the misplaced priorities of the rich countries as they mobilise more money for the ongoing genocide in Palestine than for climate action.These same actors are perpetuating both the climate crisis and the systemic violence happening around the world.

As the Global South continues to reels from the climate crisis induced devastation, it is time for rich countries to reckon with their history and pay up the climate debt owed to the Global South. We need reparations in trillions not billions and we need them now to go towards real solutions – those developed by peoples who are at the frontlines and suffer the disproportionate impacts of the climate crisis”

Dr Leon Sealey-Huggins, War on Want on behalf of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice Just Transition Working Group

“We leave Bonn with little concrete progress on the Just Transition Work Programme. Yet we need rapid, just and equitable transitions essential to transforming our economies and societies in the face of climate breakdown and rampant global inequalities. Rich countries’ shenanigans included refusing to honour the original decision which stipulated that ‘international cooperation’ would enable just transitions (3/CMA.5). They would prefer the JTWP to be a talking shop, and refuse to support practical measures such as finance or technology transfer. We will continue to build grassroots power in our communities to fight for real change, and push for more tangible outcomes at COP29.”

Laurie van der Burg, Oil Change International:

“While lives are being lost in unbearable heat waves in Sudan, last year’s breakthrough agreement to transition away from fossil fuels was barely mentioned in these negotiations. The rich countries most responsible for this crisis must pay up for a fair fossil fuel phase-out and climate damages, without worsening unjust debts. We know they have more than enough money. It’s just going to the wrong things. 

“G7 leaders gathering in Italy today must face their responsibility. Instead of siding with fossil fuel interests, they need to deliver a fair fossil fuel phase-out, end fossil fuel handouts, and put a strong climate finance offer on the table. This is essential to build a fair and renewable future for all.”

Victor Menotti, Interim US Coordinator, Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice

“DCJ sees a ROUGH road to Baku given the little progress and deepening distrust here in Bonn. BURYING data from Annex 1 reports showing that the richest nations cut only one-fifth of the emissions scientists urged does NOT reverse the deteriorating spirit of cooperation. Nor does publicly declaring success while actually delivering only $51B of the $100B promised, as their reports reveal. Biennial Transparency reports (BTRs) BEFORE Baku – as well as coming clean on why such poor performance – are paramount.

We DO see a HOPEFUL way ahead, but only if rich countries step up to their responsibilities by drafting NDCs that are EQUITABLY aligned with 1.5C. That means the biggest historical polluters must not do only the global AVERAGE but indeed much more…For example, by making PERMANENT the pause on new LNG export permits to end the world’s largest expansion of fossil fuels. Ending LNG‘s expansion would convince other countries that aligning with 1.5C is truly the North Star of policymaking for the biggest historical polluters.”

Harjeet Singh, Global Engagement Director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative

“Climate finance at international talks has morphed into a battleground, a glaring testament to years of neglect and deception by developed nations. These countries have not only skirted their historical responsibilities but have also consistently deployed delay tactics, shifting burdens onto the shoulders of developing countries.

“We are on the brink of a catastrophic failure of climate talks, harming those least responsible for the crisis. It is time for wealthy nations to confront their obligations head-on, to integrate substantial climate finance commitments into their national budgets, and to impose punitive taxes on fossil fuel corporations and the super-rich — those who have profited most from the exploitation of our planet. 

“As we witness devastating impacts affecting people and nature, our patience has run thin. We need action to raise trillions of dollars, not excuses, to finance the urgent climate solutions needed to safeguard our future and restore justice to the communities bearing the brunt of climate change.”

Teresa Anderson, Global lead on climate justice, ActionAid International: 

“Across the board, negotiation tracks nearly ran off the rails with rich countries blocking the finance needed to make climate action happen. COP29 negotiations in Baku on the new climate finance goal will be a fork in the road for Planet Earth. Developing countries have been carrying the costs of the climate crisis, and their patience is now stretched beyond bearing. Right now, it’s the people who have done almost nothing to cause the climate crisis who are paying for it with their lost livelihoods, their hunger, their disappearing islands, and their lives.

“There’s no getting around the fact that if we want enough climate action to ensure a safe future for everyone, we’re going to have to find a way of covering the costs. The climate bill will be in multiple trillions of dollars, but the good news is that tax justice can be a game-changer for climate action. New ActionAid research shows that developed countries can raise USD 2 trillion for climate action by raising their tax-to-GDP ratios by four percentage points, with a range of progressive tax measures that address tax avoidance, and target the wealthiest corporations and individuals.”

Quotes in other languages

[Portuguese]

Dr Tamra Gilbertson, Indigenous Environmental Network

“Os negociadores no SBSTA 60 continuaram as práticas coloniais geopolíticas que sustentam regimes de poder no Norte global, colocando povos indígenas, mulheres e vidas de comunidades locais em risco. Com a ONU alegando falta de fundos, quase um terço do orçamento é reservado para construir e continuar os mercados de carbono no Artigo 6 do Acordo de Paris e para continuar o mecanismo de desenvolvimento limpo em execução em um status de limbo. Os processos da UNFCCC prejudicam os esforços para deter a séria ameaça das mudanças climáticas e seus processos de sustentação, que certamente serão aparentes em Baku em novembro. Não temos tempo para continuar no caminho dos regimes colonial de poder do combustíveis fósseis pela ONU; é hora de acabar com essa violência.”

[Español]

Dr Tamra Gilbertson, Indigenous Environmental Network

“Los negociadores del SBSTA 60 continuaron con las prácticas coloniales geopolíticas que sostienen los regímenes de poder en el Norte global, poniendo en riesgo la vida de los pueblos indígenas, las mujeres y las comunidades locales. Mientras la ONU alega falta de fondos, cerca de un tercio del presupuesto se reserva para construir y mantener los mercados de carbono en el Artículo 6 del Acuerdo de París y para continuar con el mecanismo de desarrollo limpio funcionando en un estado de limbo. Los procesos de la CMNUCC socavan los esfuerzos para detener la grave amenaza del cambio climático y sus procesos subyacentes, lo que sin duda será evidente en Bakú en noviembre. No tenemos tiempo para continuar por el camino de los regímenes de desarrollo colonial basados ​​en combustibles fósiles y de acentuados por la ONU; es hora de poner fin a esta violencia.”

Mariana Pinzón, CENSAT Agua Viva/Friends of the Earth Colombia

“Termina una ronda más de negociaciones sobre el clima y, una vez más, las decisiones profundas se posponen para un nuevo ciclo. Las discusiones no responden a la urgencia de una crisis que crece exponencialmente, sino al ritmo de las grandes corporaciones de combustibles fósiles, vinculadas a su vez al sistema financiero mundial, y a la riqueza de los países del Norte Global. Los más afectados, las comunidades del Sur Global, no son escuchados. El reconocimiento de una deuda ecológica del Norte Global con el Sur Global no aparece en los debates, y mucho menos la obligación de reducir sus emisiones de GEI a cero real y no a cero “neto”. El neoextractivismo y las finanzas vinculadas a la deuda prometen mantener el statu quo. Mientras tanto, más personas se ven desplazadas por la crisis climática a medida que los gobiernos de derechas ganan espacio y levantan sus muros.”

Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice is a network of over 200 networks and organisations 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. Contact: Neha Gupta, [email protected]; Signal/Whatsapp: +91 9810 078 055

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.

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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.

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.

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.

IPCC Report Needs to be Wake Up Call for World Leaders: No More False Solutions

*Urgent need for system change through just and equitable transition*

18 March 2023

Interlaken, Switzerland

Nearly 200 countries are currently deliberating on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Synthesis Report for the Sixth Assessment cycle. The past six reports by the IPCC have forced a reckoning on the world and its leaders for immediate and transformative action to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and urgently set the world on path for just and equitable transition.

The Synthesis Report and IPCC’s ‘Summary for Policymakers’ is a crucial document set to impact this year’s global stocktake of the 2015 Paris Agreement that set the life-saving limit of keeping global temperature rise well below 1.5 degrees. It is time for rich countries to own their historical responsibility for the high emissions that have led the world to the current crisis.

“Just look at the full report. The science and urgency will be unequivocal and deeply disturbing. It will paint a clear picture of what is needed – a swift and just transition to renewables. Fossil fuels need to stay in the ground. Emissions need to be rapidly cut to Real Zero. But the summary for policymakers will likely, as usual, read as though we are living on another planet. The fingerprints of major polluters will be all over the recommendations for action,” said Nathalie Rengifo Alvarez, Latin America Climate Campaign Director, Corporate Accountability, a member organization of Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice (DCJ).

Climate justice and human rights movements, scientists and academicians around the world have been advocating for climate action for decades, yet the world leaders have been more focussed on listening to fossil fuel lobbyists or pushing profit driven speculative technologies and technofixes.

Hemantha Withanage, chair of Friends of the Earth International, a DCJ member organization, said, “In my country, Sri Lanka, the impacts of climate change are being felt now. We have no time to chase fairy tales of sucking carbon out of the air later, we need to reduce carbon emissions now. We hope that the forthcoming IPCC report will rightly call for a rapid and equitable transition away from fossil fuels, and the need for finance to make it happen. Overshooting the 1.5 degree guardrail will lead to climate chaos, and we fear that reliance on carbon removal technologies will only embolden big polluters to keep emitting as usual.”

“The very low ambition and even lower delivery of commitments to climate action is evident of the great injustice at the heart of the climate crisis. We are being led down a path of extended life for fossil fuel systems with the push for Gas as transition fuel, and Carbon Capture and Storage, Hydrogen and Ammonia technologies as part of solutions. We reject these false solutions being peddled by wealthy countries,” shared Lidy Nacpil, Coordinator, Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), a DCJ member organization.

The past IPCC reports have confirmed that the impacts of climate change are already being felt 

around the world, with devastating consequences for ecosystems, human health, and livelihoods. The world is already experiencing more frequent and severe weather events such as floods, droughts, and heatwaves.These events are causing widespread damage to infrastructure and economic activity, leading to food and water scarcity, displacement, and even loss of life, mostly in the Global South. Nearly 3.5 billion people globally are already vulnerable to climate change and more are likely to be pushed into this situation.

“The IPCC data is clear that the developed countries have a historical responsibility for their high emissions since the industrial revolution and have overused the carbon budget required to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. They have and continue to undermine equitable access to the carbon budget. Hence, developed countries should own up to this historical responsibility and deliver on the large amount of climate finance needed to developing countries to enable the just transition pathway to a low carbon future, undertake adaptation actions and address loss and damage, as recognised in the IPCC underlying working group reports,” said Meena Raman, Head of Programmes, Third World Network (TWN), a DCJ member organization.

As the world continues to head on to a path of devastation, urgent, real, and decisive action is the only solution to achieve a just and equitable transition. Lidy Nacpil added, “Big polluters have an obligation to deliver a rapid, just and equitable transition directly to 100% renewable energy and provide adequate non-debt creating climate finance for the Global South as part of  reparations for climate debt.” Meena Raman emphasized that developed countries must not be allowed to water-down their lack of fulfillment of the finance delivery in the Synthesis Report or to shift the responsibilities onto developing countries. “The disconnect is intolerable and needs to be remedied by an immediate reset of the system that brought us here and by kicking big polluters out of climate policy,” Nathalie Rengifo Alvarez.

ENDS

About Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice (DCJ)

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] to arrange interviews.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Additional Quotes from members of Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice

IPCC Report Needs to be Wake Up Call for World Leaders: No More False Solutions

*Urgent need for system change through just and equitable transition*

18 March 2023

Interlaken, Switzerland

Nearly 200 countries are currently deliberating on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Synthesis Report for the Sixth Assessment cycle. The past six reports by the IPCC have forced a reckoning on the world and its leaders for immediate and transformative action to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and urgently set the world on path for just and equitable transition. The Synthesis Report and IPCC’s ‘Summary for Policymakers’ is a crucial document set to impact this year’s global stocktake of the 2015 Paris Agreement that set the life saving limit of keeping rise in global temperatures well below 1.5 degrees.

The past IPCC reports have confirmed that the impacts of climate change are already being felt around the world, with devastating consequences for ecosystems, human health, and livelihoods. The world is already experiencing more frequent and severe weather events such as floods, droughts, and heatwaves. These events are causing widespread damage to infrastructure and economic activity, leading to food and water scarcity, displacement, and even loss of life. Nearly 3.5 billion people globally are climate vulnerable. Climate justice and human rights movements, scientists and academicians around the world have been advocating for climate action for decades, yet the world leaders have been more focused on listening to fossil fuel lobbyists or pushing profit driven speculative technologies and technofixes. As the world continues to head on to a path of devastation, urgent, real, and decisive action is the only solution to achieve a just and equitable transition.

Representatives of Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice share their demands and expectations from the Synthesis Report for Sixth Assessment Cycle and the Summary for Policymakers by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Lidy Nacpil, Coordinator, Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development

“The very low  ambition and even lower delivery of commitments to climate action is evident of the great injustice at the heart of the climate crisis. We are being led down a path of extended life for fossil fuel systems with the push for Gas as transition fuel, and Carbon Capture and Storage, Hydrogen and Ammonia technologies  as  part of solutions. We reject these false solutions being peddled by wealthy countries. These big polluters have an obligation to deliver a rapid, just and equitable transition directly to 100% renewable energy and provide  adequate non-debt creating climate finance for the Global South as part of  reparations for climate debt.”

Nathalie Rengifo Alvarez, Latin America Climate Campaign Director, Corporate Accountability 

“Just look at the full report. The science and urgency will be unequivocal and deeply disturbing. It will paint a clear picture of what is needed. A swift and just transition to renewables. Fossil fuels need to stay in the ground. Emissions need to be rapidly cut to Real Zero. But the summary for policymakers will likely, as usual, read as though we are living on another planet. The fingerprints of major polluters will be all over the recommendations for action. They’ll read as though we haven’t already crossed devastating and deadly thresholds for life on Earth. This disconnect is intolerable and needs to be remedied by an immediate reset of the system that brought us here and by kicking big polluters out of climate policy.”

Meena Raman, Head of Programmes, Third World Network

“It is vital that the IPCC Synthesis Report (SR) makes clear that the global emissions pathways are based on models whose assumptions fail to make clear that inequities between the Global North and South, intra-regional income distribution and the need for environmental and climate justice have not been taken into account. Hence, the SR in this regard must make clear that these global modelled emissions pathways have to be assessed with the careful recognition of the underlying assumptions.

Policy-makers must not be misled into believing that these emission pathways are fact-based or are policy-prescriptive, when they are really predictions by climate modellers whose assumptions are currently unknown.  Accepting them without question risks locking in further inequities between the rich and poor, thus exacerbating climate injustice.

The IPCC data is clear that the developed countries have a historical responsibility for their high emissions since the industrial revolution and have overused the carbon budget required to limit temperature rise to 1.5-degree C. They have and continue to undermine equitable access to the carbon budget. Hence, developed countries should own up to this historical responsibility and deliver on the large amount of climate finance needed to developing countries to enable the just transition pathway to a low carbon future, undertake adaptation actions and address loss and damage, as recognised in the IPCC underlying working group reports.

Developed countries must not be allowed to water-down their lack of fulfillment of the finance delivery in the SR or to shift the responsibilities onto developing countries.”

Susann Scherbarth, Head of Climate Justice, Friends of the Earth Germany/ BUND

“The scientific community is unanimous: emissions must be drastically reduced, even if the 1.5 limit will be exceeded. When it comes to limiting devastating consequences for people, nature and biodiversity, every tenth of a degree counts. The first priority is to reduce emissions, not to extract CO2 after it has already been emitted. The current CCS debate in Germany shows clearly the opposite: the German government is relying on technical false solutions that are dangerous, expensive, and unproven on the scale needed. Waiting and hoping for magic must not be a free pass for doing anything or only little in the here and now as we see in Germany’s mobility and housing sector in particular.

We need politics that treat the climate crisis like a crisis and end inequalities. The status quo of infinite growth in Germany and other rich nations cannot be the future. The end of fossil fuels must come now and our energy consumption must go down drastically while relying on renewable energies and energy efficiency.”

Hemantha Withanage, chair of Friends of the Earth International

“In my country, Sri Lanka, the impacts of climate change are being felt now. We have no time to chase fairy tales of sucking carbon out of the air later, we need to reduce carbon emissions now. We hope that the forthcoming IPCC report will rightly call for a rapid and equitable transition away from fossil fuels, and the need for finance to make it happen. Overshooting the 1.5 degree guardrail will lead to climate chaos, and we fear that reliance on carbon removal technologies will only embolden big polluters to keep emitting as usual.”

David Williams, Director International Climate Justice Program, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung 

The Synthesis Report of the IPCC, the world’s foremost body on climate change science, is a culmination of almost a decade’s worth of climate observation and modelling. Damningly, according to current projections, we are not only on track to reach 3°C global warming by 2100, but will rocket through to even more dystopian levels, severely constraining living conditions of future generations. Currently, up to 3.6 billion people live in situations of vulnerability, in which fatalities from floods, droughts, and storms are 15 times more likely than in non-vulnerable contexts. As if that weren’t already grave enough, the frequency and intensity of floods, droughts, storms, and other extreme weather events is increasing at a higher pace than initially projected. 

In spite of this, fossil fuel companies are achieving record-breaking profits. They are propped up by big banks and neoliberal governments protecting private capital at the expense of public security. Never has the reality been so stark that the climate crisis is a question of power, of western supremacy, and of neocolonial economic structures upon which the wealth of industrialized nations is built.”

Souparna Lahiri, Senior Climate and Biodiversity Policy Advisor, Global Forest Coalition

“The AR6 Synthesis Report of the IPCC report is not likely to spring any surprise. It may paint a more grimmer climate crisis and provide more mitigation options through model pathways. Where IPCC is continuously failing is a response of the scientific community to the false and mitigation- heavy climate solutions that drown out real solutions and climate resilient actions of the frontline communities and unequal climate finance flows to develop such false solutions including large scale CDRs. The drivers of such false solutions, the corporates and multinationals, involved in continuing fossil fuel extraction and unsustainable industrial agriculture and agri-business, are being let off the radar. The impacts of such false solutions, the corporate capture of climate policy making, the rights of Indigenous Peoples, women and local communities and their leading role in transformative actions on the ground, are consistently ignored. Climate modeling alone cannot contribute to the much required transformation without responding and recognising the intersectionality of the climate crisis and the rights and role of the frontline communities.”

Kelly Dent , Global Programme Director- External Engagement, World Animal Protection, Global

“Food systems have long been ignored in the commitment to keep the climate below 1.5 degrees – but we can longer turn a blind eye to science. The evidence is clear. Industrial animal agriculture is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, pollution, and the emergence of zoonotic and AMR superbug diseases, let alone cruel to animals. Governments must now act. They must acknowledge the significant impact factory farming has on our people, animals and planet – and they must take the action required to reign in these hitherto silent climate culprits.”

Stephanie Cabovianco, Climate Save Movement

“The transition to a plant-based food system is not only necessary for our health and the well-being of animals, but also for the survival of our planet in the face of the climate and ecological emergency. The Sixth Assessment Report by the IPCC highlights the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food systems, which are responsible for up to 37% of global emissions. A shift towards plant-based diets can significantly reduce these emissions, while also conserving biodiversity, reducing deforestation, and improving land and water use efficiency. It’s time for us to recognize the power of food production and consumption and take action for a sustainable present.”

Shefali Sharma, Director of Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)’s European office

“The summary of IPCC’s findings about the dramatic need to cut emissions should be a wake up call to regulate all major polluters. For the food and farm sector, big livestock, agrochemical and major grain processing companies are the primary culprits of agricultural emissions. Together, they have driven large scale deforestation, polluted our lands and rivers and still continue to operate with impunity. The IPCC emphasizes the urgency to reduce highly potent GHGs methane and nitrous oxide, where large-scale agriculture is a major source. Governments need to regulate big ag’s emissions, and support a just transition for farming that restores ecosystems and treats people in the food system with dignity.”

Nick Buxton, Transnational Institute

‘The IPCC’s report makes clear that any solutions to protect those most impacted by the climate crisis have to be rooted in justice. Yet the richest nations are spending 30 times as much on the military as they do on climate finance, and are yet to even commit proper funds for the loss and damage caused by the climate crisis. We need to move from a focus on managing the consequences of climate change to addressing its root causes. This requires reducing military and security budgets so we can massively increase the financial support to communities and countries so they can reduce emissions and prepare ways to adapt and respond justly to climate impacts.’

Deborah Burton, TPNS/Transform Defence Project

“As we digest the findings of this final synthesis report we can be sure of one thing: that it will be missing the military emissions that governments are choosing not to report.  Yet military emissions account to 5.5% of global emissions, more than civilian aviation and shipping combined. This does not include emissions from conflicts, nor attendant destruction and reconstruction. As we look forward to the AR7 Cycle, civil society is calling for military emissions to be on the IPCC agenda in the hope that we can move towards a Special Report on the Military and Climate Change.  The annual $2 trillion spent on the world’s fossil-fuel-reliant militaries is fuelling climate change, robbing funds from climate finance and failing to deliver human safety in this time of climate emergency.”

Ellie Kinney, the Military Emissions Gap – The Conflict and Environment Observatory

The findings of the latest IPCC report offer a concerning glimpse into our future. At this stage of the climate crisis, no sector can be exempt from climate action. Militaries are huge energy users whose greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for an estimated 5.5% of global emissions. Initial estimates into the environmental impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine suggest that the conflict is responsible for additional emissions equivalent to that of a country like the Netherlands over the same time period. However, because reporting military emissions to the UNFCCC is voluntary, data is often absent or incomplete, leaving a potentially huge blind spot in our climate action. The IPCC has the opportunity to highlight the scale of the military emissions gap to Governments and policy-makers and this should be a priority for AR7. We would welcome an IPCC Special Report on the military and climate change, but at the very least military emissions should be acknowledged within the AR7 cycle.”

Quotes in other languages

Stephanie Cabovianco, Climate Save Movement

[ESPAÑOL] “La transición a un sistema alimentario basado en plantas no solo es necesaria para nuestra salud y el bienestar de los animales, sino también para la supervivencia de nuestro planeta frente a la emergencia climática y ecológica. El Sexto Informe de Evaluación del IPCC destaca la necesidad urgente de reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero de los sistemas alimentarios, que son responsables de hasta el 37 % de las emisiones globales. Un cambio hacia dietas basadas en plantas puede reducir significativamente estas emisiones, al tiempo que conserva la biodiversidad, reduce la deforestación y mejora la tierra y la eficiencia en el uso del agua. Es hora de que reconozcamos el poder de la producción y el consumo de alimentos y tomemos medidas para un presente sostenible”.

****

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] to arrange interviews.

Ambientalistas y movimientos de justicia climática cuestionan Acuerdo de Paris y la razón de ser de la Semana Regional del Clima de América Latina y el Caribe

Santo Domingo. – Las Naciones Unidas, el gobierno dominicano y otras entidades, inician la realización de la Semana del Clima Regional (LACCW 2022) bajo una simulación para dar impulso a la implementación del Acuerdo de París bajo el supuesto de detener el calentamiento global. No obstante organizaciones y movimientos socioambientales en todo el mundo han denunciado que la implementación de este Acuerdo es insuficiente y ambiguo para enfrentar las crisis climáticas, y, por lo tanto, merece una transformación radical y ajustarlo hacia la acción climática que demanda la emergencia en que se encuentra el planeta producto de modelos económicos extractivitas. 

La Semana Regional del Clima de Latinoamérica y Caribe, que tiene como anfitrión a República Dominicana, demuestra la fuerte influencia del sector privado y la complicidad de los Estados para retrasar la acción climática a partir de la agenda prevista para la Semana, estos tienden a evadir las discusiones de fondo sobre las reales causas de la crisis climática y están comprometidos a mantener la impunidad frente a los culpables del calentamiento global y sus consecuencias en los pueblos. 

Las organizaciones y movimientos sociales de justicia climática, aquí reunidos en Santo Domingo, en esta Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, hemos querido estar presentes en esta Semana del Clima organizada por el Gobierno de la República Dominicana, las Naciones Unidas y los organismos multilaterales de América Latina y el Caribe para demandar acciones climáticas reales.

Estamos aquí para denunciar y evitar que la Semana del Clima sea una nueva ronda de negocios donde los gobiernos, las empresas multinacionales y las élites económicas de nuestra región se reúnen, exclusivamente, para profundizar las políticas neoliberales y extractivitas que están llevado al planeta al colapso climático.

Reconocemos que hoy los pueblos y los estados de nuestra región, por cierto, la más desigual del mundo, tenemos la gran oportunidad de trazar un camino distinto para el bienestar de nuestras sociedades, que efectivamente permitan enfrentar el cambio climático y construir democracias y economías basadas en la soberanía, la justicia, la sustentabilidad y la solidaridad entre las naciones.

No es posible frenar o salir de la crisis climática si se insiste en la promoción de tratados de libre comercio basados en el mantenimiento de políticas extractivitas de minerales y agroindustria, producción insustentable, sobre-consumo y generación creciente de basura, que cada vez impactan con mayor fuerza y con mayor injusticia en nuestros territorios.

Y llamamos la atención que sea cual sea la tecnología, la energía no es limpia ni sustentable si es para alimentar el extrativismo, la vulneración de derechos de las comunidades y la destrucción de la naturaleza.

Nosotros y nosotras durante la Asamblea Ciudadana por la Justicia Climática, donde participamos organizaciones de pueblos originarios, afrodescendientes, trabajadores, feministas y cristianos de América Latina y el Caribe apoyamos las demandas de las organizaciones populares de República Dominicana y Haití ante la fragilidad de la isla, vamos a denunciar las falsas soluciones que continúan promoviendo los responsables de la crisis para perpetuar el sistema injusto y sus privilegios, y vamos a fortalecer nuestras estrategias de articulación social y la incidencia política sobre los gobiernos y organismos regionales multilaterales, promoviendo una agenda común basada en los valores de la justicia climática y la soberanía de los pueblos.

Rechazamos que los gobiernos de la República Dominicana, internacionalmente tratan de mostrar ser amigable con el ambiente y a nivel nacional sigue expandiendo la megaminería que pone en peligro las fuentes hídricas, los bosques, la agricultura campesina y los derechos territoriales, a la vez que expande el turismo no sostenible que amenaza áreas protegidas, aprovechando la debilidad institucional del país. 

Reiteramos que para enfrentar el cambio climático se requieren transformaciones radicales y urgentes, fuera de los mercados y emancipadas del extrativismo, con una mirada territorial y de comunidad, que partan de otros modelos de sociedades, basadas en la soberanía energética, alimentaria, económica, territorial, en las prácticas, culturas y economías locales, en condiciones de trabajo y vida dignas, así como en el intercambio solidario entre pueblos y comunidades, que respeten los derechos de la naturaleza,  y nos permitan vivir en armonía con ella.

Demandamos el reconocimiento y resarcimiento de la deuda histórica, social y ecológica que tienen los países industrializados del Norte con los pueblos del Sur quienes no han sido responsables del cambio climático. Esta deuda se debe a la contaminación atmosférica y a la apropiación ilegítima de los ciclos de la Tierra.

Finalmente, sólo podremos evitar el colapso planetario empezando a dejar el gas, el petróleo y el carbón bajo tierra, protegiendo y restaurando los bosques y ecosistemas, terminando con la agroindustria y la ganadería a gran escala y favoreciendo la agricultura campesina y la agroecología, respetando los derechos colectivos de los pueblos que cuidan y viven de los bosques, eliminando las prácticas extractivas mineras y sacando al sector financiero del clima.

18 de julio 2022

Santo Domingo, RD

Conferencia de prensa

Para más información, póngase en contacto con Eduardo Giesen via [email protected] o Rachitaa Gupta via [email protected].

How and where to “keep it in the ground”

new scientific study published in Climate Policy entitled, “Equity, Climate Justice and Fossil Fuel Extraction: Principles for a managed phase out comes at a pivotal moment as governments face unprecedented recovery efforts from the combined COVID-19 and oil market collapse crises, amid the growing climate emergency. 

There is widespread recognition that we must restrict fossil fuel supply in order to limit global warming. The key questions are where and by how much. This paper is one of the first efforts to answer these questions. The authors look at challenges to phasing out oil, gas, and coal production in different national contexts, and find that wealthy, diversified economies are best positioned to lead in a necessary just transition and phase out of fossil fuel production. 

The authors articulate principles for transparent pathways forward as today’s top oil-producing countries clash to coordinate urgent production cuts due to COVID-19’s dramatic drop in demand, and as differences emerge between Saudi Arabia and Russia over how to restrain rising US shale oil output. Meanwhile, U.S. President Trump’s push to save American shale oil companies faces growing skepticism from Congress and Wall Street who have increased their commitments to stop financing fossil fuels.

The paper builds on the messages from the recent Production Gap Report which found that the fossil fuel industry is planning to produce, by 2030,  50% more fossil fuels than consistent with a 2C goal and 120% more than a 1.5C goal.  

It comes on the heels of the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Risk Report, where CEOs ranked “climate action failure” as a greater global risk than weapons of mass destruction, and amid calls for renewed international cooperation to enable an equitable global transition away from fossil fuels and towards clean, low-carbon and energy efficient economies, including through a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.  

The paper’s topline messages are that there is an urgent need for an equitable and just phase out of fossil fuel production in order to limit global warming to 1.5C, as laid out in the Paris Agreement. 

Governments must act to phase out production through a just transition, and it will be easier for some producing countries than others:

  • Wealthy fossil fuel producers with more diversified economies and more financial and technological resources are best positioned for rapid action;
  • Poorer, less diversified producers will face a much more difficult and costly effort.

Wealthy producers well-positioned to begin a phase out include: Canada, UK, US, and Norway. These producers are currently not doing nearly enough, and in many cases continue to expand production. 

International cooperation to support a just transition in poorer, less-diversified economies will be critical. Policy principles outlined in the paper include: 

  • Phase down global extraction consistent with 1.5°C
  • Enable a just transition for workers and communities
  • Curb extraction consistent with environmental justice
  • Reduce extraction fastest where social costs of transition are least
  • Share transition costs fairly

As it pertains to the current crisis: 

  • A managed phase out of fossil fuel production should be a pillar of a Just Recovery;
  • Recent events have been a case study foreshadowing the coming economic chaos of the unmanaged decline of the oil and gas sectors, laying bare the critical importance of government action to manage a phase out with a just transition;
  • Governments should not grant the fossil fuel sector unconditional subsidies and bailouts. Instead, governments should support workers and communities and use recovery efforts to shift capital to safe, clean, and renewable energy systems.

Responding to the paper’s release:

“Oil markets are now giving us only a glimpse of the future chaos our world faces if we don’t soon start a fair yet fast process for peacefully phasing-out oil production. The only larger risk we face is an accelerating catastrophe from climate action failure if we don’t get governments going on it ASAP; the Kartha-Muttit paper kick-starts the conversation by proposing clear principles for a pathway forward. Ideas such as this and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty are signs of a climate movement that is getting more serious about ending the Era of Fossil Fuels.”

Victor Menotti, Senior Fellow, Oakland Institute.

“The UN science report last year shows that we are on track to produce 120% more fossil fuels than is compatible with climate goals. This new study shows how we can close that gap by planning and preparing for the end of coal, oil, and gas. A country like Bolivia is identified as needing international support in order to do so. This is a key part of the picture if we’re to realise our climate goals and make sure the cost is not paid by communities and workers. Confronting the Covid pandemic and recession means thinking about the economy we’re building for the future – it cannot be one that ignores the right to health nor one that fails to plan for the end of coal, oil and gas in every corner of our world.” 

Peri Dias, spokesperson for 350.org Latin America, based in La Paz, Bolivia.

“The current chaotic global economy is an example of what happens when nature forces a hard stop to business as usual. Climate change threatens a similar change but currently countries are not acting fast enough to ensure this transition is well managed. The Paris Agreement means there is no long term future for fossil fuels so countries need to start making the transition to cleaner, more sustainable forms of development. The post-coronavirus recovery packages are an opportunity to radically reshape national economies. Governments should use this moment to make that switch.”

Mohamed Adow, Director, PowerShift Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya.

“This research demonstrates that not only is an immediate phase out of oil, coal and gas necessary, but that fairness in that process is key if we have any chance of avoiding total climate action failure. It also drives home the absurdity of countries like the U.S. seeking to bailout dirty industries to the tune of billions, instead of financing an equitable shift toward a system that protects the health of people and the planet. It is vital that equity is central in energy transformation policies and that those that have stood in its way are held accountable. The path to a better world should be in part financed through holding polluting industries that continue to undermine climate action liable for the damage they have knowingly caused. Now is the moment to make this fair transition possible by heeding the call of hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of people around the world to make Big Polluters pay.”

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

“Fossil fuel extraction has wreaked havoc on workers and communities for too long: polluting their bodies, air, water and lands, destroying biodiversity, and contributing to climate catastrophe. With oil prices at an all time low due to the COVID-19 crisis, this important study reminds us why fossil fuel extraction will not bring development to our countries in the Global South, but benefit only corporations and elites. Never have the concepts of justice and equity been more important, as we call for a much-needed fossil fuel phase-out, and demand that those who have benefited most from dirty energy take on the biggest role in paying for a just transition. Climate change, COVID-19, economic crisis: the inter-related crises we face now are a wake up call for system change.”

Dipti Bhatnagar, International Program Coordinator for Climate Justice and Energy, Friends of the Earth International, based in Maputo, Mozambique.

“The trillions of dollars being generated by rich industrial countries to rescue their economies in response to the 2008 financial crisis and the post-Covid stimulus packages, shows that if there is political will, there is additional finance available for developing countries to enable their just transition towards low-carbon pathways, moving away from fossil fuels in meeting their sustainable development needs. The developed countries should stop giving excuses that there is a lack of money if we are to save the planet and the poor.”

Meena Raman, Third World Network, based in Penang, Malaysia.