It’s Getting Hot In Here

Representatives of civil society from every continent gathered in Mamallapuram , Tamil Nadu, a southern state in India, are trying to come to consensus on the role of Equity in the climate debate. Since the beginning of the debate on global climate change, equity and climate justice have played a major role in cementing the gridlock between the global North and South on who should be sharing more of the “burden.” The network that has for decades tried to provide the forum for civil society groups from around the world, the Climate Action Network (CAN), is grappling with this issue as the time line for the next global deal nears (Copenhagen in December 2009).

All are in agreement that Kyoto did not work and the world cannot risk having another deal come out of the United Nations Conference in Copenhagen which is as ineffective (in the US) if not weaker than the Kyoto Protocol.  Representatives of CAN-Europe have recently stated that they’d like to see this as a more positive dialogue and are calling it “effort sharing” as it is a shared effort to protect our common future.

Can we put all our development issues in the climate basket?  Are we being inclusive of all voices in the climate dialog?  How can we get over the hurdle of who is at fault for climate change and therefor who must take action? Are we running around in circles in the debate on how to finance adaptation?  Is two degrees more important or a separate debate from the “right to development” for developing nations?

One after another, delegates from Kenya, Malaysia, Australia, India, the Netherlands, the United States, and many other nations voiced their opinions.  The aims of this CAN Summit are pure and simple:  getting beyond the known areas of consensus to the real “problem areas” and figuring out how as a network of international civil society groups we can achieve consensus on those areas.  For if we cannot be united as civil society, how can we help achieve consensus at the United Nations?

A presence not gone unnoticed during this conference thus far are youth from the Indian Youth Climate Network.  A network that is barely seven months old is providing the platform to engage eager youth from the subcontinent to get engaged in this international debate and provide a youthful non-governmental angel to the visitors from abroad.  This is part of a larger vision to take Indian youth representatives to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP14) in Poznan this December as part of the “Agents of Change” program.  Most importantly, this is an attempt to train the next generation of climate leaders from India to become engaged in this debate.

With a few more days left the question on the back of everyone’s minds is whether or not the group of civil society groups from around the world will manage to put up a more united front to take on the challenges the governments convening at the UNFCCC will throw at them.