It’s Getting Hot In Here

Update 12/20/09: Joe Romm responds to McKibben, link below
Update 12/20/09: Bill McKibben has responded below

Open Letter to Bill McKibben: Blaming Obama for Copenhagen Is Wrong
December 19th, 2009

Dear Bill,

Yesterday, in response to the end of the Copenhagen negotiations, you issued a press release with 350.org titled “The President has wrecked the UN (and the planet),” in which you wrote: “The president has wrecked the U.N. and he’s wrecked the possibility of a tough plan to control global warming. It may get Obama a reputation as a tough American leader, but it’s at the expense of everything progressives have held dear.”

Afterward, you published an article on the Grist homepage titled “With climate agreement, Obama guts progressive values,” in which you wrote: “He blew up the United Nations. The idea that there’s a world community that means something has disappeared tonight. The clear point is… when you sink beneath the waves we don’t want to hear much about it.” This followed a recent post by your organization accusing Obama of “corruption” and “conspiracy” for his climate negotiations with Ethiopia.

I’m writing you today because, as a young clean energy and climate advocate, I believe these words are wrong and irresponsible, and I would like to respectfully request that you issue a public apology to President Obama and young climate leaders across the country.

Bill, as one of the most prominent leaders of the global environmental movement, your words matter. Several of my friends, family, and colleagues – especially young climate leaders – have looked to you for guidance in this movement, placing faith in your judgment and passionately supporting your 350 campaign. As one young commenter remarked to me yesterday, “Bill McKibben is certainly one of the most respected voices on this issue around, and if he says that Obama failed to deliver, I believe it.”

That is why I was shocked and disappointed when you so harshly blamed President Obama for the outcome of Copenhagen and accused him of undermining efforts to achieve a meaningful international climate treaty. Your accusations are false. I understand the disappointment of you and many around the world, but the Obama administration has done more to promote climate change solutions than any U.S. administration in history, and it has demonstrated a clear commitment to advancing international negotiations.

Continue reading ‘Open Letter to Bill McKibben: Blaming Obama for Copenhagen Is Wrong’

Just when you thought things were over… Last night, the media made a big hoopla about a supposed “Copenhagen Accord” that President Obama helped negotiate and heralded it as the final result of Copenhagen climate talks. They were wrong.

As last night went on, it was clear that the entire world wasn’t going to back down in the face of bullying from a few powerful countries — the picture in this post is from a protest that hundreds of us joined at 1:00 AM last night outside the Bella Center where the talks were taking place. At 3:00 AM, Prime Minister Rasumussen of Denmark, who under official UN rules acts as chair of the conference, tried to rush the accord through as a new political deal without gaining consensus from the assembled countries. Even as Rasmussen banged his gavel, Tuvalu buzzed in and demanded to speak. Looking exhausted, Tuvalu’s lead negotiator Ian Fry, spoke clearly and forcefully: this deal is a sham, our survival is not negotiable, we refuse to sign at this point.

Tuvalu’s remarks revitalized the process that the media was already proclaiming as dead and started what will now be a long fight over the fate of not just these negotiations but the entire UN process.

Continue reading ‘The Fight for the UN: “Collective action is the only effective action”’

For detailed updates as it happens, follow some of our writers on Twitter:

Ben Powless -   Zoë Caron -   Juan Hoffmaister -   Matthew Carroll -   Liz McDowell -   Caroline Howe

Note: Matt’s incredible description of the beginning of this session are fabulous. You can check out our live notes, or our summary as it follows here.

11:53 Debating the “Noting” of Copenhagen Accord

Currently, the parties are debating whether or not to “note” the Copenhagen Accord. This means that the document we’ve been debating for 10 hours will be seen as a document that any delegation could sign onto. So, we’re proposing countries sign on if they agree with it. It couldn’t be agreed to because of the process by which it was created. I’m confused. And sad. There’s not much to write, because we’re lost on what part of our future is disappearing right now.

10:25 Meeting Begins Again

After more than two hours, the session began again, chaired by those who are slightly less exhausted. The plenary hall has no windows, so its hard to tell if any time has passed at all.

7:47 Imperfect, but a Beginning?

Gabon used the message, “Every human endeavor and creation is imperfect, but we also have to continue to fashion the stone, to sculpt because tomorrow will be better than today.” The consensus is generally emerging that this document (a non legally-binding framework) may be a way for things to move to the next phase of negotiations. It is imperfect, but Continue reading ‘Liveblog: Copenhagen End Game (Continued)’

It is 6:13 am and in the Bella Conference Center I am listening to the chair of the AOSIS (Association of Small Island States) trying to fight off uncontrollable tears. I am almost certain that the Group of 77 (a behemoth of 130 plus developing country states) is coming to an end. Countries are divided and I am witnessing accusations fly across the plenary. Why has it taken us so long to arrive at this point? We sit here with the “Copenhangen Accord” staring at our faces. It is a document full of hot air and is not what billions of people across the planet had been promised to deliver atmospheric restitution. Once again the developed nations have managed to gain somewhat of an upper hand in the wake of greater sacrifices of the larger developing countries.

That aside, negotiators had feared from day one of the talks that the documents and the process of negotiating would not mature to the point required in order to allow negotiations to move into the high level segment where over 100 Heads of States would come to sign a just climate deal. Their fears were realized. The process has been deeply flawed and the voices of nations regarding lack of transparency, conspiracy to kill off the Kyoto protocol has been true. I often found myself being witness to the injustice within the UNFCCC process (where had I not gone to certain meetings, I would have missed out on joint drafting sessions which I assumed were only scheduled G-77 coordination meetings). Text messages were sent, rooms were changed, information was not available to all.

Continue reading ‘Battle Until Dawn for Humanity’s Survival’

4.12am A group of us are following the final plenary inside the Bella Centre in Copenhagen. The atmosphere has erupted in the last hour, and we’re going to give a play-by-play as things develop from here. For detailed updates as it happens, follow some of our writers on Twitter:

Ben Powless -   Zoë Caron -   Juan Hoffmaister -   Matthew Carroll -   Liz McDowell -   Caroline Howe

The story so far…

Chairman Rasmussen did an interesting opening dance, introducing the infamous “President’s Text” that the media so willingly lapped up as a done deal and amazing breakthrough earlier today as the official outcome to the negotiations. He had the nerve to describe the draft text as having been put together by a “representative group of leaders from all regions around the world”, then he told delegates there would be 60 minutes for consultations by regional groups and closed the meeting.

Venezuela starts banging on their desk continuously, as Rasmussen is leaving until the audience in the plenary hall and other government delegates start clapping. Rasmussen comes back on the mic, apologising for having accidentally (hmm) missed a point of order by Venezuela.

One by one, countries respond to both the process, and content of the text:

Continue reading ‘Liveblog: Copenhagen End Game’

Immediately after hearing the announcement of what was sold as ‘the deal’ in Copenhagen on Friday night, over 150 people, many who had been locked out of the COP15 summit, organized a flash rally at the Bella Center to oppose efforts by a small group of countries to subvert UN process and weaken global ambitions for a fair, ambitious, and binding climate treaty.

View the Liveblog from youth still inside of the Copenhagen endgame this morning.

3:11: A Bolivian delegate comes out of the Bella Center to address the crowd as we are wrapping up. He speaks about how a few countries picked off members of the major developed country bloc – the G77, in private, to gain support for the deal. Describes how behavior tonight has set a bad precedent for democracy in the United Nations process. Explains how the U.S. target of $3.6 billion by 2012 is well below what is needed and expected and how the $100 billion/year by 2020 isn’t a U.S. commitment, but rather something developed and developing countries may have to contribute to. While he was very disappointed in the deal, it sounded like it is basically settled and we will have to live to fight another day. “It looks like we have lost this battle, but we will win the war because of the strength of the youth.” [Note - we soon learned that the EU has agreed to the deal, although is very disappointed.]

3:05: Incredible dedication of people here – 2.5 hours in and still chanting in the freezing cold (after one of the warmest Novembers in Copenhagen it’s gotten frigid in recent days). Reuters and CNN were both spotted at different times.

2:25: UK Climate Minsiter Ed Milliband just sent a message to the youth rally from inside the Bella – its youth and connected mobilization that put the pressure to get anything, especially 130 leaders here. Stay strong.

Continue reading ‘LIVEBLOG: Flash Rally to Reject ‘Climate Sham[e]‘ Outside Bella Center Now’

Here’s just a quick update because I’m running out the door to head to a vigil at the Bella center. Emails and texts are flying around Copenhagen to drive people out to the Bella Center where the UN climate talks have been taking place. Obama’s statement tonight basically sold out the UN process and the planet in the process: instead of taking part in any constructive way, the US decided that it could go it alone and create a completely non-binding, non-negotiable agreement with a few big emitters.

You can find more analysis online with a little searching. Here’s our take from 350.org founder Bill McKibben:

“This is a declaration that small and poor countries don’t matter, that international civil society doesn’t matter, and that serious limits on carbon don’t matter. The president has wrecked the UN and he’s wrecked the possibility of a tough plan to control global warming. It may get Obama a reputation as a tough American leader, but it’s at the expense of everything progressives have held dear. 189 countries have been left powerless, and the foxes now guard the carbon henhouse without any oversight.”

Yes, it’s a strong reaction. No, the issue isn’t completely settled. But it’s clear that this isn’t the treaty we need, it’s not a real deal, and it sure as well won’t get us back to 350 ppm. We’re going out to demonstrate, because while the agreement is still up the air, one thing is crystal clear — we need to act.

The most striking thing to me – sitting on the left side of the pond from Copenhagen – is that with some exceptions it appears that the veil of legitimacy of the climate policy making process of the US-dominated UNFCCC  (which climate justice activists have criticized for year) is finally falling away…which leaves the question: “what now”?

With Obama at this moment posed to announce a “meaningful deal” (a complete dishonesty on it’s face, which all but the most head-in-the-sand environmentalist knows is a face saving greenwash at best) what is next for the climate movement?

For those of us demanding not just “action”, but just action, what are our next steps when for most of us it’s now clear that the Senate, Obama, and the UNFCCC process itself is working against our goals of 350ppm, thwarting efforts to prevent the destruction of the least developed countries and the island nations, and of recognizing the climate debt owed the world from the big polluters?

What are next steps in building a movement outside this failed framework? or do you still believe the framework can be salvaged despite 15 years of non-functionality? if so why?

Continue reading ‘Copenhagen and the end of naïveté’

The seas are swirling with mermaids’ fury against Monsanto and the corporate criminals who sabotaged the Copenhagen climate process. Mermaids know no borders. They swam it all the way to DC Wednesday to share their anger with the 3 winners of the “Angry Mermaid Awards“.

We at the DC Climate Action Factory teamed up with a delegation of irate Danish anthrofishies and hit the frozen streets of K and I: global corporate lobby ground zero. It’s from here that climate criminals and climate profiteers waged their war to infiltrate and cripple the climate legislation that so many saw as the lynchpin for progress towards a real deal at the COP. Naturally, this place is home to the Angry Mermaid Award winners.

Continue reading ‘Monsanto Refuses Angry Mermaid Award in DC’