It’s Getting Hot In Here

OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

December 16, 2009

Dear Mr. President:

Four years ago at the UN climate negotiations in Montreal, I was part of a delegation of hundreds of youth observers from across the country and thousands from across the globe. In a meeting we held with the lead U.S. negotiator at the time, I told him we knew he had been sent to the negotiations by an administration that would not lead the world to a strong, just global climate treaty. I promised him that we would go home and work harder than we had ever worked to elect the administration that would. This week, four years and one presidential election later, I am asking you to prove in Copenhagen that we have made good on that promise.

My own trip to these UN climate negotiations is not my first trip to Copenhagen; I studied abroad here as an undergraduate. During that year, I made another trans-Atlantic trip to a climate conference, taking off from Copenhagen and landing on the East Coast to co-coordinate the 2nd Annual Northeast Climate Conference at Harvard University and to surprise my friends and allies with my participation. I knew then that combating climate change would be about unwavering commitment and dramatic leaps of faith. I wanted to show that I believed in the growing climate movement so much that I was willing to drop everything and pay to cross oceans and work without stop or sleep for days to support it. I wanted to make the point that that is the very least we have to be willing to do for big ideas and for each other. The 2nd Annual Northeast Climate Conference brought together over five hundred youth climate leaders from across the Northeast—an unprecedented number at that time. Only five years later, Powershift 2009 united over twelve thousand youth climate leaders to flood the halls of Congress to call for bold, comprehensive climate legislation this year and for the US to lead the world to a clean and equitable energy future. Continue reading ‘An Open Letter to President Barack Obama’

A crowd of youth, activists, indigenous peoples, and perhaps some delegates, burst in chants of “Climate Justice Now!” and “Reclaim Power!” in the middle of the Bella Center where the Copenhagen Climate Talks are being held. Instantly surrounded by cameras and media, the group began a march out of the center towards the gates of the building where as many as 10,000 people are planning to meet them in what organizers are calling the Reclaim Power action.

The BBC is reporting that hundreds of people have already been arrested this morning as thousands more march on the Bella Center. It will be a challenge for them to get very close to the negotiations. As Adrian Wilson reports, security is tight around the  conference venue with chain link fences, concrete walls, and hundreds of police and what looked like Danish military blocking the roadways — someone with me in line this morning reported seeing a water cannon going by.

More photos are below the fold.

Continue reading ‘Reclaim Power Action Begins inside Copenhagen Climate Talks’

As Reclaim Power begins in Copenhagen, the UNFCCC and Danish police – acting in close coordination – are clamping down heavily on activists both inside and outside the Bella Center.

On the outside, police have established an extremely strong security perimeter around the building, and have shut down the Bella Center metro station. 50 people from the march’s Green Bloc have been arrested before the march even began. There’s a heavy riot police presence at nearby metro stations and major intersections, and police vans have been seen racing all over the city.

Yesterday, police raided the Candy Factory – a key activist space – and arrested 20 people near the Klimaforum, the alternative COP-15 climate meeting. (Many more details on protests outside will come later – I’m inside, so my ability to report is limited.) Continue reading ‘Heavy Security Presence as Reclaim Power Begins’

In 1992, the United Nations formally recognized civil society as valuable actors in environmental decision making. Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration states that “environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens.”  It is a surprise, then, that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat announced that civil society participation will be greatly limited at the COP15.  It is especially surprising for the youth community that has lobbied for years to receive constituency status at the UN.  This status seems misleading, when young people are not even being allowed entry in the conference building. 

 The UNFCCC Secretariat reports that this decision is due to over-capacity at the Bella Conference centre.  

Video Credit of Adopt A Negotiator: A long line-up to enter the Bella Center.  

According to a memo sent out by the observer organization liaison, the 22,000 registered observers were limited to 7000 today, on Thursday this numbers will be further limited to 1000, and on Friday only 90 observers will be permitted access to the negotiations.

In response to the limit on participation, a collective of environmental organizations issued a statement charging the process as undemocratic. 

It is true that the details of complex negotiations often pan out behind closed doors; but it is also instructive to ask how the negotiations might change with the lowered numbers of civil society.  Everything from the plenary atmosphere to the public pressure felt by negotiators will vary – and greatly so.  It seems as-if the Rio Declaration needs rewriting to reflect the negotiating realities of climate change, which seems more like a G8 Summit or WTO meeting.  Otherwise, the UNFCCC Secretariat needs to strengthen its inclusion of civil society if it truly does value our input.

Cross-posted from www.watthead.org.

Guest Post by Lindsey Berger, FTN COP15 Delegation Team Leader

“Ten billion dollars will neither buy food nor coffins.”
-Lumumba Di-Aping, Sudanese chairman of the G77

It’s week two, and a certain level of intensity has coated the city joining the fog- this is what we’ve been preparing for. Last week we focused our efforts on identifying the role that the U.S. would play at COP15. The results are in- we have overwhelmingly found efforts to be sub-par. There are two critical areas where increased commitments are crucial to human survival:

1. Immediate emission reductions
2. Financial aid for vulnerable nations.

Based on recent meetings between US youth and our leading climate negotiators, we are able to say (sadly) that there is about a 0.01% chance of increasing our existing mitigation targets, which stand at a whopping 4% cut in 1990 emissions by 2020. However, IF (and only if) we show the Administration that the American people support the financial “bail out” of our island and African nations, then maybe Obama would be willing to put more than a lousy $10 billion/year for three years on the table at COP15.

Continue reading ‘COP15 Week 2: Emotions running high!’

NGOs and civil society groupings are reacting with anger and disappointment to a joint appeal by France and “Ethiopia, representing Africa” for a so-called ‘Copenhagen Accord’ to result from the current COP15 negotiations being held in the Danish capital. The French / Ethiopian proposal appeared on the French Presidency’s website today.

The proposed accord, which would be binding on all parties immediately on signature and lead to a ‘legal international instrument’ to be agreed ‘as early as possible in 2010’ ignores the latest science, fails to put forward greenhouse gas concentration targets that will be sufficient to prevent dangerous global warming, and makes a mockery of calls for sufficient funding for climate adaptation and mitigation.

In what looks more like conspiracy than coincidence, the announcement by President Sarkozy and Prime Minister Zenawi of Ethiopia comes on the same day the White House is reporting that President Obama called Zenawi to discuss the UN climate talks: “He expressed his appreciation for the leadership role the Prime Minister was playing in work with African countries on climate change, and urged him to help reach agreement at the Leaders summit later this week in Copenhagen.”

“The ugly and overt pressure on developing countries to sign an agreement that will put their very survival in jeopardy has begun,” said 350.org founder Bill McKibben. “It’s very tough to stand up to the Americans, especially Barack Obama. But even the U.S. president can’t protect nations against rising waters, withering droughts, and dried-up glaciers. This is the moment for Africa, for island nations, for the developing world to insist on a future.”
Continue reading ‘Corruption: Sarkozy, Obama Pressure Ethiopia’s Zenawi to Betray Africa’s Future at Copenhagen Climate Talks’

Civil Society Groups Inside and Outside The COP Process Issue Call to Unite in “Peoples’ Assembly” to Demand Real Solutions to the Climate Crisis

www.climate-justice-action.org

Decked in black trench coats, skin-tight pants, and black shades, the Matrix protagonists arrived at COP15 today with a message for the US, Japan, and Germany – “Take the Green Pill”. The image spoof was featured in a full-page ad in the Financial Times today with the message: “Obama, Hatayama, and Merkel: Take the Green Pill. Fund the Fight to Save the World.” The ad goes on to call for $200 billion/year by 2020 to free developing countries from the fossil fuel machine that has enslaved the developed world.

The three Matrix characters and Avaaz activists delivered over 450 copies directly to delegates walking into the first major plenary of these negotiations. In total, 2500 copies are being disseminated around the Bella Center. The US, Japan, and Germany are key countries that have yet to come out in support of bold long-term finance for climate adaptation and technology transfer.

At 9:45 this morning Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity spoke to media and delegates about the clear choice for these three leaders – fund the future by taking the green pill, or risk a collapse of these negotiations as developing countries and civil society stand up for what climate science demands.

According to Trinity, déjà vu represents a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when the powers that be change something. I experienced déjà vu several times before Copenhagen reading the news about “climate gate”. At a critical moment for global warming policy, Big Oil is funding efforts to attack the efforts of mainstream climate scientists and confuse the public into thinking the science of climate change is in question and now is not the time to act. We’ve seen this story. There could not be a more important moment to transcend politics as usual with real leadership.

Continue reading ‘“Climatrix” FT Ad Targets US, Japan, and Germany’

Cross-Posted from the Huffington Post:

As the Hopenhagen Ambassador, I’m supposed to be spreading and collecting messages of hope. But to be honest, it isn’t easy being hopeful right now.

According to a recent post by Andy Revkin of the New York Times, the pledges that countries are making right now likely corresponds to almost four degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century. The IPCC says that four degrees of warming would reduce crop yields around the world and result in the extinction of perhaps more than forty percent of all plants and animals. Sea level would likely rise by more than three feet, forcing hundreds of millions of people to abandon their homes. Almost all countries agree that we should keep warming under 2 degrees, yet the current pledges don’t line up with this goal.

Nobel Peace Prize winning Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke at a rally on Sunday during “Hopenhagen Live.” I attended the rally, where Desmond talked about the injustice of climate change. To give you a sense of the event, below is the first 28 seconds of the speech where Desmond greets the audience.

During the press conference that afternoon, reporters asked Desmond questions such as “What would you say to Obama in an elevator?” or “Do you think everyone in the rally yesterday was on your side?” I asked Desmond, “What gives you hope that we can solve climate change?” Watch below to see where Desmond puts his faith.

Tomorrow I’ll interview some of the leaders of the movement Desmond describes.

Today, the Washington Post broke news of an announcement by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu that the United States was contributing $85 million to The Climate Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative.

“The initiative — which includes $85 million from the United States and donations from industrialized nations such as Italy and Australia — aims to make energy-saving technology that already exists cheap enough to penetrate markets in India, parts of Africa and elsewhere. It is distinct from the major financing package the United States is expected to unveil this week as part of a broader climate deal.”

While it’s good to see initiatives such as these, the total amount and the contribution by the US fall of what international talks in Copenhagen need in order for a successful agreement. The broader deal the US is expected to unveil later this week will lay out around $1.2 billion in its 2010 budget for international climate aid and mitigation, and Senator John Kerry recently wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton pushing for $3 billion to be included in the 2011. Both figures depend on the Senate passing climate legislation. At the same time, the EU is trying to scrape together $10 billion in funding from the 2010-2012 period, although there is concern right now over whether it’s new money, or international assistance dollars being redirected. Continue reading ‘How about some serious financing’