It’s Getting Hot In Here

Cross-posted from Watthead.org

Guest Post by Garett Brennan, Executive Director- Focus the Nation

The other morning, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) released their AOSIS Text. The first proposal in the negotiations so far that is actually responding to what the science is demanding:

1. Fair – securing at least $200 billion by 2020 in climate financing to support poor countries to bear costs associated with Mitigation, Adaptation and Insurance in the event of disasters

2. Ambitious – peaking global carbon emissions by 2015, and returning atmospheric carbon dioxide levels below 350 parts per million

3. Binding – a legally binding agreement that can be enforceable.

“We are not negotiating economics or science here, we are negotiating our survival,” said Antonio Lima, ambassador of Cape Verde and the vice-chair of AOSIS. “We are the ones on the front lines. Sea levels are already rising. If we leave Copenhagen without a legally binding outcome, without a strong Finance commitment for adaptation, mitigation and insurance from largest emitting nations, how do you expect me to go home and tell my children that we failed and we are going to die?”

On Saturday, we marched with more than 50,000 people from all over the world from Parliament Square to the Bella Center. I helped hoist and carry a huge 15 ft flag for about a mile in the wind, passing it back and forth with two guys from Lebanon. It was exhausting and exhilarating to march in solidarity with so many cultures all calling for the same shared future.

Continue reading ‘COP15: From the streets to the meeting room with Todd Stern and Jonathan Pershing’

Young Americans in Copenhagen press for energy action now

COPENHAGEN – On the first day of the critical week of United Nations climate negotiations, young elected officials in Copenhagen and in the United States called on President Obama and Congress to secure a strong agreement that will grow clean energy jobs and address climate change.

Five young elected officials presented the statement (printed below) to the United States delegation in Copenhagen on Monday in advance of President Obama’s address all UN delegates on Friday, December 18. “Our message to President Obama and Congress is simple,” said Andy Katz, Director of the East Bay Municipal Utility District in California, and the Chair of Sierra Club California. “Revitalize our economy with clean energy jobs. Young Americans have the most at stake – and the highest price – if we fail to solve the climate and clean energy crisis.”

The statement attracted support from over 95 young elected city council members, mayors, and state representatives from 30 states. “While the rest of the economy is struggling, clean energy jobs are a real bright spot,” said Rep. Jeremy Kalin (North Branch, MN), chair of CLEAN, the Coalition of Legislators for Energy Action Now working with the White House and the United States Senate.

Continue reading ‘Young Elected Officials Call for Obama to Secure Clean Energy Economy’

It looks like we’re coming closer to a showdown on 350ppm at the UN climate talks here in Copenhagen. We’re getting only bits and pieces of information here, but we wanted to share it with all of you as soon as possible and then do our best to keep you updated on any emerging developments. You can also keep track of 350 related reports on Twitter by following @350 or #350ppm.

As we’ve been reporting, there has been growing support for a 350ppm target amongst countries, scientists, and civil society groups here in at the UN Climate Talks. Last Friday, 350.org hosted a press conference with the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS) to show solidarity with their proposal for a fair, ambitious and binding treaty that would lead us back to 350 ppm. Over the weekend, millions of people around the world joined over 3,000 vigils and rallies for survival on every continent, calling for the 350 target to be the anchor for a real deal in Copenhagen. Today, AOSIS was joined by the group of all African countries which released at statement in support of 350ppm. And in Latin America, Bolivia is putting forward a proposal that is going for 300ppm — making our 350 a middle of the road target!

All this means one thing: momentum. Yet, today, we got confirmation that 350ppm has been removed from the negotiating text of the treaty. We’d heard this rumor last week, but were trying to clarify what happened. Now, it’s clear that all references to ppm targets have been stripped from the text. Our team on the inside has been trying to get more information, but at this point, it’s unclear why or how the target was removed. While much of this process is transparent, a great deal of the key decisions take place behind closed doors.

Here’s how we’re fighting back.

Continue reading ‘Breaking: The Fight for 350 (President Mohamed Nasheed leads push for Survival in Copenhagen)’

Last night the Avaaz team had dinner together at a local restaurant. We went around the table and shot out highlights from week one of COP15. My highlight was Tuesday afternoon. Tuvalu, a tiny island nation already being forced to plan for the displacement of its population, had just changed the course of the negotiations. Tuvalu, supported by over 100 countries was standing up for a legally-binding and enforceable agreement as opposed to a political one. Less than an hour after hearing the news of Tuvalu’s brave actions, organizations and youth mobilized to make signs and rally inside the Bella Center to say “Tuvalu is the Real Deal” and “Stand with Tuvalu”. By Friday the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) had submitted a formal proposal that finally put a real climate deal on the table in Copenhagen.

Before I offer a few things you should know about week 1, I want to offer two priorities for the final week:

1. Raise Expectations by Supporting Real Leaders
The final week is all about holding heads of state accountable for a writing a real deal. To raise expectations, we must generate a groundswell of citizen support for the demands of small island states, Africa, and other vulnerable nations inside of COP15. These brave leaders are calling for exactly what we want – a fair, ambitious, and binding treaty that gets us to 350 ppm and limits warming to 1.5 degrees C. We need to remind our leaders that our fates are bound together. By ensuring survival for the world’s most vulnerable we can avoid climate tipping points that would put all of our futures in jeopardy.

2. Stop a Greenwash
We need to draw a bright line between a real deal and a greenwash. Coalitions of nations have formed to create loopholes in everything from how we account for forest emissions reductions to whether we will create additional funds for adaptation and technology transfer or steal money from existing aid budgets. Despite a new administration, the United States remains the central figure keeping global ambitions low at COP15. When countries try to water down a deal, we need to be ready to respond both in Copenhagen and back home on a dime. If the deal is riddled with loopholes, sets emission targets too low, does not include strong long-term financing for developing countries, or is not legally-binding, it simply will not work. With 110+ heads of state putting their credibility on the line in Copenhagen, the risks for an empty political deal rather than a real deal could not be higher.

With those priorities in mind, here’s what you should know about what happened in week 1:

Continue reading ‘COP15 WEEK 1 RECAP: Survival is On the Table’

Back in September, I wrote about the the power of energy efficiency loan funds, and how they could be utilized by local and state governments to eliminate the barrier of upfront financing for energy efficiency improvements which often prevents them from happening. When my student group UMD for Clean Energy was involved in our local city council elections this past fall, the priority policy of our platform was a low-interest energy efficiency loan fund. We managed to elevate this to being an important issue in the elections, and our city council has made it a priority to push for tweaking a state law that would allow municipalities in Maryland to undertake this kind of a program.

Last week, President Obama announced that as part of his new jobs bill, a cash for caulkers program that puts people back to work by weatherizing houses, will be a key part of the legislation. However, as Dave Roberts notes a Grist, right now “public statements from the administration have focused almost entirely on cash rebates, which would pay back homeowners up to half the cost of various retrofit investments. There’s a way to get far more bang for federal bucks, though, and it has to do with financing” Continue reading ‘Cash for Caulkers should use Energy Efficiency Loan Fund Model’

©Robert van Waarden

Over 100,000 people converged in Copenhagen on Dec. 12, 2009 to march towards the Bella Center and demand a fair, ambitious, and binding treaty at the end of the Conference of Parties. This gallery is a selection of some of my best images from the day.

UPDATE: You can help by signing this petition protesting Danish police violence against climate protestors.

Over the past week, the Danish capital has welcomed delegates, corporate lobbyists, and representatives of mainstream, moderate NGOs with open arms; however, they’ve shown a somewhat uglier face towards activists advocating climate justice.

Yesterday, a massive, peaceful protest of 100,000 people – the largest demonstration for climate justice in world history – was met with a heavy-handed response by the Danish police. Thousands of riot police swarmed the march route, blocked off streets surrounding large groups of protestors, and arrested almost 1,000 people. Arrestees were cuffed and forced to sit in rows for hours, as the temperatures dipped below freezing; numerous people urinated on themselves after being denied use of toilets. Despite the mood of severe frustration with the state of climate talks that pervaded the march, there were only a few reports of property destruction and minor skirmishes with police (which the media have hugely played up) – however, the police swept up masses of people, including NGO delegates and independent journalists, with little focus on determining who had actually broken the law. As one British protestor, Georgy Forshall, put it: “Two of my friends are in there. The police said demonstrators had been throwing stones, but my friends were in a cow costume, they wouldn’t have been able to throw stones.”

Continue reading ‘Crackdown in Copenhagen’

The first week of negotiations in Copenhagen ended with a second tar sands focussed action. Indigenous and non-indigenous people from Canada and the US come together to remind everyone that the tar sands is not just a Canadian issue—it affects everyone and there is no room for the tar sands in a just climate deal.

Photo Credit: Ben Powless

The group proceeded peacefully through the COP15 conference centre holding up placards that said “We don’t want your dirty oil” and “But we are blocking progress just for you.” The placards set up a dialogue between the Canadian and US government leaders, showing that both governments are blocking progress together. This procession was an unprecedented action of solidarity between Indigenous peoples, Canadian youth, and US youth condemning the tar sands together.

Three women led the procession through the conference centre: Eriel Deranger, a Dene woman from Fort Chipewyan; Kandi Mossett, a Mandas, Kidatsa and Arikara woman from a community in North Dakota where they are constructing a tar sands oil refinery; and Kimia Ghomeshi, a climate justice organizer in Canada. All three delivered powerful speeches before they proceeded through the halls silently. Continue reading ‘Tar Sands An Important Issue? Two Tar Sands Actions In First Week Of COP’

This December 11-13, tens of thousands of people of all faiths will join the “World Wants a Real Deal” weekend of action with 350.org and its partners at the World Council of Churches and the TckTckTck campaign.

“Church bells are both a way to call people to worship, and in many parts of the world a way to spread an alarm,” said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and a frequent commentator on the intersections of religion and climate change. “Today they served both functions in places around the world. Faith communities are playing an increasingly important role in the fight to save the climate–they understand the risk both to creation, and to the poorest people on the planet. And they understand the hopeful role that they can play in moving political change through their witness.”

Hundreds of faith events are already planned around the world. In the Netherlands, hundreds of churches will ring their bells 350 times to signify 350 ppm of carbon dioxide, the safe upper limit according to the latest science. In Japan, citizens form the shape of a 350  with traditional Aomori lanterns at the Nishibetsuin Buddhist temple in Hokkaido.

Continue reading ‘Thousands of churches ring their bells 350 times for climate justice in Copenhagen’

After being in Copenhagen for five days now, there are some thoughts running through my head that I’d like to express and share with y’all. This is going to be short, and probably not all that eloquent, but it will help me get some points across that I think are really important at this critical moment in the fight for our climate. I do want to say that while this post is critical of the way things are happening at COP15, I still deeply respect the youth of all delegations who are inside this conference, trying to scrap out a decent deal for the world. I thank them for all their efforts, but am coming from a different perspective here.

I came to Copenhagen hesitant and nervous….not wanting to place too much hope into the talks that had effectively been castrated by the UNFCCC leadership and Yvo de Boer. But I still wanted to be here all the same; after all, it’s supposedly the climate party of the century! So I hooked up with some French activists and an amazing organization called Climate Justice Action and planned on doing all that I could during the two weeks of the conference. I wanted to rally, protest, take part in negotiations, have my voice heard and above all- help bring a fair, ambitious and binding treaty out of Copenhagen.  But upon arriving in Denmark, I  entered a catatonic state of dumbfoundedness…having finally come to the realization, like so many others (James Hansen, Breakthrough Institute etc), that these talks were doomed to fail and there was nothing anyone could do about it. As quickly as it had come, my dream of that fair, ambitious and binding treaty that we’ve all been working towards disappeared in a smoggy cloud of yen, dollars, euros and political and moral weakness.

Continue reading ‘System Change, Not Climate Change!’