SEAD (Scottish Education and Action for Development)

Climate commentators are billing 2009 as the year the planet will sink or swim, arguing that a strong intergovernmental deal is needed at November’s UN climate talks is Copenhagen, to ensure a habitable future on our planet. Find out more about the Copenhagen talks, and read a round-up of last month’s climate talks in Poznan, Poland.

An update from Poznan

The lack of progress to emerge from last month’s 14th UN Climate Change Conference in Poznan has been widely criticised by environmental groups, with developed nations enduring the heaviest criticism. Oxfam has argued that the leaders of developed countries “were meant to have submitted proposals on emissions reductions, finance and technology; they have failed to do so. They have tried to delay, shift the blame…on their climate change obligations.” This disappointing result at Poznan has led many groups and individuals to pledge to redouble their campaigning efforts in the lead up to the next round of talks at Copenhagen in November.

The talks in Poland were an important mid point in a three year process to renegotiate the Kyoto Protocol: the international agreement that commits developed nations to long term reductions in their carbon emissions. If no new agreement is made by the end of the next UN Climate Change Conference, then the world will be left with no binding international agreement committed to reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change when the Kyoto protocol runs out in 2012. Christian Aid has argued that this means the Copenhagen talks are “probably the last chance the world has to keep global temperature rises below 2°C.” The need for action is clear.

With such high stakes, the Poznan conference brought little comfort. There still isn’t any agreement on what long-term climate goals the international community should strive for: whether to agree on a maximum acceptable temperature rise, or a maximum acceptable increase in the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. The EU agreed to derive 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, but this still falls short of the 25-40% cuts in CO2 that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says is necessary by 2020 to avoid irreversible climate change.

One aspect of the talks in Poznan that has been heralded as positive by environmental groups is the establishment of climate change mitigation funds, to help developing countries defend themselves against the worst effects of climate change. Yet so far most of the money dedicated to these funds has been redirected from existing aid packages. One major aspect of environmental campaigning in the run-up to Copenhagen will making sure the developed world commit to a mitigation package that has a meaningful effect on the developing world.

The road to Copenhagen

In light of the urgent need for international action on climate change, and the stuttering progress of Poznan talks, many campaigning groups are beginning the process of mobilising for large scale grassroots action in the run-up and during the Copenhagen summit.

Christian Aid have already begun mobilising under the banner of their ‘Countdown to Copenhagen’ campaign. They want as many people as possible to take their Copenhagen pledge, promising to: Campaign for a fair and just deal in Copenhagen, lobby the richest to repay their carbon debt and reduce their personal carbon footprint. You can sign the Copenhagen pledge online.

The Stop Climate Chaos coalition are focusing on the UK government, asking them to show leadership to keep global warming under 2 degrees C. They’re also demanding that the government makes renewable energy the no. 1 energy choice, says no to unabated coal and like Christian Aid, they demand that the government pay up for climate justice by putting sufficient money into climate mitigation funds to help the world’s poor. They’ll have a mass petition in the run-up to the talks and a mass physical mobilisation during the Copenhagen talks themselves. You can keep up to date on these developments on their website at: http://www.stopclimatechaos.org

Other groups have rejected the idea that lobbying world leaders for a strong treaty at Copenhagen will have any effect, arguing that inter-governmental summits are unlikely to produce strong or egalitarian ways to solve climate change. The Danish organisation KlimaX has rejected the possibility of lobbying, arguing that the “underlying cause of the climate crisis is the markets constant need for growth and consumption” and seeing the world’s governments as part of this problem. They have called for groups to join them in taking direct action to make their voices heard. You can read the KlimaX call to action here: http://klimax2009.org/?p=33

Its clear that a whole variety of groups, and organisations have realised that 2009 is a critical year for the future of our planet, and that there’ll be plenty to get involved in over the coming year.

This entry was posted on 12 January 2009 at 9:46 pm and is filed under General news, SOCC News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.