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The Daily Tck: 8th December 2011

The anxiety in the air is palpable as Ministers take their discussions behind closed doors. Feelings swing from hope to

despair, especially among the countries whose very existence is at stake. This has reached new highs as the world

faces the real possibility of exceeding two degrees warming. One delegate asked: “Waiting is a disaster for us – are

we prepared to wait for the point of no return?” 

US negotiator Todd Stern’s statement today that ‘keeping below two degrees as not something that really should drive

national operations in their responses to climate change’ was met with incredulity. Remember that back in 2009, to

rapturous applause, Todd Stern arrived at his first UNFCCC negotiating session after the election of Obama with the

words “We’re Back”. Today that applause went to a US Youth from New Jersey who corageously spoke out

against the US’s immoral position. She was then ejected from the talks.

 

There are many bilateral meetings happening behind closed doors and although we don’t know what they are saying we

do know that any delay in action condemns hundreds of thoursands of people. We need the EU to unequivocally

commit to the KP without loopholes (support African Group position), we need the US and Canada to stop

backing off the commitments they made in Cancun and we need to establish the Green Climate Fund with

proper governance and—most critically—we need to increase ambition levels now. 

At this morning’s stocktaking session, the President's assertation that the meeting would be over by midnight on Friday

was met with peals of laughter. We are in for the long haul and the stakes could not be higher.

Message of the DayThe longer we wait for action to reduce emissions the less options we will have, the more it will cost and the less likely

we will be able to stay below warming levels of 2 degrees C. This is most dangerous to the vulnerable countries. As

AOSIS stated today “The situation is not going to improve – science is telling us this. We do not want to accept this

reality.” And they shouldn't have to.

What is Happening?Let's kick things off today with the Adopt a Negotiator trackers.

• If you've ever wondered how serious the trackers are about keeping close to their negotiators, this video will

lay those questions to rest. Watch their video: Mission Impossible. 

• Read the latest from US Tracker Alex Stark in Good Magazine. 

• See what Anika Terton had to say about Canadian youth turning their backs on Canada 

• And learn about the huge problems with carbon capture and storage from Al Lenferna

 

A member of the SustainUS youth delegation was ejected from the climate talks today for calling out the failure of the

US Congress to act on climate. Abigail Borah, from New Jersey delivered a passionate speech to international ministers

and high-level negotiators in the plenary. She called for an urgent path towards a fair and binding climate treaty and

criticised Congress for blocking progress. Borah, said of he negotiators, “they cannot speak on behalf of the United

States of America”. Her delivery was followed by applause from the entire plenary.

Immediately afterwards, Chief US negotiator, Todd Stern, called a press conference to try to explain the US

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position. Meanwhile in the US in letter to Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, Senator John Kerry Senator and 14

colleagues called for an “ambitious outcome” from Durban. He said, “With the impacts of climate change occurring

more quickly than previously predicted, we are committed to doing our part to transition to a clean energy economy that

decreases carbon pollution, creates jobs, and builds resilience in vulnerable communities both at home and abroad.”

South Africa, France and Norway won the YOUNGO “Robin Hood Award” yesterday for joining civil society leaders

in a press conference calling for innovative sources of finance to be part of a deal in Durban.

Global civil society today responded to rich countries’ failure to provide resources to the Green Climate Fund by

calling on President Zuma and other G20 leaders to back the financial transactions tax as a way of ensuring rich

countries pay their climate debt. More than 60 civil society organisations have signed a letter to President

Zuma asking him to show leadership by calling for the Robin Hood Tax to be a mechanism for filling the Green Fund at

COP17. The letter states: “We urge you to help turn the economic and climate crises into a global opportunity. The

Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) is a practical, effective and equitable way to ensure that the world’s richest help pay

for the problems they created.”

 

Two protests have been held dirty Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project types, incineration and coal.

Yesterday, wastepickers belonging to the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)  demonstrated

the important work they do of separating trash at its source while singing songs of resistance to dirty incinerator

projects that destroy their livelihoods. They also called for a Green Climate Fund that has direct community access. 

If we started this out with a Mission Impossible, it is only appropriate to end it with a Love Song. If you haven't seen

the lovely work of Medesin and their Ode to the Kyoto Protocol, you really should. Enjoy the best 3:51 of your

day right here.

What can you do today?There are plenty of ways to share resources, ideas and amplify each others' efforts. Here are a few:

• Remember that fantastic petition from Avaaz yesterday? They're up to 570,000 signatures and

growing fast. 350.org has one as well. Add your names, share the links with your supporters and

show solidarity with the teams on the ground in Durban. With one day to go there's no time left to

waste.

• Are you in Durban for COP17? Attend the Daily Tck meeting at 10:15am tomorrow in Bhira River.

• If you're tweeting about COP17, we want you on our official Twitter list! Please send a message to

@tcktcktck on Twitter or an email to heather.libby@tcktcktck.org to be added.

• Starting tonight at 9pm Durban time, Heather Libby from TckTckTck and Josh Wiese from Adopt a

Negotiator will be LIVEBLOGGING the last day of COP17. Our liveblog will be embeddable on your

sites and FB pages. Check our twitter stream for details when it goes live, or email

heather.libby@tcktcktck.org for more details.

Resources & ToolsVisit TckTckTck.org & our COP17 Hub for an

up-to-date calendar, fresh news & stories and media

resources - all available for reposting and sharingthrough Creative Commons. 

Find out more about how the FTT (Robin Hood Tax)

can play into the COP17 climate talks here. 

For more information on the Robin Hood Champion

Awards at COP17 check out: YouthClimate.org

Watch the UN talks live with OneClimateTV: OneClimate will be broadcasts live everday from

the Durban climate talks from 3pm - 6pm daily local

time. Follow their livestream, embed the

code, or, for those who prefer their live content in text

form, follow the live blog.