COP17 Daily Tck 8 6/Dec
2
The Daily Tck: 6 th December 2011 Some Government leaders are here and many ministers have now arrived for the start of what’s called ‘The High Level Segment’ tonight. Appropriately this will begin with statements from the Prime Ministers of Ethiopia, Nauru, Senegal, Samoa and the Central African Republic. We don’t know what they will say but just the presence of these African leaders speaks a thousand words. It has been said many times this week that Africa and small island states are the ‘canaries in the coal mine’ of climate change. There is already much suffering on this continent with increased extreme weather causing droughts, floods, food and water shortages. Yet as we all know climate change will have devastating effects all over the world which makes the trajectory of these negotiations defies logic - economic, environmental or social. Ministers now take over and we need them to ignore corporate polluter lobbyists and deniers and to lead and take bold decisions to protect the climate. The US continues to be the biggest fly in the ointment in Durban on every front but China and India curiously did not support an option for a legal form decision that would have seen negotiations for a global treaty result in a legal agreement. There is no question that any agreement needs to reflect the critical issues of equity that India has brought forward; any deal has to reflect their rights to lift people out of poverty. However, delays will ensure that equity will never be addressed as blocking discussions only damns the poorest and most vulnerable to the ravages of the climate change. Yesterday AOSIS made the sensible suggestion that developed countries acknowledge the ‘gigatonne gap’ between current pledges and what we need, set about setting up a work programme to address the gap and hold a high level ministerial in 2012 to discuss solutions. As many have pointed out there are concrete solutions to this gap, many identified in a recent UNEP report, that we can address today – outside of this process. It is hard to imagine how countries c an object to this proposal. We need to throw everything we have avoiding two degrees warming, let alone the survival limit for some low-lying countries of 1.5 degrees. Message of the Day As the 2nd and last week of the UN climate negotiations got underway yesterday there is grave concern among the world’s scientific, non-governmental, labour, faith groups and many countries that the end result of COP 17 will be that we have locked humanity into a 3-4 degree world - 2 degrees is the maximum that the world’s scientists have estimated is the threshold for runaway and dangerous climate change. The longer we wait for action to reduce emissions the less options we will have, the more it will cost, the less likely we are to be able to stay below global warming of 2 degrees C and the bigger threat to the world’s most vulnerable. To avoid expensive
-
Upload
ellie-hopkins -
Category
Documents
-
view
221 -
download
0
Transcript of COP17 Daily Tck 8 6/Dec
8/3/2019 COP17 Daily Tck 8 6/Dec
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cop17-daily-tck-8-6dec 1/2
The Daily Tck: 6th December 2011
Some Government leaders are here and many ministers have now arrived for the startof what’s called ‘The High Level Segment’ tonight. Appropriately this will begin withstatements from the Prime Ministers of Ethiopia, Nauru, Senegal, Samoa and theCentral African Republic. We don’t know what they will say but just the presence of these African leaders speaks a thousand words. It has been said many times this weekthat Africa and small island states are the ‘canaries in the coal mine’ of climatechange. There is already much suffering on this continent with increased extremeweather causing droughts, floods, food and water shortages. Yet as we all knowclimate change will have devastating effects all over the world which makes thetrajectory of these negotiations defies logic - economic, environmental or social.Ministers now take over and we need them to ignore corporate polluter lobbyists anddeniers and to lead and take bold decisions to protect the climate.
The US continues to be the biggest fly in the ointment in Durban on every front but
China and India curiously did not support an option for a legal form decision thatwould have seen negotiations for a global treaty result in a legal agreement. There isno question that any agreement needs to reflect the critical issues of equity that Indiahas brought forward; any deal has to reflect their rights to lift people out of poverty.However, delays will ensure that equity will never be addressed as blockingdiscussions only damns the poorest and most vulnerable to the ravages of the climatechange.
Yesterday AOSIS made the sensible suggestion that developed countries acknowledgethe ‘gigatonne gap’ between current pledges and what we need, set about setting upa work programme to address the gap and hold a high level ministerial in 2012 todiscuss solutions. As many have pointed out there are concrete solutions to this gap,
many identified in a recent UNEP report, that we can address today – outside of thisprocess. It is hard to imagine how countries can object to this proposal. We need tothrow everything we have avoiding two degrees warming, let alone the survival limitfor some low-lying countries of 1.5 degrees.
Message of the DayAs the 2nd and last week of the UN climate negotiations got underway yesterday thereis grave concern among the world’s scientific, non-governmental, labour, faith groupsand many countries that the end result of COP 17 will be that we have lockedhumanity into a 3-4 degree world - 2 degrees is the maximum that the world’sscientists have estimated is the threshold for runaway and dangerous climate change.
The longer we wait for action to reduce emissions the less options we will have, themore it will cost, the less likely we are to be able to stay below global warming of 2degrees C and the bigger threat to the world’s most vulnerable. To avoid expensive
8/3/2019 COP17 Daily Tck 8 6/Dec
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cop17-daily-tck-8-6dec 2/2
and disruptive rates of emissions reductions in coming decades countries mustincrease their ambition now.
What is Happening? The latest analysis from the Climate Action Tracker on the costs of waiting until 2020 for stronger targets shows that delaying decisions on future climate action until 2015or 2020 will bring rapidly increasing costs and threatens our ability to keep globalwarming to below 2 degrees C. We are heading toward a global emissions pathwaythat will take warming to 3.5degC, and far from a cost-optimal pathway to keepwarming below 2degC.
Members of the Canadian Youth Delegation and the Indigenous EnvironmentalNetwork held a welcome party to formally receive Environment Minister Peter Kentand his tar sands pushers to the UN climate negotiations. As conference delegatesentered the negotiations this morning, the welcoming committee handed out samples
of tar sands on behalf of Kent, along with tourism brochures for Canada's scenic tarsands. Photos freely available at: http://bit.ly/v1A3vR
Download the latest programme of events for the People's Space. General Assembly outside the conference centre at Speakers corner.
What can you do today? Today there is a special Toxic Tour of South Durban followed by Rights of Natureaction! Bus leaves at 1 PM – ENGEN PROTEST 4-6 pm
If you are in Durban the C17 is finalising the programme for ‘The People’s Space’.
Resources & Tools
In a good article called Durban to Rio
could be our Road to Damascus, Jai
Naidoo asks:
Are our negotiators parts of the
problem or part of the solution? Do our
governments represent the real
interests of the people? Are the
shadowy global interests thatmanipulate our politics and our lives
invincible?
A multi-stakeholder coalition incooperation with the UNFCCCsecretariat launched the award“Transformative Step of the Day” as away to increase focus on transformativelow-carbon solutions during thenegotiations.
Christian Aid called on Europe to stepup and commit to tackling climatechange.
