CYDaily Paris - In search of climate justice - Highlights from Day 9
- Details
- Published on Friday, 11 December 2015 14:45
- Written by editor
Highlights from Tuesday, December 8 -- COP21 in Paris:
• Tell McKenna that 1.5 degrees means carbon free by 2050
• Loss and Damage struck from negotiating text?
• We meet with Ontario Premier, Kathleen
Wynne.
Can you tell McKenna that 1.5 degrees
means carbon free by 2050?
Sign here to tell the Canadian government that the future we need is zero fossil fuels by 2050. The Canadian government doesn’t seem to want to admit that committing to 1.5 degrees means we have to phase out fossil fuels by 2050.
Tomorrow, we’re going to continue telling the government to commit to zero emissions by 2050 in Paris. To make sure that they hear this, though, we need to get at least *2050* Canadians to sign our petition for the government to commit to zero emissions by 2050. Can you sign here and if you already have, can you get three friends to join?
No REDD+
First thing in the morning, Matt and Kiki went to an anti REDD+ demonstration. Strong frontline voices from Turtle Island and the global south spoke against REDD+ (Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation). REDD+ is a false solution that pushes carbon offsets by privatizing forests, agriculture and water ecosystems as carbon sinks rather than cutting emissions at the source. We joined in filling the air with the sounds of “No REDD+” and “Mother Earth is not for Sale” - a powerful message to guide us through the day.
Lost and Damaged
Next we
joined other youth in a guerilla theater action “in search of Loss and
Damage”. Loss and Damage is the language in the draft text for the
Paris agreement to compensate countries who are damaged by climate
change in ways adaptation cannot protect them from. These are the
effects of climate change that are too late to mitigate, and
impossible adapt to, like the sinking of an island or the loss of an
ecosystem. We can’t have climate justice in the Paris text without
loss and damage.
Holding up detective magnifying glasses, participants shouted to passing negotiators: “Have you seen loss and damage?” Unsurprisingly, rich countries have been removing references to Loss and Damage in the draft texts for years, and COP21 has been no exception.
The schoolyard bullies on the US Delegation have led their posse of wealthy countries (called the Umbrella Group, of which Canada is a member) arguing today for text that explicitly prevents vulnerable countries from pursuing compensation for loss and damage. They went so far as to use the words “in perpetuity,” making accepting their proposal a permanent kiss of death to the countries already feeling the worst impacts of climate change.
Canadian negotiators
are quietly but firmly backing the US’s stance in negotiations. When
asked in the stakeholder’s meeting whether Canada also spoke in
support of the clause to prevent compensation, our deputy negotiator
simply said “yes”. Usually they like to give justification for their
actions but in this case we think she knew it’s a fundamentally
indefensible position.
We expect more from our government on
this, and are doing what we can to make Canada support keeping loss
and damage in the text.
(The Umbrella Group when
they say they can’t
afford to pay compensation for climate
damages)
Long-term Un-ambition
Today, we participated in the largest civil society rally yet on the COP21 grounds. Hundreds gathered around a fork in the road, to symbolize the choice our world leaders are making here in Paris. One fork was the pathway of doom—the one we are on now, with the current commitments made by world leaders— and lead to a future of more than 3C of warming. The other road, the pathway of hope, as lead by the world’s most vulnerable nations, gets us ambitious action to achieve 1.5C.
While we know it’s not going to be everything we need, there is still some hope that the Paris agreement could include meaningful commitments on ambition. Will the agreement include a long-term goal for decarbonization by 2050? Will the agreement include a near and medium-term plan for ramping up the currently inadequate national goals for emissions reductions? Our negotiators must choose.
In one of the most powerful moments of COP21 so far, hundreds of people held their hands up in the 1.5 degrees logo (right hand, index finger up, other fingers curled into a loop with the thumb, left hand, and five fingers up), and chanted “1.5 to stay alive”.
As we do every day, we filled the front row of
today’s stakeholder meeting with the Canadian government to hold them
to account. Applauding their recent support for a 1.5C aim, our very
own Bronwen Tucker pressed Canada’s negotiators about whether that
also means they will commit to the actions that are critical to any
attempts to meet this new target, like zero emissions by 2050 and a
freeze on tar sands expansion. Canada’s deputy negotiator simply
chuckled and answered that we’ll have lots to discuss when we all get
back home. We were less amused.Meeting with Premier Wynne
Ben, Brenna, Kiki, Bronwen, Bethany, Sophie and Lauren met with Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Minister of Environment and Climate Change Glen Murray today for a full hour. For all of COP21, the Federal government has been insisting that they won’t make domestic policy commitments until they sit down with the provinces. Wynne and Murray promised they would take a strong leadership role when those meetings happen, and we are ready to hold them to that promise.
In all seriousness, they were probably the most receptive politicians we’ve met so far. Outside of calling for them to block Energy East, we asked them to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the provincial level and ensure that Ontario’s carbon market revenue is spent on low-income household support and community-led renewables, rather than on corporate subsidies.
The Premier’s response on Energy East was inadequate. She repeated the false argument that we have to choose between pipelines and rail, and that a 1.5℃ target means Energy East cannot be built.
Just days ago, Quebec committed $25.5 million of the revenue from its cap and trade system to “climate solidarity” for countries that are most vulnerable to climate change. We asked Premier Wynne if we could expect a similar commitment from Ontario in the future, and she told us it’s “not outside the realm of possibility." #Wynning?
Climate liability press conference
At the end of the day, we attended a press conference on a new report on climate law and social justice. The report, issued by West Coast Environmental Law and the Vanuatu Environmental Law Association, clarifies the liability around paying for damages caused by climate change, and explains that nations in the global south could sue fossil fuel corporations in the global north for damages related to climate change. Activist and former Earth in Brackets delegate, Anjali Appadurai spoke on behalf of West Coast Environmental Law. Climate law could be a powerful tool to hold fossil fuel corporations accountable, especially if leaders fail to create a strong deal here at COP21. We’ll be watching this closely.
That’s all for now! With love and solidarity from Paris,
- The Canadian Youth Delegation
PS. We’re working hard to push our government towards bold leadership to address the climate crisis, but we need your help. Can you amplify our petition calling for zero emissions by 2050?
Suggested Tweet: After 10yrs as a #climatechange pariah, we need bold leadership from Canada. Join the call for #zeroby2050 http://you.leadnow.ca/petitions/canada-commit-to-zero-emissions-by-2050 #COP21Can
-=-=-