Conscious Climate Conscience

Copenhagen Accord

Late last night, there was a change in the UN negotiations. There was a proposal called the Copenhagen Accord. It is a draft text of an agreement reached between China, US, India and South Africa. Here are perspectives from the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian UK and BBC News.

Of note:

1. It commits Annex 1 or Developed countries to 80% reductions on 1990 levels by 2050 and 50% reductions overall. It says nothing about 2020 reductions.

2. Pledges to keep temperature rise at 2 degrees with the potential to revise down to 1.5 by 2016. It says nothing about how this will be achieved.

3. It is a non-legally binding treaty. In fact, the draft drops a previous 2010 deadline for achieving a legally binding treaty.

4. Developed countries to support the mobilization of $100 bil per year by 2020 for developing countries. Calls were for $200 bil by African Union, Avaaz and 350.org were not heard. 

5. Copenhagen Climate Fund of $30 bil will be made available for 2010-2012 with balanced allocation between adaptation and mitigation. This amount of money will not be enough for the developing nations.

Australia is supporting the Copenhagen Accord as will many of the UN blocs such as the Umbrella Group and G77. I think it is fair to assume it will pass (with some minor changes) with the majority of nations and the majority of population.

Will it provide the rapid response the world needs for a safe climate?

After decades of negotiations and following the framework of Kyoto, the world has been expecting a ramping-up of the response to climate change. However, what we have today is a weak, non-binding accord that is endorsed by a minority of nations. Two weeks of intense negotiations have passed and what we have is a bare-bones document.

For me personally, I feel like this was the likely outcome. AYCC, youth of the world, people from AOSIS and other nations have done everyhing we thought strategic to get a stronger treaty. We continue to push and we have made our base stronger through this experience. The battle for a safe climate will not end here because we are not done yet.

What do you think?

Cheers,

N.

Dear Reader,

Today I write from a room with hundreds of climate activists working in a big hall, the NGO convergence space that has been setup in the last twelve hours. If there is one thing i have learned from COP15, it is that inspired and creative people can make something from nothing in next to no time. In fact, responding properly to global negotiations on something as complex as climate change requires a lot of flexibility and passion.

So here we are. People from all around the world typing and chatting, planning and conspiring. Conspiring, by the way, i learned tonight means ‘to breathe.’ I learned this from a person represent a climate organisation who spoke at the Vigil for Survival tonight.

You may have participated, or not, in the hunger for survival - a globally coordinated twenty-four hour fast in solidarity with the people who have fasted for forty-two days as part of Climate Justice Fast. It is amazing to be here with Anna Keenan who has amazing vitality considering her situation. We decided that the fast would go ahead not at all long ago. The vigil itself was organised by a team of ten people who began at 1:30pm. Still, we did a good job getting three-hundred people here and everyone had a great experience.

The Vigil was a deeply heart-warming hour with Bill McKibbon (350.org) and speakers from the Pacific Islands, Indigenous Americans and hosted by Deepa Gupta from Indian Youth Climate Network. We had candles, listened to talks and participated in the evening by contemplating the process so far and what we want from the future.

For me, this is so important. So many activists, the vast majority, do not take the time to reflect or contemplate the situation they are working on. I appreciate the time and space to reflect because I feel that without this reflection we cannot continue to learn and grow.

When we hear “we need to be at 350ppm and we are at 380ppm” people get worried. We feel stress and anxiety and want to fix it now. When we are activists and we spend all our time working towards this target, it can be tortuous when it does not happen, especially when this extends over time.

Bill McKibbon personifies the model climate activist. He is fundamentally realistic about the world, he works extremely hard and is committed to the science. However, he takes the time for spiritual side of the movement and does work till he passes out.

As Copenhagen begins to wrap-up, i feel sad about leaving my delegation, my team of committed, hard-working friends. However, i don’t feel like this is the end. It is the beginning. Climate activism is a hard slog, and sometimes lonely. This Copenhagen experience has deepened my appreciation for a phenomenal movement of fantastic people.

Cheers,

N.

Dearest reader,

As I write to you, I sit in the Black Diamond library in Copenhagen which is being gently dusted with snowflakes. This image is in complete contradiction to the turbulance outside. The negotiations, the protests and the feelings of anger, confusion and doubt. The Australian Youth Delegation is getting through this with magnificant poise. Intense media work, freezing weather and intense police pressure has not divided our team and I am proud of this as an accomplishment.

Today, we have had only a small number of our delegation able to access the Bella Centre where the COP15 is meeting. We were given a small number of passes. This is just one of our limits to the negotiations. Our internet has gone down, our phones are running out of credit and the streets are freezing. We are using the time to contact media back home and strategise about our next action, which is likely to be a solidarity fast.

In this blog, I have mentioned Climate Justice Fast many times. Today, I met with Anna Keenan who is on her day forty-one of taking only water. Her bones are prominant and her body in a state close to collapse. However, her mood is high with anticipation for the coming days. Youth of the world will be fasting in solidarity with the message that the time is now for action. We cannot postpone this treaty any longer. I am calling on you in Australia to fast alongside us this Thursday.

Anna spoke alongside Naomi Klein this morning at a small gathering of youth this morning. It was very powerful in bonding us in a common purpose. This purpose is to hit home with the moral message to acting on climate change. Not acting now, globally, is not an option.

Today, there were people protesting near our hostel. Thosands walking along the canal calling for a fair treaty, surrounded by police. The police are not always so generous. Overnight, we have heard reports of many “pre-emptive arrests”, meaning people who havn’t done anything are charged and locked away. One of these people is an Australian woman who has been charged with three weeks with likely deportation. As far as I am aware, she had not actually engaged in any action and was coordinating the peaceful side of the protest that is expected tomorrow.

I do not want to see a violent protest in Copenhagen. I do not feel that this will change the treaty being agreed upon inside. However, as one experience protester told me today, “if the coordinators are locked away the protests are going to be chaos.” The message people are getting at the moment is that the negotiations are stalled because developed countries are not making significant commitments. Understandably, people here feel angry and disenfranchised. How this plays out is anyone’s guess.

Inside the negotiations there is much confusion. On a broad scale, I am expecting a sad outcome. This will be one where the one hundred and thirty heads of state who are coming agree upon a meaningless ‘political’ treaty that enforces nothing and postpones the important discussions but appears to be a step foward.

The time to put pressure on our Members of Parliament is now. We should also be writing letters of support to the island nations, such as Fiji and Vanuatu, who play an important role over the next days in calling for scientifically based treaty. Our neighbours in the Pacific will be hit first and hit hardest but climate change. Let us not forget them at their time of need.

Cheers,

N.

Dear Reader,

As the sun comes up on day five in cloudy, cold Copenhagen i’d like to turn your mind to Australia. Yes, we have the wonderful beaches and forests. Gorgeous creatures that live wild and free. Open plains and valleys and modern, cultured cities. This is how international people see us, right? Maybe not.

When it comes to climate change, the world is saying some crappy things about Australia, along the lines of us being the Cletus of COP15.

Here is The Guardian’s analysis of Australia:

Australia

Influence rating ★★★

The easy ride it has so far enjoyed over carbon emissions makes a tricycle with stabilisers look difficult to master. Australia has one of the highest per capita emissions levels in the world, yet its deal at Kyoto allowed it to increase total levels by 8%.

Friends and foes Quick to welcome Obama’s emissions pledge last week, and invited to be a “friend of the chair” by hosts Denmark. The creeps.

What they’re offering A fence-sitting 5%-25% cuts (that upper-end target comes with lots of strings attached).

What they most want PM Kevin Rudd wants Australia to break with the past and be seen as a climate leader.

Least likely to say “Mate, did you know we chuck out more carbon per person than the US?”

guardian.co.uk

With all our environmental credentials, how can international analysis be so rough? Last night, I met with a Phd student from Yale who is a non-paid party of the Ecuador delegation. He has told me that the Australian delegation is always vocal and always fights for what we want. Great.

However, at this point, what we want is not aligned with the rest of the world or the science. I met with Louise Hand, Australia’s Chief Ambassador, on Wednesday. Just one example was Louise stating that Australia is aiming for 450ppm with the caveat that it is 450 or less. The UN Chief Scientist is calling for 350ppm, and more than seventy nations have already adopted this target.

The other ways that we are behind the eightball include financing for adaptation and mitigation in developing nations. Globally, there have been calls for large sums of money to be invested in developing nations so that they can manage the worst of the immediate effects of climate change whilst preventing increases in emissions. I have heard the figure being as large as $160b US per annum needed from Climate Action Network Australia, George Woods. The Commonwealth came out recently with a statement that $10bUS would be provided and Australia has said we will be part of this.

This is outrageous. Per capita, we are one of the largest emitters in the world. As part of the Commonwealth, we are part of the group of nations that have been polluting since late 1700’s. There is no one nation with a greater responsibility in the world than Australia, and we are not proposing anything substantial.

These are just two examples. There are many more such as emission reduction targets or exemptions to forestry measurements that have lead to increased logging of old growth forests and other special deals that mean Australia can increase emissions while everyone else reduces theirs.

What is underlying this disgraceful negotiating stance?

In Australia, we have a sense that we are the best country in the world. Environmentally, we do our bit. Our emissions are negligible and we are a responsible global citizen, we think.

However, climate change is no longer just an environmental issue. Climate issues are effecting the lives of people all over the world causing displacement, sickness, starvation and death. As a developed nation we have a responsibility to act early because of our historical use of coal and fossil fuels. We are not acting early. In fact, we are not acting and we are not acting late.

Our reliance on coal and, i hate to be blunt but, our apathy and laziness means that we cling to conspiratorial or denialist ideas over making simple changes like investing in renewable energy. Our political leadership is batty (see Mad Monkey video previous blog) or manipulating Australians to feel like we are achieving something without any pain.

The reality is, we are late. We are late to act and there will be pain. If we continue our line, we will be relegated to the backshed of the international community with the Saudi Arabians (who want compensation for money that will not be spent on oil purchases!?) and we will face the consequences. Consequences of trade issues, falling further off the map and even being the holiday destination where no-one goes anymore because “they are a bit backward down their.”

The time to put more pressure on your representatives is now. Survival for the barrier reef, for the people of the island nations and for people all over our world is not negotiable.

Cheers,

N.