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AoC Blog
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Written by Valida Prentice
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Friday, 11 June 2010 06:30 |
Cross-posted from theClimateers.org and It's Getting Hot in Here.
UN negotiators from Annex I (developed) countries have been working to push through text on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) by the end of the Bonn negotiations on Friday, June 11. The draft text, however, creates several loopholes that allow developed countries to effectively hide emissions from land use as if they do not exist. By forcing through the text without removing these loopholes, developed countries would be allowed to emit millions of tons of new carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions without accounting for them. This would lead to a major deviation from emissions reductions demanded by science and would have catastrophic consequences for developing countries and future generations.
International youth observers at the UN conference responded to the threat of the text being finalized with these disastrous loopholes by launching a campaign to alert negotiators to the irresponsibility and unacceptability of such a decision for young and future generations.  To begin the campaign on Tuesday morning, we greeted negotiators arriving for the day with a hide-and-seek game between youth dressed up as greenhouse gas emissions and inept emissions accountants unable to find them for lack of trying. The 12 of us dressed up as tonnes of greenhouse gases and hid behind trees and camoflauged themselves with twigs outside the conference center as negotiators arrived. Meanwhile, two fumbling accountants attempted half-heartedly to find and enter the hidden emissions into the books while engaging delegates to explain their inability to find the emissions, often in plain sight, given the problematic rules in the current text that make accounting voluntary.
In the afternoon, we followed up with two more actions. First, we asked delegates to throw small balls, each labeled as a tonne of CO2, through a LULUCF loophole to “make them magically disappear”. Balls that made it through the loophole were met with boos. We, representing the youth and future generations, then had the burden of dealing with them, sometimes throwing them back with demands that every emission should be counted. Also in the afternoon, we hid small sheets of paper that said "Congratulations! You've just found one ton of hidden LULUCF emissions. Please bring it back to the 350.org/SustainUS booth so that it may be accounted for," all around the conference center.
On Wednesday, several youth carried a giant cardboard cut-out of a chainsaw through the Maritim Hotel, where the conference is taking place. With "LULUCF Logging Loopholes" written on it, the chainsaw represented a tool for deforestation without accountability for the emissions generated by it. These logging loopholes in the negotiating text would allow developed countries to hide emissions so that they can pretend they are not there. But at the end of the day, these emissions from land use and forestry are still real greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, and they need to be counted and reduced to help ensure a safe climate for today's youth and for our children and grandchildren. |
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Written by Kyle
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Monday, 07 June 2010 11:41 |
 It's Getting Hot in Here and The Climate Community
The United States earned the 1st Fossil of the Day Award here at the United Nations climate negotiations in Bonn. Nearly a week had passed where no country had acted badly enough in the negotiations to deserve a shameful Fossil, until the U.S.'s nomination.
The U.S. grabbed the title for blocking a discussion on greenhouse gas mitigation actions. The discussion would have helped build consensus on post-2012 actions to stop greenhouse gas pollution. Lack of a clean energy and climate law is pushing the U.S. to block an international discussion on future climate agreements (sound familiar?).
The discussion had been proposed by the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). Many AOSIS countries are under extreme threat from rising sea levels and other worsening climate impacts. They also have some of the least capacity to deal with these impacts, and have contributed to climate change pollution the least of most nations. The Fossil of the Day awards, run by the Climate Action Network (CAN), were created to highlight the countries doing the most to block progress in the United Nations negotiations.
Official press release from CAN:
FOSSIL OF THE DAY AWARDS
Bonn, Germany, June 5, 2010
The Climate Action Network (CAN), a coalition of over 500 NGOs worldwide, gives out "Fossil of the Day" awards to the countries who perform the worst during the past day's negotiations at the UN climate change conference.
The award given out on June 5, 2010 in Bonn, Germany was:
The United States of America was awarded First Place. The U.S. earns the Fossil of the Day for blocking the common space discussion on mitigation in the Ad Hoc Working Group for Long-term Cooperative Action yesterday. Failing to pass a strong climate and energy bill is keeping them from participating in cross-cutting discussions, like the one AOSIS proposed, to build a post-2010 agreement to reduce global warming emissions.
About the fossils: The Fossil-of-the-day awards were first presented at the climate talks in 1999, also in Bonn, initiated by the German NGO Forum. During United Nations climate change negotiations (www.unfccc.int), members of the Climate Action Network (CAN), a worldwide network of over 500 non-government organisations, vote for countries judged to have done their 'best' to block progress in the negotiations in the last days of talks. www.climatenetwork.org |
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Last Updated on Monday, 07 June 2010 11:46 |
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Written by Kyle
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Saturday, 22 May 2010 19:35 |
As read by Agents of Change Delegate Michael Davidson at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development's 18th Session (pictured below).
- Thank you, Mr. Co-Chair.
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- We appreciate the opportunity to address the delegates in this room on the important topic of sustainable transportation. Inadequate transportation infrastructure disproportionately affects youth and children. As the Chair's Summary highlighted, access to transport services is essential in providing basic services in developing countries -- and it vitally supports the health and education Millennium Development Goals.
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- We have heard from many delegates in these sessions, including today by the distinguished representative of the Scientific and Technological Community, that our current transport system is too heavily reliant on fossil fuel use. New ways forward must incorporate a holistic approach to improving access that is responsive to the needs of individual communities and all civil societies. Youth, as current innovators, and children, as future users, have a critical role to play in advancing sustainable transport.
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- We would like to address these issues in this roundtable discussion by asking delegates the following questions.
- QUESTIONS:
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- 1. The provision of affordable and attractive transport is especially important to youth, yet this is unfortunately lacking in many countries across the developing world. This is a problem of financing and education.
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- What are you doing to promote awareness and affordability of cleaner and more efficient modes of transportation, especially to the underrepresented youth and children?
- 2. Many delegations stressed the continuous need for public participation in all decision-making of transport policies and projects. The decisions that are taken today in terms of transport planning will frame how we travel in the future when children become the primary users.
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- We ask the Distinguished Delegates: What are the ways in which you are increasing youth participation in the planning and decision-making processes of the transport sector?
- The negative environmental, social and health consequences currently inherent in the infrastructure and energy usage of transportation systems will leave youth and children with a very different world than our parents'. Transportation policy, planning and engineering play a critical role in ensuring that the worst of the negative long-term effects are avoided. Furthermore, the UK Department for Transport stated in its 2004 Transport White Paper (quote) “the increasing demand for travel... [must be balanced with the]… goal of protecting the environment effectively and improving the quality of life for everyone".
- Lastly, we appreciate the Distinguished Representative of South Africa for raising the importance of transportation as a crucial bridge to education, especially in developing countries. Basic transport infrastructure and services are still inadequate or lacking in many rural areas, making it difficult for impoverished children to access basic services, including education.
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- If we are to achieve the second Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education, we need a reliable and sustainable transport infrastructure.
- CLOSING STATEMENT
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- In closing, we would like to further emphasize that central to every policy and decision-making process, is a holistic approach that takes into consideration the needs and aspirations of the people who will become an integral part of the system.
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- This requires sustained investment from public and private sectors.
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- And we, youth and children, stand ready to invest in our future prosperity.
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- Thank you very much.
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Blog - Agents of Change
