Tag: Climate Action Network

Civil society warns UN Security Council climate change a driver of conflict, hunger and poverty

Submitted by rvoorhaar on February 15, 2013 - 10:57am

130215_can-i_media_release_unsc_climate_.pdf

[New York – United States] – February 15, 2013 – Climate Action Network-International (CAN-International) today warned a special event for United Nations Security Council members at the UN headquarters in New York that climate change was a critical driver of poverty, inequality, instability, and conflict which would ultimately affect us all.

Wael Hmaidan, director of CAN-International, told the meeting, convened by Pakistan and the United Kingdom, that the situation demanded an unprecedented commitment to collective action to drastically reduce these climate-driven risks which were already being experienced, first and foremost, by the poorest and most vulnerable within our societies.

“We are gravely concerned by the prospects for mass displacement of people within States and across borders driven directly by climate impacts like sea level rise, droughts, desertification, biodiversity loss and indirectly by its impacts on food and natural resources,” Hmaidan said.

“We recognise that the decision to leave one's home and community is often the result of multiple factors, but that climate change impacts are often a critical driver, he said.

For example, the thousands of people who were displaced from Somalia into neighbouring countries in 2011 were not primarily fleeing conflict, but in search of food in the wake of drought.

Tim Gore, from Oxfam International, also present at the event, said that nowhere can this climate risk be more clearly seen than in the global food system.

“Droughts or floods can wipe out entire harvests, as we have seen in recent years in Pakistan, in the Horn of Africa and across the Sahel. And when extreme weather hits major world food producers – like last year’s droughts in the US and Russia – world food prices rocket. This presents a major risk to net food importing countries, such as Yemen, which ships in 90% of its wheat,” Gore said.

“The food riots and social unrest seen in the wake of the 2008 food price spikes were not a one-off phenomenon, but a sign of the risks we face through our failure to feed a warming world. With major producers either suffering or barely recovering from extreme heat and drought, combined with world cereal stocks falling again, world food security remains on a knife-edge.

Hmaidan said governments need to dramatically scale up public investments to help communities and countries adapt to the changing climate as well while at the same time ramp ing up international efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions to prevent much greater harm.

“Adequate preparation for permanent loss and damage inflicted by climate change, including the establishment of a new international mechanism under discussion at the UNFCCC and the recognition of new rights for climate-forced migrants is required,” Hmaidan said.

Contacts

Climate Action Network (CAN) is a global network of over 700 NGOs working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels.

For more information, please contact Climate Action Network-International communications coordinator Ria Voorhaar on +49 157 3173 5568 or rvoorhaar@climatenetwork.org

Tags:

Topics:

Equity/effort-sharing

Organization:

Climate Action Network

Related Member Organization:

Oxfam International

CAN Submission: Cancun Building Blocks, October 2010

Submitted by Anonymous on November 11, 2010 - 5:10am

CAN_cancun_building_blocks_october2010.pdf

THE POST-COPENHAGEN ROAD

A fair, ambitious and binding deal is needed more urgently than ever. Climate science is more compelling by the day. Impacts are coming harder and faster. Disastrous flooding in Pakistan, heat waves and forest fires in Russia and hottest recorded temperatures around the globe, amongst other devastating climate-related events, all point to the need for urgent action. Levels of warming once thought to be safe, may well not be, 1.5˚C is the new 2˚C.

Negotiations Post-Copenhagen
Copenhagen was a watershed moment for public interest and support for climate action – and people have not lost interest. More people in more countries than ever have put their governments on notice that they expect a fair,
ambitious and binding global deal to be agreed urgently. Trust-building is essential after the disappointment of Copenhagen. Developed country leadership must be at the core of trust building efforts. Countries must show
their commitment to the UNFCCC process by driving it forward with political will and flexible positions, rather than endless rounds of repetitive negotiations. Many countries are troublingly pessimistic for Cancun, and are working to lower expectations. While others, including countries most vulnerable to climate change, maintain high expectations.

Challenges ahead of Cancun
There are many challenges to getting a full fair, ambitious and binding deal at Cancun, including:

Lack of a shared vision for the ultimate objective of the agreement, and the equitable allocation of the remaining carbon budget and emissions reduction/limitation commitments;
Sharp divisions on the legal form of an eventual outcome;
Failure of the US Senate to pass comprehensive legislation this year; and
Current economic difficulties facing many countries, which make it difficult to mobilize the substantial commitments to long-term climate finance needed as part of any ambitious agreement.

Positive moves afoot
However, more and more countries, both developing and developed, are stepping up their efforts to pursue low-carbon development and adaptation, despite the absence of an international agreement. This can be seen in a variety of ways:

Investments in renewable energies have continued their exponential growth, increasing to 19% of global energy consumed;
Progressive countries are working to move the negotiations forward;
There is a growing perception that low-carbon and climate-resilient development is the only option to sustainably ensure the right to development and progress in poverty reduction.

So, what does a pathway forward look like?

Firstly we must learn the lessons of Copenhagen. The “nothing’s agreed until everything’s agreed” dynamic from Copenhagen could mean that nothing would be agreed in Cancun. An agreement in Cancun should instead be a balanced and significant step toward reaching a full fair, ambitious & binding deal at COP 17 in South Africa. This will require parties to work together in good faith to create sufficient gains at Cancun, and a clear roadmap to South Africa. This paper outlines how that could be achieved.

Topics:

Organization:

Climate Action Network

Related Campaign:

Leadership Development Program

CAN Annual Policy Document: Marrakech - Galvanizing Ambition, October 2016, Spanish Summary

Submitted by GNelson on November 3, 2016 - 5:33am

marrakech_spanish_summary_web.pdf

Menos de once meses después del término de la COP21, el Acuerdo de París entró en vigor demostrando que existe voluntad de tomar medidas decisivas sobre el cambio climático. Con el establecimiento de un Mecanismo Mundial Basado en el Mercado (GMBM, por sus siglas en inglés) de la Organización de Aviación Civil Internacional (ICAO, por sus siglas en inglés) y la enmienda al Protocolo de Montreal para reducir paulatinamente los hidrofluorocarbonos (HFC) los líderes reafirman los compromisos establecidos para limitar el aumento de temperatura global a 1.5°C por sobre los niveles registrados en la era preindustrial.

Si la COP21 en París entregó la arquitectura general y el régimen para la acción climática en forma del Acuerdo de París, la COP22 deberá proveer los mecanismos para estimular la ambición dentro de este régimen. Esto significa facilitar y promover una transición global de características transformacionales hacia el abandono de las fuentes de energía del pasado y el establecimiento de planes que apunten a un futuro más limpio, más justo, seguro y mejor para todos. Continuando con el proceso de colaboración que se inició en la COP21, esta transformación no debe estar en manos de unos pocos, sino que debe potenciarse y fortalecerse entre todos los que ayudaron al éxito en París, incluyendo los agentes no estatales y los gobiernos.

Organization:

UNFCCC

CAN Positions

Climate Action Network

ECO In-between

To subscribe to ECO, please visit http://climatenetwork.org/newsletter/subscribe.

CAN Closing Intervention, COP 21, December 2015

Submitted by CVerkuijl on December 12, 2015 - 2:57pm

can_final_intervention_cop_21.pdf

Thank you Mr. President,

I am Amit Kumar, speaking on behalf of Climate Action Network.

CAN recognizes this significant moment as a stepping-stone towards current and future national implementation of climate action.

The foundation of an effective global response to climate change has been laid through this Agreement, with a strong vision of 1.5 degrees.

But with climate impacts already hitting home, current INDCs remain dangerously inadequate for staying below this limit.

Parties must return home from Paris to improve their pledges together in 2018 so that all have ambitious targets for 2025 -- and then every 5 years thereafter. Developed countries must not shirk their commitments but must increase their financial support substantially to help developing countries cope with climate impacts and realize their mitigation potential as articulated in their INDCs.

As part of a strong and diverse climate movement, Climate Action Network stands ready to advocate for scaling up action back home. We will ensure that the words in this agreement are operationalized and implemented. We will hold governments accountable, and continue to fight for climate justice.

Thank you.

Organization:

UNFCCC

CAN Intervention

Climate Action Network

CAN COP 21/CMP 11 High-level Intervention, December 2015

Submitted by CVerkuijl on December 8, 2015 - 6:25am

can_final_adp_2-12_closing_intervention_.pdf

Thank you Honorable Ministers and Distinguished Delegates,

I am Mariam Allam from Climate Action Network.

The pending elements of the Paris outcome are clear for all to see. Now is the time for ministers to find common ground.

But common ground should not undercut 1.5 degrees or ambition. A mention of 1.5 degrees is not enough; we need to operationalize it through a long-term goal of full decarbonization by 2050.

A fighting chance of closing the ambition gap that mostly rests with developed countries requires a revisiting of INDCs by 2018 at the latest.

In many countries, further ambition needs to be enabled. The Paris Agreement should stipulate that collective targets for the provision of finance should be set and updated in 5-year cycles, with separate mitigation and adaptation targets.

Climate impacts and irreversible losses must be addressed by a global goal on adaptation linked with the 1.5-degree goal and means of implementation, and through a stand-alone article that ensures institutional anchoring and further work on loss and damage.

The Paris Agreement needs to transformative, and for that it needs to be both binding and dynamic. We must take stock of all elements every five years to get where we need to be.

Thank you.

Organization:

UNFCCC

CAN Intervention

Climate Action Network

CAN SBSTA Opening Intervention November 2015

Submitted by CVerkuijl on November 30, 2015 - 4:16pm

can_final_sbsta_43_opening_intervention_november_2015.pdf

Thank you Mr./Madam Co-Chair,

I am Harshita Bisht, speaking on behalf of Climate Action Network.

While a credible response to the climate crisis requires every sector to contribute, international transport emissions have more than doubled since Kyoto.

The Paris Agreement should urge IMO and ICAO to set strong interim targets to help meet the 1.5°C goal. These bodies must adopt strict criteria for alternative fuels; work on adaptation finance; and include their progress on carbon pricing and CO2 standards in COP reporting.

To achieve the 1.5-degree target, all emissions reductions must moreover adhere to key social and environmental principles.

SBSTA’s work on agriculture will remain hot air unless Parties evaluate methodologies to ensure tangible results.

These should include safeguards to protect and promote gender equality, food security, biodiversity, equitable access to resources, the right to food, animal welfare, and the rights of indigenous peoples and local populations; as well as poverty reduction and adaptation.

Similarly, if recognizing transfer of international units, the Paris Agreement must require that emission reductions are real, additional, verifiable, supplemental and permanent; avoid double counting; ensure net atmospheric benefits and contribute to sustainable development.

A credible agreement will also require Kyoto Protocol credits to be canceled, or not recognized for compliance post 2020.

Thank you.

Topics:

Organization:

Climate Action Network

CAN ADP 2-12 Opening Intervention, November 2015

Submitted by CVerkuijl on November 30, 2015 - 4:09pm

can_final_adp_opening_intervention.pdf

CAN ADP 2-12 Opening Intervention

Thank you for the opportunity to make a written statement in advance of ADP 2-12.

23 years after Rio, we are abysmally far from where we need to be to prevent dangerous climate change.

COP 21 must be a turning point; its outcome a springboard for the global transformation the climate crisis commands.

The Paris Agreement must create a robust mechanism to accelerate ambition that synchronises, assesses, and enhances commitments in 5-year cycles. It should match conditional INDCs with finance.

This “Paris Ambition Mechanism” should be directed by short-term urgency and long-term vision. Countries must commit to full global decarbonisation and a complete transition to renewable energy by 2050.

The post-2020 regime needs to ensure adequate support. The Paris Agreement should stipulate that collective targets for the provision of financial support should be set and updated in 5-year cycles, with separate targets for supporting mitigation and adaptation.

To meet the growing needs of vulnerable people, the Agreement must also ensure strong institutional and support arrangements for adaptation and loss and damage. These separate and distinct issues must be dealt with as such.

Distinguished delegates, we are at a critical juncture. COP 21 should leave no doubt that the world needs to transform, and we expect you to accelerate this transformation.

Organization:

UNFCCC

CAN Intervention

Climate Action Network

CAN Annual Policy Document: "The Paris Package: A Springboard for Sustained Transformative Change", November 2015

Submitted by ldabbagh on November 13, 2015 - 4:27pm

can_annual_policy_document_the_paris_package_november_2015.pdf

We need a global transformation across the world to respond to the climate crisis. In the words of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “Human influence on the climate system is clear and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses are the highest in history. Recent climate changes have had widespread impacts on human and natural systems.”

The science cannot be clearer. Climate change impacts are worsening, and we are responsible. More and more people are demonstrating a willingness to change their lifestyles in order to be part of the solution, and governments are also responding to the need for transformation by taking climate action. But we are still far from where we need to be, and actions being undertaken globally are still inadequate compared to the demands of science.

Organization:

CAN Positions

Climate Action Network

Related Event:

Paris Climate Summit

CAN Annual Policy Document: "The Paris Package: A Springboard for Sustained, Transformative Change", Summary English, November 2015

Submitted by ldabbagh on November 13, 2015 - 4:24pm

can_annual_policy_document_summary_english_november_2015_2.pdf

~~We need a global transformation across the world to respond to the climate crisis. In the words of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “Human influence on the climate system is clear and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses are the highest in history. Recent climate changes have had widespread impacts on human and natural systems.”

Organization:

CAN Positions

Climate Action Network

Related Event:

Paris Climate Summit

Tag: Climate Action Network

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