CAN Calls on Ministers to Drive Ambition and Fairness as All Eyes Turn to Paris
Submitted by rvoorhaar on
|
Tag: bonn
International Media Briefing: Six weeks out from Paris, how is the climate agreement shaping up?
Submitted by rvoorhaar on
With just five negotiating days left before the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) "COP21" meeting in Paris gets under way, political experts from Climate Action Network (CAN) will brief media on expectations for the international agreement due to be struck there this December.
The co-chairs responsible talks on the new agreement have released a streamlined draft text designed to spark substantive negotiations at the last UNFCCC session before Paris, scheduled to begin on Monday 19th October in Bonn, Germany. CAN experts will provide a political analysis of the text against recent developments which saw Heads of State meet with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York to discuss the Paris package.
What: Political experts from Climate Action Network brief reporters on expectations for the remaining UNFCCC negotiations for the year, which are expected to result in a universal climate agreement in Paris this December.
When: Wednesday, October 14, 2015
- Call 1 - 9.30am London - 10.30am Paris - 2.00pm New Delhi - 4.30pm Beijing - 7.30pm Sydney. Find other timezones here.
- Call 2 - 7am San Francisco, 10am New York - 11am Sao Paulo - 3pm London - 4pm Berlin. Find other timezones here.
Who:
Call 1:
- Jens Mattias Clausen, Climate Change Advisor, Greenpeace Nordic
- Tasneem Essop, Head of Delegation to the UN climate negotiations, WWF (TBC)
Call 2:
- Liz Gallagher, Climate Diplomacy Programme Leader, E3G
- Alden Meyer, Director of Policy and Strategy, Union of Concerned Scientists
Join:
You can join the teleconference online here:
www.uberconference.com/climateactionnetwork or dial the relevant telephone
number for your country listed below and enter the conference number: 855-534-4477 followed by the # key when requested.
From the US or via Skype, dial (+1) 855-534-4477 - no PIN required. A full list of
available telephone numbers can be found here:
https://www.uberconference.com/international
If your country is not listed, and you cannot join via internet browser,
please contact us.
Contact:
Ria Voorhaar, CAN International, email: rvoorhaar@climatenetwork.org,
phone: +49 157 3173 5568
About CAN:
Climate Action Network (CAN) is a global network of over 900 NGOs working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. More at: www.climatenetwork.org
Webcast Media Briefing: CAN outlines expectations for UN climate talks
Submitted by rvoorhaar on
Bonn, Germany - Monday, August 31, 2015: Expert observers will brief reporters on their forecast for the week-long UN climate negotiations which get underway in Bonn today.
The session opens as we move closer to the major meeting in Paris in December which must finalise a comprehensive and universal climate agreement that should protect people from climate risks and signal the end of the fossil fuel era.
Open questions include how the negotiations will absorb the momentum building towards the agreement, which has seen, for example, the leading lights of the Muslim community issue a declaration calling for the Paris agreement to speed up the transition of 100% renewable energy and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff commit earlier this month to decarbonise the country's economy.
To ask questions of the panelists, email rvoorhaar@climatenetwork.org or Tweet @CANIntl.
Who:
-
Tasneem Essop, WWF
-
Martin Kaiser, Greenpeace
-
Alix Mazounie, RAC France
• When: Monday August 31, 11amCEST
• Where: Room Nairobi 4, World Conference Centre Bonn, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 2, 53113, Bonn (UNFCCC accreditation required to attend).
• Webcast: The press conference will be webcast live here and available on demand afterwards: http://unfccc6.meta-fusion.com/bonn_aug_2015/channels/press-room-3
Contact:
Ria Voorhaar, CAN International, email: rvoorhaar@climatenetwork.org, phone: +49 157 3173 5568
About CAN:
Climate Action Network (CAN) is a global network of over 900 NGOs working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. More at: www.climatenetwork.org
Japan on notice, picking up extraordinary Fossil of the Day Award as glacial progress made at Bonn Climate Change Conference
Submitted by rvoorhaar on
Bonn, Germany - June 4, 2015 - At the Bonn Climate Conference today where countries are pushing forward a new global agreement due to be signed in Paris this December, Climate Action Network (CAN) members took stock of the progress negotiators have made over the past three days and identified the key tasks that lie ahead. Meanwhile, CAN gave a Fossil of the Day award to Japan as the country that has been doing the most to block progress on climate action (see full award statement below).
During this morning’s press conference, CAN members and allies made the following comments:
"The process of bringing down the size of the draft Paris agreement has been slow going so far; the good news is that the tone in the rooms is relatively positive for this stage in the process. Parties appear to be rebuilding some of the trust lost in Lima. But the key point here is this isn’t just about making the text shorter, it’s about making the text stronger. Right now you have almost every option you could want in the text. Parties need to focus on maintaining the elements that would trigger the most ambition. That’s what civil society is looking for in the second week here. Meanwhile, we have an all-star line-up of under-achievers today presenting their current climate action plans in Bonn - Australia, Canada, and Japan. These are three countries are among those that have sat at the table for dinner the longest. They’ve eaten the most and they, therefore, owe the most. But what we’re seeing today is that they’re doing the least.” Lou Leonard, Vice President Climate Change, World Wildlife Fund-US
“At the G7 Summit this weekend, leaders can back a phase out fossil fuel emissions in favour of 100% renewable energy by 2050. Doing so, would give a strong signal to investors, and could build trust in UNFCCC talks underway here in Bonn. But Canada and Japan are blocking efforts to send this signal. President Obama needs to walk the talk now and help Chancellor Merkel to bring Japan and Canada on to the team so that the G7 leaders stand on the right side of history." Martin Kaiser, Head International Climate Politics, Greenpeace
“Japan must present a more ambitious emission reduction target if it has to responsibly address climate change. A mid term reduction target of 26 percent on 2013 levels by 2030 is too weak and regressive. It is jeopardising Japan’s position in a world order that is increasingly showing better climate ambition. Japan is trailing behind the US and EU on climate action right now. While it continues to be a significant donor of international development aid in the Asian region, it can’t go it alone on climate. Japan can’t self-marginalize itself from the realities of climate change. With the kind of ambitious action required to avert the climate crisis, we cannot afford to have countries saying 'we will cross the bridge when we get there'. We have to get there now, and every step matters." Yeb Sano, former climate commissioner of the Philippines and now Leader of the People’s Pilgrimage for Our Voices.
Japan Handed Extraordinary Fossil of the Day Awards in Bonn
In an extraordinary move, CAN members voted to hand Japan a Fossil of the Day award during the Bonn Climate Conference. The Fossils are normally handed out daily during the major climate talks of the year, Conference of the Parties but the network felt strongly that Japan’s efforts needed to be acknowledged for the following reasons:
Strike One! Today’s first place fossil goes to Japan for their extremely weak INDC, for using smoke and mirrors (shifting baselines) to fake ambition, and for having the audacity to claim this is in-step with developed country 80% by 2050 targets. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe will present this weak excuse for an INDC - which equates to an 18% cut on 1990 levels - to G7 leaders this weekend, where he will presumably try to pull the wool over their eyes too. This INDC is not ambitious or fair.
Strike Two! The second fossil award goes to Japan for blocking a proposal from G7 countries that would help development aid and banks work in line with efforts to prevent global temperatures rising beyond the 2C degree threshold. Seriously, does Japan want to lead us towards a world with catastrophic levels of warming?
Strike Three! Japan wins the third fossil for funding carbon intensive coal projects in developing countries. Despite growing criticisms from international community - Japan was awarded a fossil in Lima for this dastardly behaviour - it continues to do so. As long as Japan keeps its dirty coal policy, the fossil awards will keep coming. Japan should be funding renewable energy solutions, not dirty coal.
You’re out! Japan get’s THREE fossil awards
About the fossils: The Fossil of the Day awards were first presented at the climate talks in 1999, in Bonn, initiated by the German NGO Forum. During United Nations climate change negotiations (www.unfccc.int), members of the Climate Action Network (CAN), vote for countries judged to have done their 'best' to block progress in the negotiations in the last days of talks.
About CAN: The Climate Action Network (CAN) is a worldwide network of over 900 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from over 100 countries working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. www.climatenetwork.org
Contact: Ria Voorhaar, CAN International, email: rvoorhaar@climatenetwork.org, phone: +49 157 3173 5568
ECO 6, ADP2-6, English
Submitted by rvoorhaar on
ECO 3, ADP2-6, English
Submitted by rvoorhaar on
ECO 1, October 20 2014
Submitted by rvoorhaar on
CAN 25th Anniversary Video Statement in plenary from the European Commissioner for Climate Action
Submitted by CRuell on
Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, addresses the Climate Action Network-International 25th Anniversary Event. Monday, June 16, 2014 in Bonn, Germany.
Building Blocks For Paris Emerge, But Ministers Miss Opportunity Take An Easier Road
Submitted by rvoorhaar on
Bonn - Germany, Friday June 6: Politicians at the UN climate negotiations in Bonn have today sent positive signals in relation to releasing early next year their climate action contributions towards the global agreement due to be signed in Paris in 2015.
The US said heads of state should reaffirm at the UN Secretary General's Climate Summit in September that they "commit to submit" their contributions by March 31, 2015.
Mohamed Adow, from Christian Aid, said up for negotiation tomorrow is the kinds of information those contributions should contain based on suggestions from the co-chairs of the session.
"Countries need to realize that forming the Paris agreement was like building a house for the people of the world in which the co-chairs are the foremen, they are the builders and the contributions are the bricks," he said. "Like a good house the Paris agreement needs to protect us and not fall down."
Alix Mazounie of RAC France said finance played a vital role in ensuring all countries could form their own climate action plan.
"Developing countries desperately need reassurance that public finance will be part of the 2015 agreement or there might be no deal," she said.
But Greenpeace's Martin Kaiser said politicians had missed an opportunity to make new climate action commitments for the period until the Paris agreement comes into affect in 2020.
"By not picking the low hanging fruit now, governments are making their job that much harder and more expensive later," he said. "Governments need to reject the influence of the fossil fuel lobby and act in the interests of their people."
Climate talks open as NGOS urge nations to make every moment count between now and 2015
Submitted by rvoorhaar on
Pages
