Amidst rising climate disasters activists lay out a vision for the #WorldWeWant

See the complete press pack here.

12 October 2020: Against the backdrop of an intensifying climate crisis, Climate Action Network (CAN) today launched the #WorldWeWant Campaign on Climate Impacts. The campaign will highlight the voices of affected communities and the consequences of inaction on the climate crisis to sustain pressure on governments to deliver on radical climate ambition. Leading up to the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Agreement on December 12, CAN and partners will produce a series of short films from grassroots communities around the world.

2020 is earmarked as the year for climate ambition – when all countries are expected to submit ambitious national climate action plans to cut emissions to put the world on a 1.5ºC pathway and provide the support for communities to adapt to the effects of climate change. Till date, only 13 countries – representing a mere 3.6% of global emissions – have submitted updated national climate plans.

The coronavirus pandemic might have disrupted momentum on climate action but the climate crisis has not abated. Major emitters and rich countries in particular cannot use this pandemic as an excuse to delay delivering on their climate obligations which is a matter of survival for the most vulnerable countries.

This week marks the start of key multilateral discussions that can have great impact on climate finance and ambition, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Meetings (12 October); G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meetings (14 October); and the European Council (15 October).

We call on governments to follow the lead of least developed countries and deliver concrete outcomes and decisions and prepare to submit substantially updated national climate targets by the end of 2020.

We also call on global finance institutions and rich countries to shift financial flows from fossil fuels and support poor countries in developing cleaner economic pathways and invest in plans and policies that build resilience and protect people from climate impacts. Rich governments must invest in economic stimulus packages that secure a just and sustainable recovery from COVID-19 to achieve equity and fairness.

Nisreen Elsaim, United Nations Secretary General Youth Advisor on Climate Change, said:
“Many countries boast about pledging carbon-neutrality by 2030 or 2050. But I don´t think these pledges are a proper expression of climate ambition or something to be proud of. For us living through the climate crisis with continuous impacts, this time frame seems too far in the future. We are now in 2020 and the impacts we are feeling are already very severe. Government pledges don’t mean much to us. We need concrete action now.

Today, under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Executive Committee for the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage met. However these discussions are falling short from delivering anything beyond technical issues. We need such discussions to pave the way for concrete outcomes, including a separate finance mechanism addressing Loss and Damage.”

Sohanur Rahman, Fridays For Future Bangladesh Founder, said:
“The World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings start today. On August 24, 2020, Bloomberg Green reported that Bangladesh is expecting the World Bank to approve USD 2 billion in loans to support its ambitious climate adaptation plan.

Climate finance should not be about loans, charity and donations, this is not just. Climate finance should be about compensation. The polluters who caused the climate crisis have a responsibility to compensate and unconditionally relieve debt for low-income countries, who owe trillions of dollars to rich economies, to help them recover from the ongoing pandemic.”

“We are fighting back, we are striking and making our demands clear. We are not voiceless but our voices are unheard. Our media is not reporting our strikes. Young people alone cannot secure the future of the planet. We need solidarity from everyone to change this broken system, especially the media. We want them to focus on coastal people´s needs, vulnerability, demands resilience, adaptive capacity and their local solutions.”

Sarah Diendorf, Director of Environmental Finance Center in Oakland, California, said:
“Just 5 years ago, autumn was a time to enjoy blues skies, warm days and cooler nights. Now, autumn is our season of fire and smoke. We live in fear of the dry warm days, and wind – the spreader of flames – is terrifying. Now, every year the climate induced fires are bigger than the year before. This must stop. The time to end our reliance on fossil fuels is now!”

Vladimir Slivyak co-chairman of the Russian environmental group “Ecodefense,” said:
“Russia is the fifth global emitter. Its ratification of the Paris Agreement is still ink on paper. Russia’s climate action plans are not ambitious and we don´t believe that it will submit updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by the end of the year. In fact, Russia aims to increase coal mining by 50% through the next decade and increase the export of this climate killer. This will seriously undermine global climate efforts.

However, public opinion still matters in Russia. With enough awareness through efforts such as CAN´s #WorldWeWant campaign, we may be able to build public pressure and garner the political will needed to tip things over.”

BIOGRAPHIES:

Nisreen Elsaim, United Nations Secretary-General Youth Advisor on Climate Change (Sudan)
Twitter
Nisreen Elsaim is an environmental and climate activist from Sudan and has been active since 2012. Nisreen was recently chosen as UN Secretary-General youth adviser on climate change along with six other young climate activists. Nisreen is also a junior negotiator with the African Group on technology transfer focusing on country policies, climate change and renewable energy. Additionally, she is also the general coordinator for Youth and Environment Platform – Sudan (YES) to give all environment working youth the networking they need. Nisreen is also the Chair of Sudan Youth Organization on Climate Change (SYOCC). As part of many regional and international platforms, Nisreen Led and mentored large number of young people within YOUNGO, PACJA, Abu Dhabi youth Voices, and others Nisreen has a Bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Khartoum, Sudan. She pursued her master’s degree in renewable energy from the same University. She wrote several policy papers in climate change, renewable energy, gender and youth empowerment.

Sohanur Rahman, Fridays For Future Youth Striker (Bangladesh)
Twitter
Sohanur Rahman is a young climate activist from Bangladesh. He is the founder of Fridays For Future Bangladesh, coordinator of YouthNet for Climate Justice and member of CAN South Asia.

Sarah Diendorf, Director of the Environmental Finance Center West (California, USA)
Sarah is the Director of the Environmental Finance Center West where she works to empower vulnerable people and build community capacity throughout the United States and East Africa. For over 20 years she has supported Native American Tribes and indigenous peoples resilience, and trained rural and low-income populations in leadership, entrepreneurship, and capacity building skills to help them protect their health and environment, promote sustainable use of their local resources, and prepare for climate change. Sarah lives in California and cherishes the beauty and diversity that her state provides. She has an undergraduate degree in International Relations from San Francisco State and a master’s degree in Environmental Geography from Cambridge University.

Vladimir Slivyak, Co-Chairman of the Russian Environmental Group Ecodefense (Russia)
Twitter
Vladimir Slivyak is the co-chairman of the Russian environmental group “Ecodefense” promoting renewables and fighting against fossil fuels and nuclear energy. He also is a leading anti-coal campaigner. Established in 1989, Ecodefense is one of oldest environmental groups in Russia. Vladimir has been working on environmental protection, energy security and climate change for over 30 years. Vladimir is the author of more than 100 articles tackling environmental and energy matters. . Vladimir is the author of “From Hiroshima to Fukushima”, a compelling account of the nuclear industry’s most recent history, combining a detailed chronicle of the 2011 disaster at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan and an in-depth analysis of the industry’s problems in Russia.

Txai Surui
Txai is an indigenous activist of the Paiter Suruí people. Founder of the Rondônia Indigenous Youth Movement. Coordinator of the Legal Nucleus of the Kanindé Ethno-Environmental Defense Association

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN:Overview of the campaignCampaign Teaser by CAN´s Executive Director Tasneem EssopCampaign websiteCampaign videosThe story of impacts in the Philippines has already been released today

Upcoming videos:14 October – Germany Islanders in Langeoog, Germany, are already affected by rising sea levels. They are asking the European Union to increase its ambition and action on climate change and fulfill the promises it made by ratifying the Paris Agreement, demanding that the EU provides support for the vulnerable communities in the region to adapt to climate impacts and deal with Loss and Damage. (Download|Youtube|Twitter|Instagram)16 October – Costa Rica An Afro-Caribbean community on the coast of Limón, Costa Rica, faces sea-level rise that causes erosion and salinization of water sources, threatening the wellbeing and health of communities. This short film shows how the local ecosystem is threatened with the uncertainty of the seasons, drought, loss of corals and fisheries, and loss of ancestral land due to coastal erosion. (Download|Youtube|Twitter|Instagram)Soon: Sweden, Morocco, Niger, Mozambique, Niger, Uganda, US, UK, Tanzania, and others

About CAN The Climate Action Network (CAN) is a worldwide network of over 1300 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in more than 130 countries fighting the climate crisis.  sustainable levels. www.climatenetwork.org

For more information, contact:
Hala Kilani Senior Communications Officer – Climate Action Network
Email: hkilani@climatenetwork.org
Tel/ WhatsApp: +961 3 567928
Skype: halakilani