DEFEND the #GlasgowLossandDamage Facility!
The People’s COP26 Decision for Climate Justice
Climate change already impacts and threatens billions of lives, with billions more on the line: it is those that have done the least to cause climate change that are most impacted, especially women, Black, Indigenous Peoples, and people of colour, peasants and rural people, youth, people with disabilities, local communities and frontline communities.
The climate crisis also amplifies the structural inequalities and injustices that have been hardwired into our economic and political systems that have resulted in a spiralling debt crisis, Covid vaccine apartheid and growing inequality and poverty.
Governments in the UNFCCC have repeatedly failed to deliver meaningful and just outcomes that will keep the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius despite growing urgency: time is running out.
Countries of the global North have the greatest historical responsibility for emissions and have grown rich through centuries of colonisation and exploitation of communities and nations in the global South. These countries, including the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Norway, Japan and those in the EU must finally do their fair share to address the climate crisis and pay their climate debt without delay.
Throughout the existence of the UNFCCC, governments have moved from policies, to empty pledges, to press releases and proclamations made outside the negotiations process that mean they cannot be held to account for failing to meet them. “Net zero” pledges without concrete plans to achieve Real Zero emissions, without adequate legally binding commitments to protect human rights, are simply greenwashing, a smokescreen hiding the intent to continue polluting and digging the graves of our present and future generations with impunity.
People are tired of waiting for governments to prioritize people and the planet over profits while so many lives are being impacted and lost. We are out of time and out of patience.
We therefore demand:
They must do this by providing new and additional short and long term finance, based on the needs of the peoples of the Global South, balanced between mitigation and adaptation. The first immediate step is for these countries to fix the broken commitment of delivering the inadequate $100 billion in public finance by 2020.
And rapidly scale up finance for adaptation based on the needs of those most impacted.
Delivery of additional finance for Loss and Damage based on needs is made and honored. The Santiago Network on Loss and Damage must be operationalised by no later than COP27.
Governments must ensure that their emission reduction targets are sufficient to meet the 1.5°C target by urgently strengthening 2030 targets to rapidly reduce emissions to Real Zero, fully in line with each countries’ fair share.
Governments must ensure that their emission reduction targets are sufficient to meet the 1.5°C target by urgently strengthening 2030 targets to rapidly reduce emissions to Real Zero, fully in line with each countries’ fair share.
Governments must categorically reject false solutions and the “net zero” plans that disguise intentions to continue polluting . This includes offsetting, carbon markets, carbon capture technologies, nature based solutions, geoengineering, climate smart agriculture, and others that are inherently ineffective,unjust, and destructive.
Governments must keep the promise of the Paris Climate Agreement and ensure that these rights remain central in the outcomes of COP26 including the rights of Indigenous Peoples, peasants rights, Gender rights, rights of people with disabilities, workers rights.
Parties to the UNFCCC should officially and permanently remove Big Polluters from deliberations where they consistently undermine, weaken, and delay meaningful policy outcomes. And develop paths for the liability of polluters to make them pay for the crisis and repair the damage they have done.
Parties must deliver just transitions as defined in the Paris Agreement with reference to decent work and quality jobs. Labour rights are human rights and countries must guarantee full engagement of workers and their unions through social dialogue processes in raising climate ambition and the creation of decent work, quality jobs, social protection and universal public services.
A justice transition must also result in collaborating to rapidly share technology and finance to implement real, proven, and people-centered solutions at scale. This must involve a “fair share phase out” to equitably eliminate fossil fuels from the global economy in time to limit warming below 1.5°C, with developed countries taking the lead on a rapid and just phase out of fossil fuel production, while supporting developing countries to do the same. It also requires transforming energy and food systems that empower people and communities, ecological restoration, and food sovereignty. It is vital that these transitions honour and protect the traditional knowledge, practices, and territories of indigenous peoples and local communities.
Prioritize an inclusive, democratic and just UNFCCC process that recognises and respects all rights-holders. This requires the meaningful inclusion of Persons with Disabilities by recognizing them as a formal constituency.
The time for words without action has come and gone. We no longer have the luxury of time to sit back and allow governments and private interests to destroy our future. Scientific predictions are increasingly dire; it is not hyperbolic to assert that the very future of humanity depends on the outcomes of these negotiations. Governments must immediately heed the growing demands of those already facing crisis and those who will face crisis and bravely reimagine our world in a way that guarantees everyone the right to live with dignity and in harmony with our planet.
The Era of Injustice is over!
Mask Up and Demand COP26 to #PayUp4LossandDamage
What to do:
If you are in Glasgow, and especially if you are exposed to parties/negotiators, get one of these masks from some of our colleagues on the ground (you may reach out to Francesca or Anna), wear the masks and take a selfie with the mask on and post it on social media.
For those not in Glasgow,, download this virtual mask which you can upload and “wear” on Zoom (instructions here) and take a photo and post it on social media
What to post:
We will not be silenced! World leaders at #COP26 should listen to the people and the most vulnerable communities and urgently address finance for #LossandDamage⚠️. Polluters must #PayUP4lossandDamage!
Take action now ➡️ https://climatenetwork.org/COP26-ACT
Open letter to World Leaders by over 300 organisations
On 26 October 2021, more than 300 civil society organisations sent an open letter to COP26 President Elect Alok Sharma and other world leaders demanding that COP26 urgently commit to deliver finance on Loss and Damage.
The letter and signatories may be viewed below.
Find the accompanying press release here.
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AN OPEN LETTER TO WORLD LEADERS
COP26 must deliver on Loss & Damage Finance
COP26 President Alok Sharma, Heads of States, Ministers and Heads of Delegations,
We, the undersigned, from over 300 organisations from across the world, spanning a broad range of institutions and movements, from humanitarian and development organisations to youth groups, Indigenous Peoples organisations, trade unions and climate justice groups, call on you today to ensure that COP26 delivers finance for loss and damage.
At just over 1 degree Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels, climate change is already causing havoc in countries around the world. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared the latest IPCC Climate Report a ‘Code Red for Humanity’, highlighting already overstretched and limited coping capacities.
Loss and Damage – the impacts of climate change that were not averted or minimized through adaptation and mitigation activities – is already a lived reality for people around the world, violating their human rights and displacing more than 30 million people in 2020 alone. Poor and vulnerable countries and communities are least responsible for climate change but are already facing the majority of its negative impacts, in the form of both extreme weather events like hurricanes, and floods and slow onset processes such as sea-level rise.
The projected economic cost of loss and damage by 2030 is estimated to be between 290 and 580 billion USD in developing countries alone. Scaled up finance at a level commensurate with the need is therefore essential for vulnerable countries and communities to recover from the climate impacts they are already facing to rebuild their livelihoods and economies. While finance for averting and minimising Loss and Damage has been mobilised in the form of finance for mitigation and adaptation, finance for addressing Loss and Damage remains lacking, apart from highly insufficient humanitarian aid.
Drawing on the recent research by the Stockholm Environment Institute’s research as well as a series of briefing papers published by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, we demand that the COP26 delivers on Loss and Damage finance by taking the following actions:
1. Decide at COP26 to provide sufficient and needs-based Loss and Damage finance, in addition to the USD 100b per year committed for mitigation and adaptation, on the basis of equity, historical responsibility and global solidarity, applying the polluter pays principle. Loss and Damage finance to be also included in the post-2025 climate finance target.
2. Establish a process to identify the scale of funding needed to address Loss and Damage as well as suitable mechanisms to deliver the finance to developing countries. The outcome must be presented at COP27 to start delivering Loss and Damage finance.
3. Support developing countries in enabling national level systems to distribute Loss and Damage finance to ensure country ownership, gender responsiveness and self-determination over how finance is used, and so it reaches the populations that are most vulnerable and in need. This could be facilitated by the fully operationalised Santiago Network for Loss and Damage.
Convening Organisations and Networks: Loss & Damage Collaboration (L&DC), Loss & Damage Youth Coalition (LDYC) and Climate Action Network (CAN), in partnership with Stamp Out Poverty, ActionAid, Practical Action and Germanwatch, with the scientific input of the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).
Briefing papers series on Loss & Damage Finance: https://us.boell.org/en/unpacking-finance-loss-and-damage
Watch this powerful 5 minute video explainer on Loss and Damage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahiVM4FzMyc
Sincerely,
- 1. 350.org
- 2. AbibiNsroma Foundation
- 3. Action Against Hunger
- 4. ACTION CITOYENNE POUR L’INFORMATION ET L’ÉDUCATION AU DÉVELOPPEMENT DURABLE
- 5. Action Jeunesse pour le Développement
- 6. ActionAid International
- 7. Actions Sans Frontiers Madagaskar
- 8. ADRA-UK
- 9. African Coalition for Sustainable Energy and Access
- 10. AIDA
- 11. AidWatch Canada
- 12. AJOAGO
- 13. Alianza por la Solidaridad – AA Spain
- 14. ALTSEAN-Burma
- 15. Amnesty International
- 16. ARAYARA
- 17. Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development
- 18. Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development
- 19. Associação Alternativa Terrazul
- 20. Associação de Preservação do Meio Ambiente e da Vida (Apremavi)
- 21. AwazCDS-Pakistan
- 22. Aytzim: Ecological Judaism
- 23. BALAOD Mindanaw
- 24. Baptist Union of Great Britain
- 25. Barn Owl Trust
- 26. Bedfordshire Climate Change Forum
- 27. Black2Nature
- 28. Bond
- 29. British Columbia General Employees’ Union
- 30. Brot für die Welt
- 31. Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action
- 32. CAFSO-WRAG for Development
- 33. Campax
- 34. Carbon Neutral Cambridge
- 35. CarbonCare InnoLab
- 36. Care About Climate
- 37. CARE International
- 38. Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
- 39. Caritas Zambia
- 40. CCWG
- 41. CENICA
- 42. Center for Biological Diversity
- 43. Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
- 44. Center for Participatory Research and Development-CPRD
- 45. Central de Trabajadores de la Argentina – Autónoma
- 46. Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK
- 47. Centre for Applied Buddhism
- 48. Centre for Environmental Rights
- 49. Centro de Trabalho Indigenista – CTI
- 50. Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental A.C
- 51. Christian Aid
- 52. CIDSE
- 53. Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada
- 54. Clean Energy Action
- 55. CLIMACT
- 56. CLIMALAB
- 57. Climate 2025
- 58. Climate Action Network Africa (CAN AFRICA)
- 59. Climate Action Network Arab World (CANAW)
- 60. Climate Action Network Australia (CANA)
- 61. Climate Action Network Canada
- 62. Climate Action Network Eastern Africa
- 63. Climate Action Network Eastern Europe, Caucasus & Central Asia (CAN EECCA)
- 64. Climate Action Network Europe
- 65. Climate Action Network France (CAN France)
- 66. Climate Action Network International (CAN-I)
- 67. Climate Action Network Japan (CAN-Japan)
- 68. Climate Action Network Latin America (CANLA)
- 69. Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA)
- 70. Climate Action Network Southeast Asia (CANSEA)
- 71. Climate Action Network Tanzania (CANTZ)
- 72. Climate Action Network Uganda (CANU)
- 73. Climate Action Network UK (CAN-UK)
- 74. Climate Action Network West & Central Africa (CANWA)
- 75. Climate Action Network Zimbabwe
- 76. Climate Alliance Switzerland
- 77. Climate Change Policy and Research Association
- 78. Climate Refugees
- 79. CNCD-11.11.11
- 80. COAST Foundation
- 81. COESUS Coalition No Fracking Brazil, for Climate, Water and Life
- 82. Comissão Arquidiocesana de Justiça e Paz de Luanda
- 83. Community Action for Healing Poverty Organization
- 84. Community Resource Centre Foundation
- 85. Concern Worldwide UK
- 86. Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd
- 87. Co-ordination Office of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference for International Development and Mission (KOO)
- 88. Corporate Accountability
- 89. Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA)
- 90. CRAAD-OI
- 91. Croydon Climate Action
- 92. Croydon Community Energy
- 93. Dibeen For Environmental Development
- 94. Diverse Voices and Action (DIVA) for Equality
- 95. Dogwood Alliance
- 96. Earth Action, Inc.
- 97. Eco Dharma Network
- 98. Eco-Conservation Initiatives (ECI)
- 99. EcoEquity
- 100. EJF
- 101. EJF
- 102. Ekumenická akademie (Ecumenical Academy)
- 103. Empower our Future – Colorado
- 104. Enda Energie
- 105. Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
- 106. Environmental Protection Society Malaysia (EPSM)
- 107. Equidad de Género: Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia
- 108. Équiterre
- 109. ETICAMBIENTE
- 110. Fairtrade Deutschland e.V.
- 111. Fairtrade International
- 112. Faith for the Climate
- 113. Farmers’ Voice (Krisoker Sor)
- 114. Fédération des travailleurs et des travailleuses u Québec – FTQ
- 115. Feedback Global
- 116. Forus
- 117. Friends of the Earth EWNI
- 118. Friends of the Earth International
- 119. Friends of the Earth Malaysia
- 120. Friends of the Earth U.S.
- 121. Friends World Committee for Consultation Asia West Pacific Section
- 122. Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica
- 123. Fundacion Protestante Hora de Obrar / ACT Alliance
- 124. Future Generations Afghanistan
- 125. Gatef organizations
- 126. Genç Düşünce Enstitüsü
- 127. Genderccsa
- 128. Germanwatch
- 129. Global Network for Disaster Reduction
- 130. Global Environment Centre
- 131. Global Focus
- 132. Grandmothers Advocacy Network
- 133. Grands-parents pour le climat/Klima-Grosseltern CH
- 134. Green Christian
- 135. Green Movement of Sri Lanka Inc.
- 136. Greendeeve_Sarl
- 137. GreenGram
- 138. Greenpeace (signifying the global organisation)
- 139. Greentransformation2050
- 140. Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy
- 141. Hawai’i Institute for Human Rights
- 142. Heinrich Boell Stiftung Washington, DC
- 143. Himalayan Grassroots Women’s Natural Resource Management Association (HIMAWANTI) Nepal
- 144. Hindu Climate Action
- 145. Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE)
- 146. iCCCAD
- 147. ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Water and Heritage
- 148. IECA/DASEP – Igreja Evangelica Cogregacional em Angola/Departamento de Assistencia Social Estudos e Projetos
- 149. Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Loreto Generalate
- 150. Instituto 5 Elementos
- 151. Instituto de Energia e Meio Ambiente (IEMA)
- 152. Instituto Internacional de Educação do Brasil
- 153. Instituto Sociedade, População e Natureza – ISPN
- 154. Interfaith Glasgow
- 155. Interfaith Scotland
- 156. International Centre for Climate Change and Development
- 157. International Human Rights Commission-RFT
- 158. International Institute for Environment and Development
- 159. International Trade Union Confederation
- 160. International Voluntary Service GB
- 161. Jamaa Resource Initiatives
- 162. Jaringan Ekologi dan Iklim
- 163. Jubilee Debt Campaign
- 164. Judith Chikonde Foundation (JCF)
- 165. Junge Grüne Schweiz
- 166. Just Planet
- 167. Justice for Girls
- 168. Katholische Landjugendbewegung Deutschlands (KLJB)
- 169. KIRDARC Nepal
- 170. Klima Action Malaysia – KAMY
- 171. Klima-Allianz Schweiz
- 172. La Coordinadora de Organizaciones para el Desarrollo
- 173. La Ruta del Clima
- 174. Laboratório de Ciências Sociais e Humanidades
- 175. Lira NGO Forum
- 176. Lok Shakti Abhiyan
- 177. London Friends Of The Earth Network
- 178. Malaysian Youth Delegation
- 179. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
- 180. Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, Inc.
- 181. Mawu Energy
- 182. Mom Loves Taiwan Association
- 183. Momentum
- 184. NAO FRACKING BRASIL
- 185. National Association of Youth Organizations (NAYO)
- 186. National Campaign for Sustainable Development Nepal
- 187. National Hawker Federation
- 188. National Indigenous Women Forum, Nepal
- 189. Natural Justice
- 190. Nature Palace Foundation (NPF)
- 191. Nature Trust Malta
- 192. New Zealand Climate Action Network (NZCAN)
- 193. NUS & SOS-UK
- 194. Observatório do Clima
- 195. ONG Maqay
- 196. Operation Noah
- 197. OPG – Oil and Gas Observatory
- 198. OPG Mineral Coal Observatory
- 199. Our Climate
- 200. OURS
- 201. Oxfam
- 201. Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO)
- 202. Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN)
- 203. Pacto X El Clima
- 204. Paid To Pollute
- 205. Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum
- 206. Pallisa Civil society Organizations’ network
- 207. Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA)
- 208. Parents fo Future
- 209. Participatory Research Action Network (PRAAN)
- 210. Peace Boat
- 211. People’s Federation for National Peace and Development (PEFENAP)
- 212. People’s Justice Council/Alabama Interfaith Power and Light
- 213. Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania
- 214. Planetphilia
- 215. Plataforma Sul
- 216. Power Shift Africa
- 217. Practical Action
- 218. Practice for Impact
- 219. Prakriti Resources Centre
- 220. Projeto Hospitais Saudáveis
- 221. Projeto Saude e Alegria
- 222. Public Association “Dignity”
- 223. Purpose Plastics
- 224. Quaker Earthcare Witness
- 225. Quakers in Britain
- 226. Real Ecosystems Solutions Limited
- 227. REDE GTA
- 228. RESAMA – South American Network for Environmental Migrations
- 229. Rice Mill Plant Cooperative “Saiyo”
- 230. Rise up movement
- 231. Rural Development Media and Communication
- 232. Saint Mary’s University, Canada
- 233. Save the Children International
- 234. Schweizerische Energie-Stiftung SES
- 235. Scientists for Global Responsibility
- 236. Shahidi Wa Maji
- 237. Shifting the Power Coalition
- 238. Sindicato dos Metalúrgicos de Alumínio e Mairinque
- 239. Sisters of Charity Federation
- 240. Social Economic Development Society [SEDS]
- 241. Sojourners
- 242. Songshoptaque
- 243. South Africa Climate Action Network (SACAN)
- 244. Southern Africa Climate Action Network (SARCAN)
- 245. Southern Plataform – Angola
- 246. Spire
- 247. Sprout Women Empowerment Trust
- 248. Stop Pollution
- 249. Subsaharan’s Youth’s Climate Network
- 250. Success Capital Organisation
- 251. Sunrise Movement
- 252. Sustainability Week Pakistan
- 253. Sustainable Beekeeping and Human Development (SuBeHuDe)
- 254. SustainUS
- 255. Sustentabilidad Sin Fronteras
- 256. Syracuse University
- 257. TEMA Foundation Turkey
- 258. Tewa
- 259. Texas Impact
- 260. The Climate Reality Project Canada
- 261. The Global Sunrise Project
- 262. The Green Fighter
- 263. The Methodist Church in Britain
- 264. The Movements Trust
- 265. The Zero Carbon Campaign
- 266. Third World Network
- 267. Tipping Point UK
- 268. Transition Edinburgh
- 269. Transition Exeter
- 270. Trócaire
- 271. Tuvalu Climate Action Network (TuCAN)
- 272. UDYAMA
- 273. Uganda Coalition for Sustainable Development / INFORSE East Africa
- 274. UGT Spain
- 275. Uma Gota no Oceano
- 276. Union of Concerned Scientists
- 277. UNISC International
- 278. Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
- 279. United Reformed Church (UK)
- 280. Uplift
- 281. US Climate Action Network (USCAN)
- 282. Vanuatu Climate Action Network
- 283. VSO
- 284. Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI)
- 285. War on Want
- 286. Water Governance Institute
- 287. Water Witness
- 288. WomanHealth Philippines
- 289. Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF)
- 290. Women in Communities Zimbabwe (WICO)
- 291. Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)
- 292. Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)
- 293. Women’s Rights Action Group
- 294. World Accord
- 295. Worldwide Environmental Education
- 296. WWF
- 297. YOUNGO
- 298. Youth and Environment Europe
- 299. Youth Enterprise Services (YES) Malawi
- 300. Za Zemiata, Friends of the Earth Bulgaria
- 301. ZERO – Association for the Sustainability of the Earth System, Portugal
- 302. Zero Carbon Campaign