Venezuela, come on! Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water

November 11, 2016: Today’s a good day: there’s no Fossil of the Day Award.
But a special honourable mention goes to ….Venezuela, for attempting to throw the baby out with the bath water. Look Venezuela, CAN completely agrees that fossil fuel companies should not be influencing negotiations at the UNFCCC, organizations making a business out of the carbon pollution that is choking our planet have no place in this process. BUT, and it’s a big one, DON’T lump civil society in with the fossil fuel stooges. We are living in a world where the voice of the people counts – civil society can help governments truly understand the needs of the communities and support the development of effective, relevant climate solutions. Flush that dirty water down the drain but keep the baby safe, Venezuela.

About CAN: The Climate Action Network (CAN) is a worldwide network of over 1200 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in more than 120 countries working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. www.climatenetwork.org 

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.