UN CLIMATE TALKS HEADING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

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MEDIA ADVISORY

Friends of the Earth International

LIMA, PERU, 26 November 2014  Less than a week before 195 nations gather in Lima to discuss how to address the climate crisis [1] Friends of the Earth International activists are warning that the United Nations talks are heading in the wrong direction.

Dipti Bhatnagar, Friends of the Earth International climate justice and energy coordinator said:

“Looking at the texts that our governments are negotiating in Lima, the climate deal that they plan to reach next year in Paris could turn out to be, at best, an empty shell. They must reverse their course of action urgently. Around the world people and communities are already paying the price of the climate crisis with their livelihoods and lives.”

“Some observers are very excited about the November US-China deal, but the reality is that all major climate polluters, especially the developed countries with US at the helm, are still doing way too little to address the climate crisis. All signs point to the fact that our governments are mostly focusing on false solutions to the climate crisis. False solutions such as carbon trading and offsetting must be stopped,” she added.

There are real solutions to the climate crisis. They include steep reductions in carbon emissions, stopping dirty energy and deforestation, building sustainable, community-based energy solutions, and transforming our food systems.

The UN is the most democratic space to address the climate crisis. The UN climate talks are supposed to be making progress on implementing the agreement that world governments made in 1992 to stop man-made and dangerous climate change.

The UN agreement recognises that rich countries have done the most to cause climate change and should take the lead in solving it, as well as provide funds to poorer countries as repayment of their climate debt.

Any climate agreement with emissions reduction targets must be comprehensive, binding, and reflect a fair share approach to the ‘carbon budget’ (the limited quantity of carbon pollution that can still be released while avoiding dangerous climate change). [2]

Jagoda Munic, chairperson of Friends of the Earth International, said:

“The world’s richest, developed countries are most responsible for climate change. They emitted the biggest share of the greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere today, way more than their fair share. They must urgently make the deepest emission cuts and provide most money if countries are to fairly share the responsibility of preventing catastrophic climate change.”

Friends of the Earth International campaigners will observe the UN talks in Lima and participate in the alternative Peoples Summit [3]. They will join environmental defenders and social movements from Peru and worldwide at the World March in defense of Mother Earth in Lima on December 10th, Human Rights Day.
FOR MORE INFORMATION

IN LIMA (December 1-12)

Dipti Bhatnagar, Friends of the Earth International Climate Justice and Energy coordinator: +258 840 356 599 (Mozambique mobile) or email dipti@foei.org

Jagoda Munic, chairperson of Friends of the Earth International: +385 98 17 95 690 (Croatian mobile) or email jagoda@zelena-akcija.hr

Denis Burke, Friends of the Earth International Web & E-Communications Editor: +31 6 5100 5630 (Dutch mobile) or email denis@foei.org

IN AMSTERDAM

Niccolo Sarno, Friends of the Earth International media coordinator: + 31 20 622 13 69 or email niccolo@foei.org

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

[1] For more information aboout the UNFCCC talks see http://newsroom.unfccc.int/

[2] A briefing by Friends of the Earth England, Wales, and Northern Ireland details how clear, equitable sharing of the ‘carbon budget’ between nations is essential to address the climate crisis. http://www.foe.co.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/why-climate-scientists-must-address-equity-issues-74043.pdf

[3] For more information about the Peoples Summit against Climate Change in Lima : http://cumbrepuebloscop20.org/