No ‘New Deal’ with Climate, Inc.: For a People’s Protocol on Climate Change
IBON Int’l calls for new post-2015 climate protocol
IBON International, in solidarity with civil society organisations (CSOs) and people’s movements around the world, take action for climate justice to demand a new Peoples’ Climate Protocol in 2015. We demand a real ‘new deal’ grounded in climate justice, human rights, social equity, and participatory democracy, with a commitment to public financing and major shifts in prevailing economic paradigms to meet sustainable development objectives.
On 23 September, world leaders are to come together for a United Nations-sponsored Climate Summit in New York. The Summit is being branded as a watershed moment to bring about a paradigm-shifting new deal on climate change and sustainable development, buttressed by promises for a post-2015 development agenda and a new set of goals as a successor to the MDGs[1].
But as official negotiations resume in Lima and supposedly to meet the deadline by COP 21 in Paris, the debate still rages over what this new climate deal will look like.
Reaffirming the fundamental principles underpinning the international climate negotiations, IBON International insists on a legally binding global climate agreement to drastically cut carbon emissions, as opposed to a weak ‘voluntary pledge and review’ system.
Reluctance to agree on legally binding and meaningful commitments towards real action on climate change has put the world on track to a planetary emergency. Emissions have in fact increased at a time when science warns of the need to commit to a major reduction in the use of fossil fuels – by 2020 – if we are to avoid its most devastating impacts.
Any legally-binding approach for all parties must be consistent with a core principle of the UN Climate Convention – equity, as expressed in the provision on common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) and respective capacities agreed to by Parties in 1992.
Developed countries that have contributed the most to the climate crisis have a historical responsibility to take the lead in cutting emissions, as well as to provide finance and technology to developing countries and societies suffering from the impacts of climate change.
In this regard, recent attempts by governments to avoid binding commitments by passing the responsibility to the private sector are both irresponsible and self-defeating. These include financing corporations for supposedly ‘green’ projects’ in developing countries, through the “private sector facility” of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Worryingly, the GCF offers no clear-cut rules against funding dirty energy in developing countries, and offers no support for a human rights-based approach (HRBA) to development.
Despite scientific warnings that the world will breach the globally agreed goal of 2-degree warming as early as 2050, and this would have huge impacts for the world, governments continue to support policies that perpetuate fossil fuel industries. Years of negotiations have resulted in a mere 39 industrialized countries agreeing to a pitifully low collective reduction of 18% below 1990 levels in the period of 2013 – 2020, contrary to the required global reduction of 60 – 70% that is needed in the first half