Just days after the conclusion of the Durban Climate Conference, attention has fallen on Canada following the announcement this week by Environment Minister Peter Kent that Canada will formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.
Minister Kent explained that the decision to do so will save the government an estimated $14 billion in penalties under the terms of the treaty for not cutting emissions by the required amount by 2012.Canada was one of the first countries to sign the Kyoto Protocol but was not on track to meet its legally binding targets.
Canada’s exit from the one existing agreement that legally binds some countries to emission cuts targets is seen as an affront to the nearly one billion people who struggle every day to feed their families in the face of increasingly severe droughts, floods, heat waves and storms.
Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent has announced to the press that Canada will formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.
Negotiators at the UN climate talks have narrowly avoided a collapse, agreeing to the bare minimum deal possible. The plan gets the Green Climate Fund up and running without any sources of funding, preserves a narrow pathway to avoid 4 degrees of warming and gets a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol without key members.
“Negotiators have sent a clear message to the world’s hungry: ‘Let them eat carbon,’” said Celine Charveriat, Director of Campaigns and Advocacy for Oxfam. “Governments must bank the pennies won here in Durban and immediately turn their attention to raising the ambition of their emissions cuts targets and filling the Green Climate Fund. Unless countries ratchet up their emissions cuts urgently, we could still be in store for a ten-year timeout on the action we need to stay under 2 degrees.”
It’s here – the last day of the climate negotiations in Durban.
Regardless of the direction things turn, a spin operation from negotiators will be in full force to try to frame the outcome. The finger-pointing has already begun and many are doing whatever they can to avoid the blame-game if a workable agreement looks in doubt.
The hastily organized press conference from the US delegation is an early indication that their team is working hard to push back on the narrative that they have not been constructive parties to the negotiations. Mr. Stern’s vague signals in the direction of support for the EU roadmap yesterday were quickly parsed and promptly rolled-back suggesting nothing has changed in their obstructive stance. But the press coverage last night and this morning suggests that the US efforts served their purpose, at least for a little while.
The climate negotiations in Durban are stuttering and there’s only 48 hours left.
There is little progress on agreement on the emission reductions needed to keep warming below 2 degrees. There is also a rumbling debate about how to fill the Green Climate Fund.
We need you to urge our leaders along the path to a sustainable planet. Together with Oxfam members across the world you can tweet at a range of the key players at the Durban UN Climate Summit.
Oxfam’s Conor Costello reports from Durban as the second week of climate negotiations continue:
Saturday 3 December was not a normal day for the population of Durban, South Africa. A climate march wound around the streets of the centre as somewhere between 10, 000 to 15000 people called for – in fact demanded – action on climate change. They brought the city to a colourful, vibrant and peaceful standstill.
Walking with, and sometimes carrying our gorgeous puppets – Mama Mhlaba (Zulu for Mother Earth) & Baba Manzi (Father Water) – I saw groups as diverse as the Rural Women’s Assembly and the Airport Workers Union marching side-by-side. All for the same ultimate goal – climate justice through urgent, fair and effective action on climate change.
As the climate negotiations in Durban approach the weekend, check out this video showing how women in South Africa are already adapting to the effects of climate change:
As the negotiations continue in Durban, we thought we’d show you a small glimpse of what life is like at COP17 (see the slideshow below). First though, here are two of the many stories from the Caravan of Hope:
Alexis Phiri is a Zambian artist, writer and climate change activist.
Moved by the destruction of his homeland’s stunning natural beauty, and motivated by a belief that “art is the best way to communicate a very difficult subject like climate change,” Alexis has travelled the world using his art “as a voice for climate change.”
His exhibitions, called CO2, are aimed at engaging the public in environmental issues. He exhibits sculptures, paintings and photos made entirely from recycled materials, which lead visitors into conversations about tiyeni tibilibire, or going green. Visitors can also use their fingerprints to create a public work of art in support of Alexis’s climate change calls to “wake up and do something.”
“There has to be a shift in thinking,” he says. “Don’t be interested in the devastation,” he urges the government, “Be interested in preventing the devastation.”
With the caravan, “we will be one voice from different parts of the continent yet experiencing the same challenges.” He hopes that this united voice at COP 17 will push African and world leaders into taking responsibility for their contributions to climate change and the suffering it is causing.
Paul Okongo has been a farmer for many years around Lake Victoria, Nyanza province, in South West Kenya.
Paul works for Technology Adoption Rural Organisation (TATRO), a community based organisation that trains farmers in new technology, working to improve seed varieties, environmental management, marketing skills and connecting 20 farmer groups in the region.
When we spoke to him, over a crackly phone line, he told us that in recent years he’s noticed changes in the climate and farmers across the region need to work together to face the challenges that this brings. Farmers are struggling as rain patterns are shifting and this can mean that when they are ready to plant their seeds, there is no rain. This is having knock on effects as catchment areas of rivers and wetlands are being destroyed as people try to harvest the water. For small scale farmers, these issues can be life and death.
Paul has joined the caravan to represent the farmers he works with and meet farmers from different areas who are experiencing similar problems. Being part of the caravan is an opportunity to learn about how climate change is affecting people across Africa.
During the current climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa, Oxfam will be releasing a series of videos examining the impacts of climate change. Here is our first instalment:
The United Nations has unpacked the bunting and draped the decorations around Durban, South Africa, for the next round of climate negotiations, COP17. Leaders, policy experts, delegates, caravanites, photo exhibitions, puppets, the world’s media and all manner of colourful characters have arrived to get their teeth into securing progress in the fight against climate change.
Oxfam kicked off our efforts with a dinner party in the sea to provide a stark illustration of the affects that extreme weather will have on our already creaking food system. Poor people already spend a big proportion of their incomes on food and this will increase if crops fail due to an unpredictable climate.
We’re bringing messages of support from across the world, demanding that leaders act on climate change. Add yours below…
