To all with love giovanni Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry -----Original Message----- From: "Dominic Frongillo" <[email protected]> Date: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:11:38 To: <[email protected]> Subject: Dispatch from Copenhagen: climate negotiations intensify, stakes rise
Greetings from the UN climate talks, What a non-stop week! Copenhagen is a beautiful city with amazing rapid transit and high-efficiency district heating, but sunshine is not its strong suit. Combine this with my spending twelve-plus hours in the conference center and often staying up until 2am, and its no wonder I’ve only seen the sun once. NEGOTIATIONS HEAT UP Here in the Bella Center, the climate negotiations are intensifying and taking place at very high levels. On many issues, there is no consensus -- including those critical to agreement: temperature rise objectives and emissions targets, and long-term financial aid for developing (poor) countries to adapt to the deteriorating atmosphere and afford the clean, efficient technologies that would enable them to “leapfrog” over dirty energy sources like coal and skip straight to solar, wind, and geothermal. Rich and poor nations remain deeply divided, with developing countries, which are already seeing worsening droughts, storms, and stress on their communities, saying the draft political agreement fails to secure the ambitious, fair, and binding legal agreement needed. This disagreement will increase pressure and tension as the negotiations enter the second week. At the end of next week, 113 heads of state, including President Obama, are coming to Copenhagen to solidify an agreement. Senior political officials and negotiators are debating on these outstanding issues before the heads of state arrive. PUSHBACK FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES One of the most notable developments is the increasing outspokenness of countries which are being hardest-hit by deterioration of the climate. For example, Tuvalu is an island nation in the Pacific with a population of 11,000. It is four inches above sea level; rising seas are projected to sink the country in less than 50 years. Tuvalu called forcefully for immediate cuts in emissions -- saying “it immoral for the United Nations to permit one of its member states to be destroyed.” On Tuesday and Wednesday, Tuvalu caused upheaval by proposing a new process under the Kyoto Protocol for increased transparency and reducing control of rich countries. Many developing nations rallied around Tuvalu’s move -- calling for a open and transparent process, rather than a process controlled by rich countries. Other countries like China were against it, saying “we don’t have time for a new debate.” After back-and-forth disagreement, Tuvalu used its power to suspend the high-level negotiations, although numerous side negotiations continue to run simultaneously. Tuvalu’s strategy is to raise the stakes early to force the richer countries to move as the negotiations enter the second week. “SURVIVAL PACT OR SUICIDE PACT” On Thursday, the Association of Small Island States held a press conference, surrounded by young people from around the world, where they announced they were putting forward a bold new proposal for slowing accelerating climate change. Like Tuvalu, these countries will be the first to succumb to climate change, and are not sitting back or letting more powerful countries control the agenda; instead, they are actively putting forward alternatives. They announced their support of the latest science-based targets: to bring carbon dioxide in the atmosphere back to 350 parts per million (ppm). CO2 is like very hot chili pepper; tiny amounts of chili pepper in your soup can make it intensely spicy. CO2 is only 0.039% of the atmosphere, but drives major climatic changes. James Hansen has called 350 ppm the “redline” for human civilization; it’s the highest level where we avoid runaway feedbacks in the climate. Decades of burning of fossil fuels and deforestation has put us dangerously over this line – already over 387 ppm. Current “business as usual” will put carbon at over 800 ppm, which scientists say will almost certainly devastate civilization. Here’s an excellent video animation explaining the feedback: http://wakeupfreakout.org/film/tipping.html At their press conference, AOSIS said that even the current targets being discussed in Copenhagen will commit the world to overshooting safety of 350 ppm to 450, 550, or 650 ppm – far above what will trigger dangerous climatic feedbacks. Their lead negotiator said any agreement must "ensure the survival of all peoples and all nations." They said it’s not just about the destruction of small island nations; such conditions will likely lead to displacement or destruction of most of the world’s nations. The president of Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, said “Our choice is between a survival pact or suicide pact. The difference is that stark.” Walking their talk, the Maldives announced this year their goal to become the first carbon neutral country in the world – a 100% reduction in carbon emissions. YOUTH ACTION The activity level inside the negotiation hall is incredible. I’ve been working heavily with US and international youth, hustling between negotiation sessions, media events, presentations, meetings, briefings, and actions. The dedication of young people here is inspiring. Our message is clear: Our future is at stake. We need an ambitious, fair, and binding climate agreement in Copenhagen in line with the science. In addition to creative actions both inside and outside the Bella Center, youth are working with Avaaz.org to hold the daily “Fossil of the Day” awards, a mock award ceremony to shame the nations which did the most that day to block progress on a strong climate deal. With a backdrop of a huge fire-breathing dinosaur skeleton and set to the Jurassic Park theme song, it gathers a huge crowd of onlookers and media every day – and youth recipients from each “winning” country give hilarious speeches to accept the award of shame. It’s not all negative attention: on the day Tuvalu gave its proposal, it won the first-ever “Ray of the Day” award for setting itself apart as a climate champion. For more updates and pictures, check out these blogs: http://sustainus.org/ http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/ That’s all for now. I’ll my best to keep you updated. Thank you so much again for your encouragement. It means so much to know you are supporting our efforts here in Copenhagen! Dominic -- Dominic Frongillo Councilmember and Deputy Town Supervisor Town of Caroline Member, SustainUS Youth Delegation to Copenhagen +45 52 68 9383 (Copenhagen) (607) 272-2292 (office) (607) 539-7335 (home) This message was sent by: Dominic Frongillo, 10 Bailor Road, Brooktondale, NY 14817 Email Marketing by iContact: http://freetrial.icontact.com Manage your subscription: http://app.icontact.com/icp/mmail-mprofile.pl?r=1026670082&l=59095&s=VC8Y&m=1928563&c=420564 _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
