Fossil of the Day - June 17, 2011
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Photo credit: Adopt a Negotiator
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Tag: NGO participation
A Slew of Fossils and Rays Awarded On Second to Last Day of Bonn Talks
Submitted by dturnbull on
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 16 June 2011
Contact:
Kyle Gracey
kylegracey@gmail.com
+1 814 659 2405
A Slew of Fossils and Rays Awarded On Second to Last Day of Bonn Talks
Bonn, Germany – With just over a day left in the United Nations climate change
negotiations here, countries showed they still have plenty of energy left to delay
progress in the fight against climate change, while other nations showed they
recognized how important civil society is in moving the negotiations forward.
Frequent “winner” Saudi Arabia took another Fossil, joined this time by a surprise
blocker, Antigua and Barbuda, for trying to diminish civil society's role in the talks.
Meanwhile, four nations and the European Union earned a rare Ray of the Day for
supporting the very same civil society groups. Both were overshadowed by the fossil
for Japan's renewed refusal to extend its namesake Kyoto Protocol.
The Fossils as presented read:
"The Second place Fossil goes to Saudi Arabia and Antigua and Barbuda for blocking
attempts to enhance NGO participation. Saudi Arabia is a frequent winner of these
awards and really needs no explanation. They have a long history of blocking just
about everything from legal issues to adaptation, agendas to observer participation.
The Saudis should be isolated for their obstructionist ways and not allowed to dictate
text on this or any other issue. As for Antigua & Barbuda, it breaks our heart to give
your individual country the fossil, but to suggest that we would be moving too fast to
allow NGOs to make interventions without submitting written statements in advance
is just ridiculous! In the fight against climate change, speed is of the essence! For
prompting a lack of engagement and transparency, you two get the fossil!"
"Japan earns the First place Fossil. Yesterday, we heard again Japan’s well known
position that it will not inscribe a target under a second period of the Kyoto Protocol
under ANY circumstance. It is very regrettable that we see no room for flexibility.
The Kyoto Protocol second commitment period is the heart of a Durban package and
Japan’s unchanged position will jeopardize the success of the Durban meeting.
Market mechanisms, which Japan favors so much, may not be used anymore if Japan
doesn’t have a target under the Kyoto Protocol. Is this really OK, Japan? Lack of a
target under the international legal framework would weaken implementation of
domestic policies and actions and lose international competitiveness in a low carbon
economy. We don’t really understand."
"The Ray of the Day goes to a group of countries who have stood strong for
transparency in the face of attacks from countries hoping to hide behind closed doors.
They clearly recognize the productive and important role NGOs play in this process
and have done all they can to suggest improvements, propose compromises, and shine
a light on this process in the hopes of supporting not only civil society but in so doing
also the global effort to address climate change. On a side note, if more Parties had
similar positions on transparency to these, perhaps we could avoid protracted fights
on agendas and other matters in the future, simply in order to avoid embarrassment.
For these actions in support of transparency, accountability and civil society, we
award this Ray of the Day to the EU, Mexico, Bolivia, Philippines, and Australia."
_____________________________________________________________________
About CAN: The Climate Action Network is a worldwide network of roughly 500
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) 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.
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When the Rubber Hits the Road, Will Civil Society be Left Behind?
Submitted by Anonymous on
Last week, ECO wondered if Parties would “walk the walk” on supporting civil society participation. The full-day workshop included many nice words and sentiments, but ECO has heard a lot of those and is rather interested in whether those words would be followed up with action.
Now the rubber is hitting the road in the SBI Contact Group discussions. Unfortunately, to ECO’s dismay, the answer remains unclear.
In yesterday’s SBI Contact Group, Saudi Arabia came out strongly against enhancing civil society participation. While appalling, this is perhaps not unexpected, given how much Saudi Arabia has to hide when it comes to their own climate policies. But Saudi Arabia was not alone in rejecting improvements on transparency and participation.
They were supported by India as well as Antigua and Barbuda on at least some of the issues. These three countries opposed language to encourage more informal consultations to be open to observers – and ECO noted that they were the only ones to oppose.
ECO is forced to wonder, what are Saudi Arabia, India, Antigua and Barbuda hiding? Well, we know what Saudi Arabia is up to, but why would India, Antigua and Barbuda want to shut civil society out?
The SBI Chair’s draft text provided a solid foundation for enhanced civil society participation and transparency and ECO was pleased to hear Australia, the European Union, Colombia, Mexico, and Bolivia all emphasize the need for transparency and the productive role of civil society organizations, and brought some common sense to the matter.
Civil society wants to support countries in their collective efforts to save “Mother Earth” from climate change, if only parties would create the space for their support.
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ECO 10, Bonn 2011, Spanish Version
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ECO 10, Bonn 2011, English version
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ECO 9, Bonn 2011, Spanish Version
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ECO 4, Bonn 2011, Spanish Version
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ECO 9, Bonn 2011, English version
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Fossil of the Day Awards - Bonn - June 11, 2011
Submitted by MBrockley on
Japan wins first place fossil and the second place fossil goes to, Well, We Aren’t
Sure.
First Place Fossil is awarded to Japan. Today Japan reiterated their position of
supporting the inclusion of nuclear facilities to CDM. Today, June 11th, the three-
month anniversary since the tragic earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear disaster,
saw thousands of Japanese people demonstrating against nuclear energy in more than
100 cities all across Japan. It is hard to believe that Japan has not changed its position
of including nuclear facilities into CDM, even after this tragic event. We urge Japan
to listen to its own people and come up with a new position right away. Japan can
actually lead the discussion and persuade others to exclude nuclear from the CDM!
The second placed fossil goes to...well we aren't exactly sure. Flying in the face of
enhanced NGO participation, an important focus of this session, and the mantra of
transparency, 'an unknown Party or group of Parties' approached the Chair to block
the valiant efforts of Ambassador De Alba to open the LCA informal on legal issues
on Friday afternoon. Not only do we need fair, ambitious and legally binding efforts
to save our dear planet, those discussions should take place in an open and transparent
manner. Just as we have supported the call for Parties not intending to commit to a
second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to come clean with their intentions,
we expect the same level of transparency with respect to legally binding intentions
under the LCA - and that starts with opening the informal to observers. For your non-
transparent ways, this Party or group of Parties gets an Anonymous Fossil. Is anyone
willing to accept the award?
About CAN: The Climate Action Network (CAN) is a worldwide network of roughly
700 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working to promote government and
individual action to limit human0induced 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.
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Fossil of the Day Awards - Bonn - June 11, 2011
Submitted by MBrockley on
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11 June 2011
Bonn, Germany
Contact:
David Turnbull
dturnbull@climatenetwork.org
USA: +12023163499
Germany: +49(0)2523657307
Japan wins first place fossil and the second place fossil goes to, Well, We Aren’t
Sure.
First Place Fossil is awarded to Japan. Today Japan reiterated their position of
supporting the inclusion of nuclear facilities to CDM. Today, June 11th, the three-
month anniversary since the tragic earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear disaster,
saw thousands of Japanese people demonstrating against nuclear energy in more than
100 cities all across Japan. It is hard to believe that Japan has not changed its position
of including nuclear facilities into CDM, even after this tragic event. We urge Japan
to listen to its own people and come up with a new position right away. Japan can
actually lead the discussion and persuade others to exclude nuclear from the CDM!
The second placed fossil goes to...well we aren't exactly sure. Flying in the face of
enhanced NGO participation, an important focus of this session, and the mantra of
transparency, 'an unknown Party or group of Parties' approached the Chair to block
the valiant efforts of Ambassador De Alba to open the LCA informal on legal issues
on Friday afternoon. Not only do we need fair, ambitious and legally binding efforts
to save our dear planet, those discussions should take place in an open and transparent
manner. Just as we have supported the call for Parties not intending to commit to a
second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to come clean with their intentions,
we expect the same level of transparency with respect to legally binding intentions
under the LCA - and that starts with opening the informal to observers. For your non-
transparent ways, this Party or group of Parties gets an Anonymous Fossil. Is anyone
willing to accept the award?
About CAN: The Climate Action Network (CAN) is a worldwide network of roughly
700 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working to promote government and
individual action to limit human0induced 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.
###
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