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Isaac Kabongo from Ecological Christian Organization speaks on the cost of no action on climate change and the situation in Uganda.
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Isaac Kabongo
Executive Director
Ecological Christian Organisation (ECO)
Uganda
Negotiations are not all about competition, but the survival of humanity.
As a CAN Southern Capacity Building Program (SCBP) Fellow, I have been following the climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany learning some amazing lessons and discovering frustrations in the process.
It all started with a clear message that the fastest-ever rise in greenhouse gas emissions is an "inconvenient truth” that the world must face, the UN's climate change chief Christiana Figueres, said. But she added that the data should not lead to fatalism that the problem is impossible to tackle. She acknowledged that Countries have run out of time to launch a new binding deal by 2013, implying a messy, legal gap. But she also issued a strong call to governments; "I won't hear that this is impossible; governments must make it possible for society, business and science to get this job done."
Ministers agreed last year in Cancun, Mexico to limit a rise in average global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) above pre-industrial times, seen as the threshold for “dangerous” change such as heat waves, droughts, floods and rising seas. However, the debate over the meeting agenda in Bonn made some countries doubt the value of extra meetings before Durban. “Without progress in these two weeks there’s no point in having another session in the fall,” the Colombian delegation said during the launch of the Bonn session.
Developed countries have yet to decide whether to fund additional sessions before an annual ministerial conference in Durban, South Africa in November. “This will depend among other things on the extent of progress made here in Bonn, and whether the political will among parties exists for a further session,” said the head of the EU delegation, Artur Runge-Metzger. “We are well aware of the fact that deliberations in Durban will be difficult,” South African delegate, Nozipho Diseko, told the Bonn conference participants.
Talks can only proceed by consensus, not confrontation and suspicion as expressed by some delegates. “I’m a little sad participating in these negotiations because the atmosphere is so confrontational,” said Akira Yamada, head of the Japanese delegation. “We’re not prepared to move if the obligations just point only to those in the developed world,” said Jonathan Pershing, the U.S. head of delegation in Bonn.
As Ambassador Jorge Arguello of Argentina said, "we must stop making excuses and sit down at the negotiation table to decide strong terms for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. Some countries are hiding behind fragmented information and cherry-picking numbers to claim that a second commitment period is not possible and blame developing countries. That simply is not true."
I smell a rat that could poison our hope and expectation for a fair, ambitious and legally binding climate change agreement this year in Durban, South Africa. Parties need to focus on substance as opposed to raising just issues, on transparency and accountability for their actions, on embracing open discussions, and on the participation of civil society. It is also vital that the voices of the vulnerable, marginalized and powerless are heard, respected and considered during the whole negotiation process. It is also my belief that every aspect of the negotiation should be handled in the spirit of partnership, cooperation and development, and not malice, jealousy and sabotage. Failure to walk the talk, to appreciate our last chance, to sacrifice our privileges and defend human civilization, the results are catastrophic in nature and thus – “the jigger in the flesh”. Let us act now on climate change!!
A Jigger is a parasitic flea found in tropical climates that can cause an inflammatory skin disease.
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By Isaac Kabongo
Reality is here living with us, and local communities have accepted to live with it: the impacts of climate change. The floods or prolonged heavy rains that cause landslides are ceasing to be the breaking news in local media and many communities in Uganda; it is now both, a fashion and a way of life. Uganda is vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change due to rampant poverty, weak existence of institutional capacity, inadequate skills, limited knowledge by planners and decision makers, low level of technological development, and limited financial resources among others. Climate change’s strikes undermine the achievement of the millennium development goals as well as the overall development strategy of the country.
So the question is ‘for how long should we wait before the international community understands that enough is enough’? The need to take action has outlived its time, but its relevance remains as important as ever. The global community in the spirit of cooperation and development should give priority to coming up with a fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement to tackle climate in Cancun. Communities living with the reality of climate change have been taken as hostages and much is said and promised to help them to come out of this situation, but nothing tangible happens. Local communities have learnt how to live with the dead and the injured due to severe floods, hunger and landslides and others have been accused of cannibalism even when they are not.
The truth is that communities are doing everything possible to adapt. However, their resilience is still very low because yet the existing structures can’t support them.
Very few adaptation options are investigated and promoted as floods and landslides continue to make havoc. Farmers interviewed by CAN Uganda while conducting climate hearings, have clearly indicated that they are not properly equipped to adapt to climatic changes and protect their livelihoods. Furthermore, there is poor preparation to disasters and limited support for local coping strategies. Communities are equipped with rudimentary technologies which makes them almost permanently incapable of responding to the growing threat of climate change in the region.
Early adaptation to climate change can moderate impacts and even secure benefits. New international finance and political attention on climate change also has the potential to strengthen weak institutions and to reduce the social vulnerability and inequity which has long been a target of development assistance. However, although pockets of excellent technical expertise and disparate activities on climate change are emerging, in part through the response to the UNFCCC, action by government to date falls well short of what is needed to climate-proof Uganda's development. Alongside explicit capacity constraints in terms of resources and personnel, there are less obvious constraints to effective action such as confused mandates, dysfunctional arrangements for inter-agency working, and weak institutional and professional incentives for pro-active action.
The international climate talks through the UNFCCC must work quickly and decisively towards a fair, ambitious and legally binding climate change agreement. The international community as it tackles climate change should put humanity first before economics. Time will judge global citizens wrong, if we fail to bold action to reduce the impacts of climate change.
