Press Releases

Bonn, 22 June 2019: Mid-way through the intersessional UN climate negotiations in Bonn, CAN members say progress has been sluggish on countries’ cooperation to meet their Paris commitments or Article 6, on loss and damage and the implementation cycle of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), known as common timeframes.

Bonn, 19 June 2019: The EU can demonstrate genuine climate leadership by announcing at the European Council meetings tomorrow that they will enhance their 2030 targets and mobilize support for developing countries to implement climate plans to keep warming below 1.5°C.

EU countries must clearly state that they will heed the calls for concrete climate action by youth on the streets and an electorate, which brought green parties to power, by declaring that they will go to the UN Secretary General Climate Action Summit in September with plans not speeches.

Nature-based solutions must be among first line of options to cut emissions and strengthen revised NDCs, due in 2020  
 

Bonn, 18 June 2019: In the face of the twin emergencies we are facing - of rapid loss of species and biodiversity  and climate change, protecting our natural heritage is the best route to a healthy and prosperous future for people and planet, according to the Climate Action Network panelists at the UN intersessional climate talks here in Bonn.

Decades of dependence on a carbon-based economy has produced grave injustices on a global scale. Our children, grandchildren and the many vulnerable communities and species on the planet now have to carry the burden of a crisis that they have not caused. The youth are forced to act like grown-ups. Faced with government inaction despite the stark warnings from scientists to act, young people chose to leave school to confront a system that failed us all, but particularly those with the least power. Years of empty promises to address the climate emergency have created intergenerational mistrust. Our children and grandchildren don’t trust us as adults, citizens, business people and politicians. Around the world, young people are taking to the streets to reclaim a safe future. They are not alone in this fight. They have inspired us to join them in saying: no, our future is not for sale and governments must ensure that fossil fuels are kept in the ground. We will exert all efforts to guarantee their victory. This newly generated grassroots power is putting the last nail in the coffin of the fossil fuel industry and advocating for true, rights- and evidence-based solutions to climate change. It is essential that governments act on climate and work with vulnerable communities to protect them from dangerous warming while we ensure ecosystems can thrive and restore. The science is clear we must move faster to avoid catastrophe by decarbonizing the economy, cutting emissions by half by 2030 to reach zero emissions by 2050. We, the members of civil society, stand in solidarity with students worldwide demanding climate justice. We shall relentlessly support their effort until they meet the success of their struggle through concrete government action to resolve the climate emergency.