Thank you Chair,
I am speaking on behalf of the Climate Action Network.
In Durban parties must take strides towards the full operationalisation of the Green Climate Fund by 2013 and make progress on long-term sources of finance to fill the fund. A decision on finance in Durban must include the following elements:
First, developing countries cannot afford delay to the operationalisation of the Green Climate Fund, and the work of the Transition Committee this year cannot be wasted. CAN strongly urges parties to follow the recommendation of the Transitional Committee to adopt the governing instrument of the Green Climate Fund.
Parties must also ensure the Fund is capitalized as soon as possible; which will require commitments here in Durban to cover the costs of the Board and secretariat in 2012 and to ensure a substantial first tranche of funding so that disbursement of finance can begin in 2013.
To be successful over time, the Green Climate Fund must have stable and predictable sources of capital. Parties must therefore move forward on the most promising new sources of public finance here is Durban, such as carbon pricing for international transport. Crucially, parties must also adopt a work plan here in Durban to further consider other sources of public finance next year ahead of decisions at COP-18, such as use of Special Drawing Rights and Financial Transaction Taxes and reallocation of fossil fuel subsidies implemented in developed countries.
Finally, parties must agree that there will be no financing gap after the “Fast Start Finance” period ends, and agree a trajectory to progressively ramp up financing to meet the $100 billion per year commitment by 2020. Some parties have insisted there is no risk of climate finance falling off a cliff in 2013. Informal statements to this effect are welcome, but the process would benefit much more from a clear statement of this intent in the text.
Thank you, Madame President.
My name is Alden Meyer from the Union of Concerned Scientists, and I am speaking on behalf of the Climate Action Network.
CAN believes there are three sets of actions that Parties must take here in Durban:
First, Kyoto Protocol parties must commit at Durban to a ratifiable second commitment period that starts in 2013 and ends in 2017. Also, the loopholes threatening the environmental integrity of the Kyoto Protocol must be closed.
Second, it is essential that the commitments and actions of all Parties be inscribed in one or more legally binding instruments. To that end, Parties must agree here in Durban to launch negotiation of such an instrument to be adopted by 2015, and to be in force by 2018 at the latest. These negotiations should bebased on principles of common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities, equity and adequacy. The purpose is notto renegotiate the Convention, but to further advance its effective implementation and help fulfil the Bali Action Plan.
Third, we need a set of decisions in Durban to advance all of the elements of the Bali Action Plan: adaptation, finance, mitigation, technology, and capacity building.
On adaptation, we need a clear roadmap to ramp up assistance to vulnerable countries who are already suffering serious impacts of climate change.
On Finance, Parties should adopt the governing instrument of the Green Climate Fund, agree a trajectory to ramp up financing towards the 2020 goal of at least $100 billion per year, and adopt a work plan to consider innovative sources of public finance to help meet this goal.
Finally, if we are to meet the 2 degrees C target and keep alive the option of staying below 1.5 degrees C, we can’t wait until 2020 – or even until completion of the science review in 2015 – to substantially raise ambition on mitigation. Here in Durban, Parties must agree upon a dedicated work program for 2012, with the goal of taking specific actions on mitigation at COP 18 in Qatar that will help close the well-recognized gigatonnes gap.
This is admittedly an ambitious agenda. But the peoples of the world expect no less.
Thank you again, Madame President, for this opportunity to share our views.
Thank you Chair,
I am speaking on behalf of the Climate Action Network.
We call on Parties to acknowledge the urgency with which climate change needs to be addressed and to agree to ambitious and immediate emissions reduction targets that are in line with the Cancun Agreement to prevent global warming beyond two degrees Celsius. Kyoto Protocol parties must commit to a second commitment period at Durban. The legal and governance structure of the Kyoto Protocol is crucial to ensuring that mitigation commitments are legally binding and have environmental integrity.
Loopholes represent an extreme threat to the environmental integrity and effectiveness of the post-2012 climate regime. The surplus of AAUs under the Kyoto Protocol amounts to 7.5-10 Gt CO2e, roughly one third of current 2020 emissions reduction targets pledged by Annex 1 countries. We call on Parties to fully address the issue of surplus AAUs generated during the 2008-2012 commitment period. Double counting for new market and non-market mechanisms must absolutely be avoided and accountability for LULUCF needs to be strengthened.
In LULUCF, Annex 1 countries have laid their cards on the table, proposing to hide forestry emissions and largely not account for emissions from other land uses. This undermines targets and the Kyoto Protocol. Durban is the last chance for countries, including developing countries that are committed to rules with environmental integrity, to reject the worst options on the table, and require robust rules.
Thank you, Chair.
Credit: Ingrid Næss-Holm
Summaries in: English, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish
Cancun was a modest success as it buried the ghost of the failure of Copenhagen. However, the Cancun Agreements postponed important issues that underpin the success, or otherwise, of efforts to fight catastrophic climate change.
The Cancun Agreements provide real opportunities to advance global cooperation in adaptation, forests, climate finance and technology transfer. If all opportunities outlined within the Cancun Agreements are grasped, and parties take the following thoughtful and logical next steps, it is possible that COP17 in Durban could establish the basis for a fair, ambitious and binding global climate change regime. If this does not happen, if instead there is delay and lack of ambition, then we risk losing the chance to keep global warming below 1.5oC and we must face the catastrophic consequences for loss of life, economic growth and natural habitat. Without adequate mitigation, finance, technology and capacity building we will have to accept that poor communities and countries who are already feeling the impacts of changing climate will be picked off the planet.
This is why CAN believes that a compromised or low-ambition outcome is not an option for Durban, and why we set a high but achievable bar for COP 17. Parties can confront this historic challenge with new levels of solidarity and partnership and avert this pressing climate reality, by taking the steps outlined here.
This program aims to strengthen the capacity and voice of CAN Southern NGO members to influence the international and national negotiation processes under the UN Climate Change Talks towards...
