Climate Justice (News)

To:  The Danish Parliament Over the past week, tens of thousands of people from across the planet have taken to the streets of Copenhagen demanding real and just solutions to climate change. But on the streets, as well as inside the UN Climate Change Conference, delegates and ‘outsiders’ alike are doubting that the conference will reach a deal that isn’t a disaster for most of the world.

Inside the Bella Centre, where the UN delegates are meeting, numerous critical voices have been marginalised through technical and procedural manoeuvres. Others, like Friends of the Earth International, have had their accreditation revoked. Outside, the policing of protest has been consistently draconian and occasionally brutal.

By Ellen Choy

Dear UN: We are losing faith in you quickly. Please advise. With love, Future Leaders

As Copenhagen boils with anxiety about today’s mass climate justice action at the Bella Center, all I can do is lower my head at the United Nations in complete disappointment. Shutting out thousands of representatives of civil society from entering the UN conference this week, without showing a drop of compassion, has put me teetering on the edge of renunciation. We came to the UN conference to represent ourselves, as young leaders from the US and youth of color who believe that our presence here matters, and that the story we share can benefit the international community.

Today I witnessed an unexpected and extraordinary outburst of candor from one of the key players in these negotiations – Lumumba Di-Aping, Sudanese by birth and chief negotiator of the so-called G77 bloc, which mostly consists of poor countries.

I attended an ad-hoc meeting in the Bella Center attended by about 100 African representatives of civil society and a few African parliamentarians – among them Lance Greyling, an member of Parliament from South Africa – this afternoon. The meeting was called at short notice and its agenda was not announced.

After a few minutes of introductions Di-Aping was given the floor to speak to fellow Africans. Requests were made by organizers to turn off all microphones so as not to record what was going to be said, although Di-Aping made a point of turning his on, saying half-jokingly, “They are probably listening anyway.”

U.S. Groups Release Climate Justice and Immigrant Rights Statement Calling for Human Rights Protection of Communities Displaced by Climate Change

(Washington, DC)  Organizations around the country released a national statement in conjunction with the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen this week, calling for increased attention and awareness to forced displacement caused by climate change, for the protection of the rights of these displaced communities, for legal and financial assistance directly to climate refugees, and for an immediate reduction of carbon emissions.  It asserts that while as many as 50 million people have already been displaced by climate change, this number could rise to as much as 150 million by 2050.  The statement also condemns government policies and corporate practices that directly lead to climate change and that adversely impact the displacement of communities around the world.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 7, 2009 Copenhagen, Denmark - A multi-generational delegation of 21 Indigenous Peoples from North America have arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark this week to advocate for the incorporation of Indigenous Peoples rights in the language of a fair, binding, and science-based global climate treaty at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).