“We must all hang together or assuredly, we will all hang separately”
- Benjamin Franklin, at the signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, 1776
On December 7th, 2009 the United Nations Conference of Climate Change will begin in Copenhagen, Denmark. The opportunity for the worlds leaders to create lasting change on the issue of climate change is unprecedented. The implication of climate change are being felt by people around the world, but the worlds poor are baring the brunt.
I just watched This Video done by Christian Aid, a British based aid agency. I think it outlines the main reason why it’s important to engage with the issue of climate change- people.
When I was working in Ethiopia in 2008, I sat and listened to community elders tell me stories of how their traditional livelihood of pastoralism was being threatened by the changing climate. For centuries people in their community have traveled with their goats, camels and cows to pastures near and far, following the patterns of rain. The region used to experience an extreme drought every 100 years, then it was every 10 years, and lately the drought has seemed to never end. Cow carcasses could be seen rotting behind dry bushes, and the goats that wondered near by had become too skinny to produce milk. This meant that there was less milk to feed the children or to make cheese from. It also meant that the community was forced to travel greater distances in search of green pastures, and therefore school age children were less likely to attend school.
By 2020, up to 250 million people across Africa could face more severe water shortages as a result of climate change-related drought. Communities can adapt by planting drought-resistant crops or using new irrigation systems.
This was just one village, but the stories are similar around the world, whether people are tackling increased flooding, tsunami’s or extreme drought, poor communities are struggling to adapt to these life-threatening circumstances.
Oxfam International released a report called Hang Together or Separately. The report highlights the needs of people, and what can be done by our world leaders to stop harming, start helping and establish fair solutions.
A summary from Oxfam International: Climate change offers humanity no second chances. An agreement struck at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in just six months’ time could pave the way for a post-2012 climate regime that staves off catastrophic climate change. Delay or failure risks locking in runaway climate change, and will certainly multiply the costs of responding to its negative impacts – costs that are already being borne mostly by poor people.
Rich countries must reduce greenhouse gas emissions first and fastest, with ambitious targets at home based upon their responsibility for causing climate change and their capability to respond. But whilst deep emissions reductions in rich countries are still critical, climate security will now be won or lost as a result of co-operative efforts in which rich countries finance large-scale emissions reductions in developing countries. Establishing a Global Mitigation and Finance Mechanism can achieve these reductions while respecting principles of equity and delivering tangible development gains for poor people. This must be a centrepiece of the Copenhagen deal in December 2009. But much greater political attention and support is needed for this vital part of the deal to be developed in time.
Key recommendations from the report:
-
- Copenhagen must deliver a fair and adequate climate deal: one that keeps global warming as far below 2°C as possible, and that reflects the historical responsibility for emissions and the economic capability of developed countries.
- Rich countries must agree binding individual country targets that cut greenhouse gas emissions to at least 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.
- A UNFCCC Mitigation and Finance Mechanism must be established to match mitigation actions from developing countries with the required finance from rich countries – $100bn per year as an absolute minimum.
- Rich countries must agree to provide sufficient funding for capacity-building, mitigation and adaptation, through the purchase of their Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) from the UNFCCC Mitigation and Finance Mechanism.