By Joan Brown,osf
Young woman gathering money for climate justice finance.
Blessings this night, the last hours of COP 21 with everyone waiting for the final draft document that will be worked on all night, I am assuming. My blog tonight is in two parts. Part 1 is a synopsis of details of where we are at by Susan Stephenson, Director of Interfaith
Power and Light who is also here along with President and Foundress, Sally Bingham.
— U.S. joined the “high ambition coalition” to keep total warming to 1.5 degrees. This seems like a big win, and it is, but still the INDCs — the countries’ pledges — don’t add up to even keeping warming to 2 degrees.— U.S. is pushing for 5 year “ratchet and review” process so that we can not only take stock of progress within five years but also potentially revise the targets and increase the ambition. This is good, as some other countries are advocating for 10 years, or never.
— U.S. is vehemently opposed to “loss and damage” provisions for countries that face catastrophic impacts to their lands. Even though developing nations have agreed to keep this out of the agreement, US is aggressively pushing for a pre-emptive prohibition on loss and damage which is creating a lot of friction and resentment.
On Human Rights Day the issue of climate justice and finance was huge.
— John Kerry gave a press conference with a passionate 1 hour speech and no questions — announcing $800 million for developing nations in the form of grants, for adaptation. USCAN had organized a pre-meeting with Kerry that included faith advocates — Sally was at the table seated right beside Todd Stern (chief US climate negotiator) and across from Kerry (!)
With our faith colleagues we are trying to stress the moral imperative of the finance piece for developing nations, the importance of some accommodation of loss and damage. And that the $100 billion pledge for adaptation an mitigation (public and private monies) made in Cophenhagen must be a floor, not a ceiling. It is good to see a fairly diverse group of religious advocates here. The encyclical continues to be referenced in a variety of settings, and the need for a moral and just agreement.
— Differentiation of emissions targets for developing and developed nations is another major sticking point — the U.S. says they want “differentiation, not bifurcation” in an effort to get more commitments from the wealthier developing nations like China. Only developed nations had mandatory emissions reductions targets in the Kyoto Protocol.
Thoughts of the moment
A creative OXFAM message for leaders to wake up to Climate Change Action.
As I reflect upon these days here in Paris, I have experienced such a difference in attitude and climate from the last major COP in Copenhagen five years ago. I believe the primary reason for a positive movement to a place where it seems almost certain that we will have an agreement is because the world knows we must act. Everyone is committed to as strong of an agreement as possible and this reality makes for an amazing moment. The process of having nations submit a plan ahead of time (around 190 nations have submitted their plans to reduce emissions and move toward a clean energy future and others will follow) has led to a strong buy in and allowed the French to facilitate in an admirable manner.
While the final draft document, that will be worked upon throughout the night has not come out yet at his writing (8:30 pm), it seems that an agreement hovering around a reduction to keep temperature at 1.5 degrees will happen. In addition the very touchy points of: human rights and worker rights in a transitioning energy future; equal money for adaptation and mitigation;strong deadlines and targets to revisit country plans; issues of loss and damage compensation for vulnerable nations that have contributed little to the problem, differentiation understandings, and transparency are being worked upon in what seems to be a collaborative manner. In the midst of the difficult discussions the poorer, small and vulnerable nations continue to hold strong voices.
COP21 in Paris is judged not only by the agreement; but, by the movements of the people around the world who have worked tirelessly to bring the concerns to the fore. The people have said that no matter the agreement they will continue to work and fight for stronger solutions.
As I walked to the COP this morning, on UN Human Rights Day and throughout the day I found myself in tears or next to tears as I held the stories and realities of brothers and sisters around the planet. I found myself in tears at the mystery of being part of this amazing Home we share. I found myself moved and humbled by this call we share as kin with creatures, plants and humans to work for life and the future.
Episcopal led noon prayer with singing and reflections inside the People’s Climate Zone.
The very creative expressions such as the piggy bank calling to mind finance, and the out door bed with a lovely young OXFAM woman coaxing world leaders to wake up to climate change action allowed me to marvel again at the creativity and energy of the younger folks. A lovely prayerful time with Episcopal friends in the People’s Climate Zone at noon (they have been doing this every day) reminded me again of the unique place of religious leaders and the importance of the faith presence. Let us continue to pray through the night for those negotiating and for all of us in the civil society.
This is an important moment.
