YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - The decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement signals that the Trump Administration is in total discord with both reality and the rest of the world,a press release from Climate Action states.
Civil society actors have been reacting to news of the withdrawal and are unanimous that the first to suffer from the injudicious decision is the American people. "This action is totally contrary to their best interests: their health, security, food supply, jobs and future," the release states.
By turning its back on climate action, the Trump administration burdens the American people with rising costs and risks from pollution, environmental degradation and lost opportunities in a low-carbon economy and renewable energy jobs. None of this will make America great, in any way.
The overwhelming show of support from the international community in the past weeks, defending the Paris Accord, is a reminder that the world is wasting no time on laggards when it comes to climate action.
“Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement is an act of global environmental vandalism that has the potential to do great harm to current and future generations. Even without the US as a party, Paris still represents our best chance of avoiding severe and destabilising climate change. The rest of the world must continue to build on Paris to speed the transition to a cleaner, lower-carbon world. The direction of travel is clear, and climate action will continue globally and within the US, as states and businesses continue to drive progress. In the meantime the commitment of the UK, the EU and other leading nations is more important than ever,” says Jonathan Church, lawyer, ClientEarth
"As global temperatures hit record high every year now, the world is rightfully outraged by the decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement.
We welcome the strong statements from all other world leaders that their countries will not withdraw their commitments, goals, policies and actions related to climate change. Unlike the view of the current US administration, countries all over the world see the Paris Agreement as an engine for growth and jobs.The EU is already strengthening its alliances with countries like China and Canada, as well as those most affected by climate change. The EU needs to step up its game now, to trigger more climate action and smooth the way for scaling up the Paris climate pledges, " points out Wendel Trio, Director, Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe .
For Catherine Abreu, Executive Director, Climate Action Network,Canada has quickly established a track record of collaborating and working across differences to launch coherent climate strategies. Now is the moment for Canada to take that to the next level, and emerge on the world stage as a bold climate leader. "Trump may be ready to abandon the benefits associated with climate action, including improved air quality and human health, job creation in emerging industries, and international influence. Yet it is clear that American states, communities, and businesses are not willing to make the same sacrifice. Canadian governments and citizens will continue to work with these entities and allies in Mexico to maintain North American momentum on climate action.”
“The historic Paris Agreement was achieved thanks in large part to US climate diplomacy, but it will succeed with or without the US, as the rest of the world remain committed to the low-carbon transition. The 20th Century was powered by fossil fuels and America dominated the world. The 21st Century will be powered by clean energy and Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement could mark the end of American supremacy," says Mohamed Adow, International Climate Lead, Christian Aid.
"In the face of a dangerous and failing Trump administration, and its withdrawal of the US from the Paris Climate Accord, the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network stands in solidarity with our partners, frontline communities and Indigenous peoples worldwide as we continue to organize ceaselessly and rise ever more boldly to end extraction of fossil fuels and the destruction of the planet for profit and power. Women worldwide are working everyday to protect our lands, waters, climate and children’s futures - and though the challenges and injustices we face are many - women will be undeterred in our action and advocacy for a just and livable world. " - Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN International)
“U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will erode America’s standing in the world at a time when global cooperation is needed more than ever. Coming on the heels of a budget proposal that, if enacted, would increase suffering among the poorest and make the world a more dangerous place, the Trump Administration’s intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement is another failure of U.S. leadership. Addressing climate change is critical to the continued progress to combat extreme poverty and to alleviate humanitarian crises. Walking away from the Paris Agreement now is a sign that America is prepared, not only to stand in isolation, but also to walk away from its partners, from its moral responsibility, and from the promise it owes to future generations of a healthy and safe planet.” -Michelle Nunn, president and CEO, CARE USA
The Paris Agreement is a lifeline for small islands and vulnerable communities everywhere. President Trump’s decision to withdraw from Paris will not bring prosperity to the US. It will create further injustice for those who have contributed little to climate change. - Farhana Yamin, Founder and CEO, Track
NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - The U.S. President Donald Trump has finally made good his threat to withdraw his country from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, in a move that has been condemned by leaders and personalities from all over the world including USA.
During his campaign for U.S. presidency, Trump vowed to put ‘America first.’ But his decision to withdraw from an international agreement that has been signed by 194 and ratified by 147 countries has left America walking on a lonely path alongside Syria and Nicaragua.
"Donald Trump has made a historic mistake which our grandchildren will look back on with stunned dismay," Thomson Reuters Foundation quoted Michael Brune, the Executive Director, Sierra Club.
In a statement released by Climate Justice Info, civil society representatives and social movement leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States vowed to build people power to address the climate crisis despite Trump’s decision.
"Climate change is not waiting for U.S. action and neither can the rest of the world,” said Ben Schreiber of the Friends of the Earth USA.
“Trump has turned the U.S. into a rogue climate state and the world should use economic and diplomatic pressure to compel the U.S. to do its fair share,” said Schreiber adding that the majority of Americans do not support the president and his fossil fuel agenda that puts corporate profits above people.
Sreedhar Ramamurthi of the Environics India pointed out that it is because of the historic U.S. pollution, that the world is already suffering the consequences of a rapidly warming world with droughts, fires, and floods wreaking havoc with livelihoods and lives, even displacing whole communities.
“Trump wants to add to that historic pollution and condemn present and future generations in the global south to further suffering and death. We cannot allow this, there must be forceful political, legal, and economic consequences levied against the U.S. Trump must realise that in the case of climate, nature has the trump card and not him and his cronies," said Ramamurthi.
Rachel Smolker of the BiofuelWatch USA also expressed her disappointment in Trump’s decision. "I am ashamed of my country's persistent role in undermining efforts to create a strong and binding agreement, now culminating in Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement,” she said.
“Here in the U.S. climate justice activists are scrambling hard to find a path forward from within. We hope our allies will let their voices be heard at U.S. embassies - to both isolate Donald Trump and his ilk - and apply pressure on the U.S. to step up and take responsibility for real and equitable solutions to the escalating climate catastrophe," added Smolker.
In a statement to the media, Trump’s announcement was also highly regretted by the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The UNFCCC Secretariat also noted the announced intention to renegotiate the modalities for the US participation in the agreement. In that regard, the secretariat said it was ready to engage in dialogue with the United States government regarding the implications of the announcement.
However, according to the Secretariat, the Paris Agreement remains a historic treaty signed by 194 and ratified by 147 counties and cannot be renegotiated based on the request of a single Party.
According to Mithika Mwenda, the Secretary General for the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), the people power and international solidarity are the only hope for averting an unimaginable climate crisis which will fan the flames of every existing inequality and injustice.
“It will take all of us around the world, organising together, to hold the historic emitters like the U.S. under the watch of Donald Trump to account and ensure our governments also do their fair share of climate action in the next four years to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees. Trump's decision doesn't change that," said Mwenda.
The Paris Agreement is an accord within the UNFCCC dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.
The Agreement is aimed at reducing risk to economies and lives everywhere, while building the foundation for a more prosperous, secure and sustainable world. It enjoys profound credibility, as it was forged by all nations and is supported by a growing wave of business, investors, cities, states, regions and citizens.
BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - Environment experts have called for a strong public/private partnership to finance agro-forestry and fight against climate change.
During the SBSTA 46 climate conference in Bonn, Germany, experts from World Agroforstry Centre, (ICRAF), Oro verde –Tropical Forestry Foundation and Global Nature Fund (GNF), tapped into different Agro-forestry success cases to showcase potential pathways to drive the fight against climate change.
The discussions were held under the theme “High impact public-private climate finance” with case studies from Africa and Latin America.
According to Dr Peter Minang of ICRAF, Agroforests and agroforestry can be direct targets of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programs, or indirect parts of the necessary conditions for success.
“Whether or not agro-forestry becomes a core element of REDD+ depends on the country’s forest definition. Where carbon stocks in agroforestry cannot be directly targeted in REDD+, agroforestry still can be included in REDD+ strategies, as ways to shift demand for land and provide alternative sources of products otherwise derived from forest over-exploitation or conversion, thereby avoiding leakage from forest protection efforts,” Minang pointed out .
Financing Agro-forestry in the fight against climate change experts say has become imperative and can take the form of supporting capacity building to increase the number of investible projects, leveraging smallholder farmers who are key private investors ,analyse risk reduction potential for environment and social improvement and establishing a monitoring system.
“Agro-forestry is a climate-smart process that requires adequate attention and financial support,” said Dr Lalisa Duguma, scientist at the World Agro-forestry Centre and ASB Partnership.
Agro-forestry he said helps in agriculture adaptation and resilience building, restoring the soil and enhancing crop production.
However, Torsten Klimper of the German Tropical Forest Foundation OroVerde cautioned that funding biodiversity projects requires respect for the laws regulating biodiversity.
“There is need for investors to ensure total respect of the laws regulating biodiversity,” he cautioned.
According to experts, ecological farming encompasses a wide range of modern crop and livestock management systems that seek to increase yields and incomes, and maximise the sustainable use of local natural resources while minimising the need for external inputs.
Ecological farming ensures healthy farming and healthy food for today and tomorrow, by protecting soil, water and climate. It promotes biodiversity, and does not contaminate the environment with chemical inputs or genetically engineered plant varieties
This involves Agro-forestry that focuses on the wide range of work with trees grown on farms and in rural landscapes. Among these are fertiliser trees for land regeneration, soil health and food security, fruit trees for nutrition, fodder trees that improve smallholder livestock production, timber and fuelwood trees for shelter and energy, medicinal trees to combat disease, and trees that produce gums, resins or latex products. Many of these trees are multipurpose, providing a range of social, economic and environmental benefits, the experts explained.
In anticipation of the reviewing of NDC’s in 2018 experts recommended the inclusion and mainstreaming of Agro-forestry in the various national climate change agenda.
Dr Minang called for creating mechanisms to reward Agro-forestry practitioners for the environmental services they provide, such as carbon sequestration, water quality improvements, and biodiversity protection. He emphasized the need to ensure that mitigation activities in Africa also enhance adaptation.
The World Agro-forestry Centre (ICRAF) is a centre of scientific excellence possessing the world’s largest repository of agro-forestry science and information. Their vision accordingly is ensuring equitable world where all people have viable livelihoods supported by healthy and productive landscapes. The Centre according to ICRAF generates science-based knowledge about the diverse roles that trees play in agricultural landscapes, and uses its research to advance policies and practices, and their implementation that benefit the poor and the environment.
BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - The United Nations seeks to involve young professionals from developing countries in implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) through a new fellowship programme run by two key UN agencies based in Bonn, Germany.
According to a press statement released in Bonn on 15th May, the fellowship initiative will offer work experience in a vibrant international policy environment at the UN Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC).
“Young, qualified professionals from developing countries represent one of our best resources for building capacity for climate action,” said Patricia Espinosa, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary.
“As we move with determination into the new era of implementation of the Paris Agreement, we need to equip young people with the skills to green economies and build resilience, and this initiative is an example of how organisations can prepare young people for the challenges of the future,” she said
The United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) will help identify and recruit the young professionals, and provide them with an exciting research environment.
Upon completion of the scheme, the “Early Career Climate Fellows” will be able to work in their home countries or internationally, deploying the valuable experience and insights they have gained in Bonn.
“We will also be building their skills so they can better secure employment in the work-place. Many of the young people we will be supporting need real-life experience to get on the job ladder. What we are doing is also a living example of Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) under Article 6 of the original Convention. It ranges from education to training in respect to climate change: So we are securing a great, dynamic human resource and giving back with a positive, empowering experience in partnership with UNU,” said Espinosa.
Professor Dr. Jakob Rhyner, Director of UNU-EHS, said: “There are 1.8 billion young people in the world today, more than ever before in human history, and about nine out of ten live in developing countries. Efforts for sustainable development and climate protection must build on their enthusiasm and ideas. The UNFCCC-UNU-EHS Early Career Climate Fellowship Initiative offers young people from developing countries a unique possibility to start their career at the interface between international climate policy development and research.”
Academically outstanding young graduates from developing countries who are less than three years into their careers, especially women from least developed countries, are encouraged to apply.
Fellowships may last from six months to two years and the work experience with the UNFCCC will be tailored to fit the specific skills and backgrounds of each fellow.
The collaboration will get underway following the UN Climate Change Conference, which runs to 18 May.
BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - Multilateral Development Banks and other financing institution have been urged to boost climate finance in support of new international agreement and sustainable development pathways especially in Africa in line with the COP 21 Paris Agreement;
The call was made at climate discussions in Bonn May 13, 2017, on how Multilateral Development Banks can mobilize and deploy climate finance in developing countries to permit them carryout the different projects outlined in their NDCs.
According to Dr Stephen Singer, CAN International, multilateral banks have crucial parts to play in achieving the goals set out in the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Delivering on the Paris Agreement is all about radical economic transformation and fostering sustainable, low-carbon and strong growth. Economic policy and finance, and this multilateral banks and finance ministries, will be at the core,” he said.
Experts called for a strong partnership between multilateral banks and the provide sector to be able to stand the challenges of growing urbanization and emerging markets.
“What these financial institutions do over the next two decades will determine whether we succeed or fail to deliver this global agenda.
During that time, the size of the world’s economy is likely to double, and the amount of infrastructure will probably increase by a still larger factor, with strong urbanization and growth in developing and emerging market countries,” noted Peter Bett of the Department of Business, Energy and industrial Strategy, Robert Moore UK.
According to conference participants,investments in sustainable infrastructure will not only help us to realize the goals of the Paris Agreement but will also allow the different countries meet up with the challenges to reach the Sustainable Development Goals.
Gareth Philips, of the African Development Bank Group pointed out that the world is set to invest aboutUS$90 trillion in infrastructure over the next 15 years. That means spending will increase from about US$3.4 trillion per year to about US$6 trillion with most of this investment located in developing and emerging market countries.
“If this infrastructure is not sustainable, and instead locks in high-carbon activities, the world will lose its chance of meeting the Paris Agreement goal of holding the rise in global mean surface temperature to well below 2 Celsius degrees above its level in the middle of the 19th century,” he said.
Sustainable infrastructure is not only low-carbon but it is also climate-resilient. It must be able to cope with the current climate and with those impacts of climate change that we cannot now avoid. And it is clean, efficient and smart.
All new infrastructure, including for energy, transport, water and communications, must be sustainable, as was emphasised by the report on ‘The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative’ by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate in October. This is particularly true for cities and towns, which already host the majority of the world’s population.
Urbanisation is taking place at a remarkable speed. Only sustainable infrastructure can help to reduce pollution, waste and congestion, and ensure that we can live and breathe in our cities. If we get the infrastructure right, we will have resilient and inclusive towns and cities
where poor people have a chance to raise their living standards and escape from poverty. And those in rural areas will see new opportunities to move, and more will be able to access, energy, transport and water supplies.
Participants agreed that the ‘nationally determined contributions’ to the Paris Agreement can help each country to have sustainable and inclusive growth and to reduce poverty. But noted that building low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure will drive growth, and will allow countries tackle together economic development, and climate change mitigation and adaptation, the two being intimately intertwined in both urban and rural areas.
“ Success in financing climate resilience projects will create huge economic opportunities. But there are also great dangers in delay and severe risks of locking in unsustainable infrastructure, said Said Chakri of the Moroccan NDA secretariat to GCF.
“The urgent need to invest in sustainable infrastructure is a central issue for both finance ministries and for the national and regional development banks,” he added.
Experts noted that finance ministries should be concerned with growth, investment, policy and resources because only credible policies will raise finance, through both direct revenue and economic growth itself.
Mithika Mwenda of PACJA raised the issue of the absence of pre-prior consents of local communities that have never been respected by investors, citing the case of Congo Basin in Africa.
“The question is whether this is going to affect financing of projects in these areas or not. Most of these investments are profit driven but there is need to balance investments and climate change challenges,” Mithika said.
This entails the need for consistency, clarity and credibility, creating an environment that is conducive for both investors and the indigenous communities, he added.
BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - Civil society organisations at the ongoing Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) conference in Bonn have called on the UNFCCC to kick out representatives of big oil, gas and coal corporate organisations from the climate negotiation room, citing conflict of interest.
Article 12 of the Paris Agreement explicitly allows public participation in the climate policy making process, thus inviting everybody on board, including representatives of major fossil fuel corporations.
But now, civil society groups say that this is likely going to derail the entire process. “There will be no progress with involvement of the industry, because such players are profit oriented,” said Jesse Bragg, the spokesperson of the Corporate Accountability International.
On 12th May 2007, the UNFCCC released a report based on one of the sessions during the conference, where participants had expressed concerns about involvement of such multibillion dollar corporate groups, arguing that they were likely going to use their financial capabilities to influence global policies on climate change.
According to the report published on the UNFCCC website, some participants stressed that enhancing the engagement of non-Party stakeholders must not undermine the legitimacy and integrity of the UNFCCC process.
To that end, one group proposed that the UNFCCC process should adopt a definition of conflict of interest in the same manner it was adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in to safeguard public health policy formulation especially when it involves issues to do with tobacco.
According to Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, such actors with conflicts of interest have been locked out completely due to similar reasons cited by climate lobby groups.
The WHO Article states; “In setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law.
“This is the kind of protection we are looking for, when we are talking about climate change,” said Kathleen Roof also of Corporate Accountability International, noting that some of the biggest fossil fuel corporations knew more than 20 years ago that social and environmental devastation would follow in their footsteps, but they sought to deepen their pockets at any and every cost.
The same view is held by the umbrella of African civil society organisations on climate change, otherwise known as the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
“By all means, we must have all fossil fuel corporate organisations off the climate negotiation table because they have always been an impediment to the process,” said Mithika Mwenda, PACJA Secretary General.
“We have seen them influence the Presidency of the United States of America, and given their money power, they will definitely bribe their way to ensure that their interests are taken good care of, despite the impact such decisions may cause to the environment,” said Mithika.
According to Corporate Accountability International, such business organisations are already represented at the UNFCCC through different accredited groups.
However, according to Sam Ogallah, also of PACJA, these groups are already recognized under the Paris Agreement, and that cannot be changed. To that effect, it means that civil society groups will need to employ innovative tactics to bar them from influencing the process.
