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.

BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - The Bonn climate talks entered high gear amid growing speculations about the present and future outcome of the Paris Agreement.

At a side event organised by civil society organisations on May 9th, participants expressed fears at declarations made by the Donald Trump administration, including no funding for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Green Climate Fund, Clean Technology Fund and the Strategic Climate Fund, calling for immediate review of the Clean Power Plan and reversing several of Barack Obama’s moratoriums on climate change.

They said such declarations will have a direct impact on addressing climate change globally and especially in the US.

“The slash of funding will have a direct impact on the implementation of climate action plans or Nationally Determined Contributions, much of which is conditional on the support of developed countries,” said Augustine Njamnshi of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, PACJA during presentation of a study on Renewable Energy Initiative for Africa.

Africa’s dream to fight against poverty with the renewable energy initiative launched at COP21 Paris he said risk being frustrated by Donald Trumps administration, participants noted, calling on other developed countries to come to Africa’s rescue.

“Considering the developments in the US, developed countries must step forward and fill up or compensate for the US. Developed countries would need to mount pressure on developing ones to undertake necessary steps to address the issue,” he said.
It should be recalled that the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative is aimed towards the implementation of 10 GW of new and additional energy generation capacity by 2020 and at least 300 GW by 2030.

This ambitious efforts experts say could pave the way forward for a low carbon development pathway for all African countries.
Thus the need to fight against any obstacle towards Africa’s lofty energy provision plans.
Participants stressed that the principles of equity and differentiated responsibility are not open to negotiations or reinterpretations and that there should be no backtracking on climate commitments.

However, considering the nature of climate negotiations and the behaviour of developed countries reflected in their extreme reluctance to increase their climate ambitions or the support to developing countries, they expressed the need for the negotiations in Bonn to take a more open and transparent twist.

Negotiations, over the years, have also pointed out the fact that issues critical to developing countries, including means of support, adaptation, loss and damage and agriculture will suffer huge setback as the focus of the developed countries is more mitigation-centric.
Such concerns were reflected by developing countries represented by G-77 and China, LMDC, Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Arab Group, Alliance of Small and Island States (AOSIS) and BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) group in the opening plenary, calling on the negotiators to seek balance between different elements of the Paris Agreement

BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) -  Civil society organisations across the globe working to fight climate change in different countries have called on governments to use the climate talks in Bonn to pick up from the ashes in Marrakech and push for progress in the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Like the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, PACJA,  the Climate Action Network (CAN) and other prominent civil society groups have added their voice to that of other development actors, to see the Paris Agreement make significant progress that brings measured hope and pointed actions.

At a side event focused on ensuring robust transparency mechanism in the implementation of the Paris Agreement Framework, PACJA programme officer, Sam Ogallah emphasised on the need to leverage the expertise of Non-Party stakeholders to better ensure transparency.

Information to the press released by CAN-France at the ongoing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,UNFCCC, Climate conference in Bonn-Germany highlights the expectations of civil society groups with emphasis on the need to move forward from the ashes of COP 22 in Marrakech.

Sven Harmeling, Climate Change Advocacy Coordinator at CARE International, emphasised that ''the urgency to get the Paris Agreement off the ground is crucial given that impacts from climate change are becoming more glaring with more droughts in Africa and heat waves in India.''

He said the scale of ambition has to be commensurate with the urgency that are seen from impacts.

Speaking on the specifics of advancing work on implementation, he added, "We also need to see Parties at Bonn bring more clarity and progress on accounting modalities for climate finance which was a left-over issue from Marrakech."  

Brandon Wu, policy director from ActionAid US, highlighted that as uncertainty on the US' position on the Paris Agreement continues, civil society groups urge the Trump administration to stay in the Agreement but it must also respect the spirit of the Agreement to meet the goals of Paris.

"Even at the current scenario we don't meet the goals of keeping warming to 1.5 degrees C and any move to scale down ambition will definitely not meet this goal- which is what Paris is all about," he added. There has been a remarkable push from Governors and Mayors to keep the US in the Agreement, he added.

Lucile Dufour of CAN-France spoke about the victory of Emmanuel Macron and it's implications to climate action.

"Although Macron did not make energy transition a priority during his campaign, he is unlikely to stop environment progress. Without a push from other leaders and civil society he will not increase ambition so we still have work ahead of us. He said France will keep the lead in global climate progress.

"If he is to do this he needs to adopt climate policies to increase international solidarity and domestic policies to raise ambition."

KUMASI, Ghana (PAMACC News) - A new report has found that the complex risks arising from climate change, fragility and conflict can contribute to the emergence and growth of terrorist groups, like Boko Haram and ISIL.

The new report: “Insurgency, Terrorism and Organised Crime in a Warming World”, by Berlin-based think tank, Adelphi, found that climate change multiplies and interacts with existing threats, risks and pressures, like resource scarcity, population growth and urbanization.
Report author, Lukas Rüttinger, said these factors together could lead to fragility and violent conflict in which these groups can thrive.

“Already vulnerable areas could get pulled into a vicious cycle, leading to the rise of terrorist groups who will find it easier to operate, with consequences for us all,” Rüttinger said.

Terrorist groups are increasingly using natural resources – such as water – as a weapon of war, controlling access to it, further compounding and exacerbating resource scarcities. The scarcer resources become, the more power is given to those who control them, especially in regions where people are particularly reliant on natural resources for their livelihoods.

For example, around Lake Chad, climate change contributes to resource scarcities that increase local competition for land and water. This competition in turn often fuels social tensions and even violent conflict.

At the same time, this resource scarcity erodes the livelihoods of many people, aggravates poverty and unemployment, and leads to population displacement. Terrorist groups such as Boko Haram gain power in this fragile environment.

As climate change affects food security and the availability of water, and land, affected people will become more vulnerable not only to negative climate impacts but also to recruitment by terrorist groups offering alternative livelihoods and economic incentives.

Sometimes, terrorist groups try to fill the gap left by the state by providing basic services to build support among the local population. As climate impacts worsen, some states will increasingly struggle to provide services and maintain their legitimacy.

The report comes as famine, drought and war threaten millions in the region around Lake Chad, in Africa. On March 31, the UN Security

Council passed a resolution on the Lake Chad region – home to Boko Haram – outlining their concern about the interplay of factors leading to the crisis there and calling for better collaboration amongst UN armed to deal with the situation.

The resolution, which also calls for the UNSG to issue a report on the crisis, came after UNSC ambassadors visited the region recently.

The report echoes the UN’s findings. It finds that dealing with climate change, boosting development and strengthening governments will reduce the threat of terrorism.

It also says climate action, development, counter terrorism strategies and peace building should be tackled together holistically – rather than in isolation which they are often are at present and which risks making each of the factors worse.

Other recommendations include improving the rule of law and strengthening local institutions to help reduce the risk that climate change presents to the rise and growth of terrorist groups, as well as being a core component of adaptation and peace building writ large.

People who are vulnerable to recruitment by terrorist groups are often reliant on agriculture for their livelihoods, so development efforts should focus on ensuring those livelihoods are sustainable in a changing climate.

Lastly, cities are often the pressure valve when climate, conflict and fragility occur – building resilient cities will therefore minimize the chances of tensions spilling over.

“A broader perspective will help to better address the root causes of the rise and growth of non-state armed groups,” Rüttinger said.