Categoría: Previous Issues Articles

ECO has been following discussions on the “cover decision” and has heard that some Parties do not acknowledge the importance of such a piece. So, we thought it was a good idea to remind negotiators and especially Ministers that this is the decision that sets the political tone of how the world is responding to the climate crisis. This is your best chance to respond to the demands, not only from the record number of people marching on the streets on Saturday, but from people all over the world: civil society, youth, women, Indigenous Peoples, children, workers.

We are now in the second week and a bit tired of so many queues and meetings and we imagine that negotiators must also be exhausted. But since this is one of the most important outcomes of this COP, we wanted to highlight the key points we think should be in there (you’re welcome, and we trust you will pick this up!!!). So here it goes: 

1.   Loss and damage finance: Our number one request is for you to establish a new stream to provide sufficient and needs-based Loss and Damage finance, in addition to the US$100 billion per year committed for mitigation and adaptation.
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While we have seen some encouraging progress here at COP26 on phasing out coal, one 

country you won’t see in that list is Japan, one of the world’s largest greenhouse gases emitters ー and with over 20% of its emissions coming from burning coal. ECO recognizes that OECD countries must exit coal by 2030 in line with the science-based 1.5℃ pathway, but it seems Japan is not aware of that, even in the second week of COP26. Despite a recent 2050 net-zero emissions declaration and updated 2030 reduction targets, Japan currently has no concrete plan to phase out its 160+ operating coal units, and is still intending on having nearly a fifth of its power coming from coal in 2030. 

Even worse, Japan has a number of new coal-fired power plants under construction, along with plans to keep its oldest coal plants alive by bolting on ammonia and hydrogen technology that would only marginally reduce emissions. And this dedication to coal power is not limited to domestic projects ー the government continues to support coal abroad, funding major “unabated” coal power projects Indramayu in Indonesia and Matarbari in Bangladesh.  

At a time when Japan is required to do its fair share to meet the Paris goals as a major emitter and developed country, PM Kishida is instead doubling-down on Japan’s commitment to keep coal alive, restating at COP26 that Japan’s energy strategy relies on using hydrogen and ammonia produced from fossil fuels as so-called “zero-emission thermal power.”
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ECO believes it’s obvious that we can’t burn our way out of the climate crisis. Avoiding the worst impacts of the climate crisis and keeping 1.5˙C within reach requires a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels and other carbon-rich fuels, and the parallel protection and restoration of ecosystems —not more extraction. 

Burning trees for energy emits carbon instantaneously. In fact, burning forest biomass emits as much – or more – CO₂ than fossil fuels at the smokestack and per unit of energy produced (as well as a slew of other pollutants including soot, perpetuating harms in communities near these plants). Co-firing of coal and biomass for energy can also prolong the lives of coal plants.

Proponents love to argue that as long as it’s “sustainable,” forestry can deliver carbon-neutral energy. Biomass feedstock can range from sawdust to agricultural residues or even mature, whole trees that wouldn’t sell for timber. And when trees are harvested, they take a long time to regrow—longer than Paris Agreement’s time frames for emissions reductions.

Like taking out a loan at a bank, this creates a “carbon debt” until all of the ecosystem carbon released during harvest and combustion is recaptured by plant growth. Scientists note that the period of time for regrowth to  “payback” the carbon debt often spans decades to centuries.
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Today, more than 150 nationally-elected legislators from 30 countries around the world are urging their colleagues to join their call for a Fossil Fuel Free Future.

The call was initiated by over a dozen parliamentarians in the Global South covering Bangladesh, Colombia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Kiribati, Palau, Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa and Timor Leste. Their collective demands have now grown to include voices from every single major continent.

ECO welcomes the call. Governments must get together and agree to the principle of no new production and set that as a global norm, and then begin the work of negotiating the drawing down of production over time, in line with what’s required by science.

This will only be possible when the governments who have gotten wealthy from mining like the US, Norway, Canada, the UK, and Australia are prepared to support countries to diversify their economies with the resources, access to technology and supportive international rules that give them the space to make and commit to these policies.

Together, these parliamentarians are demanding that world leaders embrace the spirit of international cooperation “given the huge historical contribution of fossil fuels to causing climate change, the industry’s continuing expansion plans, and demands on the public purse”.
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Countries from around the world have committed to climate finance to support climate action but, what does that really mean? While a growing number of state and non-state actors heeded to a call for an increased climate finance, the structure continues to fall short of effectively addressing the needs of Indigenous Peoples. This has amounted to small, short-term, project based funding that is not scalable and completely narrow in scope and reach. 

Over US$19.2 billion from combined public and private funds has been pledged at COP26 to end deforestation by 2030 and another $ 1.7 billion in support of Indigenous Peoples’ land and forest tenure. But this commitment remains hollow until there is a mechanism that ensures resources actually reach Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples are demanding an inclusive, just and equitable climate financing channeled directly to Indigenous communities both in developed and developing countries. 

Why the need for a dedicated climate financing mechanism for Indigenous Peoples?

It has become clear that Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately impacted by climate change, yet there remains an unequal access and benefits to climate financing under existing arrangements, for example, through the Green Climate Fund, which to date, has not accredited a single Indigenous organization, owing to the governance structure that makes it difficult or impossible for Indigenous Peoples to comply with.
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You’d have been winning points galore in recent days. We’ve seen a raft of announcements in support of a socially fair move towards climate neutrality – a ‘just transition’ – at COP26.

ECO likes it best when words are matched by actions. Luckily, that also seems to be the case. Two years after the launch of the Katowice Declaration in 2019, countries are finally committing to support each other financially to drive just transitions.

However all too often, when ECO looks closely, the details are missing. And we all know that’s where the devil is.

Take the new ‘Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet’ (GEAPP) led by the Rockefeller Foundation. This acknowledges the need to provide technical assistance, regulatory reform support and work with transformative country partnerships, but we need to know how this will work. 

And the partnership of the EU, US, Germany, France and UK to help South Africa get out of coal has focused on the money (US$8.5 billion over 3-5 years). We need to know more about the ‘investment framework’ and the conditions for financing. 

ECO is adamant that we can’t have a happy and healthy society if our environment is hurting. We need to work on both together. 
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Like a bad magician, the UK government desperately wants people to look the other way as it tries to pull off a clumsy trick with one hand while doing something completely different with the other. Everybody can see the sleight of hand for what it is: blatant hypocrisy, “a do-as we say, not as we do, and please look over there”.

Despite being hosts of this COP their desperate push for fossil fuel projects continues. Projects are proposed that don’t have a future and damage the planet when nobody can argue with the clear, science-based need to reduce emissions. Yes, we need to keep 1.5°C alive but how can we pursue that critical path when our words and actions are so lacking in alignment?

Friends of the Earth put out a report a few days before COP showing how the UK government is still addicted to fossil fuels here and elsewhere in the world with 40 new oil, gas, and coal projects in the pipeline before 2025. And these projects are just the tip of the iceberg. Beneath them lie more prospective oil, gas and coal developments that will completely scupper the UK’s climate efforts unless the government rapidly changes direction. 
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29 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Mali and Costa Rica, have joined a United Kingdom-led commitment to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil and gas by the end of 2022 and instead prioritize a clean energy transition. After a wave of commitments to end international coal finance, this is the first international political commitment that also addresses public finance for oil and gas. 

Since the initial announcement on November 4th, the initiative has snowballed, with the Netherlands, El Salvador and Germany signing on this week. Together the signatories represent at least US$21.7 billion a year in influential and often preferential public finance for fossil fuels for 2018-2020. This is a massive portion of the $63b a year in known G20 and Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) finance for fossil fuels. 

Shifting public finance for energy out of all fossil fuels and into clean energy is an urgent task. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that to limit global warming to 1.5°C, this year needs to mark the end of new investments in not just coal, but also new oil and gas supply. Yet, G20 and MDB public finance for fossil fuels is currently 2.5 times their support for renewable energy, which averages $26b per year.
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As we get into week 2, we continue to hear about the importance of Article 6. But ECO remains concerned that as Parties get bogged down in the technical details (which are important and ECO is happy to discuss them), they are forgetting about what’s really important and ultimately what it’s all about: people, a healthy planet and the ambition needed to keep warming below 1.5°C. 

Never fear, ECO is here to remind you. People and nature around the world have been negatively impacted by previous market mechanisms and seen their lands destroyed or taken without consent. Do you really want Paris Agreement implementation associated with human rights violations? Now is the time to take steps to prevent harm: By guaranteeing rights-based safeguards in the article 6 text; through meaningful participation and consultation with those impacted (including women, communities, workers, youth, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples – don’t forget about FPIC … we could go on); and ensure there is an independent mechanism to redress potential harms. Rights-based and inclusive climate action is better climate action. And that includes at this COP. ECO has seen it work.   

ECO hears you say that this COP is about enabling us to stay on a path to 1.5°C.
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During the Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen the disastrous effects of systemic neglect of disabled people. 

We are overwhelmingly overrepresented in Covid-19 deaths, yet many countries have engaged in discriminatory medical triage protocols that treat disabled lives as acceptable losses. This clearly devalues our lives, as does many countries’ premature return to «normal» (including the hosting of  this COP), well before it was safe for disabled and immuno-compromised people. 

Climate breakdown, like Covid-19, compounds existing inequities, disproportionately harming the one billion disabled people on the planet. This is especially true for our disabled communities who are multiply marginalised, and live on the frontlines of both climate change and eco-ableism. 

Many disabled people are still imprisoned in institutions, including the 12 residents of an assisted living facility, who were among the victims of the flash flooding in the Ahrweiler district of Western Germany as recently as July 2021. This is one of many instances demonstrating that when disasters hit, disabled people are literally left behind.

Those of us who are also Indigenous understand first-hand how the colonial and extractive drivers of climate breakdown have stolen and damaged our lands, undermined our cultural practices, and left our communities behind across almost every societal development indicator. 
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