ECO welcomes a new delegation at the COP this year.
The delegation represents a country whose people are deeply committed to climate action. A country with universities, businesses, cities, and states that are pushing forward with plans to achieve bold climate targets like 100% renewable energy. A country that believes in science, respect, and the importance of the global community. A country that currently has a President and Administration who believes in none of these things.
Meet the U.S. People’s Delegation, a delegation of climate activists and community leaders from across the United States who have come to COP23 to represent the true spirit of the nation and to push for bold climate action that goes above and beyond the Paris Agreement.
The U.S. People’s Delegation is stepping in to fill the void left by the Trump Administration, which announced its intention to exit the Paris Agreement. This administration is here at the climate talks not on behalf of the American people, it seems, but on behalf of their friends in the fossil fuel industry (the main side event hosted by the “official” U.S. delegation this year is an infomercial for “clean” coal).
Instead of speaking for this fossil fuel driven and dirty past, the U.S. People’s Delegation will be at COP23 to represent the clean energy future. Members of the delegation include youth leaders who have successfully pressured their universities to divest from fossil fuels. It includes Indigenous leaders who have fought against major fossil fuel projects (e.g. Dakota Access Pipeline) and are building their own renewable energy solutions on tribal lands. It also includes leaders from frontline communities who are fighting the injustice of local pollution and advocating for a just and equitable transition towards a renewable energy future that works for all. The delegation consists of advocates and activists who are pushing for bold climate action in dozens of cities and States across the country. They are backed by the voices of millions of more Americans back at home who have signed petitions and calls for action supporting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Included among this new delegation’s policy demands are:
- A just and equitable transition to 100% renewable energy.
- A call for U.S. elected officials to live up to their commitments to bold climate action in the face of the current Administration’s rollback on climate protections.
- A halt to all new fossil fuel projects, with the understanding that the fossil fuel industry continues to perpetuate the climate crisis and sow climate denial, creating a bleak future for generations to come.
- A call for all nations to increase their ambition, not decrease it.
You can find more information at 350.org/uspeoplesdelegation and by following #USPeoplesDelegation on social media.
We can’t let the U.S. be an excuse for other countries to dial back their actions. With cities and states doubling down, the U.S. is still moving forward. ECO welcomes the presence of the U.S. People’s Delegation here at COP23 and all the members of civil society from other countries who are speaking up for bold climate action, even when their governments seem to have lost their way. Politicians come and go, but the people remain. And we the people are calling for climate justice now!