ECO Newsletter

Kill, invade, cut, burn it down. Repeat. The sad fate of Brazilian forests at the hands of gangs of land-grabbers have just gotten another hit from President Jair Bolsonaro, who never tires of inventing schemes to replace the forest with pasture and soybean plantations. Today, as ministers gather in Madrid to make the decisions that should steer us towards a safer climate, Brazil’s far-right leader is scheduled to sign an executive order that may legalize millions of hectares of invaded land in the Amazon. That means more deforestation and of course massive emissions: up to 6.5 billion tonnes by 2020.

Land-grabbing, or grilagem, in Portuguese, is the single most important driver of emissions in Brazil. It consists of invading public lands, shooting everybody in the way, chopping down the rainforest and burning it to clear the way for cattle – then using the pasture to fake a land title, selling it and moving to the next forest. The process is done by well-funded gangs, often under the eyes of or with open support from politicians. Deforestation makes up nearly half of Brazil’s emissions, and in 2019, 35% of deforestation in the Amazon happened on invaded public land.

Since it is a criminal activity, ECO readers might think the right way to address the problem would be through law enforcement.
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The COP Presidency’s text for the principal decisions from COP25 is now into its second iteration, and the contours and fault lines are becoming clearer. 

The text must clearly and unambiguously convey the collective will from all Parties to raise ambition on confronting the climate emergency, including through the communication over the coming months of NDCs that close the emissions gap to 1.5°C. 

The current text has some good language on enhancing ambition, and even calls the global climate emergency by its name! It must be improved and strengthened, but it is a solid floor for building a strong statement. 

Word trickling out from the noontime consultation with parties suggests broad support for the Presidency’s approach, although, of course, there is a lot of haggling over the key details. 

To respond to the growing call for action, the language of ambition must be preserved and strengthened with stronger references to the IPCC reports and clear guidance on NDC revision. The language around public participation in the enhancement of NDCs and related principles is encouraging.

Missing is language on ecosystem-based approaches, including in the recognition of the role of oceans, and on the need for a just transition to protect workers and communities.
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From the Maldives to Costa Rica, Senegal to the Marshall Islands, communities and Indigenous peoples of countries that are members of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF)  live on the front lines of climate impacts. More so than any other governments, members of the CVF are very much aware of the unprecedented threat that inaction on climate change poses for human rights – not just for people under their jurisdiction, but for all nations. Rising sea levels, warming temperatures and changing weather patterns already undermine the realization of a wide range of human rights including the rights to life, water, food, adequate housing, culture, and self-determination. These impacts further reinforce existing structural discrimination and violence. Moreover, inadequate support and mitigation policies by the largest emitters exacerbate these impacts further with every additional delay. That is why CVF has also been championing the 1.5°C limit.

Instead of withdrawing in despair, these countries have risen to the challenge and demonstrated unmatched leadership by developing climate policies that are in line with the best available science. Since its creation, the CVF has championed ambitious climate policies by placing human dignity at the core of its ambition.

This leadership was on display again when the Marshall Islands, just shortly before the COP25, communicated a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) truly in line with the objectives and principles of the Paris Agreement to contribute to keeping temperature increase below 1.5ºC, by implementing rights-based climate action.
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ECO keeps hearing about “finance that’s available for loss and damage” under the Sendai framework via disaster risk reduction (DRR), humanitarian assistance, and the SDGs. ECO calls bollocks on this idea. The amount of finance available for loss and damage is COMPLETELY INADEQUATE when compared to the scale of loss and damage being suffered.

According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) there is already a serious funding shortfall for both disaster response and long-term disaster risk reduction and development. In 2019, 40 percent of all humanitarian funding went to just two protracted emergencies – Yemen, and the Syrian region.  These emergencies are not going away, and given that climate change is a key driver of conflict, these kinds of emergencies are only likely to intensify. So, expecting the global DRR and humanitarian pots to accommodate a growing financial burden as loss and damage accumulates is wishful thinking.

Let’s look at a case by case basis at this “there’s already finance for loss and damage” bollocksy bollocks:

When Hurricane Marie caused loss and damage worth 226% of Dominica’s annual GDP in one storm, they got an insurance payout from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, undertook a successful humanitarian fundraising drive, and received World Bank loans.
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When Energy Ministers meet today, ECO hopes to hear real talk about ambitious plans to phase out fossil fuels and accelerate the transition to a socially just, renewable energy economy. Because we need to get moving on that now to limit warming to 1.5 degrees – and that’s a matter of life and death for many people. ECO presents a little puzzle to get you warmed up for a robust dialogue on ending the fossil fuel era.

Dear Ministers, we need to talk! And frankly, before we do so, you need to learn to listen.

500,000 people were out on the streets of Madrid, marching for an outcome from this COP25 that adequately responds to the climate emergency. When you arrive here, you do so after a year that witnessed the rise of a historic climate movement as well as further aggravation of climate impacts. ECO is quite stunned by how ministers from large emitters praised the young people fighting for their future in an almost effortlessly self-serving manner while failing to taking substantive action.

ECO will not let you leave Madrid without listening to the demands of the young people, front line communities, and Indigenous Peoples. Coming to Madrid, you must respond to the people and the science. So far you have failed; take Madrid as an opportunity to change that. For ECO, this entails urgently enhancing NDCs, prioritizing environmental integrity, and delivering new and additional finance for loss and damage.

Here are some starting points for our conversation:

ECO is quite excited that Denmark’s ambitious climate target of reducing emissions by 70% by 2030 was just made binding this week. There is no reason why, as ministers from high emitting countries, you cannot give some clear signals of commiting to something similar here in Madrid.
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ECO is excited to see Annex I Parties participating in the multilateral assessment for their biennial reports. ECO welcomes the participation and thinks the multilateral assessment can be a great place to share lessons learned and experiences with other Parties in a constructive environment. We look forward to hearing your presentations and Q&A sessions throughout the day. 

Since ECO can’t ask questions during these workshops, we figured we’d share our questions with you anyway:

• To all Parties:
  • Can you provide an update on any action taken to strengthen policy-making processes? In particular in relation to public access to information and public participation; so as to improve climate responses and promote policy coherence in the context of progress made towards meeting your commitments under the UNFCCC.
• Luxembourg:
  • What reductions in car use (and consequently, CO2 emission reductions) do you expect to achieve from your initiative to make public transport in Luxembourg cost free for users beginning in April 2020? Could you elaborate on the steps taken to secure the political support for the necessary investments in public transport? 
• New Zealand:
  • The 2019 Greenhouse Gas Inventory shows that New Zealand’s gross emissions increased by 2.2% between 2016 and 2017, continuing a trend of average annual growth in gross emissions of 0.8% per year since 1990.

Our Land – Our Breath – Our Oceans

By Johnny Issaluk, Arctic Ambassador, Explorer in Residence – Royal Canadian Geographical Society

         Growing up in Igluligaarjuk (Chesterfield Inlet), Nunavut, Canada, on the west coast of Hudson’s Bay, I was graced with the traditions and riches of my Inuit culture. With a population of 300 people, my community is very remote and the only way in or out is by airplane, boat, or snowmobile. With ice and snow seven months of the year, we are people of the land and ice. This is my favourite season for hunting and keeping our traditions strong and alive!

         Born in 1973, I was fortunate to see the lifestyle of my people, and how we live off the land and the ocean during the two-month summers, one-and-a-half-month fall, the seven months ice and snow, and one-and-a-half-month spring. My parents taught me to hunt respectfully, keep the land clean, and to enjoy the lakes’ and oceans’ freshness and gifts of life, such as oil from fat, food from animals, water, fresh air, and the distances traveled by dog teams or snowmobiles to see vast parts of our land which we also walked and swam.

         While walking, boating, and sledding I have always seen driftwood, which has floated to the Arctic since time immemorial and which has always been used because no trees grow in the permafrost.
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ECO has heard that finance ministers generally like talking about numbers and money. That is great, because the lack of money is something which hinders the necessary transformation in many countries. Greater financial support from rich countries can help shift political will towards more climate action in developing countries. So here is some inspiration for finance ministers, as well as finance negotiators, to tackle the climate finance gap:

GCF: time for the laggards to step up

ECO welcomes the pledges that were already made earlier this year to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) of close to US$9.7 billion, with some countries doubling their original pledges. While much more is needed, ECO’s eyes this week will be on ministers arriving from countries who have not stepped up to at least double their contribution, or have not pledged at all. Australia and the United States: shame on you for continuing to ignore the climate crisis and the needs of the most vulnerable communities. ECO was also disappointed that countries like Canada, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, Finland, and Belgium did not double their pledges or provided their fair share at the replenishment conference in Paris. Ministers, make the best use of your time in Madrid: scale up your GCF contribution! 
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