WECF Live from Poznan at UN Climate Change Conference
United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 14 and CMP 4 Poznan, 1-12 December 2008
03.12.2008 |WECF
More equity in climate protection!
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznań opened on Monday, 1 December. The meeting comes midway between COP 13 in Bali and COP 15 Copenhagen, at which the negotiations are set to conclude.
WECF is actively involved in different activities organized within the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 14 and CMP 4 paying attention for more equality in climate protection.
Pro-poor financial mechanisms:
- Sustainable development criteria as a basis for climate change financial mechanisms;
- Reduce poverty by creating access to sustainable energy;
- Introduce energy saving programmes for low income households;
- Let the polluter pay – Emission Trading Scheme revenues for adaptation and mitigation programmes for local communities in developing countries;
Mobilize the Change Makers:
- Ensure local women participation in the adaptation and CDM Boards;
- Financial Mechanisms better accessible for women;Train women and men as sustainable energy Engineers;
No Nuclear in CDM, JI and technology transfer:
- Full disclosure of direct and indirect subsidies to nuclear industry;
- Integration of external costs of nuclear into the price of nuclear energy;
- Participating at conferences, debates and trainings in different issues.
WECF and
its partners are in Poznan at this moment with four side events and an
exhibition and information booth and give evidence of what is going on in the
Polish city right now. At the start of the Conference WECF, WISE, Friends of
the Earth Europe, Greenpeace, International Forum on Globalization, Nuclear
Information and Resource Service issued a statement to keep Nuclear Energy out of
Clean Development Mechanism.
On December 12, Svitlana Slesarenok, member of WECF's International Advisory Board spoke at the closing session of the COP14 on behalf of the Women's Caucus. She received a warm applause from everyone present at the closing session. The speech was videotaped.
On December 11 WECF organised a side event on the need for better policies and practices to promote sustainable and renewable energies in Central Asia and the Caucasus as a solution to Climate Change. NGO representatives discussed how to bridge the gap between practice and policy.
On December 9th, WECF as a part of the German Climate Alliance and her partners joined Greenpeace, WWF and AVAZ to protest on Germany and Poland blocking the negotiations of the European Climate Change Package. German Prime Minister Angela Merkel and Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk were meeting together in Warsaw to discuss their strategy, so protesters from all over the world decided to leave the UNFCCC at Poznan for one day to demonstrate against the plans the two leaders.
Several speeches were held and the Climate Action Network (CAN) awarded Germany and Poland with the “Fossil of the Day”. The Fossil of the Day is a price, given to the countries that present the worst ideas or proposals at the climate change COP. So far, the European Union as a whole already received one for coming to the conference without any financial proposals.
After the speeches, the protesters appeared to have died from world leaders not solving climate change and were laying on the ground. The awareness raising event gained a lot of press and attention from the media and was very successful.
On December 10 three dozen environmental leaders from 16 countries braved icy cold weather in front of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Meeting in Poznan, Poland where they called nuclear power “a Mickey Mouse solution” to climate change.The activists were carrying banners and posters with lively slogans including“Don’t Nuke the Climate,” “No Nuclear Power in The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)” and “Nuclear Power, No Thanks!”
In only
one week, over 300 NGOs representing millions of individuals from 50 countries
in every corner of the planet signed on to the public appeal to keep the
nuclear power option out of the climate talks. Read the full report here.
On December 8 Irene Dankelman, Chair of the International Advisory board of WECF took part in a GenderCC Conference "Gender Justice is Climate Justice". Women from around the world working together in the GenderCC network reassertthat real solutions to the climate crisis can only be achieved when there is genderjustice. We demand that the UNFCCC process must commit to the integration of thegender dimension into all policies, mechanisms, programmes and institutional frameworks.
Walking through the corridors of the UN-Building, closely followed by the security guards, a group of diverse women from all regions around the world were singing "It's a gender celebration". Through boardsattention of delegates was being called for: 'Gender Justice is...''...Climate Justice'. The small demonstration attracted wide attention and happy faces, and ended up in the Press Room were representatives of the gendercc network were giving a pressconference around these themes.
A short report by Irene Dankelman on the UNFCC and Gender CC meeting
The South Caucasus Energy Conference ‘Sustainable Development and Utilization of Renewable Energy Resources – role of Local Governments, Civil Society and Private sector’ was organized in Georgia on 14th of November 2008. Representativesfrom Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, the international organizations, governmental authorities, business and civil society were participated at the Conference. It was prepared Declaration by the participant NGO’s during the Conference in order to call upon Governmental Authorities therefore to follow up the taking responsibilities with international organizations and international community’s regarding the climate change to attach urgent attention to the following priorities:
- To create legislative base and to carry out the policy for implementation of sustainable renewable energy resources and to reduce the use of nuclear energy (phase out of nuclear);
- To ensure access on economically and ecologically sustainable energy resources and services;
- Create financial incentives for developing sustainable efficient energy producing technologies;
- Taking into account gender balance in the process of decision-making;
- Establish public awareness centers to support sustainable energy production and consumption;
- Determine the procedures and the rules of clean development mechanisms (CDM) within the regions.
On December 8 WECF co-signed a joined press release with Greenpeace, IUCN, ICCO, Wetlands International and WWF to show their disapproval of the fact that Dutch Finance Minister Bos had refused to come to Poznan to meet up with his fellow ministers. This contrary to the promise the Netherlands had made to take a leading role in the development of a financial plan for the future Climate Treaty.
Side Event on December 6: Sustainable Energy & CC Policies - Poverty reduction in Asia and the EECCA region.
INFORSE
& WECF: Successes to reduce poverty, new manuals for development solutions
with less GHG in South Asia, sustainable energy visions/ scenarios for North.
Exchange of views among NGOs, EECCA governments & UN on capacity building,
role of women, tech. transfer, UNFCCC mechanisms, human rights. Read the invitation to the side event and the report.
Presentation
on December 4: Proposals by the Russian Social Ecological Union to the position
of Russian Federation concerning elaboration of international agreement on
climate change for the time period after 201
Olga
Senova and Alexander Fedorov of WECF partner the Russian Social-Ecological
Union gave a proposal on Climate Change to a representative of the Russian
official delegation in Pozan.
Side event on December 1: WECF participates in side event on nuclear and energy facilitated by Women for Climate Justice
Gender
justice in Climate Change policy, the Gender dimension, Gender policy in
practice - Options for integrating gender in the future Climate Regime. A report can be found here.
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