SOCIAL WATCH STATEMENT ON CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS IN COPENHAGEN: CLIMATE CHANGE IS AN ISSUE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Published on Wed, 2009-12-16 17:28
Social Watch, a network of 400 hundred civil organization in more than 60 countries, calls on governments of the developed world to commit to finding a just solution to the current impass in climate negotiations by adhering to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities enshrined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Agenda 21, and the UN Charter of Human Rights. Developed countries must acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the international pursuit of sustainable development in view of the pressures their societies place on the global environment and of the technologies and financial resources they command. And global agreements on climate must take into account the different circumstances, particularly developing countries ability to prevent, reduce and control the threats produced by climate change. Climate change affects inalienable human rights such as the right to live a dignified life. It is the responsibility of states to adhere to international law and contribute to international cooperation in the full realization of human rights. Already we have seen the effects of climate change on the right to health, food, decent housing, nationhood, development and the lives of the most vulnerable sectors of society including women, children and indigenous peoples in the developing world. A political agreement is not enough to deal with the current crisis; there is a need for strong and legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and effective, just and equitable methods to address the impact of climate change on the most vulnerable and least responsible for the crisis. Global expectations for Copenhagen outcomes have dimmed in recent weeks, most prominently due to inaction by the world's biggest emitters. There’s no place here for the rich and powerful setting conditions for sharing, especially ones that are burdensome and humiliating to the poor and less powerful. What each side is expected to do is but a just and fair share based on differing accountability for what happened and continues to happen. High-emission countries must continue to commit drastic, deep and legally binding cuts on their green house gas emissions from their 1990 levels. These countries’ governments and corporations must also recognize the ecological debt owed by their states, companies and elites to vulnerable and marginalized peoples specifically those from least developed and developing countries. Reparations and restitution are a fundamental requirement of social and climate justice. These reparations and restitutions are part of a larger ecological debt owed by north to south accumulated through decades of historical plunder, colonialism and economic domination. And this principle calls for climate finance to be seen as part of reparations for climate debt that should not be imposed by developed countries in the form of loans with conditionalities. Therefore, compensation for the adverse effects of climate change on all affected countries and peoples is an issue of climate democracy, justice and accountability not just of mitigation of climate effects or trading in carbon emissions. The Social Watch Network makes the following calls to States to deal with the effects of climate change:
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