Social Watch E-Newsletter - Issue 242 - December 21, 2015

The Paris Agreement, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was finally adopted evening of Saturday, 12 December, after four years since the launch of the process to develop the legal instrument under the Ad hoc Working Group under the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP).
The adoption of the Agreement was heralded as "historic" by President of the 21st meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP21) to the UNFCCC, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, as well as several countries that spoke at the final plenary.Read more

The Paris deal recognises the reality of the climate threat, but only takes us part of the way. Climate change is already destroying lives and livelihoods with more than 2.6 million people displaced by extreme weather events and changing seasons. This will only get worse.
The Paris decisions acknowledge the challenges and move global action forward, but while the Summit conclusions refer to the target of a 1.5-degree limit, the capacity to leverage ambition on the scale required to stabilise the planet is still a question for the future. Read more

“The final Paris Agreement is a nail in the coffin for justice for LDCs”, said Azeb Girmai, climate lead for LDC Watch, the platform of civil society organisations in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
“We have gradually seen the text change from the long-standing ‘polluter pays principle’, where developed countries are obliged to finance adaptation and mitigation to help developing countries deal with climate chaos to one where the wealthiest countries simply refused to commit any climate finance. In the final agreement, “new and additional” climate finance committed in the 1992 Convention has now been dropped out”. Read more

Philanthropic foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations Foundation have seconded their staffers to top management positions at the World Health Organization.
A UN Foundation staffer was placed in the office of the Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan as senior strategist (D1 level) for a 24-month contract this year.
One Gates Foundation staffer is seconded at P5 level as manager of program operations and cluster management at the Polio and Emergencies Cluster. Read more

The international civil society network Fair Finance Guide International (FFG) launched its report on Transparency and Accountability in the Financial Sector that examines key aspects relating to transparency and accountability, and to reporting about tax related issues, as they apply to 47 banks in the seven countries where FFG is active.
The report assessed and scored the 47 banks on their transparency and accountability by looking at four key aspects: publication of policies and risk management; disclosure of investments; reporting on engagement with companies and voting behaviour; and stakeholder dialogue.
The fact that sixty per cent of the banks included in the research scored below four points out of ten on the transparency theme raises serious concern. But even more worrisome was the score on tax transparency, where thirty six of the banks assessed (an overwhelming 77 per cent of the total) were considered laggards in tax transparency. Read more

Note to Readers: Holiday Notice
In view of the year-end recess, the Social Watch E-Newsletter will not be published during the holiday period. The next issue will appear on 29 January. We wish all our readers best wishes for the season and a Happy New Year.