Copenhagen Work Clouded by Danish Text
Aljazeera.net
[Reuters Image] They were a striking sight in the dull, early morning.
In their red hats and suits, their dark shirts and glasses they caught the mood of the moment, chanting: "We are watching you. You know what to do, pay the climate debt."
This was a reminder how many activist here blame the developed world for the climate crisis, for their carbon emissions as industrialisation built their fortunes while stealing their futures.
There had been a feeling of momentum, a sense that all 192 countries were moving in the one direction, heading for a deal.
But on Day 3, that had been replaced with an air of suspicion.
'Danish text'
The problem, the so-called "Danish text", a set of proposals drawn up by the Danish, the British and the Americans which, among others, proposed radical ideas which were instantly rejected by many of the world's poorer countries.
The basis of the document proposed that both industrialised and emerging countries cut carbon emissions to limit global warming and that the UN is sidelined in future talks about climate change.
The conference tried to get back to work, but in the small meeting halls and coffee shops that dot this huge sprawling venue, it was the topic that continued to dominate.
Near one I found Kumi Naidoo, the new charismatic head of the environmental group Greenpeace.
He told me the text showed that the rich, powerful countries were reluctant to hand over power in the negotiations.
"The Danish text is dead in the water. Now we have to go back to the hard work that's been done since the Bali summit two years ago.
"Let's not ignore what the negotiators have done but we should keep our eye on the prize which is to deliver to our children and grandchildren a fair, ambitious and binding treaty which secures their future".
Work to be done
One of the groups most at risk from the continuing rise in global temperatures is the Association of Small Island states.
A two degree Celsius rise in temperatures, the limit the world is aiming for, still means for them higher seas, a change to the way they live, a threat to life itself.
Every morning they meet to discuss their plan for the day.
Every night they gather to discuss what they've achieved, and the tactics to use the next day.
Their chairperson is the impressive Dessima Williams, Grenada's ambassador to the United Nations.
She understands why people are upset by the leaked document, but believes people should now get back to work.
In between her never ending round of meetings in Copenhagen, she told me: '"We don't see this as something which will disrupt the meeting. In fact, as far as I know, this paper was floated and withdrawn some time ago, so it hasn't disturbed us at all."
This smart and savvy diplomat has been at enough of these gatherings to know how things work.
Most of the discussions here, the most important climate talks in history, are held behind closed doors.
There's no access for the media, none for environmentalists who may have a case to present.
Somehow, in all these discussions, over the course of the next few days, various drafts will be floated.
Some will anger the rich nations, some will send the developing countries into a tirade.
But in the flurry of proposals and ideas, one will form the basis of a deal, if there is one.
The world leaders will arrive in Copenhagen next week to sign a deal which they will claim will change the world.
It appears a few attitudes may have to change first.
Labels: Climate Change, Climate Talks, Copenhagen, Danish Text
Call to Action: Climate Change at COP 15
This is a call out to action to international No Borders groups during the COP 15 in Copenhagen, starting 7 December 2009
Climate change is now the ULTIMATE Shock and Awe. It encompasses all of life now, and is the new spectacle. The climate change spectacle is the complete reconstruction and revitalization of capitalism and all of its domination, hierarchies, exploitation, racism, sexism, patriarchy, heteronormativity, commodifications, privatizations, oppressions, repressions, murders, lies, and greed.
Climate change will be used to terrorize us in every way we have been terrorized before, but encompassing all the single factors into one. In the name of security, Everything that living things depend is on its way to being commodified and privatized, to push us even further and possibly completely into pure Milton Friedman ´Chicago School´ of fundamental capitalist corporatism.
We can't not just think of this as a climate issue, it is much much more. Water, air, food, and genetic life is being privatized before our eyes. And these human rights are and will be used under the climate change banner to put up borders and go to war.
Complex surveilance systems are being put in place to keep the people from below away from its privatized riches. Indigenous, small farmers and people from below are being pushed off their lands by corporations, and massive natural disasters that are making people escape to safer regions. Also, their is the prospect of military intervention in the future to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics.
Military experts are saying that climate-induced crises could topple governments, feed terrorist movements or destabilize entire regions. Sections of the political and military establishment are planning for the consequences of climate change and are developing military strategies to deal with it.
The debate over climate change and global warming management at the UN is a struggle among the national ruling establishments for their own interests on the international diplomatic stage. While there is concern that climate change can have unforeseen political and economic consequences, these competing capitalist states have no means of seriously addressing the issue, other than making preparations for cracking down on social unrest.
So, in closing. If we don´t start attacking climate change from its roots, and seeing that the system we are in cannot and never intended to solve climate change, then we will be doomed to even more repressive and oppressive regimes, and even a rollback on the rights that were worked so hard for by our comrades in the past and it is already happening! They have divided and conquered us for a long time! But now we have a chance to come together and fight this under the same banner to stop the revitalisation of capitalism and the borders in which it creates.
See you on the barricades!
Labels: Climate Change, COP 15, Copenhagen
APEC to Fight Protectionism Through Concrete Plans
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies will take concrete measures to fight protectionism, provide fresh momentum to the Doha Round talks and enhance regional economic integration, trade ministers from the region agreed here on Wednesday.
Trade ministers from 21 APEC economies have gathered here for the two-day Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting to discuss policy responses to the economic crisis as well as to prepare for recovery in the longer-term.
During the meeting, which kicked off on Tuesday, the trade ministers said that sustaining trade and investment flows remains critical to the future prosperity of the region.
According to WTO's annual world trade report launched on the sidelines of the meeting, the world merchandise trade volume is expected to decline by 10 percent in 2009.
The trade ministers noted that while pressures for protectionism were greater during these difficult times, the political resolve to resist them must be even stronger.
China's Minister of Commerce Chen Deming stressed that China will continue its mutually-beneficial opening policy and actively support the agreement reached by G20 summit leaders to fight against protectionism. He called on APEC economies to make continuous efforts to enhance free trade and trade facilitation.
In order to restore trade and spur economic recovery, APEC trade ministers said that they will take concrete measures to combat protectionism.
They agreed to extend till end of 2010 the commitment made in Lima last year by APEC leaders to refrain from raising new barriers to trade and investment in the region, adding that they stand ready to extend the commitment further if necessary.
They shared the view that the main threats to a revival of trade flows include rising protectionist pressures, and continued delay in concluding the Doha Round.
"Concluding the Doha Round by 2010 will be the most effective way to resist protectionism and strengthen the multilateral trading system," they said in a statement after the meeting.
They will accelerate efforts to conclude modalities in Agriculture and NAMA, and utilize all possible avenues of engagement to encourage greater transparency and understanding of what is on the table to fill the remaining gaps in the negotiations as soon as possible.
They also discussed ways to strengthen the region's competitiveness by accelerating integration efforts, which will position the Asia-Pacific for a strong and sustained recovery.
In achieving this, the minister agreed to accelerate trade at the border with simpler customs documentation procedures, to reduce regulatory impediments behind the border, and to improve connectivity across the border by identifying the checkpoints in trade logistics and reviewing logistics policies.
The ministers also touched on the issues of climate change, anti-terrorism, food security and dealing with global pandemic, pledging to ensure that the APEC economies' growth strategies are sustainable.
The Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting is the first APEC Ministerial Meeting of APEC 2009. Singapore is playing host to the APEC meetings held from February to November 2009. They will culminate in the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, where leaders of APEC's 21 member economies will meet in Singapore from Nov. 14 to 15 this year.
Labels: APEC, Climate Change, Food Security, Singapore
