27
April 2009 Washington D.C., United States
— As senior diplomats and politicians from
17 countries headed towards the US State
Department building in Washington DC this
morning, they couldn’t have missed a couple
of Greenpeace climbers dangling below a
huge banner bearing a picture of our beautiful
blue planet and the words “Too big to fail”.
Climate change will
be on the agenda at this meeting, billed
as the Major Economies Forum (MEF), and
we wanted to remind them to put the planet
before profits.
The MEF is President
Obama’s remodelled version of Bush’s Major
Emitters Meeting. The Bush version was designed
as a distraction to real progress, a venue
for big economies to look busy while doing
nothing. This week we will find out if Obama’s
approach is going to be more productive.
The climate negotiations
could certainly do with a positive shove.
The latest UN climate meeting in Bonn ended
with no progress, and no sign of the leadership
needed to get things back on track. Obama’s
MEF meeting might be able to add some momentum
to get the negotiations back on track.
Last chance
The UN Climate Summit
in Copenhagen at the end of this year is
the best chance we have to take positive
action and avoid catastrophic climate change.
If the summit is to be a success it needs
to deliver three things:
Emission cuts of at
least 40 percent by 2020.
The funding to achieve them, including USD
40 billion a year to end deforestation.
A deal which is legally binding, not just
aspirational.
How can the MEF help do this?
It could be a forum for constructive proposals
to be put on the table and for new ideas
to be worked out. It could be a place where
countries can share details about just how
much they’re prepared to do - injecting
some much needed confidence into the talks.
The Bali action plan committed rich developed
countries to providing funding to help less
developed countries make the transition
to clean economies, deal with the impacts
of climate change and end deforestation.
More than a year later the rich nations
haven’t said how much they’re prepared to
spend. We're hoping that the MEF will be
a place for that to change.
Of course, what’s really needed is a change
in attitude right at the top. During the
last round of UN negotiations the Wilkins
Ice Shelf collapsed, providing yet more
undeniable evidence of the looming catastrophe.
But the negotiators, obsessed with political
maneuvering and short term national interest,
were unmoved.
Coincidentally the area
has been cordoned off, with President Obama
due to address the National Academy of Sciences
(next door) while Secretary Clinton opened
the MEF meeting.
We hope he got the message,
it's not the first we have directed at the
US President in recent weeks.
President Obama and
all heads of state need to take personal
responsibility and get involved in the UN
climate negotiations. Only they can offer
the leadership needed to bring the world's
nations into line on behalf of the billions
of people whose lives will be disrupted
or destroyed by runaway climate change if
we continue to do nothing.
Let them know that you
want them to lead from the front by asking
them to attend the Copenhagen Climate Summit
in person.
