To put it simply . . .
On 2 December at Columbia University, the UN Secretary-General delivered a landmark speech on the state of the planet.
“The way we are moving is a suicide,”
This article originally appeared in the Nation and was republished today in the Guardian as part of Covering Climate Now, a global consortium of news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. The Guardian is the lead partner in CCN.
Interview by Mark Hertsgaard, the environment correspondent of the Nation magazine, the author of HOT and Earth Odyssey, among other books, and the executive director of Covering Climate Now“The way we are moving is a suicide,” the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, said in an interview on Monday, and humanity’s survival will be “impossible” without the United States rejoining the Paris agreement and achieving “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050, as the incoming Biden administration has pledged.The secretary general said that “of course” he had been in touch with President-elect Biden and looked forward to welcoming the US into a “global coalition for net zero by 2050” that the UN has organized. The US is the world’s largest cumulative source of heat-trapping emissions and its biggest military and economic power, Guterres noted, so “there is no way we can solve the [climate] problem … without strong American leadership.”In an extraordinary if largely unheralded diplomatic achievement, most of the world’s leading emitters have already joined the UN’s “net zero by 2050” coalition, including the European Union, Japan, the United Kingdom and China (which is the world’s largest source of annual emissions and has committed to achieving carbon neutrality “before 2060”). India, meanwhile, the world’s third largest annual emitter, is the only Group of 20 country on track to limit temperature rise to 2C by 2100, despite needing to lift many of its people out of poverty, an achievement Guterres called “remarkable”. Along with Russia, the US has been the only major holdout, after Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing the US from the Paris agreement soon after becoming president four years ago.The new pledges could bring the Paris agreement’s goals “within reach”, provided that the pledges are fulfilled, concluded an analysis by the independent research group Climate Action Tracker. If so, temperature rise could be limited to 2.1C, the group said – higher than the agreement’s target of 1.5 to 2C, but a major improvement from the 3 to 5C future that business as usual would deliver.“The targets set at Paris were always meant to be increased over time,” Guterres said. “[Now,] we need to align those commitments with a 1.5C future, and then you must implement.”Reiterating scientists’ warning that humanity faces “a climate emergency”, the secretary general said that achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 is imperative to avoiding “irreversible” impacts that would be “absolutely devastating for the world economy and for human life”. He said rich countries must honor their obligation under the Paris agreement to provide $100bn a year to help developing countries limit their own climate pollution and adapt to the heatwaves, storms and sea level rise already under way. The trillions of dollars now being invested to revive pandemic-battered economies also must be spent in a “green” way, Guterres argued, or today’s younger generations will inherit “a wrecked planet”. And he predicted that the oil and gas industry, in its present form, will die out before the end of this century as economies shift to renewable energy sources.The secretary general’s interview, conducted by CBS News, the Times of India, and El País on behalf of the journalistic consortium Covering Climate Now, is part of a 10-day push by the UN to reinvigorate the Paris agreement before a follow-up conference next year. That conference, known as the 26th conference of the parties, or COP 26, was supposed to take place this week but was postponed due to the pandemic. On 12 December 2020, Guterres will mark the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Paris agreement by convening a global climate summit with Boris Johnson, who as prime minister of the UK is the official host of COP 26, which occurs in Glasgow, Scotland, next November.A total of 110 countries have joined the “net zero by 2050” coalition, the secretary general said, a development he attributed to growing recognition of the increasingly frequent and destructive extreme weather events climate change is unleashing around the world and the “tremendous pressure” governments have faced from civil society, including millions of young people protesting in virtually every country as well as more and more of the private sector.“Governments, until now, thought to a certain extent that they could do whatever they wanted,” Guterres said. “But now … we see the youth mobilizing in fantastic ways all over the world.” And with solar and other renewable energy sources now cheaper than carbon-based equivalents, investors are realizing that “the sooner that they move … to portfolios linked to the new green and digital economy, the best it will be for their own assets and their own clients.”For a global economy that still relies on oil, gas and coal for most of its energy and much of its food production, moving to “net zero” by 2050 nevertheless represents a tectonic shift – all the more so because scientists calculate that emissions must fall roughly by half over the next 10 years to hit the 2050 target. Achieving those goals will require fundamental shifts in both public and private policy, including building no new coal plants and phasing out existing ones, Guterres said. Governments must also reform tax and subsidy practices.There should be “no more subsidies for fossil fuels”, the secretary general said. “It doesn’t make any sense that taxpayers’ money is spent destroying the planet. At the same time, we should shift taxation from income to carbon, from taxpayers to polluters. I’m not asking governments to increase taxes. I’m asking governments to reduce the taxes on payrolls or on companies that commit to invest in green energy and put that level of taxation on carbon pollution.”Governments must also ensure a “just transition” for the people and communities affected by the phase-out of fossil fuels, with workers getting unemployment payments and retraining for jobs in the new green economy. “When I was in government [as the prime minister of Portugal], we had to close all the coalmines,” he recalled. “We did everything we could to make sure that those who were working in those mines would have their futures guaranteed.”The “cycle of oil as the key engine of the world economy is finished,” Guterres said. By the end of the 21st century, petroleum might still be used “as raw materials for different products … but the role of fossil fuels as [an energy source] will be minimal”. As for fossil fuel companies’ stated ambitions to continue producing more oil, gas and coal, Guterres said that throughout history various economic sectors have risen and fallen and that the digital sector has now displaced the fossil fuel sector as the center of the global economy. “I’m totally convinced that a lot of the oil and gas that is today in the soil,” he said, “will remain in the soil”.
CCNow Secretary General Interview
This is the United Nations - Climate Action Home Page
United Nations - Climate Action
The state of the planet is broken
Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal.
Nature always strikes back – and it is already doing so with growing force and fury.The fallout of the assault on our planet is impeding our efforts to eliminate poverty and imperiling food security.And it is making our work for peace even more difficult, as the disruptions drive instability, displacement and conflict.
Make peace with nature
Nature needs a bailout. In overcoming the pandemic, we can also avert climate cataclysm and restore our planet.
The trillions of dollars needed for COVID recovery is money that we are borrowing from future generations.
We cannot use those resources to lock in policies that burden them with a mountain of debt on a broken planet.
It is time to flick the “green switch”. We have a chance to not simply reset the world economy but to transform it.
Start carbon neutrality, now
By early next year, countries representing more than 65 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions and more than 70 per cent of the world economy will have made ambitious commitments to carbon neutrality.
We must turn this momentum into a movement. The central objective of the United Nations for 2021 is to build a truly Global Coalition for Carbon Neutrality.
Every country, city, financial institution and company should adopt plans for transitioning to net zero emissions by 2050…(and take) decisive action now.
Put global finance to work for climate
The commitments to net zero emissions are sending a clear signal to investors, markets and finance ministers. But we need to go further.
It is time to put a price on carbon. To phase out fossil fuel finance and end fossil fuel subsidies. To stop building new coal power plants.
(It is time) to integrate the goal of carbon neutrality into all economic and fiscal policies and decisions. And to make climate-related financial risk disclosures mandatory.
Protect the most vulnerable
We are in a race against time to adapt to a rapidly changing climate.
Adaptation must not be the forgotten component of climate action. We have both a moral imperative and a clear economic case for supporting developing countries to adapt and build resilience to current and future climate impacts.
The race to resilience is as important as the race to net zero.
Act with urgency – and hope
This is a moment of truth for people and planet alike. COVID and climate have brought us to a threshold.
We cannot go back to the old normal of inequality, injustice and heedless dominion over the Earth. Instead we must step towards a safer, more sustainable and equitable path. The door is open; the solutions are there.
Now is the time to transform humankind’s relationship with the natural world – and with each other. And we must do so together.
Solidarity is humanity. Solidarity is survival.
United Nations - Climate Action
This is the full speech delivered on 2 December at Columbia University, by António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, setting the stage for a dramatically scaled-up ambition on climate change over the coming year.
The moment . . .
Mock COP - SO WE DID
WHAT WE DID
"From the 19th November to the 1st December we filled the void of the postponed COP26 with a big, inclusive online Mock COP. The event was run by young climate activists and had over 330 delegates from over 140 counties. The conference had a focus on the Global South and comprised of empowering and informative keynotes and panels by global names and youth activists, followed by high-level opening statements by the youth delegates and facilitated workshops and regional caucuses. The discussions were framed around five conference themes: climate justice; education; health and mental health; green jobs; carbon reduction targets. The event culminated in a powerful conference statement to world leaders from the youth of the world, raising ambition for COP26. We are now supporting and mentoring delegates to engage their domestic politicians in the year to COP26."
We spoke . . .
Origins of Mock COP26
In 2020, students from the Teach the Future campaign looked for ways to influence the outcomes of COP26 by seeking further commitments to support the provision of universal, scientific climate education.
TEACH THE FUTURE
With the postponement of COP26, the students decided to act to promote their own COP26 event, taking greater account of young people’s priorities.
Fridays For Future
With the support of individual students involved in Fridays for the Future International, the original group of young people grew and spread across the globe. To fill the void left by the postponement of the COP26, the group decided to hold a youth-led Mock COP event, to express the demands of young people that five key themes be addressed, namely:
a. Climate Justice
b. Climate Education
c. Climate Resilient Livelihoods
d. Physical and Mental Health
e. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
This larger group ratified the five Mock COP26 themes and then agreed to a delegate application process, speaker nomination process, budget, and programme. The group then agreed to directly address global governments and demand that the obligations enclosed in this Declaration are adopted by all countries before, or at, COP26 and made legally binding.
Mock COP26 was attended by 330 delegates (aged 11 to 30) from 140 countries, thereby representing the youth of the vast majority of countries that will be represented at COP26 itself. Delegates were not only climate activists but witnesses of climate change and of its impacts in their own communities.
237 (72%) of delegates were from the Global South and 93 (28%) from the Global North. 63% of delegates were female or non-binary and the average age of delegates was 22. The student staff team of 18 young people comprised a 50% Global North / Global South split, with 73% of the student staff being female or non-binary.
Mock COP26 was run entirely online, resulting in just c14 tonnes of CO2 emissions, compared to c40,000 tonnes from previous COPs.
Delegates proposed policies which went through a process of review and voting during six regional caucus events. Delegates voted as delegates rather than as delegations, and each delegate from the Global South was eligible for a weighted 1.1 vote, which was applied if the weighting affected the outcome of the vote. Some delegates chose to remain anonymous because they feared repercussions from their participation in the conference, due to rules or oppression in their countries.
Delegates submitted high level statements explaining how the climate emergency and ecological crisis is impacting their nation and what they consider should be done to tackle the crisis. These statements are included in Annex 1 of this Declaration. A consistent theme running through these statements was that the delegates were experiencing the impacts of the crisis right now and they want to see action and not just words from the leaders of the world.
As one delegate commented, “even though we may be geographically divided to Global North and Global South we are still united by our common goal to address the climate crisis and this unity and common understanding of the need for bold climate action is manifest in the high-level statements”.
READ OUR LETTER TO WORLD LEADERS
Date: 01 December 2020
From: MockCOP26Delegates
To: The Heads of State of all countries, and the Secretary General of the UN
Dear Leaders
Re: Our treaty for urgent climate action this side of COP26
We are writing to inform you that we, the young people of 140 countries, ran our own inclusive online climate conference, Mock COP26, which we concluded today. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of you presumably thought it was a lesser priority to take climate action through the UNFCCC COP this year, and hence the UN postponed it. We remind you that we are still in a climate emergency as well as an ecological crisis and every moment of inaction makes things worse for our generation. We felt strongly that you should not further delay action, so we decided to run our own youth-led COP this year. We are tired of empty climate promises and are purely motivated by a desire to see real action.
With just three months of planning, we delivered a full two-week global conference, from 19 November to 01 December 2020, comprising 330 delegates, ages 11 to 30, representing 140 countries. We set out to improve upon the structures of the real COP to reflect the mandate of young people to build inclusive, equitable and fair systems. We made the following improvements:
- Our conference amplified the voices of marginalised and underrepresented communities. We made time to hear the uncomfortable truths about the Global North’s neglect for the most vulnerable people in our world, and we recognised the valiant efforts of the leaders of nations who have contributed least to climate change but whose people are suffering first and worst;
- We actively sought the advice and experience of Indigenous elders, whose innate knowledge of, and respect for, our dependence on the natural world has mostly been ignored;
- We did not allow any corporate lobbyists into our Mock COP26 and were free to think outside growth-based economic narratives. We were not shackled by political short-termism or national self- interest. We gave science, optimism and ambition the centre-stage and were not held back by the pace of the slowest;
- 72% of our delegates were from the Global South; 63% were female or non-binary; delegates’ average age was 22. The student staff team of eighteen young people was a 50% Global North / Global South split, with 73% of student staff female or non-binary.
- Our conference was run entirely online, resulting in just c14 tonnes of CO2 emissions, compared to c40,000 tonnes from the real COP.
Through the process of high-level statements made by delegates and policy caucuses, and a voting process on amendments, we formed our legal treaty, which is attached to this letter.
We ask that each and every one of you reads our treaty and considers, with an open mind, what you can do to implement our policy asks in your country, whilst also building consensus for high ambition at COP26. Prior to Covid-19 we were of the view that governments were both unwilling and unable to take urgent joined-up action in response to an emergency. However, in the past few months, you have delivered dramatic unilateral and multilateral measures to mitigate the threat of the virus. We now ask you to take equally dramatic and urgent action to stop the threats we face from the climate emergency and ecological crisis.
Please act with urgency to enact all, or part, of our treaty in your own country in the run-up to COP26. You can register your intention to implement our treaty by contacting us at treaty@mockcop.org and treaty@sos-uk.org. Your national delegates, or our international student staff team, are available to meet with you, at your convenience, to brief you on Mock COP26 and discuss how we can support you in implementing our treaty.
Yours very sincerely,
Youth of the World
Mock COP26 Delegates
Download the CONFERENCE DECLARATION
Declaration of Mock COP26
We, the delegates of the youth-led Mock COP26, drawn from 140 countries of the world, meeting between 19 November 2020 and 1 December 2020,
CONSIDER THAT:
1.a. Governments around the world are failing to meet their legal and moral obligations to tackle the climate and ecological crisis, despite the increasing urgency and projected scale of the crisis;
1.b. Children and young people, as well as women and local and Indigenous communities, are disproportionately affected by the worsening impacts of climate change and ecological damage, and that children and young people in developing country Parties (and in particular in the least developed countries and small island developing States) bear the greatest burden of those impacts, despite contributing the least to their causes; and
NOTE THAT:
2. 197 countries of the world are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (‘UNFCCC’) and 196 countries are parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (“CBD”).
3. 189 countries of the world are parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change (‘the Paris Agreement’).
4. 196 countries of the world are parties to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (‘UNCRC’).
5. The Parties to the Paris Agreement (‘the Parties’) agreed to mitigate the progression of climate change by:
“Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”.
6. This is a legal obligation on Parties to the Paris Agreement.
7. Despite this, global average temperatures have risen by an average of 1°C since pre-industrial times.
8. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, (‘IPCC’) reports that in order to limit climate change to 1.5°C by 2050, global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (‘CO2 Emissions’) must fall by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching “net-zero” by 2050 and non-CO2 emissions must also show deep reductions. This is endorsed by the Secretary General of the United Nations.
9. In 2013, CO2 levels in the atmosphere passed the level of 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in human history, and are continuing to rise, despite all the climate agreements to date, as shown on the “Keeling Curve” maintained by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
10. The conclusion that CO2 emissions and anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the main driving force behind the global temperature increase is supported by international scientific authorities, including the IPPC, World Meteorological Organisation (‘WMO’), nearly 200 scientific organisations, and the national scientific academies of each country in the G8 group of nations.
11. The continued rise in CO2 Emissions and resulting escalation of global temperatures risks triggering key ‘tipping points’ that are likely to inflict irreversible changes to the world’s climate, including but not limited to:
a. Greenland ice sheet disintegration;
b. Permafrost loss;
c. Atlantic Meridional overturning;
d. Boreal forest shift;
e. Amazon rainforest die-back;
f. West Antarctic ice sheet disintegration;
g. West African monsoon shift;
h. Indian monsoon shift; and
i. Coral Reef die-off from mass bleaching.
12. In their high level statements, MOCK COP delegates have not only argued that these effects must be urgently addressed; but have also given first-hand testimony of what these scientific terms represent, through what is happening in their own countries in 2020: from submerging islands, melting Polar ice, the first climate refugees, rising sea levels, loss of coral reefs and mangroves, cyclones and hurricanes, melting glaciers, increased air pollution, drought and heat waves, changing patterns of rainfall and floods, food and water shortages, and advancing deserts.
13. In November 2020, the Parties were due to meet in Glasgow, Scotland for the 26th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (‘COP26’), co-hosted by the United Kingdom and Italy. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting has been postponed for one year, and COP26 is now fixed for 01-12 November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland preceded by the 16th Annual Conference of Youth (‘COY16’). In addition a Pre-COP meeting will take place in Milan, Italy on 30 September - 02 October 2021 and prior to this the Youth Summit on 28-30 September 2021. The 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (‘CBD COP15’) due to take place in Kunming, China, from 15-18 October 2020 has also been postponed until 17-30 May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Climate Education
14. Article 12 of the Paris Agreement commits the Parties to cooperate in scaling up and strengthening climate education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information on climate change.
15. Education on climate change and biodiversity, based on the best available science and data, needs to be made available at schools and educational establishments at every level, including informal education. School, college and university buildings and estates must lead by example on sustainability as they form the subliminal curriculum.
16. The Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action prepared in 2019 by the Children's Environmental Rights Initiative (‘CERI’), the United Nations International Children’s Fund (‘UNICEF’) and YOUNGO (the Children and Youth constituency to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), already signed by twelve countries, underlines the call for climate change and environmental education, and childrens’ rights, including the right to a healthy environment.
Climate Justice
17. The IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C makes clear that disadvantaged and vulnerable populations, some Indigenous peoples, and local communities dependent on agricultural or coastal livelihoods, are at a disproportionately higher risk of adverse consequences of global warming at 1.5°C and beyond.
18. Children and young people in developing country Parties (and in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States) are disproportionately affected by climate change, despite their societies having played far less a part in causing it.
19. Article 9 of the Paris Agreement commits the Developed country Parties to providing financial resources to assist developing country Parties to address both climate Mitigation and Adaptation.
20. This Article underlines the steps that Developed country Parties need to take to mobilise climate finance, especially for countries hit hardest by the impacts of climate change, such as small island states, some of which may disappear altogether as sea levels rise.
21. Article 10 of the Paris Agreement commits the Parties to work together in support and collaboration in the development of technology to address climate change, and also to promote the transfer of technology to Developing country Parties.
22. Article 11 of the Paris Agreement commits the Parties to support capacity building, especially for the least developed countries and those particularly vulnerable to climate change, such as small island developing states.
Climate Resilient Livelihoods
23. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many thousands of deaths and untold damage both to human health and to countries’ economies around the world. Many people have lost their jobs and livelihoods and young people have been disproportionately affected. Climate-related factors, deforestation and air pollution may increase future pandemic health risks.
24. At the same time, it has become clear that both the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate emergency and ecological crisis must simultaneously be addressed. The world cannot resolve one while ignoring the other.
25. This recognition underlines the need for a ‘Green Recovery’ from the COVID-19 pandemic, which does not simply restart CO2 Emissions as usual as the pandemic recedes, but “builds back better” with a cleaner, more sustainable economy, new green jobs and opportunities, and greater investment in long-term green opportunities replacing subsidies and support that entrench the use of fossil fuels.
26. Calls for a Green Recovery, and promotion of jobs in new, sustainable businesses and industries have been made by the United Nations’ Secretary General, International Monetary Fund, International Energy Agency; European Commission, leading academics, and many other political leaders, groups and businesses.
27. The European Union Green Deal and Recovery Plan for Europe emphasise investment in education and training, addressing both immediate unemployment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the long-term structural shift away from fossil fuels and towards decarbonisation.
Physical and Mental Health
28. The IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C shows how increased global warming will affect human health – from heat-related deaths, ozone-related morbidity, heatwaves, the spread of vector-borne diseases (such as malaria and dengue fever), crop failure and malnutrition, and water stress. The resulting mental health impacts will multiply. Children, young people and other vulnerable groups are particularly at risk from these threats to health and well-being.
29. Countries’ actions under Article 2 of the Paris Agreement on Mitigation and under Article 7 on Adaptation must set out concrete steps for addressing the impacts of climate change on physical health and mental health.
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
30. Article 3 of the Paris Agreement commits the Parties to prepare “ambitious” Nationally Determined Contributions (‘NDCs’), representing both a progression and acceleration of national efforts to achieve net-zero.
31. Article 4 of the Paris Agreement commits the Parties to aim to reach the global peak of CO2 Emissions as soon as possible, and Article 4.3 re-states the need for NDCs to demonstrate a progression and reflect the “highest possible ambition”.
32. Parties are due to submit updated, ambitious NDCs in 2020. As at 30 November 2020, 188 Parties had submitted their first NDC to the UNFCCC Secretariat, and only 2 Parties had submitted their second NDC.
33. The United Nations Environment Programme’s Environmental Rule of Law: First Global Report 2019, found that governments’ failure to fully implement and enforce domestic environmental laws is one of the greatest challenges to mitigating climate change, reducing pollution, and preventing widespread biodiversity loss.
34. United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said in 2020:
“If we are going to limit global heating to 1.5°C, we need to demonstrate, starting this year, how we will achieve emissions reductions of 45% from 2010 levels this decade, and how we will reach net-zero emissions by mid-century.”
35. In 2019, youth activist Greta Thunberg told the U.S. Congress – “Don’t listen to me, listen to the scientists”.
Scientists have warned the world about climate change for decades. Such warnings are clear and more urgent now than ever before.
NOW THEREFORE the youth-led MOCK COP and the young people that it has drawn together from 140 countries of the world, calling upon world leaders who will be represented at COP26 in 2021 to meet the commitments that they made in the Paris Agreement and to endorse these principles, MAKE THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION -
Climate Education
1.1 Each country shall ensure that all school age children, regardless of how they are schooled, are provided with comprehensive and up to date teaching regarding the climate emergency and ecological crisis. Such teaching shall be adapted to be age and region specific and to give all young people the information they need to enable them to understand the extent, nature and structural causes of the crisis, the measures which need to be taken to substantially address and reduce the crisis and mitigate and adapt to its consequences. Each country shall implement national laws to ensure free access to impartial climate science and data, and provide legal redress against those making false claims relating to the climate emergency and ecological crisis.
1.2 Each country shall ensure that all school age children, regardless of how they are schooled, are given the opportunity to learn about their connection with nature, including (but not limited to) drawing upon the knowledge and practices of Indigenous peoples.
Climate Justice
2.1 Each country shall extend legal protection to the rights of Indigenous peoples, including their land, way of life and livelihoods, supporting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.htmlEach country shall also implement appropriate and reasonable mechanisms for Indigenous peoples to be recognised as rights holders, such as identity certificates.
2.2 The UN should formally recognise the human right to a healthy environment, including the right to a safe climate.
A UN Universal Declaration on the Rights of Nature should also be implemented.
www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html
https://therightsofnature.org/
2.3 Each country shall make industrial agriculture, mining and extractive and other polluting industries responsible in law for upholding sustainable practices and complying with regulations regarding full and swift restoration and clean-up, and the rights of their workers and neighbouring communities. Each country shall ensure that new projects are not undertaken that involve clearing residents off their land without informed consent and/or destroying previously protected ecosystems or sensitive zones. To prevent national governments unduly redefining any protected areas, any changes should be overseen by a national scientific advisory board, whose findings should be made transparent to the public.
2.4 Each country shall introduce a law making the wholesale and deliberate destruction of environments upon which humanity depends a criminal offence of ecocide with penalties appropriate to its severity and consequences for humanity, and in addition, shall support the introduction of a new international crime of ecocide capable of prosecution as a crime in the International Criminal Court.
www.stopecocide.earth/
2.5 Each country shall facilitate meaningful and inclusive youth participation in decision-making in all matters relating to the climate emergency and ecological crisis at all levels, including (but not limited to) the setting of NDCs. Methods could include, for example, making information related to current decision-making available via media frequented by young people, youth citizen assemblies, facilitating consultations with youth, giving youth a seat at the table to vote on proposed legislation, creating more job and internship opportunities for youth, and sending a minimum number or percentage of youth delegates to climate conferences such as COP26.
https://citizensassemblies.org/
For the purposes of this policy we define youth as people aged 11-29 inclusive.
2.6 Each country shall implement and enforce laws to protect or, if there is existing provision, enhance, the active participation in decision-making of those in society who advocate addressing environmental issues, social injustice and corruption and to protect their safety and their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
Climate Resilient Livelihoods
3.1 Each country shall develop and implement a National Adaptation Plan and provide the funding, training and resources necessary to enable people and communities to adapt and mitigate as necessary to protect their livelihoods from the consequences of the climate emergency and ecological crisis, including the transition needed to mitigate the crisis. This is not limited to but shall include the provision of re-skilling and entrepreneurship skills programmes in renewables and ecological approaches.
www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/climate-change/what-we-do/climate-adaptation/national-adaptation-plans
3.2 The policies and practices of each country and international agencies shall support sustainable agriculture and regeneration of soils and forests. These shall include measures to assist farmers to move away from agricultural practices which are driving deforestation and are harmful to soil health, food security, water quality, water availability and biodiversity, and to substantially reduce chemical use, greenhouse gas emissions and pollution from agriculture. Furthermore, policies shall support investing in plant-based food alternatives and technological innovations such as cellular agriculture, and implementing policies to combat global food waste.
3.3 Each country shall commit to a Green Recovery: plans for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic shall not entrench and subsidise fossil fuel use but shall commit the country to a just and equitable transition to sustainability and the development of low carbon jobs and opportunities.
Physical and Mental Health
4.1 Each country shall ensure a child's right to play, learn, and engage with the natural world by enacting policies to protect and restore biodiversity, such as establishing protected nature reserves, investing in reforestation, and banning mining, logging, and fossil fuel drilling in those protected areas.4.2 Each country shall ensure safe, breathable air quality by adopting strong regulations on air pollutants that require industry and commerce to significantly reduce emissions and pollution. In addition, they shall implement additional social measures to ensure clean, quality air, including the promotion of pedestrian green zones, affordable and sustainable public transport, and phasing out of internal combustion engines.4.3 Each country shall provide the necessary funding for child-friendly mental health services, including (but not limited to) the prevention and treatment of eco-anxiety, and the provision of care that directly addresses climate emergency-related stressors. They shall also recognise the particular vulnerability of children to the impacts of the climate crisis in terms of its impact on their health and well-being, and proactively address those impacts, including undernutrition, unsafe housing, and the increased risk of physical and mental ill-health.Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
5.1 Each country’s plans, programmes and laws shall be fully aligned with the IPCC’s call to limit global warming to below 1.5°C. The plans need to take all known greenhouse gas emissions into account including land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF), shipping and heavy industry / international flight. Commitments shall genuinely prioritise the radical reduction in Greenhouse Gas (“GHG”) emissions first and not involve offshoring. Any offsetting shall only be done as a last resort and be carried out through schemes that respect the principles of social justice, ownership and fair trade, and countries shall be transparent about their offshore emissions, and clearly state the impacts of their environmental policy on developing country Parties (and in particular on the least developed countries and small island developing
https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs
5.2 Each country’s NDCs shall spell out detailed plans and timetables for a whole-of-society energy transition away from coal, oil, gas and other fossil fuels, which includes a ban on future developments of fossil fuel reserves, and a detailed action plan on the sound management of the life-cycle of renewable energy equipment.
Protecting biodiversity
6.1 Each country shall commit to ambitious targets, and the funding and actions to deliver them, for the protection and restoration of at least 30% of land and marine ecosystems by 2030. These must benefit biodiversity, sequester carbon, and ensure the integrity of Indigenous
www.cbd.int/
6.2 Each country, at a national and international level, shall phase out all non-essential single-use plastics, taking into account the needs of people with disabilities, and introduce a circular system for all materials which promotes reuse and repair instead of single use and continually uses existing 'waste' streams to make 'new' products, instead of continuing to rely on oil-based or bio-based virgin materials.
AGREED BY YOUTH DELEGATES AT MOCK COP26
01 DECEMBER 2020
[If you are a representative of a UN member state that would like to sign this Declaration, please send an email to the Secretariat for this Declaration at treaty@sos-uk.org and treaty@mockcop.org]
Re:LODE Radio celebrates this achievement
Re:LODE Radio recognises the comprehensive approach of MOCK COP26 in addressing both the Covid-19 pandemic crisis and the climate emergency in an approach that is holistic and integral.
But there is an important element that remains as yet to be articulated in this and other DECLARATIONS. This is the real connection, historical and present, between the causes of the critical condition of the planet and the dominant economic and global system of CAPITALISM.
In the United Kingdom, when it comes to Climate Education, the UK government considers an anti-capitalist critical position as illegal, regardless of the facts of history. Therefore this becomes a matter of both political freedom and FREEDOM OF SPEECH in the significant context of Climate Education, as well as within societies, in general, across the planet!
Re:LODE Radio celebrates the work of MOCK COP26 delegates along the LODE Zone Line . . .
Germany
This is the high level statement from Germany. We are honored to be part of Mock COP26 and we want to show the world leaders how the Youth would face the climate crisis. Because one thing is certain: We are in the middle of the climate crisis and we have to act now. The world cannot wait until we are in positions of power.
During the corona pandemic, we suddenly noted that our German government is perfectly capable of treating a crisis as such. We need the same focus when it comes to the climate. Only because of a pandemic, Germany was able to meet the climate goals for 2020 that the government has set. This is not the way it should be. People are suffering from the corona crisis and the virus itself was able to develop because humans don’t care about our planet. This should be an eyeopener to us as the climate crisis is linked to many other social and economic crises.
Germany currently holds the presidency of the EU Council. That’s a perfect position to initiate change. The European Youth calls for climate objectives that are aligned with science and the Paris Agreement. That is: cutting our greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030. This ambitious target requires to adopt consistent and coherent policies across all sectors and to effectively implement the Green Deal.
Germany, being part of the Global North, is facing a massive responsibility. And so, we - and millions of young people in Germany - demand actions such that the national emissions stop rising and finally drop. These actions must include a coal exit in 2030 the latest and an immediate stop of cutting trees in the Dannenröder forest for the construction of a new highway. But that’s only the start - we seek for an ecological transformation.
The climate crisis already is affecting even Germany - not only economically. We experience more heat waves in the summers that represent a risk for the weak and to our food supply system and a massive extinction of forests and species. But Germany is affected way less than other countries. There are already climate refugees who search for a safe home. We demand actions of solidarity with all refugees. Around the world and especially in the Global South, people are suffering, people are dying due to the climate crisis. A crisis for which we as Germans and our lifestyle are co-responsible. Therefore, we demand leaders of the Global North to listen to people of the Global South and to be aware of their responsibility, to be aware of their failure to create climate justice not yet. There is no time for excuses anymore, it is time to get to work.
Poland
This year, young people were unable to protest on the streets - the whole world is dealing with the pandemic crisis. However, Parties must still hear our voice. Even if you do not see mass protests - the youth is here, demanding action to save their future. With each day we have less time to make a change and prevent the 1.5 °C temperature increase. That is why we ask every country to create a clear climate action plan, based on the best available science.
As we belong to the European Youth, we call for the EU to adopt climate objectives that are aligned with science and the Paris Agreement. That is: cutting our GHG emissions by 65% in 2030. This ambitious target requires to adopt consistent and coherent policies across all sectors and to effectively implement the Green Deal.” Currently, the European Council is deciding on actions to be undertaken by the EU member states. We are deeply worried by the Polish position in this discussion and their ignorant approach.
Reforms of energetics planned by the Polish government are insufficient and unrealistic. In order to reach the goal of climate neutrality, Poland must stop using and mining coal before 2030 and invest in renewable energy sources.
At the same time, politicians cannot forget about people working in industries responsible for emissions, like miners. The government must consider their needs and provide them with the necessary stability and security. Climate justice is social justice.
The key thing in fighting climate change is knowing its causes and consequences. In Poland, schools provide almost no climate or ecological education. This must change! We demand that Poland and all the other countries introduce mandatory ecological education at schools of all levels, that they allow regular dialogue, consultation and cooperation with all social groups, and that they reflect their planned efforts regarding Action for Climate Empowerment in their NDCs.
We, the young generation, have plenty of energy, hope and ideas. We dream of these ideas blossoming in the future and saving our Mother Earth from a disaster. But what if the future never comes? It is time to finally stop fighting each other and instead start fighting climate change together. We have already started leading the action. Will you join us?
Belarus
Hello distinguished delegates and observers of Mock COP26. I speak to you today representing the youth of Belarus, a country in Eastern Europe with a population of 10 million people. Here in Belarus, we are very privileged to not witness the worst effects of the climate crisis yet. But we can see the agroclimatic zones are shifting due to global warming. In summer there are more heatwaves and droughts. There is still a lack of green spaces, that’s not to mention the negative impact of urban growth on habitats and biodiversity.
There are some projects that implement activities in order to initiate the stakeholders’ engagement in the development of the climate agenda. For example, TeRRIFICA project in Belarus is focused on data collection, mapping stakeholders, testing crowdmapping tool and development of behavior change methodologies, based on best practices and tools in climate mitigation and adaptation,
Our young people took part in online activities within the FFF. In Belarus we don’t have the possibility to organize strikes. Freedom of speech was and is being violated, we do not have access to information. After the presidential election this summer young people are under intense pressure. From August to November 2020 a number of environmental activists and journalists were detained.
We are organizing climate conferences and interactive lessons to make more people aware of the climate crisis. We are asking the government to make climate education mandatory for all elementary and secondary school students, and implement into the curriculum the science on the climate crisis.
Climate related programs, strategies have been adopted in Belarus to improve the environmental situation. In September 2016, the country ratified the Paris Agreement. But all efforts for joint work of civil society and the authorities have been canceled out by the political crisis after the 2020 elections.
Belarus can and should take various economic and institutional measures in the fight against climate change: to create a system of trading in greenhouse gas emissions. In the field of adaptation to changes, it is necessary to create a national adaptation fund, insurance against the risks of extreme events, to develop adaptation strategies by the economic sector.
We, young people, cannot continue working in safety on the climate crisis in view of an ongoing political one. We call on the authorities to stop the violence, violation of civil and political rights and start working on the climate crisis. Thanks.
Ukraine
Hello distinguished delegates and observers of Mock COP26. We speak to you today representing the youth of the country of Ukraine, the largest all-European country with a population of 42 million people. Today we live in a world, in which we face numerous different challenges and threats of global nature.
Analysis of a survey of the Ukrainian Climate Network on the impact of climate change on health showed that young people are becoming more ill. Headache and fatigue due to heat, exacerbation of chronic diseases.
As politicians continue to talk and delay making critical decisions, the effects of climate change continue to destroy the homes and lives of the world's inhabitants. We can't afford to wait. As the slogan of this year's conference says, it's time to act.
Ukraine is a friendly country, a country which demonstrates how people can change the world, when they unite together in order to create a better future for the upcoming generations. Communities are taking action, for example, the number of cyclists on weekdays has increased 2.5 times compared to the same period last year.
As promised in the previous conference, our country is now revising its Nationally Determined Contributions. Our previous plans were to reduce emissions from 1990 levels. Now Ukraine must set a target for 2030 and show whether we will continue to depend on dirty and harmful fossil fuels, or whether we will focus on sustainable development.
Ukraine is faced by some difficult battles. It’s the 7th year that we have been facing Russian armed aggression against my country, Crimea and part of Donbas are temporarily occupied, as a result we had a drastic decline in social standards of people’s life. This makes it even harder for citizens and in fact, for people all over the world to understand and to see climate change as one of the main issues.
According to a sociological study on the mining towns, presented by the NGO Ecodia and the Representation of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Ukraine, the opinions and attitudes of residents of the regions of Ukraine coincide with the basic principles of fair transformation.
The dependence of city development on the activities of one enterprise is a disadvantage. Lack of choice of employment, non-competitive wages and delays; at the same time, the prestige of professions is declining, they are not of interest to young people.
Rationally develop and maintain various areas of the economy, including the production and repair of equipment for alternative energy, is the way to go. After the gradual closure of mines and thermal power plants in the regions, the condition of air and water resources will improve, and the elimination of waste heaps will reduce the radiation background.
However, climate change is already visible and we experience some negative effects of it here, in Ukraine: Ukraine is among the highest greenhouse gas emitters, in the world. Ukraine’s high CO2 emissions are related to its exorbitant energy intensity.
A truly far-sighted government decision is to support sustainable urban development, public transport and micro-mobility, to develop railways and to encourage the import of electric cars, rather than old cars with internal combustion engines.
According to figures released in early January by Ukraine’s Central Geophysical Observatory, 2019 was the warmest year on record in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Attention was drawn to elements of ill- considered transport in Kyiv: lack of connectivity, clarity, additional and unnecessary barriers on the way. Currently, the metro in Kyiv does not provide the principle of "straightforward public transport". To get from one end of the city to the other, the only way is to go by subway through the center. The development of the ring city electric train is a real alternative to the construction of a new metro line that will connect the banks of the Dnieper and densely populated areas, such as Kurenivka and Troieschyna. Now the obstacle to the full launch of the train is not the physical absence of rails or trains, but administrative inconsistencies. Hundreds of thousands of people coming by tram to the Vokzalna metro station now have to walk through a narrow, crowded passage to the crowded escalator, which is only open during the day.
Opening new restaurants, cinemas, shops and parks within walking distance of housing outside the city center would not only reduce congestion, but would implement an effective way to maintain social distance.
Water supply is probably the most crucial aspect of climate change in Ukraine. Freshwater reserves are in decline and expected to grow even scarcer in the coming years as droughts become more frequent. In 2019, the country saw 25% less precipitation than average, while the incidence of droughts has nearly doubled in the last 20 years. At the same time, the absence of a seasonal snow cover in much of Ukraine poses threats to winter crops. In recent years, we have seen more and more weather anomalies: droughts, floods, heat waves, dust storms, snowless winters, temperature records.
The creation of the 2nd Nationally Defined Contribution is an opportunity to approve a course for low- carbon development of renewable energy sources, industry, transport and agriculture. Institute of Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences with the support of the Foundation of Heinrich Böll conducted the simulation and estimated that we can achieve 91% renewable energy in 2050. A study by the Finnish company Wärtsilä showed that even a full transition of Ukraine to renewable energy is possible and economically feasible.
For countries seeking to rebuild their economies after the Covid-19 pandemic, avoid catastrophic social consequences and achieve long-term sustainable growth, climate action offers sustainable development solutions.
The public is calling for a plan that sets the most ambitious goals for the development of renewable energy sources, the reduction of nuclear energy and coal by 2050. Developments under this scenario will make it possible to reduce emissions by 72% compared to 1990 in 2030 and have an 86% reduction in emissions in 2050, which is not enough, but from the available proposals is still the best option.
Kazakhstan
Hello everyone and welcome to Mock COP26 – Global youth initiative addressing climate change. My name is Alexandra Mussina and I am honored to be a representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
One may recall the most significant characteristic Kazakhstan cherishes, which is diversity. And, yes, diversity in Kazakhstan may be seen in each and every thing: whether those are the outlooks on the world (both European and Asian); or those are the natural diversity of landscapes and biological species, living here; or the multiethnic and multicultural population of Kazakhstan.
The core values Kazakhstani society has developed throughout it’s tough and complicated history are the friendly international relations and the peaceful relations within, which we share among others. In spite of the fact of being called a melting pot metaphorically, Kazakhstan is becoming the melting pot (quite) literally.
Climate change represents one of the biggest threats to the peace and security in the region of Central Asia right now. Those are mainly reflected in the escalating droughts and water shortages. We have the glaciers melting, which significantly influences the water supply in the region. In fact, right here, in Almaty, we have the glacier called Tyuk-Suu, that has been reduced twice in the past 70 years. And this scene is very scary for me and for the upcoming generations, since the peace and war are put at the stake due to the climate change. Moreover, the IPCC predicts that if the world follows the scenario of the 3 degree Celsius warming, Central Asia will experience 6 degree Celsius warming in the region.
Another aspect we should consider is that Kazakhstan is considered to be a trend-setter in Central Asia. Therefore, we have to address the issue right now. Kazakhstan is one of the biggest regional traders (suppliers) of oil and other subsoil natural resources in the World. And those (supplies) are significantly co-dependent on the private companies and investors to the region. We have to address and follow the sustainable and green innovations in order to fight climate change, adapt and mitigate the consequences of it.
And this issue has to be addressed now. Thank you for your attention (and see you).
Pakistan
Excellencies, Distinguished Fellow Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen. Let me begin by sending you all, good wishes from the land of pure, Assalam o Alaikum!
I take this opportunity to send my heartiest congratulations to the youth from Global North and the Global South for setting out Mock COP26 amid the pandemic. This has proved that we, young people, are committed to deriving change regardless of the hurdles and the world can not ignore how we stand as major stakeholders in the global climate diplomacy and climate empowerment arena.
Pakistan is a South Asian country with exceptionally diverse geography, climatic, and socio-economic zones. Its diversity extends to its temperate, tropical, and sub-tropical ecosystems enriched with the indigenous flora and fauna. Pakistan’s role in the fight against climate change has always remained very affirmative whether it is a call to action or negotiations, but I’m afraid to share that besides the fact that Pakistan contributes less than 1% to the global GreenHouse Gases (GHGs) trajectory, its rapid transition from being the 8th most vulnerable country in 2017 to the 5th in 2020 as per "The Long Term Climate Risk Index (CRI)" is startling.
Over the past few decades, we have been experiencing frequent and extreme episodes of floods and droughts. Pakistan stands by irresistible heat waves every passing year with increasing numbers of fatalities. The impact of the leaping global temperatures resulting in glacial melting, disproportionate rain patterns, droughts, air pollution (smog), and urban flooding is not just confined to the hotspots but is widespread, causing humanitarian and other economic issues. The indigent communities are front liners facing the aftermath of this loss and damage. It is high time to acknowledge the fact that developing countries are worst hit due to climate change owing to the vulnerable infrastructures and scarcity of resources to adapt to the negative impacts. This is not less of an attempt to deprive us of our rights and we will keep raising the voices to put our case forward to seek climate justice.
As the representative of the 64 percent of the Pakistani youth, I stand proud saying that even when Pakistan is comparatively an inconspicuous emitter, we still aspire to reach net-zero emissions by trimming 20% of the projected emissions by 2030 as reflected in our INDC report. But Intent is not enough, at this high time we need to accelerate the action through capacity building, technological transfer, and climate fundings. We stand with our government but we also demand the right to claim space at the decision-making tables. Youth is the future. We have the capacity, knowledge, innovative ideas, and above all will and power to create momentum in this movement against climate change.
When young people, women, the elderly, and children are disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change they should not be treated in a tokenistic way, rather included in a mechanism through right reforms and institutionalization. This is the reason the Pakistan youth is taking over the lead for climate activism at the grassroots level. It is heartbreaking to see the criminal negligence and wrong decisions of some people who are letting nature be destroyed with our future fading away for the sake of business as usual and top-bottom approaches of the system.
We still are hopeful. We know that we are not alone in this journey. Out there is youth like us working for a sustainable future and we'll keep working until our voices are heard, our efforts are acknowledged, and our presence is welcomed as stakeholders of our futures.
India
Namaste, distinguished delegates, policy-makers, organisers, and observers of Mock COP26. As youth delegates of India, we are honoured to be part of this historic moment of youth action against climate change.
On 2nd October 2016, India pledged, in the Paris Agreement, to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 33%–35% below 2005 levels, increase non-fossil-based energy to 40% and create an additional carbon sink of 2.5–3 Gt CO2e by 2030. However, the actions of the Indian government seem to be contrary to keeping the national emissions below 1.5oC by 2030.
Just within the lockdown, over 41 coal mines have been auctioned and policies such as the EIA 2020 have been pushed in the name of economic revival. India’s NDC’s also fail to include pertinent issues relating to water and Indigenous rights.
We want to emphasise that transitioning towards clean energy should not happen at the expense of natural resources, wetlands and local communities. India needs a just transition plan keeping in mind rights of marginalised people to phase out fossil fuels. We must also promote rural and local community entrepreneurship skills rather than exploiting these to create green and climate resilient livelihoods. We call on policy-makers across the world to rewrite anti-environment, anti-youth policies and to include climate and environmental literacy in education in a holistic manner.
We reiterate strongly to all by recommending the following changes:
1. Policy-makers need to listen to and involve youth while setting targets and youth must immediately be allowed a safe space to dissent and protest;
2. We need bottom up approaches involving local communities while planning climate policies and actions;
3. Climate change needs to be a part of mainstream politics and party manifestos;
4. We need to set up a National Focal Point for Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE);
5. We need to look at sustainable finance, National Gross Environment Product and other such innovative models in order to rethink the global and local economic model;
6. We must keep in mind the fragility of our system, as seen by COVID, and realise how interwoven health and climate are. We need to reduce our waste production and pollution which are causing severe health issues. Food security, sustainable agriculture and farmer rights are also essential to wellbeing and climate change Mitigation.
We call the Indian youth, to raise our voices, to fight for our future rights, to fight for our health and wellbeing. We say, once again, to all policy-makers that the youth across the world are tired of empty climate promises. We, the youth, are ready to work with you in building a self-reliant, safe, inclusive and sustainable world.
Question is, are you ready?
Indonesia
Distinguished Delegates and Attendees of Mock COP26, on behalf of the youth of the Republic of Indonesia, I would like to extend our utmost gratitude to all parties involved in this monumental event.
Indonesia has been blessed not to have experienced the worst effects of climate change, but the future for us isn’t a bright one. Out of the 17,508 islands that is Indonesia, 1,500 will be gone due to rising sea levels by 2050, threatening the lives of millions in our coastal communities.
Whilst some of the Indonesian youth had already recognized the need for global action on climate change, many are still left unknown on the issue. Therefore, we are demanding our government to integrate climate education into the national curriculum to help students understand what is happening and know what they can do about it. We have seen impressive youth-led campaigns with their unique initiatives tailored to tackle the most pressing challenges faced by communities all across the archipelago.
Indonesia is the eighth largest GHG emitter, and our emissions continue to rise. Although in the Paris Agreement countries were set to limit global warming below 2 C, our government has made no plans to set the country on a low-emissions pathway. Indonesia has the second biggest rainforest in the world, but since the start of the century we have lost 36% of our tree cover; that is 10 million hectares of rainforest. We have to massively reduce emissions and continue to do so until 2050 if we want to reach our NDC targets.
The European Union Emission Trading System is a successful concept Carbon Emissions Trade illustrated through the significant reduction in emission and development of the carbon market in Europe. Indonesia hopes to apply a similar system in the Southeast Asian market.
Nonetheless, the Emission Trading System should not be limited to regional but also to the global scope. A clearer guideline complemented by an intergovernmental panel on climate change that provides uniformity and serves as the foundation in estimating global emissions should be able to promote the efficiency of the emission trading system.
Major and rapid change is exactly what we need in the fight against climate disruption. Change that will make our planet more liveable, sustainable, and inclusive. And no group has more power than us, the youth. Because when we march, the world will follow. Thank you.
Australia
Australia is especially vulnerable to the climate crisis and 2020 was unprecedented. We started the year with devastating bushfires. We lost almost 20 million hectares, over 5,900 buildings, 34 people and 3 billion animals.
Then while our country focused on managing the pandemic, the Great Barrier Reef suffered its sixth mass bleaching event.
Young Australians mobilised in all corners of the country to organise general strikes, petitioned politicians and created a large scale movement in the name of climate action.
As the government puts together its climate plan for the COP26 UN climate conference, we, young Australians, are calling for the following:
1. Net 0 by 2050:
To limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius and honour our Paris Commitments, global carbon emissions must reach net-zero by 2050. Every sub-national jurisdiction in Australia has set a net-zero emissions target. We need a national net-zero target and an ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution to guide our climate policy and provide security for investment in renewable energy. Our energy system must transform to be powered completely by renewable energy by 2030. The global energy system is changing and Australia has the potential to be a renewable energy exporting superpower.
2. Diversifying the voices at the decision making table
(a) Youth voices: Youth need to have a spot at the table when it comes to climate policy. We, the youth of today will inherit the earth of tomorrow. We the youth have expressed over and over our wish for the safety of our future over profits with the campaign #FundOurFutureNotGas in the recent SS4C strikes on September 25.(b) Media: We need to have diverse media outlets to hold each other to account and ensure the Australian public is holistically educated. This can only be established through new regulations that prevent monopolisation, and instead encourage transparency and value independent voices.(c) First Nation voices: I am a Wuthathi and Yadhegana man from Cape York and the Torres Strait and my people and culture are at risk of being washed away due to climate change. In Australia today, advancing sea levels have devastated our communities. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia are the oldest living culture in the world. We are the traditional custodians of this land, and have cared for our land and sea for the past 65,000 years.Incorporating our knowledge of bushfire prevention and sustainable agricultural and aquacultural practices is pivotal to reaching our emissions targets. To achieve our goals, political decision makers must stop thinking in 3 year terms and commit to long-term planning for the future of our nation.
Together, we must rise to this challenge. Let’s build a climate safe future for Australia.
New Zealand
Kia ora distinguished delegates and observers of Mock COP26. We speak to you today representing the youth of Aotearoa New Zealand, an island nation in the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean with a population close to 5 million people.
Though we are a very small country, we have one of the highest GHG emissions per capita in the world. There is an urgent need to change this pattern if we want to make New Zealand and the pasifika countries more resilient and sustainable for future generations and stay below the science based target of 1.5°C of warming. As a developed nation, our country has a responsibility to help those affected most and do our share to combat the problem.
New Zealand experienced unexpected weather patterns such as snow in the summers. In the future, we expect to see extreme rainfall in the south island and drought in the north island; where we’re already experiencing water shortages. We expect to see a sea level increase which will result in flooding and a need to abandon certain areas in cities; signs of which have already been seen in Dunedin. A loss of biodiversity that is so very critical to New Zealand is already being seen because of ocean acidification and deforestation.
We do not want this future.
We have to make alterations to the Zero Carbon bill by adding biogenic methane and change our target of being carbon neutral from 2050 to 2030.
We were the first to give women the right to vote and become nuclear free. We’ve influenced important movements on the global stage before and can do so again. Quoting from the Labour party website: “Climate change is the greatest challenge facing the world.” “The cost of doing nothing is far higher than the cost of mitigating climate change. In fact, many of the actions that reduce climate pollution also have other positive impacts and create jobs.” Let’s not spend billions on new roading projects and keeping fossil fuel-guzzling companies afloat without holding them accountable for their environmental damage.
Instead, we need to listen to the Indigenous voices that are too often excluded from the conversation. Colonial systems are at the root of the climate crisis, so Mātauranga Māori (Māori ancestral knowledge) and Indigenous knowledge need to be at the forefront of our response to climate change. The Māori value of kaitiakitanga (guardianship and protection of the environment) must guide our actions going forward. We need to be working with the planet, not against it.
Let's fund accessible and affordable public transport and create walkable cities. Let's switch to 100% renewables and improve the energy efficiency of public housing and buildings. Let’s rapidly transition away from fossil fuels and invest in incentives to steer ourselves onto the right path. Let's support eco- friendly startups and empower New Zealand to become a world leader in innovative and sustainable agriculture. Let us replant native trees that have been cut down for our unsustainable agricultural practices. Let's ensure that if any bailouts are made; they come with an enforced commitment to emissions reduction goals. Let us make it mandatory for all organisations to audit and report GHG emissions and disclose climate financial risks.
Lets fight to make Aotearoa New Zealand the leader in climate solutions; thank you.
Colombia
Colombia es el país más biodiverso por kilómetro cuadrado del mundo. En un área que representa sólo el 0,7% de la superficie terrestre, albergamos alrededor del 10% de la biodiversidad del planeta, y además, 14 de cada 100 especies encontradas en nuestro territorio no se encuentran en ningún otro lado del mundo. Existen 91 tipos de ecosistemas que regulan el clima local y global, fundamental en el contexto del cambio climático, y de los cuales alrededor del 50% se encuentran en alguna categoría de amenaza.
Colombia is the most biodiverse country per square kilometer in the world. In an area that represents only 0.7% of the earth's surface, we host around 10% of the planet's biodiversity, and furthermore, 14 out of 100 species found in our territory are not found anywhere else in the world. There are 91 types of ecosystems that regulate the local and global climate, fundamental in the context of climate change, and of which around 50% are in some category of threat.
Si bien Colombia no contribuye en gran medida a la producción de gases de efecto invernadero, esta sí se ve afectada por ellos. Lo vemos en ejemplos como el derretimiento acelerado de nevados y glaciares; pérdida de diversidad biológica, afectación de población tanto rural como costera, devastación de páramos con pérdida de fuentes y cursos de agua; incremento de deslizamientos e inundaciones; mayor desertificación e incidencia de fenómenos climáticos extremos; y, reducción de la productividad agropecuaria. Precisamente en los últimos días, el 98% de una de las Islas más representativas del Caribe Colombiano, fue arrasada por el primer huracán categoría 5 que golpea las costas de nuestro país, esto dejando en evidencia la falta de planeación territorial y la incapacidad de adaptar nuestro territorio, por parte de las autoridades, al cambio climático.
Although Colombia does not contribute greatly to the production of greenhouse gases, it is affected by them. We see it in examples such as the accelerated melting of snow-capped mountains and glaciers; loss of biological diversity, impact on both rural and coastal populations, devastation of moors with loss of sources and water courses; increased landslides and floods; greater desertification and incidence of extreme climatic phenomena; and, reduction of agricultural productivity. Precisely in the last days, 98% of one of the most representative islands of the Colombian Caribbean, was devastated by the first category 5 hurricane that hit the coasts of our country, this leaving in evidence the lack of territorial planning and the inability to adapt our territory, by the authorities, to climate change.El cambio climático golpea a las poblaciones más pobres y, por ende, las más vulnerables del planeta. Los países en desarrollo tendremos que pagar cerca del 75% de los costos del impacto del Cambio Climático, a pesar de que la mitad más pobre de la población mundial es responsable de solamente el 10% de las emisiones de dióxido de carbono. Somos las y los jóvenes colombianos y en general del Sur Global quienes comprobamos y viviremos estos estragos, ya que, más del 80% de los jóvenes del mundo vivimos en países en vías de desarrollo. Estas marcadas diferencias con el Norte hacen que nuestra prioridad de caras a las consecuencias de la crisis climática sea la adaptación a ella, para que no ahonde mucho más en nuestras profundas brechas socioeconómicas.
Climate change hits the poorest and, therefore, the most vulnerable populations on the planet. Developing countries will have to pay about 75% of the costs of the impact of Climate Change, despite the fact that the poorest half of the world population is responsible for only 10% of carbon dioxide emissions. We are the young Colombians and in general from the Global South who verify and we will live these ravages, since, more than 80% of the young people of the world live in developing countries. These marked differences with the North mean that our priority in the face of the consequences of the climate crisis is to adapt to it, so that it does not delve much further into our deep socio-economic gaps.Las juventudes en Colombia tenemos el reto histórico de construir una sociedad en paz, que no solamente supere los estragos producidos por más de medio siglo de conflicto, sino que también, supere los estragos que se han producido y se producirán gracias a esta crisis climática ¡Somos la última generación que puede hacer algo al respecto! De la misma forma, exigimos que se nos garantice el ejercicio seguro de escucha de nuestras demandas y no se ponga en riesgo nuestras vidas, somos el país mas peligroso del mundo para ser un líder socioambiental.
The youth in Colombia have the historical challenge of building a peaceful society that not only overcomes the ravages caused by more than half a century of conflict, but also overcomes the ravages that have occurred and will occur thanks to this climate crisis! We are the last generation that can do something about it! In the same way, we demand that we be guaranteed the safe exercise of listening to our demands and not putting our lives at risk, we are the most dangerous country in the world to be a socio-environmental leader.
Consideramos que la COP no ha representado las necesidades del Sur Global, como Colombia, mientras tanto los responsables de la crisis climática se han beneficiado moderando el debate. Las cualidades de países como Colombia dejan claro que nuestra mayor exigencia debe encaminarse a tener mayor ambición en términos de adaptación, sobre todo con los y las jóvenes del sur global presentes.
We believe that the COP has not represented the needs of the Global South, like Colombia, while those responsible for the climate crisis have benefited by moderating the debate. The qualities of countries like Colombia make it clear that our greatest demand must be directed towards having greater ambition in terms of adaptation, especially with young people from the global south present.Somos hijos e hijas de la guerra y herederos de la crisis climática. Pero seremos quienes cambien el destino que nos quieren imponer.
We are sons and daughters of war and heirs of the climate crisis. But we will be the ones to change the destiny they want to impose on us.
United States of America
The LODE Zone Line includes the United States and world's oldest colony Puerto Rico
Hello distinguished delegates and observers of Mock COP26. We’re speaking to you today representing the youth of the United States. We believe that as a nation we have the most responsibility to address climate change given that we’ve historically emitted more greenhouse gases than any other country.
In 2020 alone, over 13,000 Americans lost their homes in the West Coast wildfires- one of many natural disasters worsened by the emission of greenhouse gases. Additionally, there have been 12 named tropical storms so far just this past year. Subsequently, many people have lost their homes and livelihoods.
Unfortunately, we as young people recognize that our leadership has chronically failed to make the drastic changes needed to confront the climate crisis. Recent administrations have not given the crisis enough attention; even undermining current efforts by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and propping up fossil fuels.
The good news is youth are organizing in mass numbers in order to demand the drastic action we need. We’ve taken matters into our own hands because our future depends on it. However, we know that we need our nation’s leaders to step up as well.
We ask our leaders to mandate climate education in order to inform the next generation on climate science.
The climate crisis has already taken a major toll on people’s well-being. Physical health is threatened by factors such as poor air quality.
We must also overhaul our current food system given how it worsens climate change. Thus, we must facilitate a swift transition to sustainable agriculture nationwide and support regenerative practices.
Furthemore, it is critical that we account for frontline and vulnerable communities. Our leaders must ensure that minorities have access to critical resources such as disaster support and clean water. Additionally, policymakers must provide a just transition and a federal jobs guarantee for all affected workers.
While we agreed to a 28% decrease in emissions by 2025 below 2005 levels in Paris, young people would actually like to see a 75% reduction by 2030, and achieve net-zero by 2040. For that, we’ll need to enact a portfolio of aggressive policies across every sector that rise in stringency over time. We’d also like to greatly increase our contribution to the Green Climate Fund in order to help developing countries with mitigation and adaptation.
Once the new administration takes office, we’d like to see more aggressive GHG reduction targets set everywhere else as well. Additionally, we urge other first world countries to financially help developing countries with adopting renewable energy. We also advise other first world countries to strongly consider enacting carbon tariffs on imports as a new global compliance mechanism.
All this definitely won’t be easy. However, we believe that a sustainable emission-free future is not only possible but necessary for the benefit of future generations. So let’s all do what it takes to make that future a reality. Thank you.
Ireland
We, the delegation of Ireland, understand that we have neglected to educate the citizens of our country in the climate crisis, as well as neglecting to provide adequate funding to the development of a sustainability subject at second-level, despite appeals from students, teachers and delegates of the RTÉ Youth Assembly on Climate.
We pledge that within the next 5 years, we will integrate the climate crisis into every existing subject, as well as fascination and funding the creation of a compulsory second-level subject using a combination of student voice, as well as teachers and experts on the climate crisis.
We understand that Ireland allows the occurrence of ecocide to go unchecked. We are losing the unique flora and fauna that reside in their indigenous habitats, by replacing forested areas with harmful sitka spruce plantations that are only in existence for monetary purposes.
We pledge to support our citizens’ health by upping our goal of reforestation from 17% to 25%, as well as ensuring that we bring back the habitats that have been systematically destroyed over the decades. As well as that, we pledge to ensure that by 2025, every council house will have access to renewable energy, whether that is a local wind farm or solar panels, depending on situation, as well as making planning permission for renewable energy sources much easier, as well as stopping the importation of fracked gas.
By providing a ratio of funding of 2:1 to public transport and the construction of roads, we will be able to implement strong and lasting structures to ensure that our emissions fall rapidly. As well as that, we pledge to take account not just for the emissions created by the state, but also for the emissions that are the responsibility of the state i.e GHG from shipping, aviation etc. The European Youth calls for climate objectives that are aligned with science and the Paris Agreement. This means: cutting the EU GHG emissions by at least 65% in 2030. This ambitious target requires the adoption of consistent and coherent policies across all sectors and an effective implementation of the Green Deal.
We understand that our lack of regard for climate justice as a nation leads to harmful misconceptions surrounding the climate crisis. We recognise that Ireland’s homeless have not been accounted for in our climate bill. We understand that the term is used once in the climate bill and the dismissal of the need for a focus on it in all aspects of climate action is unproductive. We also recognise that the lack of focus on international approach to climate action, including accommodations for MAPA is ineffective and overly short-term focused.
We pledge to increase the focus on climate justice through increased funding in eco-friendly housing for the homeless in Ireland. We also pledge to liaise on an international level with EU and UN member states to accommodate MAPA.
We recognise that Ireland’s lack of infrastructure against flooding has serious impacts on families yearly. We recognise that this impact only grows as the climate crisis worsens.
We pledge to increase funding in flood resistant infrastructure in the affected areas. We pledge to retroactively add flood resistant technology to houses in these areas while also ensuring that new houses built in these areas are fitted with the facilities needed.
United Kingdom
Hello distinguished delegates and observers of Mock COP26. We speak to you today representing the youth of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The UK is the world’s sixth largest economy and the fifth highest all time emitter of CO2. We have already made some progress in reducing our emissions but it is necessary that we also take responsibility for those emissions we have offshored.
Our people are already seeing increased risk of flooding and droughts and our overseas territories are facing challenges from hurricanes and rising sea levels.Through organisations such as Youth Strike for Climate, British young people have demanded that the government takes action for climate and social justice. Hundreds of thousands of young people have joined climate protests across the country demanding systemic change, not just promises and targets.We ask our leaders to address our historical responsibility and use our influence to help our friends in the Global South through bold policies such as the alleviation of development debts and strong climate financing commitments. Our politicians should also leverage the UK’s technical expertise in development of green jobs, supported by incorporating the climate crisis into all aspects of the educational curriculum.The epoch shifts of Covid and Brexit must be used to boldly address the systemic inequality, discrimination and rascism in this country. Recovery funding must be made conditional on addressing these issues and alignment with the Paris Accord. We demand the reinforcement of citizen’s assemblies’ legislative power; our response must be intersectional and democratic, not siloed and technocratic.We call for mandatory alignment with the Paris goals for the UK’s large financial sector, the institution of new economic policy that helps, rather than hinders, the green and just transition, the end of export financing of fossil fuel projects overseas and the creation of a special government body that has the financial power to make good on these promises at the scale which is required.We hope our government seizes the opportunity to address the ecological and climate crises simultaneously, embracing the co-benefits that this will bring in health and well-being. They must put people and biodiversity at the forefront of nature-based mitigation efforts whilst remembering that this is no substitute for the rapid decarbonisation necessary across all sectors.The youth of the UK know that political ambitions still do not align with what the science demands.The IPCC have described the difference between 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming and 2, and it is not one that we are willing to accept - people are suffering and dying already. As a developed country, our responsibility is to take more action than those with fewer resources, to use our wealth and our power to take real leadership. We demand of our leaders, as co-hosts of next year’s COP, that they adopt an NDC of at least 80% emission reductions from 1990 levels by 2030, and we hope that other countries will follow in being as ambitious as possible. Thank you.Meanwhile in the UK . . .
. . . as transmission of the coronavirus Covid-19 is on the rise across the United Kingdom, following a catastrophic government delay in the timing of the latest lockdown. A "circuit breaker" lockdown was advised by many scientists advising the UK government in early September, and an opportunity for such a lockdown to coincide with the school half term holidays was also missed. Promises for a Christmas period that allows for family gatherings is still on the cards. Non essential retail is gearing up for a Christmas shopping bonanza, and the NHS is preparing too for a likely post-Christmas surge in coronavirus cases. This UK Westminster government appears to prioritise the economy and a misplaced risk to fulfil the expectations raised of a more "normal" Christmas in a bid to court popularity in the face of disaster.
59,699 Covid fatalities
Today the recorded total figure for deaths in the UK within 28 days of a Covid-19 positive test are approaching the 60,000 mark with 59,699 fatalities. But the overall death toll is, in fact, much worse, as the Guardian reports.
UK coronavirus death toll passes 75,000
Pamela Duncan reports for the Guardian (Tue 1 Dec 2020) under the subheading:
Grim milestone comes just weeks after UK passed 60,000 deaths - showing how quickly second wave has spreadThe UK’s total Covid death toll has passed 75,000, according to a tally of all fatalities that mention the disease on death certificates.The grim milestone comes just over a month after the UK surpassed 60,000 deaths in late October, showing how the Covid death toll accelerated since September, having slowed during the summer.The figure is higher than the government’s Covid death toll of 59,051. The latter figure only covers people who have died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus.Covid deaths have been recorded in almost every corner of the UK, with the Isles of Scilly the only local authority area in the country not to have had a coronavirus fatality.
In the last week for which UK-wide death figures are available there were more than 2,800 deaths registered across the UK, an average of over 400 Covid deaths a day.
As of mid-November Tameside in north-west England had the highest death rate in the country at 221 deaths per 100,000.The combined death toll recorded by the UK’s three statistical agencies – which count all deaths where Covid is mentioned on the death certificate – has now reached 71,719 deaths.Further to that the government’s dashboard shows 3,384 people have died since the latest releases from statistical agencies, bringing the total number of Covid-related deaths to 75,103.This latest milestone comes as 98.7% of people living in England come out of a national lockdown but enter either tier 2 or tier 3 restrictions from Tuesday.In mid-March the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said that keeping the UK death toll below 20,000 would be “a good outcome”. This figure was surpassed the following month.The government figures incorporate any deaths that have occurred within 28 days of a positive test, meaning they are able to quickly capture those deaths occurring in hospitals and care homes, both settings where testing is widespread.The ONS, along with its counterparts in Scotland and Northern Ireland are more comprehensive, capturing all deaths where Covid is on the death certificate. About 90% of these deaths are directly due to Covid while it is a contributory factor in the remaining deaths.The method used by the statistical agencies is closer to how Belgium has reached its official death toll since the onset of the pandemic.Why here?In todays print version of the Guardian newspaper the above story appeared on page 9, together with this story, in the lower half of the page, by Helen Pidd who reports on:
The mystery of Britain's Covid death capital
In Helen Pidd's online report (Tue 1 Dec 2020) the headline and subheading run:
Tameside records highest proportion of Covid deaths in UK
Public health official puts high figure down to early testing but local MP questions hospital infection controls
There are certain places in Britain that are used to being at the top of all the wrong league tables – seaside towns with the highest rates of deprivation, former industrial powerhouses now better known for their unemployment levels than the ships they once made.
Tameside is not one of them. One of Greater Manchester’s less famous boroughs, it is home to 226,000 people who live in a collection of former industrial towns and villages on the border with Derbyshire, overlooked by the Saddleworth moors and Peak District hills.
It may come as something of a shock to them to learn that Tameside is now the Covid death capital of the UK, with proportionally more residents having died with coronavirus than anywhere else in the country.
As of Tuesday, 500 people had died with Covid on their death certificate in Tameside this year, amounting to 221 people per 100,000. Of those 500, 396 passed away in hospital, 78 in a care home, 15 at home, nine in a hospice, one in “another communal establishment”, and one elsewhere.
It is not the first time Tameside has made headlines for macabre reasons. Hyde, a local town, was home to Harold Shipman, Britain’s most prolific serial killer, a GP who killed at least 250 of his patients over 23 years. For a while until their arrest, the Moors murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, also lived in Hattersley, a Tameside suburb.
But why has this district been so hard hit by Covid? Being old is the main risk factor for coronavirus and Tameside has slightly fewer over-75s than the English average (7.71% of the population, compared with 8.49%). But life expectancy is short, with men dying two years younger than the England average (77.6 instead of 79.6) and women living to an average of 80.7 instead of 83.2.
Statistics from Public Health England show the health of people in Tameside is generally worse than average, with high levels of smoking, obesity and physical inactivity. A disproportionate number of Tamesiders die from cardiovascular disease and cancer too.
On the index of multiple deprivation – which ranks local authorities in England by various factors including health outcomes, unemployment levels and educational attainment – Tameside comes 20th out of 151. Blackpool is first, yet has seen far fewer Covid deaths: 203 as of Monday, amounting to 163 per 100,000.
However, the message from Jeanelle de Gruchy, Tameside’s director of public health, is: don’t panic. Part of the reason the area has had so many Covid deaths is because Tameside started testing earlier than almost anywhere else during the first wave.
“In Tameside we moved quickly to try and identify and support those with Covid,” she said. “The measure of deaths within 28 days of a positive test in part, reflects our high testing rates both in the hospital, in the community and other settings [for example, care homes] meaning we have identified people who contracted Covid, even where this was not the eventual cause of their death.”
Looking at the current, second wave, Tameside is no longer top of the deaths table; it is 24th.
De Gruchy said: “Infection rates are now the lowest they have been since mid-September.”
She also suggested a better measure would be the age-adjusted figures for all causes of death, which have not yet been released for recent months. That would show which areas had the highest number of excess deaths.
Still, the Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, who represents Denton and Reddish, suggested the local hospital, Tameside General, had questions to answer about how many of those who died caught Covid after being admitted.
“There is anecdotal evidence that Covid got into non-Covid wards. I don’t know how correct that is, but I am asking these questions of the trust,” Gwynne said. “These things do concern me because in terms of successful infection control, you need to keep the virus away from those who are incredibly vulnerable in hospital.”
He said he thought that in the first wave the hospital’s “ability to isolate the most vulnerable from Covid wasn’t as successful as it could have been”.
During one week in September, a third of all Covid-19 deaths in England’s hospitals occurred in Tameside General (18 out of 52). At the time, the trust admitted it was dealing with an outbreak, but this week it said it could not confirm how many patients had caught Covid-19 in the hospital – what’s known as nosocomial infections.
A spokesman for Tameside and Glossop integrated care NHS foundation trust, said: “The latest data on nosocomial infections actually shows that the hospital is in line with the national median and better than the average for the north-west of England.
“The hospital has rigorous infection prevention control measures in place, and the public can help support this action by following the government advice around hands, face and space.”
Advantage and disadvantage!
It is inequality, on a global scale, that the coronavirus pandemic has exposed, and measured in a growing death toll. How many more deaths in the near future are considered acceptable by the UK government.
Meanwhile . . .
. . . the wealthy prove less vulnerable to the impact of this disease, and it seems that many wealthy actors in the wake of the economic fallout of the pandemic are taking every opportunity to increase their wealth.
Individual responses to the pandemic are one thing, national responses another, but the lessons of 2020 when considering the global pandemic and the climate emergency require an international effort, but there is too much of the "business as usual", capitalist agenda and interests, that are acting as a barrier and impediment to acting NOW on these two global crises.
To put it simply, it's NOT just the planet, the global economic system and governance is BROKEN!
Humanity needs revolutionary change NOW in order to survive!
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