The wonderful colleagues over at Greenpeace UK asked me to write a blog on this year´s G8, so here goes:
As leaders
of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Russia, the USA and the UK descend on Northern Ireland for their yearly G8
jamboree, even the most conservative of bodies are calling for urgent action on
climate change. The World Bank, for one, has made it clear that the 4 degree warmer world we are heading towards if we fail to act urgently is not a place any of us want
to be. And the International Energy Agency has just reminded the world that the vast majority of oil, coal and gas reserves
need to stay under the ground if we want life on earth to be pleasant rather
than chaotic (a long overdue recognition of the „carbon logic“).
Yet,
if you look at the G8 summit´s website, climate change is consipicuous in its
absence. That did not used to be so. Back in 2007, 2008 or 2009, for example, climate was a key
issue these countries fought over. Now it reportedly took heavy lobbying from Germany and
France for
„greenest government ever“ Cameron to even agree to talk about climate change at
all. With such bad preparation and lack of political capital being invested in
getting the G8 to send a leadership signal on climate, it´s hard to see how the
Summit can produce anything but meaningless platitudes.
But
do prove me wrong, dear G8 leaders, please do! French President Hollande, after
all, has already called on you all to „do ... (your) part
and give a strong political impetus to curb carbon emissions.“
Here
is a simple guide to making me eat my words:
This G8 should:
-
set out clearly how existing commitments
to finance climate action, adaptation and ending deforestation will be met and
-
how much „climate finance“ each G8
leaders will make available for countries in need between 2013-2015. It should
-
commit to innovate ways of generating
the money urgently needed to fight poverty and climate change, including making
the international shipping and aviation industries pay for their excessive
damage to our climate, taxing financial transactions and redirecting the absurd
amount currently being spent on fossil fuel subsidies to financing the energy
revolution we need. As a German it makes my blood boil that even a country like Germany spends
6.6 billion US $ on financing climate destruction
through fossil fuel subsidies (but has only pledged some 500 million in terms
of financial support to those countries that need support to act).
While they are at it, G8 leaders also need to
show that they are serious about agreeing a new, legally binding, fair global
treaty on climate change at the UN climate summit 2015 in Paris. To be
credible, they need to deliver a peak in climate damaging emissions before 2020
and therefore need to set out immediate steps by each G8 nation to step up their
efforts between now and 2020.
I am not holding my breath, but you are
allowed to wake me up any time of night if you hear rumours of the G8 agreeing
to such an action agenda.
I am,
by the way, not for a moment saying that the issues this summit will focus on instead of climate change –
trade, tax compliance and transparency - are not important. The free trade
agenda the G8 still holds onto, though, is likely to make our environmental vows worse, not better. And it´s odd that the transparency
discussion is not being linked to climate change. After all, climate change is
a driver for „land grabbing“ and initiatives such as the „Publish What you Pay“ initiative, however welcome, are all too often about
payments that facilitate the extraction of the very oil, gas and coal reserves
that we know we need to find ways of leaving in the ground ...
That
said, on tax this G8 may yet deliver something positive for people and planet.
I can only salute the excellent work done by other civil society groups on the
outrage of corporate tax dodging. Their campaign work has indeed resulted in
the „highest pressure yet on the tax dodgers“ this week. Corporations
avoiding taxes is not only plainly unfair, it also results in there being less
money available to tackle climate change, poverty and to pay for other vital
public service. So here is to hoping that public pressure will result in a real
step forward on ending tax evasion. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Frankly,
the G8 should have an interest in delivering something on tax compliance as doing
so could allow them to argue that the G8 is not completely irrelevant in a
multi-polar world. For the climate, the importance of the G8 is not in doubt. For
starters, the G8 nations still emit a huge amount of all climate damaging gases
worldwide (and have emitted the vast majority historically). And while everyone who has
a high carbon footprint needs to act no matter where they live (from Manila to
New York), there is no question that if the G8 nations sent a signal of
leadership on climate change that would be a huge deal. It could change the
„you go first“ dynamics of the climate negotiations and send clear signals to
markets and investors that they cannot assume that fossil fuels will be a good
long term investment.
I
am not holding my breath. But especially if our leaders fail us – again - in
Northern Ireland this week, I am asking for your help. We must hold their feet
to the fire at home and make them act. One first opportunity to do so will be
the End the Age of Coal action day on June 29th. Join in and remind
world leaders that we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground if we are to have
a decent future for all.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen