TckTckTck and OneWorld are in stunning Doha, Qatar for the UN Climate Talks (also known as COP18) from November 26 - December 8. As delegates from 194 countries gather to work on a fair, ambitious and legally-binding global climate deal, we'll be tracking their progress right here.
Storified by TckTckTck · Tue, Nov 27 2012 06:35:08
Latest Headlines
++LDCs will insist on climate finance road map
++Honduras tops Global Climate Risk Index
++Anjali Appadurai ejected from COP18
Tuesday 1355GMT: These cavernous media rooms that host the press conferences at the Doha climate conference must be dispiriting for participants on both sides of the platform. Even when the media arrives in bigger numbers next week, and the speakers become more heated in their frustrations towards the endgame, the lack of intimacy in the room may stifle emotions.
It was therefore a considerable achievement for Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim from Chad to inject the first real passion into these sessions. She's from Chad and was representing the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee in a press conference addressing the concerns the continent. I'll let her words do the writing:
The community need to be in all the process. If you say that Doha is impacted by climate change, it's not this conference place, it's not the ministers, it's not the Emir who is impacted by climate change. They can never ever be impacted by climate change because they always have something to eat, they have always the solution. But the people who are impacted daily, the people who live in contact with land - farmers and pastoralists - those people are in Africa.They need to be involved for their future, for their survival. You can decide here in Doha, like those decision-makers accepting this 4 degrees. Imagine how it's going to be in Chad? We are now on 50 degrees - five zero - in summer. Imagine that plus 4 again, or plus 8 again. We are going to die. But for them, they have air-conditioning, they have all the things. That's why it must be bottom-up.
A discernible hush fell amongst panel and journalists alike. End of session.
The press conference was the second today organised by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, very unusual to get two bites of the cherry. But they learned from the mistakes of this morning, each speaker this time strictly ruled by a time limit. That gave Ms Hindou space to make a difference.
*******
Tuesday 1305GMT: It was great to have a chance to hear what Zambia's David Kaluba had to say about climate finance in the press conference for the Least Developed Countries just completed.
As a member of the Board of the Green Climate Fund, Kaluba represents one of the few telling achievements of recent years - an international fund with balanced governance between the beneficiaries and the providers.
The snag is that there's no money in the GCF for Kaluba and his colleagues to distribute. A picture is emerging as to how the LDCs intend to exert their leverage to ensure this COP corrects that situation.
Evans Njewa from Malawi explained that agreement on a climate finance roadmap will be a condition for LDCs to play their part in a successful outcome of COP18. The current scenario in which the fast start period of support ends next month and the promised $100 billion per annum doesn't arrive until 2020 is not tenable.
Instead of the trendy "cliff" image, Kaluba described this as an 8-year drought before the "river" starts flowing.
The LDCs have suggested a rolling schedule to bridge the gap in which baseline commitments must be made by the richer countries for 2013-2015 and 2015-2020 and beyond.
"We need clarity at the COP," said Kaluba. " we must be clear that nothing is being hidden in terminologies."
******
Tuesday 1220GMT: now we have a setback for the youth movement. Anjali Appadurai is well known to the COP for making one of best speeches in Durban last year. It was a scathing attack on the failure of the international community to act on climate change, delivered in the main hall and prompting many notable figures to applaud her intervention.
She was back in action at the opening ceremony yesterday, permitted to make a very brief speech for Climate Action Now!
Now something's gone wrong.
It was therefore a considerable achievement for Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim from Chad to inject the first real passion into these sessions. She's from Chad and was representing the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee in a press conference addressing the concerns the continent. I'll let her words do the writing:
The community need to be in all the process. If you say that Doha is impacted by climate change, it's not this conference place, it's not the ministers, it's not the Emir who is impacted by climate change. They can never ever be impacted by climate change because they always have something to eat, they have always the solution. But the people who are impacted daily, the people who live in contact with land - farmers and pastoralists - those people are in Africa.They need to be involved for their future, for their survival. You can decide here in Doha, like those decision-makers accepting this 4 degrees. Imagine how it's going to be in Chad? We are now on 50 degrees - five zero - in summer. Imagine that plus 4 again, or plus 8 again. We are going to die. But for them, they have air-conditioning, they have all the things. That's why it must be bottom-up.
A discernible hush fell amongst panel and journalists alike. End of session.
The press conference was the second today organised by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, very unusual to get two bites of the cherry. But they learned from the mistakes of this morning, each speaker this time strictly ruled by a time limit. That gave Ms Hindou space to make a difference.
*******
Tuesday 1305GMT: It was great to have a chance to hear what Zambia's David Kaluba had to say about climate finance in the press conference for the Least Developed Countries just completed.
As a member of the Board of the Green Climate Fund, Kaluba represents one of the few telling achievements of recent years - an international fund with balanced governance between the beneficiaries and the providers.
The snag is that there's no money in the GCF for Kaluba and his colleagues to distribute. A picture is emerging as to how the LDCs intend to exert their leverage to ensure this COP corrects that situation.
Evans Njewa from Malawi explained that agreement on a climate finance roadmap will be a condition for LDCs to play their part in a successful outcome of COP18. The current scenario in which the fast start period of support ends next month and the promised $100 billion per annum doesn't arrive until 2020 is not tenable.
Instead of the trendy "cliff" image, Kaluba described this as an 8-year drought before the "river" starts flowing.
The LDCs have suggested a rolling schedule to bridge the gap in which baseline commitments must be made by the richer countries for 2013-2015 and 2015-2020 and beyond.
"We need clarity at the COP," said Kaluba. " we must be clear that nothing is being hidden in terminologies."
******
Tuesday 1220GMT: now we have a setback for the youth movement. Anjali Appadurai is well known to the COP for making one of best speeches in Durban last year. It was a scathing attack on the failure of the international community to act on climate change, delivered in the main hall and prompting many notable figures to applaud her intervention.
She was back in action at the opening ceremony yesterday, permitted to make a very brief speech for Climate Action Now!
Now something's gone wrong.
ejected from #cop18, not by #unfccc but by UN security, who don't believe I won't organize widespread chaos. #dohadisaster
Tuesday 1200GMT: more evidence that this is turning into a day of effective action for the youth climate movement!
@AY_CM showed up at Arab League meeting room & weren't allowed in but their perseverance paid off! They'll have access tomorrow. #COP18
Tuesday 1105GMT: The activist youth movements seem to have hit the ground running in Doha (by contrast, the European Union delegation seems to have hit the ground with a sun lounger).
The Canadian Youth Climate Coalition has published an open letter to Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Convention. CYCC wants the fossil fuel companies to be excluded from the Doha proceedings.
It makes the fair point that observer groups like CYCC get thrown out of the conference centre if they don't follow the rules. Why should those corporations whose "goals undemine the mission and mandate of the UNFCCC" be allowed to stay in?
It's time for the UNFCCC to decide what is more important; the lives and livelihoods of people, or the balance sheets of Exxon, Shell and Chevron.
If you agree, add your name to the list of signatories. Bill Mckibben and 350.org are already there.
Here's the poster and an article by the CYCC National Director, Cameron Fenton, published on Huffington Post.
The Canadian Youth Climate Coalition has published an open letter to Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Convention. CYCC wants the fossil fuel companies to be excluded from the Doha proceedings.
It makes the fair point that observer groups like CYCC get thrown out of the conference centre if they don't follow the rules. Why should those corporations whose "goals undemine the mission and mandate of the UNFCCC" be allowed to stay in?
It's time for the UNFCCC to decide what is more important; the lives and livelihoods of people, or the balance sheets of Exxon, Shell and Chevron.
If you agree, add your name to the list of signatories. Bill Mckibben and 350.org are already there.
Here's the poster and an article by the CYCC National Director, Cameron Fenton, published on Huffington Post.
Tuesday 1005GMT: The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), the leading network of NGOs working on climate change in Africa, has taken up its press conference with a lengthy reading of "African demands for the Doha conference" by its coordinator Mithika Mwenda.
This proved to be more of a restatement of the broad case for climate justice than a vision for political change through the medium of the Doha talks (at which African countries enjoy some reasonable degree of democratic voice).
Climate justice is arguably the most potent of all the moral arguments that can be deployed to tackle global inequality. It should dominate every nook and cranny of these talks.
How to make this happen is really tough. It doesn't work just to state your case without any recognition of the reasons why the industrialised world has turned its back on action to tackle global warming.
Scroll down this blog and watch the Al Jazeera piece on what's happening in the US and listen to the clip of Obama saying he won't do anything that might affect US jobs. We have to find ways of injecting science and justice into that political blockage.
International NGOs spend so much time in complex "climate smart" field programmes in Africa. Communications matter too and the PACJA team doesn't lack for passion.
******
Tuesday 0925GMT: An annual fixture at these UN climate talks is publication of the latest Global Climate Risk Index by the research and advocacy organization, Germanwatch.
Despite its carefully measured tone, each year the message becomes a little more insistent. The 2013 Index presented in a press conference this morning is no exception.
The index analyses how countries have been affected by extreme weather events over the ten year period to 2011. It looks in particular at the death toll and the economic cost. Honduras, Myanmar and Nicaragua top the list. All countries in the top ten are developing countries.
The researchers acknowlege that only a small number of extreme events can be explicitly linked to climate change but the overall pattern is clear. Countries like Bangladesh - which has experienced more of these events over the last ten years than any other country - have recognised the challenge and invested in early warning systems and evacuation shelters.
Who pays for this? The purpose of these Doha negotiations is to hammer out the extent to which the richer countries bear some responsibility. "We don't know the exact percentage of these damages that can be attributed to anthropogenic global warming," said Saleemul Huq, "but it's not zero."
Hurricane Sandy occurred too recently for inclusion in this latest Index. Even without its impact, the Germanwatch research shows that GDP in the US has been 0.33% lower as a result of extreme weather events.
In their conclusions, the Germanwatch team has edged into into the political territory of urging COP18 to get serious with an international strategy for "loss and damage." That involves tough talking about the challenges of insurance and rehabilitation.
This is the painful world that lies "beyond adaptation".
This proved to be more of a restatement of the broad case for climate justice than a vision for political change through the medium of the Doha talks (at which African countries enjoy some reasonable degree of democratic voice).
Climate justice is arguably the most potent of all the moral arguments that can be deployed to tackle global inequality. It should dominate every nook and cranny of these talks.
How to make this happen is really tough. It doesn't work just to state your case without any recognition of the reasons why the industrialised world has turned its back on action to tackle global warming.
Scroll down this blog and watch the Al Jazeera piece on what's happening in the US and listen to the clip of Obama saying he won't do anything that might affect US jobs. We have to find ways of injecting science and justice into that political blockage.
International NGOs spend so much time in complex "climate smart" field programmes in Africa. Communications matter too and the PACJA team doesn't lack for passion.
******
Tuesday 0925GMT: An annual fixture at these UN climate talks is publication of the latest Global Climate Risk Index by the research and advocacy organization, Germanwatch.
Despite its carefully measured tone, each year the message becomes a little more insistent. The 2013 Index presented in a press conference this morning is no exception.
The index analyses how countries have been affected by extreme weather events over the ten year period to 2011. It looks in particular at the death toll and the economic cost. Honduras, Myanmar and Nicaragua top the list. All countries in the top ten are developing countries.
The researchers acknowlege that only a small number of extreme events can be explicitly linked to climate change but the overall pattern is clear. Countries like Bangladesh - which has experienced more of these events over the last ten years than any other country - have recognised the challenge and invested in early warning systems and evacuation shelters.
Who pays for this? The purpose of these Doha negotiations is to hammer out the extent to which the richer countries bear some responsibility. "We don't know the exact percentage of these damages that can be attributed to anthropogenic global warming," said Saleemul Huq, "but it's not zero."
Hurricane Sandy occurred too recently for inclusion in this latest Index. Even without its impact, the Germanwatch research shows that GDP in the US has been 0.33% lower as a result of extreme weather events.
In their conclusions, the Germanwatch team has edged into into the political territory of urging COP18 to get serious with an international strategy for "loss and damage." That involves tough talking about the challenges of insurance and rehabilitation.
This is the painful world that lies "beyond adaptation".
Tuesday 0020GMT: Alliances between countries can make all the difference in the murky world of climate change negotiations. New groupings pop up almost every year. You can normally figure out the particular brand of glue that binds them just by reference to the names.
Here's a new group this year which defies easy pigeon-holing. What can you make of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, India, US, Poland, UK, Brazil, Egypt, Australia, China and Pakistan?
They are none other than the COP18 Adopt a Negotiator delegation. Supported by the Global Campaign for Climate Action (which also publishes this site) this bunch of young activists keeps a friendly eye on the work of their national negotiators. Just remember that your decisions matter to young people - is the message that is not allowed to fade.
Here's the introduction to this year's team - we'll be hearing more from them I suspect:
Here's a new group this year which defies easy pigeon-holing. What can you make of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, India, US, Poland, UK, Brazil, Egypt, Australia, China and Pakistan?
They are none other than the COP18 Adopt a Negotiator delegation. Supported by the Global Campaign for Climate Action (which also publishes this site) this bunch of young activists keeps a friendly eye on the work of their national negotiators. Just remember that your decisions matter to young people - is the message that is not allowed to fade.
Here's the introduction to this year's team - we'll be hearing more from them I suspect:
The name "Adopt a Negotiator" has always suggested to me a rather sympathetic caring relationship, evocative of cuddly good causes - adopt-a koala and so on. I'm sure it's not like that, especially after reading Nikki Hodgson's overtures to the unsuspecting US special envoy Todd Stern.
We haven't met. Not yet anyway. I'm the one in the black Adopt a Negotiator shirt, the one who is currently walking the halls of the convention center, iPad in hand, eyes scanning the crowds, watching for anyone from the US delegation.
Stern arrives next week, a marked man.
We haven't met. Not yet anyway. I'm the one in the black Adopt a Negotiator shirt, the one who is currently walking the halls of the convention center, iPad in hand, eyes scanning the crowds, watching for anyone from the US delegation.
Stern arrives next week, a marked man.
Tuesday 0050GMT: The UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC) has wasted no time in getting up to its usual mischief.
When it became law in 2008, the UK Climate Change Act was the world's most progressive piece of climate legislation. However, the current UK government (elected in 2010) takes every opportunity to emasculate the low carbon vision of the Act. A gentle reminder of its misguided ways was therefore in order for the UK delegation in Doha:
When it became law in 2008, the UK Climate Change Act was the world's most progressive piece of climate legislation. However, the current UK government (elected in 2010) takes every opportunity to emasculate the low carbon vision of the Act. A gentle reminder of its misguided ways was therefore in order for the UK delegation in Doha:
The co-director of UKYCC has written this good piece in The Ecologist. It must be late because I can't figure out the significance of the best-of-times, worst-of-times quote from Dickens.
Tuesday 0105GMT: The UK youth activists are old hands at COP interventions. By contrast the Arab Youth Climate Movement is freshly minted for Doha. It has an articulate voice in Taki Eddine Djeffal who explains in this RTCC interview how the movement has emerged over recent months:
