Act now! Enable a future for us!
Nearly half of the global population is already exposed to climate change impacts, many of them already marginalised. We as young people have been advocating for ambitious climate action for years and decades and we won’t stop fighting for our future.
Shrinking Democratic and Civil society space - again!
GYG is concerned with Baku, Azerbaijan being the host country for COP 29. Azerbaijan has an authoritarian government that does not tolerate dissent and in recents months has cracked down on independent journalists and civic activists. It has been critically unsafe for journalists, activists, LGBTQI+ community, etc. The civil society groups working in the human rights sector in Azerbaijan reports that hundreds of people are behind bars on politically motivated charges and hundreds of activists and journalists detained on baseless criminal charges.
This is a third consecutive year that COP is taking place in a repressive state that severely limits freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, and another COP under wider civil society boycott. We are concerned about the safety of GYG delegates and all participants participating at COP 29 and demand the UNFCCC secretariat to ensure safe space for all civil society activists. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all the unjustifiably detained human rights defenders, climate activists and journalists. GYG also joins CSO’s in demanding the Host Country Agreement (HCA) between UNFCCC and Azerbaijan authorities must contain guarantees that all human rights are protected and respected, both inside and outside the event space, including the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Also the HCA should be made public immediately.
We are concerned about the limits to activists and civil society beyond the allocated blue zone badges as their campaigning around COP is critical for the advocacy inside and in situations like the past three COPs their access and opportunity is limited or non-existent. This year, this is even more crucial given the revised badge allocation system that limited the badges for the civil society.
Fair, fast, and forever phase out of fossil fuels!
Fossil fuels are the root of the climate crisis and continue to act as drivers of climate change. But despite this destructive reality, that we are constantly warned of by science, there is still no binding mechanism to limit the production of fossil fuels. In COP28 the UNFCCC COP agreement has finally acknowledged the fact that fossil fuels are driving climate change. After decades of climate negotiations!
Now that we are finally there, we need meaningful action and a fast, fair, and forever phase out of fossil fuels. We need a concrete, binding plan to end the expansion of new coal, oil and gas projects and manage a global transition away from fossil fuels. It is about time for nation states to take action!
Phasing out fossil fuels must include a fast track to the adoption of renewable energy, economic diversification and the financial divestment from fossil fuels so that no worker, community or country is left behind.
The transition towards a fossil free future needs to put an emphasis on decentralised renewable energy, encouraging citizens to own their energy and be less dependent on international electricity companies but producing the energy locally, independently and self-determined.
We are calling on all governments, from the local to the regional and national level, to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and commit to a path that is calling for an international agreement to phase out fossil fuels.
Pay up for Loss & Damage!
Wealthy industrialised nations are most responsible for the total emissions and continue to be responsible for disproportionately high levels of per capita consumption emissions and many of the current emissions by developed countries are lifestyle emissions. When we look at the emissions through history until today, the US is responsible for almost 25% of the world’s historical emissions and in second is the EU with 22%. China comes in third with 13%, India, Africa and South America have contributed with 3% each. Germany has contributed almost six percent, as much as the whole of Africa and South America combined.
Climate Change is one of the greatest threats to human rights of our generation, posing a serious risk to the rights to life, health, food, self-determination, development, water and sanitation, housing, education and training, decent work, culture, social protection and an adequate standard of living.
This is why we urge the Global North countries to pay up for the damage their economic behaviour has caused and to take responsibility for the countries in the Global South who are disproportionately affected by the effects of the climate crisis.
Grants not loans!
Currently only 17 per cent of SDGs are on track for 2030, with many developing young countries, particularly in Africa and Asia, having made the least progress. A large part of the inability to invest in climate mitigation and adaptation in many of these countries stems from their high debt burden. For example, the 50 countries most vulnerable to climate change are now spending four times more on external debt payments than in 2010, critically hampering their ability to invest in adaptation and mitigation measures.
The unequal geopolitical and financial system in the world continues to push climate-vulnerable countries further into debt. Climate finance has largely been in the form of loans, most of which are at market rates, which further increase the debt burden of developing countries. Furthermore, inadequate aid for loss and damage further puts a severe burden on the individual countries that have contributed the least to climate change.
For example, in 2017, the Caribbean Island was hit by Hurricane Maria causing $2bn worth of damage. Yet, just days after Hurricane Maria struck, the government had to find several million dollars for a debt repayment that fell due. What’s more, due to the lack of climate finance from rich countries, the Dominican government took on new loans to finance reconstruction. This led to a sharp increase in the country’s debt levels, rising from 69% of GDP in 2015 to almost 100% by 2019.
This calls for a new global debt framework that’s permanent, transparent, and democratic to give vulnerable countries the financial breathing room to address climate change. Rich debtor countries need to expand the pool of climate finance to address loss and damage needs (especially historically colonialist countries), climate finance needs to be more equitable and less loan-based, especially for highly vulnerable countries and private lenders need to be brought under similar frameworks like public entities to engage in equitable debt relief processes.
We expect COP29 to deliver an ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance that enables a just, equitable and well-funded transition across all levels of government including direct access for local and other subnational governments, in connection with the reform of the global finance architecture.
We as Global Young Greens call:
- On the UNFCCC to ensure a safe participation for civil society actors in the UNFCCC COPs host countries
- On the UNFCCC to include human rights’ protection into the host agreements
- On nation states to agree on a Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty
- On nation states to ensure a fair, fast, and forever phase out of fossil fuels
