We ask our governments not to sell us out, it's a planetary emergency

While gathering at the ‘speaker’s corner’ near the International Convention Centre, civil society organizations from different countries and regions made a plea not to be sold down the river by the delegates from developing countries who are attending the climate talks in Durban.

They demanded that the governments in the climate talks renew binding agreements for developed countries and commit to ambitious targets for deep and drastic greenhouse gas emissions cuts immediately.

Rich countries must meet deep emissions reductions that are science-based in order to prevent catastrophic losses of lives. We demand developed countries to domestically cut their levels of emissions between 40% to 50% by 2017 and 95% by 2050. This must be done through a renewed and continuous commitment to the internationally legally binding agreement. Renew the Kyoto protocol which is the only instrument that has internationally recognized rules and deals with compliance

Said Michelle Mynard of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance.

She pointed out that developed countries are trying to ignore their historical obligations and furthermore are trying to replace the Kyoto protocol with a very weak ‘pledge and review’ system.

According to the United Nations, current pledges risk global warming of 2.5 to 5°c within this century. The IPCC estimates that Africa will warm 1 and ½ times the global level. This means that Africa stands to suffer as much as a 7°c increase in temperature

Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth International said: "We are already in a planetary emergency, but the polluting rich industrialized countries are trying to break their existing legal obligations to cut their emissions. They are seeking to direct the talks towards a ‘new mandate’ and a ‘new treaty’. These are delaying tactics aimed at further preventing drastically needed actions on climate change and passing on the burden for climate action to developing countries"

Willy D’Costa from Jubilee-South Asia/ Pacific Movement on Debt and Development said that the groups who came together for the action at the speaker’s corner were calling for a ‘stop to false solutions’.

“The world’s elites want to continue their excessive emissions and are using Governments to promote solutions that do not address the roots of the climate crisis. Instead these false solutions pave the way for private profits to be made from the climate crisis and peoples sufferings,” said D Costa who also represents the Indian Social Action Forum.

We reject offsets, carbon trading, market-based approaches to forests, soil and water, large-scale-geo-engineering and techno-fixes, nuclear energy, agro-fuels and so called ‘clean coal’

The groups urged developing country governments to uphold the welfare and interests of their citizens.

“We ask our Governments not to sell us out,” said Lidy Nacpil of Jubilee- South-Asia/Pacific movement on Debt and Development.

All countries and people must contribute to the effort to reduce global green house gas emissions but those responsible for the crisis must bear the greater share, proportional to their historical and continuing responsibility for the climate crisis.

There is no time to lose. No more delays, no more deception, no more invasions, no more false solutions

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