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Der designierte US-Präsident Donald Trump ist gerade eifrig damit beschäftigt, seine Regierungsmannschaft aufzustellen – nun gönnte sich der 78-Jährige offensichtlich eine kleine Auszeit.

Sie ist um die 300 Jahre alt und 32 Meter lang. Wissenschaftler haben sie auf den Salomon-Inseln Koralle entdeckt. Sie ist der grösste Organismus dieser Art auf der Welt.

Alab Mirasol Ayroso making her speech during the Youth Action in the hallways of COP29, Baku. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
BAKU, Nov 17 2024 (IPS)

“We cannot rely on capitalistic logic to serve our fight for liberation. More investments will not build houses after floods because it’s not profitable. Corporations will not overthrow the industrial-agricultural complex that is completing our assault.”

So say the Alliance of Non-Governmental Radical Youths and People’s Rising for Climate Justice Youth that jointly led this youth action at the COP29 venue.

“That is why we are here to fight for the technical details to prevent the harm that money can cause. We cannot accept more loans and more debt. Climate finance cannot ‘financialize’ the climate crisis in power markets or fault solutions.”

Speaking to IPS, Alab Mirasol Ayroso said that the youth action is about their “demands as young people. We talked about fossil fuels, the phase-out of fossil fuels and more importantly, we talked about false solutions and militarization. Mostly, it’s really about recognizing the human rights in these negotiations, in these spaces where we can have real solutions if we only listen to the people on the ground.”

Drawn from all corners of the world, the youths have coalesced around issues that matter to them. Issues that they say are not a priority agenda for COP29 negotiations. They sang, chanted and, one after the other, made powerful speeches about climate change, peace and unity, human and environmental rights, the end of fossil fuels, climate debt and that rich countries and high polluters must pay.

Hajar, one of the speakers at the Youth Action, stressed that the “wealthiest nation must confront their colonial histories and make meaningful progress on reparation for loss and damage caused by their climate crisis. On demilitarization and its connection to finance stands a huge capitalist market that benefits from slaughtering, killing, and exploitation. Yet when we ask for money, there is always the same answer. There is not enough money.”

Ayroso says the young people can see through the smokescreen, hypocrisy, double speak, a lack of climate commitment and the youth agenda: “There is a lot of money. There is enough money all around, but we also know it is going to militarism, wars and genocides. There is simply no political will. This is why we refuse to be sidelined and silenced. We want the world to listen, hear us and our demands.”

“When the fire gets high. When the smoke rolls in. When the people rise. Can you hear us sing? It’s the end of fossil fuels. The end of fossil fuels. When the water gets high. When the flood rolls in. When the people rise. Can you hear us sing? It’s the end of fossil fuels. The end of fossil fuels. When the heat gets high. When the tide walks in. When the people rise. Can you hear us sing? It’s the end of fossil fuels,” they sang.

The youth want direct access for indigenous peoples, youth, children, workers, women, LGBTQIA and people with disabilities. Vowing to stand united at COP29 “until the last minute. We are in these halls to fight for our rights. There is no climate justice without human rights.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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US-Präsident Joe Biden hat sich beim Apec-Gipfel-Fototermin verspätet. Der 81-Jährige erschien Minuten später als andere Staats- und Regierungschefs. Erstmals seit einem Jahr traf er zudem persönlich mit Chinas Präsident Xi Jinping zusammen.

In Sudan Children are facing climate and conflict challenges at the same time. Photo: JC Mcllwaine/Flickr

By Tanka Dhakal
BAKU, Nov 17 2024 (IPS)

As the world grapples with ongoing armed conflicts, from Ukraine to Gaza, advocacy for a more proactive approach to understanding and effectively responding to the needs of children affected by both armed conflict and climate-induced crises is growing.

A paper published in 2023 confirmed the link between climate insecurity and grave violations against children in armed conflict, including recruitment, use, and denial of humanitarian access. The Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) highlighted this connection in a study titled “Climate Insecurity Impacts on Children and Armed Conflict.” 

The study suggested that decision-makers and practitioners should integrate a dual approach, incorporating both a climate lens and a child-centered lens into their work.

One year after this report was published, world leaders gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the UN climate conference, COP29, and the call to integrate climate, armed conflict, and their impact on children has gained momentum.

Virginia Gamba, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC). Credit: UN Photo

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) emphasized the importance of addressing the links between climate, peace, security, and the children and armed conflict agenda.

“From the Lake Chad Basin to Syria, from Mozambique to Myanmar, in 2024, children have been the most impacted by both armed conflict and climate insecurity. Yet, children affected by armed conflict remain largely absent from ongoing climate, peace, and security discussions. We must change our approach to include these children if we are seeking inclusive and sustainable solutions,” Gamba said.

“Incorporating a climate perspective in our monitoring and reporting is also essential to better tailor our actions to end and prevent grave violations against children in armed conflict.”

According to UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Security Risk Index, nearly half of the world’s children—approximately 1 billion—live in extremely high-risk countries, where climate change contributes to conflict-related displacement.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNICEF produced the Guiding Principles for Children on the Move in the Context of Climate Change, which provides additional explanation of children’s movement in the context of climate change. The report notes that while the rights of children displaced by conflict and climate change should be protected, governments and humanitarian actors often struggle to access and assist these children due to conflict.

The Special Representative calls on all leaders not to overlook children affected by conflict in climate, peace, and security discussions and to include them in financial commitments supporting sustainable solutions for both peace and climate.

Gamba added, “In a context where CAAC is often underfunded in humanitarian responses, supporting flexible funding for emergency response that considers both children affected by armed conflict and climate peace and security can have a multiplier effect and provide sustainable solutions to closely linked issues. We will continue to highlight these connections.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Im Basler St.-Johann-Quartier ist am Samstagabend scheinbar eine dicke Rauchsäule in den Himmel gestiegen. Doch es war nur Wasserdampf.

Some pioneers see it as opportunity but others fear the continent's creativity will be stripped for profit.

Some pioneers see it as opportunity but others fear the continent's creativity will be stripped for profit.

Some pioneers see it as opportunity but others fear the continent's creativity will be stripped for profit.

Erik Solheim, former director of the UN Environment Programme and former Norwegian Minister of Environment and International Development at COP29. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
BAKU, Nov 17 2024 (IPS)

It has been a high-profile packed agenda in Baku, Azerbaijan, marked by milestone events designed to complete the first enhanced transparency framework and the new collective quantified goal on finance, among other top priority matters.

Besides the Conference of the Parties (COP 29) session, there is the 19th meeting of the COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, the sixth meeting of the COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement and the 61st sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 61) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 61).

IPS spoke to Erik Solheim, a former director of the UN Environment Programme and former Norwegian Minister of Environment and International Development, about the ongoing negotiations and what they mean to the global community amidst many pressing challenges.

“I think there is a breakthrough at this conference, which is not appreciated by everyone as it looks very technical, but that is the agreement on rules for the carbon market. The carbon market is much more likely to produce substantial money than the negotiations, which are somewhat stalled, and here you have a mechanism that will make it possible for the big tech companies in the world—for airlines, medical companies, and food companies—to provide for carbon offsets, which will be mangrove restoration in Sri Lanka, natural farming in Andhra Pradesh in India, reforestation in Brazil, and protection of forests in Guyana,” he explained.

Solheim, who is working on green programs in China and India, was referencing a critical early success as Parties already reached consensus on standards for the creation of carbon credits under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement. The consensus is vital as it will increase demand for carbon credits and, by doing so, enable climate action while ensuring that the international carbon market operates with integrity under the supervision of the United Nations.

The full operationalization of Article 6 has been a key negotiating priority at this year’s Summit. The COP29 Presidency has termed the consensus a game-changing tool to direct resources to the developing world. Finalizing Article 6 negotiations could reduce the cost of implementing national climate plans by USD 250 billion per year by enabling cooperation across borders.

“There are so many potential assets and you have an easy mechanism where well-off companies can provide substantial money. Those nations that caused the climate problem should pay for it, and those nations are in particular the United States of America, which has emitted eight times as much per capita as China and 25 times as much as India per capita, and if you compare to small island developing states or Africa, the difference is even bigger,” he said.

Solheim says the issues are difficult and complex and more so as the United States is “now telling the world that we have caused the problem, but you will sort it out. That is completely irresponsible and people are dissatisfied with that position. However, I also believe that this mechanism we have established for global climate finance is dysfunctional, very bureaucratic, and has a number of dysfunctional rules. So even if you put more money into them, they will not work.”

As things stand, he says the main avenues for climate finance are private investment, that China is providing enormous private investment through the Belt and Road, and that the West should follow up with private investment in difficult markets. The other avenue is the carbon market. On COP Summit setbacks and shortfalls, he says there is too much focus on diplomacy, which derails progress: “In Glasgow, there was an enormous quarrel on whether to phase down or phase out coal. It had no significance whatsoever on the world outside.”

“In Dubai, the issue was… in what way should we phase out coal? Again, hardly any impact on the outside world. It was not driving the change. It is something completely different. The price of solar energy has fallen by 90 percent and that of wind energy has fallen by 85 percent. So for any nation that switches from coal or fossil fuels to solar, it is not a cost. You generate income as it is much cheaper,” he says.

Stressing that only a complete change of the economic considerations is driving climate action everywhere in the world but at the same time, climate conferences are vital as they bring communities from all corners of the world together, creating an opportunity for business deals, exchange of views, as well as learning of best practices.

He calls for a change in perspective such as the one demonstrated by China and India, as “they are now world leaders in green transformation and not because they get money from someone else, but because they see it as a nation-building tool for economic development. I would like to see a change in the atmosphere, from talks to a focus on the political economy.”

“China last year provided two-thirds of all new green energy in the entire world. Let the rest of the world step back to Chinese levels; if possible, then we will be far on the way to solving the problem. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India just launched a plan for 10 million homes and buildings in India with rooftop solar. Let other nations follow such workable solutions and the world will go very far and achieve desired progress very fast,” he stressed.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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