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<\/a><\/p>\n7 December 2011<\/p>\n
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analysis<\/p>\n
“Rich countries must hear loud and clear that Africa won’t pay for their crisis. Developed countries are trying to kill the Kyoto Protocol. They want to turn back the clock to 1997 and shift responsibility for the climate crisis they created onto the developing countries already bearing the brunt of climate change.” – Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth International.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains four recent documents on climate change, selected from the plethora of commentaries as the climate change summit in Durban moves into its final days. These are (1) a brief statement released today by the Friends of the Earth International, (2) a press release from the Global Carbon Project showing that fossil fuel emissions rebounded with a 5.9% growth rate in 2010, and that rates of increase over the last decade averaged 3.1% a year, three times the rate of increase during the 1990s, (3) an overview statement of the issues at stake released before the Durban conference by a coalition of NGOs including the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance and the Third World Network, and (4) an article from the Canadian environmental site Mongabay noting the particularly damaging results of recent Canadian and U.S. policy, both on the tar sands project and on climate issues more generally.<\/p>\n Another Bulletin released today, available on the web at http:\/\/www.africafocus.org\/docs11\/clim1112b.php but not sent out by e-mail, contains the text of Chapter 2, with an overview of carbon trading in Africa to date as well as a review of pending projects.<\/p>\n Additional recent useful background documents, too long to include here, include (1) a very useful general background report from Southern Africa Report, stressing the critical role of China (available for download at http:\/\/allafrica.com\/view\/resource\/main\/main\/id\/00021983.html , and (2) a report by Oxfam on the consequences of climate change for food security (available at http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/86lsasb).<\/p>\n For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on climate change and the environment, with much additional background, visit http:\/\/www.africafocus.org\/envexp.php<\/p>\n Editor’s Note<\/strong><\/p>\n Climate Talks: Durban Inaction a Recipe for Climate Catastrophe<\/strong><\/p>\n 7 December 2011<\/em><\/p>\n Friends of the Earth International<\/strong><\/p>\n Media Advisory<\/em><\/p>\n Durban, South Africa, 7 December 2011 – Friends of the Earth International has issued strong warnings against climate inaction at the UN climate talks in Durban, and blamed industrialised countries like the US, Canada, Japan and Europe for seeking to unravel existing agreements under the guise of a “new mandate” for the climate negotiations.<\/p>\n As global leaders arrive today for the final three days of talks, the international grassroots environmental organisation has pointed to the highly destructive agenda of developed countries, including the EU, which have so far failed in Durban to propose any ambitious emission reductions and any suitable finance and technology support to developing countries.<\/p>\n Friends of the Earth International has called on developing countries to resist the push from the rich industrialised world to tear up existing commitments. A new mandate – which means not implementing existing obligations – would lock in ten years of inaction and set the world squarely on a course for climate catastrophe.<\/p>\n “Rich countries must hear loud and clear that Africa won’t pay for their crisis. Developed countries are trying to kill the Kyoto Protocol. They want to turn back the clock to 1997 and shift responsibility for the climate crisis they created onto the developing countries already bearing the brunt of climate change. Anything less than strong legally-binding emissions reductions for developed countries under a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol must be understood for what it is – a mandate to burn Africa and our people” said Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth International.<\/p>\n “This talk of a new treaty is a ruse to distract the world from the failure of developed countries to deliver on their existing commitments to cut emissions. We don’t need a new mandate, a mandate already exists. A new mandate will open the door to climate deregulation where polluters continue to pollute, speculators profit from pollution, and the rest of the world carries the burden of the climate crisis” said Meena Raman of Friends of the Earth Malaysia.<\/p>\n The EU has driven the call for a new mandate but it is advancing a wider agenda of rich industrialised countries like the US, Japan and Canada to escape from the current system of legally-binding emissions reduction targets for those countries which have caused the climate crisis — and shift responsibility onto developing countries. Meanwhile, countries are using the international climate negotiations to drive forward false and dangerous solutions to climate change like the expansion of carbon trading.<\/p>\n “It is clear what is driving this agenda. More and more countries are coming to the international climate talks with one objective in mind: to defend and advance the economic interests of their polluting industries and multinational corporations and resist the global effort for a strong and fair agreement to tackle climate change. Many civil society groups are calling Durban a conference of polluters. We cannot let the polluters win and lock in a decade of inaction on the climate crisis. Africa must stand strong on behalf of the people of Africa and the people of the world,” said Bobby Peek of Friends of the Earth South Africa.<\/p>\n For more information: http:\/\/www.foei.org\/media<\/p>\n Friends of the Earth International media line: +27 791 097 223 (South African number valid only until Dec.10) or +31-6-5100 5630 (Dutch mobile) or email:media@foei.org<\/p>\n Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth International: +234 803 727 4395 (Nigerian mobile) or +27 (0) 71 63 92 542 (South African mobile valid only until Dec.10), email:nnimmo@eraction.org<\/p>\n Bobby Peek, Director of Friends of the Earth South Africa \/ groundWork: +27 824 641 383 (South African mobile), email:bobby@groundwork.org.za<\/p>\n Meena Raman, Friends of the Earth Malaysia:+27(0)72 26 18 870 (valid until Dec. 9)<\/p>\n Friends of the Earth International media line Tel: +27-79-10 97 223 (S.Afr. mobile valid Nov.28-Dec.9 only) or +31-6-5100 5630 (Dutch mobile) or email:media@foei.org<\/p>\n Global carbon emissions reach record 10 billion tonnes – threatening two degree target<\/strong><\/p>\n December 4, 2011<\/em><\/p>\n Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research<\/strong><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.tyndall.ac.uk\/ \/ direct URL: http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/d97x9jn<\/em><\/p>\n Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have increased by 49 per cent in the last two decades, according to the latest figures by an international team, including researchers at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia (UEA).<\/p>\n Published today in the journal Nature Climate Change, the new analysis by the Global Carbon Project shows fossil fuel emissions increased by 5.9 per cent in 2010 and by 49 per cent since 1990 – the reference year for the Kyoto protocol.<\/p>\n On average, fossil fuel emissions have risen by 3.1 per cent each year between 2000 and 2010 – three times the rate of increase during the 1990s. They are projected to continue to increase by 3.1 per cent in 2011.<\/p>\n Total emissions – which combine fossil fuel combustion, cement production, deforestation and other land use emissions – reached 10 billion tonnes of carbon1 in 2010 for the first time. Half of the emissions remained in the atmosphere, where CO2 concentration reached 389.6 parts per million. The remaining emissions were taken up by the ocean and land reservoirs, in approximately equal proportions.<\/p>\n Rebounding from the global financial crisis of 2008-09 when emissions temporarily decreased, last year’s high growth was caused by both emerging and developed economies. Rich countries continued to outsource part of their emissions to emerging economies through international trade.<\/p>\n Contributions to global emissions growth in 2010 were largest from China, the United States, India, the Russian Federation and the European Union. Emissions from the trade of goods and services produced in emerging economies but consumed in the West increased from 2.5 per cent of the share of rich countries in 1990 to 16 per cent in 2010.<\/p>\n AllAfrica – All the Time<\/p>\n <\/p>\n