Alex Phillips (alexp at foe.co.uk) writes
Dear Campaigners,
As you may well be aware next Monday will mark the start of the next UN climate talks, the so-called COP 11 COP/MOP 1. This is the first big UN climate meetings since the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol earlier this year, and so marks a crucial stage in the negotiations. Below I have written a short summary for those who are interested about the talks on:
-What is at stake?
-What can I do?
-What is Friends of the Earth doing?
-How can I get more information?
I hope you find it of interest. If you don't fancy wading through all the text then the key things are to send your message to Canada here:
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/montreal_talks/i...
And to come along to the Dec 3rd demo in London (or Edinburgh) if you can!
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/news/dec_demo.html
Best wishes
Alex
What is at stake?
One of the key issues will be to look beyond the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol, which ends in 2012. The Kyoto Protocol came out of negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change way back in 1997. Whilst we all recognise the the Protocol does not go nearly far enough in terms of targets, it does provide a useful framework because it commits countries to mandatory targets. During this meeting, when countries are negotiating the next steps, we want to see them agree that future negotiations will occur within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol (thereby including some form of mandatory target) rather than taking a step backwards and negotiating under the Convention, which would mean only voluntary targets. This is one of the key issues at stake.
What can I do?
1) Email the Canadian PM
In this final week before the negotiations we have joined in an email action to the Canadian hosts, which is also being promoted internationally by Friends of the Earth, WWF and Greenpeace international groups. You can take part in this action here:
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/montreal_talks/i...
2) December 3rd Climate Demonstration
It's only a week away! The Campaign Against Climate Change (http://www.campaigncc.org/) are organising a mass demonstration on Dec 3rd - the middle weekend of the talks. Friends of the Earth is one of the supporters of the march, and I know that loads of you are planning to come along. Nick Rau and I from the climate team will be there, with lots of green Friends of the Earth flags, and a couple of large Big Ask flags. Please look out from us - it would be great to meet you there and march together!
For more info on the day then see here:
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/news/dec_demo.html
If you aren't sure what Nick and I look like (!) then don't forget that all our mug shots are on the climate campaigners webpages:
http://community.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/whos_who.html
3) Draw your message!
If you are feeling artistic, and missed your chance to paint your own tile - you can still send a virtual tile to the politicians, via the Friends of the Earth Europe climate mosaic site:
http://www.foeeurope.org/the_world_cant_wait/index.php
What will Friends of the Earth being doing?
In the run up to the meeting Friends of the Earth Internationally has been lobbying politicians around the world. In the UK campaigners have had numerous meetings with the ministers and civil servants involved, to press the case for tough action. We have also been doing proactive and reactive media work on this issue. See below for links to some of the media briefings.
Beyond the one to one lobbying in meeting rooms, thousands of people have taken online actions through the website, writing to the UK Minister for Climate Change - Elliot Morley. Thank you to all of you that took part. As the UK are the current chair of the European Union, they will be leading the negotiations for Europe, so their stance is even more crucial than usual. (Tony Blair's recent comments have certainly been providing some worrying signs in this regard - for more on this issue, see the links to the press releases below.)
Catherine Pearce and Katie Elliot from the climate and parliamentary teams have now left from Montreal, where they will be doing all they can to influence the negotiations. There will also be representative from several Friends of the Earth International groups including Europe, Canada and the US, Nepal, Ghana, S Africa, Mauritius, Japan, Brazil and Argentina - so we should have a strong team there to push for action. They will provide daily updates from the talks, which we will be hosting on the front page of the website.
Thousands of people also painted tiles for the huge art installation that we will display at the venue. These tiles went to Brussels where there were displayed at a crucial EU meeting where they were deciding on their stance for the climate negotiations. Some were handed over to Elliot Morley at that meeting, along with a letter. Apparently the tiles were very popular with lots of the EU politicians present! These tiles have now gone to Montreal, where they will act as a reminder to the politicians that citizens want them to take action. Thank you to all of you that painted your tiles at conference to take part in this installation.
How can I get more information?
We will have a daily update from the talks on the main pages of the website. For more info now see:
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/news/countdown.html
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/news/un_talks.html
We have two media briefing with more in-depth info here:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/montrealclimatetalks.pdf
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/ukgovmontreal.pdf
You can have a look at our climate press releases in the run up to the event here:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/press_releases_2005_climate...
