International
What do we want from Copenhagen?
As policy makers prepare to meet to negotiate a global climate deal next month in Copenhagen everyone at ONE will be doing their upmost to ensure the best possible deal for the world’s poorest communities, especially in Africa.
In advance of the meeting ONE has released a new policy paper ‘Africa and the Global Climate Deal’ that outlines the key elements of ‘good’ deal for Africa.
We believe that the developed world need to commit to deep and binding emissions cuts of at least 20% of 1990 CO2 levels by 2020 in order to mitigate against a rise in global average temperature of over 20C (the amount above which climate scientists agree will cause lasting, irreversible damage to the planet).
On helping developing countries cope with the effects of climate change, we agree that at least the World Bank estimate that between $75-100 billion will be needed annually. This should come from a mixture of private and public finance sources, with contributing countries ensuring that the money is truly additional to pledges that have already been made on development assistance.
In short, climate change is not a crisis of Africa’s making, yet it is Africans, especially the poorest, who will suffer the first and the worst. Not only does it add yet another challenge for those struggling to combat extreme poverty and disease by exacerbating the conditions of poverty, but it threatens to erode the gains that have been made in recent years.
We need the negotiators at Copenhagen to simply know that they cannot afford to fail.
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About the Blog
The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
10/11/2009 at 7:31 am
20% by 2020? Where did you get this number from? And why do you think this is right for Africa when African governments and civil society – in fact any African voice I’ve heard – calls for dramatically more?