I'm at the international negotiations in Bonn, Germany this week with some of our 350.org team — and many supporters from around the world. Today, I've met 350.org supporters from Indonesia, Morocco, Germany, Bolivia, and elsewhere. But while citizens around the world are getting to work on climate solutions, it seems that developed country negotiators are still fiddling while the world burns.
Today, civil society groups from around the world issued a report showing that the current plans being put forward here in Bonn would result in a 4 degrees C temperature rise — that's about 800 ppm of C02 in the atmosphere.
Our friends at Climate Justice Media just put out a press release that tells the story:
BONN, Germany – Today, civil society organizations from across the globe have released a statement analyzing the state of UN climate negotiations after one week of talks in Bonn – with the current state of the negotiations suggesting the world is on track for a 4 degree increase in temperatures by 2100.
The analysis reveals that there are grave concerns that the negotiations are headed toward a world with no meaningful international agreement to control climate change. Such a system would lead to 4 degrees of warming and catastrophic climate change impacts, according to an article in the scientific journal Nature.
Many rich countries are seeking to replace the current system in place to tackle the problem – including the legally binding Kyoto Protocol, in which developed countries recognise their culpability for causing climate change – with a weaker system based on voluntary pledges.
Commenting at a press conference unveiling the analysis of the first week of the talks, Meena Raman, policy analyst from the Third World Network, said:
"The system advanced by many developed countries offers the worst of both worlds – a system with no science-based targets for developed countries and with inadequate pledges, expansive loopholes and carbon markets allowing them to shift the burden further to poor countries."
Matthew Stilwell, Director of the European office of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, added:
"If the European Union backs down on the Kyoto Protocol then we may well end up with no aggregate target for developed countries, no requirement for legally binding national targets, no comparability of efforts, and no requirement that reductions are achieved domestically, without resorting to instruments like carbon offsetting. That would be a disaster for international law and for the planet."
Mithika Mwenda, Coordinator of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance said:
"We need the negotiations to be open and accessible – it is deeply concerning that the Bali Roadmap is not being honoured and that the vulnerable countries are being sidelined."