Background - May 19, 2009
Bali can't be "just another meeting". Global warming is now a global emergency. Governments must ensure there's route map to agreeing deep cuts in global greenhouse emissions. The challenges are to divert the energy juggernaut towards clean energy and to stop felling the world's forests for commodities such as palm oil.
But soft words don't move governments. Even on a problem as
urgent as climate change where the survival of millions of people
and countless species of animals and plants is in the balance. Not
when trillion-dollar polluting industries and logging companies
have highly-paid lobbyists.
Our recent campaign efforts in Australia, Brazil, China,
Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, the
Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US - and our
cyberactions - are pressurising governments for solutions to
climate change before December's UN climate conference, in Bali,
Indonesia.
So who are the main movers and shakers?
European nations are kind of on side, having agreed to initial
cuts in greenhouse gases. But their foolhardy investments in dirty
coal and nuclear power means we need to keep on pushing.
Forest destruction causes to up to one-fifth of global
greenhouse gas emissions so we've called on Brazilian and
Indonesian authorities to tackle this neglected source of climate
change. We've highlighted how China is already taking significant
steps and could shortly be the world leader in wind power. And
we've shown how India can use energy more efficiently.
But the US Administration and the recently-defeated Howard
government in Australia have been the chief spoilers. Rejecting the
binding targets of the Kyoto climate treaty, the US is desperate to
lure nations into the meaningless limbo of "voluntary efforts". We
exposed how the Howard government was in bed with the coal industry
and we made a noise at President Bush's "big emitters meeting" -
part of his effort to derail climate action. We also met UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and spoke at the UN climate meeting
in New York.
In Bali, governments need to stop the political games and focus
on one objective: taking real action for the survival of our
planet.