Quakers highlight vision for climate talks
'UK is pushing a net-zero target of 2050. This target "only gives us fifty percent chance of remaining within 1.5 per cent of warming".'
Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) has released a video based on a climate workshop it held this summer. The presentation on YouTube outlines the importance of the COP26 climate talks in November and how Quaker activism and lobbying can help. According to the presentation, the talks since 2016 have focused on the details of how to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to well below two, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
‘A key aspect that hasn’t been agreed yet is “carbon markers”,’ Rebecca Woo, campaigns and advocacy coordinator for Britain Yearly Meeting, says in the video. ‘These allow countries to “pay to pollute” by buying carbon credits. In theory buying these credits funds climate action, but the system is almost impossible to regulate.’ The climate justice movement opposes carbon credits as a way for rich countries to carry on as normal, she adds.
Another thing under discussion at COP26 is whether the $100 billion climate finance target by 2020 for so-called developing countries has been delivered. Much of the finance delivered so far has been in the form of ‘problematic’ loans, she says, which can provide ‘another flow of finance from poor countries to rich’.
The presentation goes on to highlight other areas up for discussion at the November climate talks. These include setting common time frames for nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Only seventy-five of the 197 parties met the end of 2020 deadline to submit these pledges for climate action, says Rebecca Woo, citing figures from War On Want.
The first week of COP will consist of largely technical negotiations done by officials, with ministers stepping in later to address the most challenging issues. QPSW recommends that activism in the middle weekend of the summit will have the most impact.
The video also sets out the UK’s climate targets and the key priorities that Quakers are focusing on.
The UK has committed to reducing emissions by sixty-eight per cent by 2030, which is one of the strongest commitments in the world. However, climate justice campaigners argue that it is unclear how this target will be achieved. There is criticism too that the goals are undermined by recent announcements on road-building, cutting air passenger duty and awarding new oil and gas licenses.
Another ‘problematic’ area, according to the presentation, is that the UK is pushing a net-zero target of 2050. This target ‘only gives us fifty percent chance of remaining within 1.5 per cent of warming’, says Rebecca Woo. She also highlights ‘massive gaps’ in climate action. Adaptation is critically underfunded, she says, and there has been no progress on finance or loss and damage.
Quaker priorities for climate action include calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies. The government committed in December 2020 to a ban on fossil-fuel projects but ‘we are still waiting very much for the details’, says Rebecca Woo. The video highlights other aspects of Quaker lobbying, such as its call for the government to support the creation of a loss and damage fund, and to explore ‘innovative sources of finance’ which are in line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle. It says that the UK government should ensure that progress is made on delivering support to address loss and damage at COP26.
The ‘Quakers and the UN climate talks’ video can be viewed on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_59oTfuveI.
Britain Yearly Meeting has also released a guide on how Quakers can take action for climate justice on https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/taking-action-for-climate-justice-2021.
Comments
Please login to add a comment
