Three Greengrants grantees and colleagues are among the winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award this year! The Magsaysay award is given annually to six recipients who address issues of human development in Asia, and in doing so have transformed their societies for the better. This year Ka Hsaw Wa of EarthRights International received the Award for Emergent leadership. Ka Hsaw Wa serves as a special advisor to Greengrants and has worked with grantees in the region; his leadership in human and environmental rights has had a huge impact around the world. Two other Greengrants grantees, Ma Jun of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, and Yu Xiaogan of Green Watershed, also received awards.
Despite these positive moves forward, it is clear that many world leaders are not willing to make the drastic cuts in emissions necessary to save lives and lands. A leaked report from the UN secretariat discloses a proposed level of emissions cuts that would lead to a three degree Celsius rise in world temperatures, one decisive degree above the two degree Celsius temperature rise that is widely accepted as the threshold of dangerous climate change. For more on this, see this article from The Guardian.
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Hanging in the Balance in Copenhagen: Two days left and much to be accomplished
Posted: December 16, 2009
As the ‘high-level segment’ of COP15 began last night with official government representatives negotiating until dawn, the doors were closed to 80% of previously-involved civil society organizations. But these 15,000 representatives and other grassroots groups are not silently waiting for a decision to be handed down. Instead, thousands took to the streets this morning to voice their dissatisfaction with the progress of the negotiations. In the largest protest so far during the conference, and met by significant Danish security forces, the ‘People’s Summit for Climate Justice’ is making sure the negotiators know just how much is at stake for the world. Hundreds of delegates left the Bella Center to join the protestors. More protest news here.
Many believe that the only concrete outcome to emerge from Copenhagen will be deal on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). REDD has the potential to dramatically impact the value of the world’s forests — as well as the land rights and livelihoods of forest-dwelling communities around the world. If a REDD deal does go through, it will be necessary to act immediately to ensure that forested nations and indigenous peoples are prepared to deal with its consequences.
Meanwhile, back at the Klimaforum, the focus continues to bring greater understanding and urgency to the notion of climate justice. Greengrants’ West Africa Advisor, Nnimmo Bassey, was there yesterday and took part in three talks on sustainability, accountability, and climate solutions. One of Time Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment 2009, Bassey has been an important spokesperson for developing nations vulnerable to climate change and a strong advocate for the civil society response to the UN-sponsored discussions.
One topic that has largely been left out of the COP15 discussions is the future of water in our changing climate. Fortunately, Greengrants’ grantees are working hard to ensure that this most basic necessity remains a top priority for policymakers. African Rivers Network just released a Statement on Climate Change for COP15, making a plea to African ministers in Copenhagen to address the risks posed by large dam projects to the continent’s water security. Similarly, grantee Ikal Angelei, of Friends of Lake Turkana, and International Rivers’ Lori Pottinger, a Greengrants Global Advisor, made the case against hydroelectric projects in East Africa Monday night on “Africa Today”, a California public radio show. You too can join the call for ‘Water Justice in Copenhagen’ by signing this petition, which is supported by our Southern Africa Advisor, Anabela Lemos from Mozambique.
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The Latest from Copenhagen: Upcoming Conference Call, Voices from Africa and More
Posted: December 15, 2009
- TOMORROW, Wednesday December 16: Join us for a live presentation on the Climate for Philanthropists in Copenhagen. Speakers include representatives from CERES, the Energy Foundation, Greengrants’ President Chet Tchozewski, and others. Call starts at 1pm Eastern / 10am Pacific Time. The call is organized and sponsored by Arabella Philanthropic Investment Advisors and the Association of Small Foundations. For full information and to access the call, click here.
- For the hottest document in Copenhagen, check out this publication by Alternative Information and Research Organization in Nigeria, funded by Greengrants. It gives the real perspectives of local West Africans on climate change. Climate change is a killer disease that needs urgent attention. It has forced many people to bed hungry. – Janet Jatau, a farmer from Abuja, Nigeria
- Vitae Civilis, a partner organization founded by former Brazilian advisor Rubens Born, met with the Governor of Sao Paulo in Copenhagen to discuss the need for community inclusion in a legally-binding climate change agreement. Also, check out Vitae Civilis’ coverage of the march to the Bella Center in Copenhagen over the weekend.
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Global Voices Rise; Official Discussions Falter
Posted: December 14, 2009
Called the most diverse movement in history, this weekend hundreds of thousands of people gathered to raise their voices for immediate action on climate change. From Papua New Guinea to South Africa to Canada, people let the world—and especially the delegates gathered in Copenhagen—know that this is our chance to make a difference for the future of our planet. Check out the incredible photos from the marches, vigils, and candlelight gatherings around the world.
But today, developing nations are threatening to walk out of negotiations, claiming that developed nations need to do more to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. As the Conference enters its final week, much remains to be achieved.
Meanwhile, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) continues to take the stage as one of the principle mitigation strategies under discussion for inclusion in the post-Kyoto agreement. On Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that they believe 20% of global mitigation finance should go to REDD, with a goal of halting deforestation completely by 2030. While protecting forests may sound like a good idea, it is much more complicated for the people who live in and around tropical forests in Central Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. It is far from clear how communities will be involved in REDD, and how it might affect their land rights and livelihoods.
Peter Kostishack, Greengrants’ Program Director, reports from Copenhagen that the official delegates are promoting REDD with only limited discussion about forest communities and their rights. Emmanuel Bizot, President of the Central African Forest Commission, has said that forest protection “must go hand-in-hand with the global value of forest resources”—in other words, logging interests. Several Greengrants advisors and grantees, including Samuel Nnah Ndobe (Cameroon) and Ruben Pasos (Nicaragua), are in Copenhagen to make sure community rights are on the table as well as the political and economic interests of more powerful entities.
A draft text of the REDD policy was released over the weekend. In what is being considered a partial but important victory, the preamble includes language about indigenous rights and references the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. While the preamble is non-binding, this is a major step towards a more inclusive and rights-based framework for REDD.
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Act Today For Climate Justice
Posted: December 12, 2009
For all of us who can’t be in Copenhagen to join the climate discussions, this weekend offers a chance to show our support for taking real action to stop climate change. The Real Deal Weekend—a series of vigils, marches, and ceremonies across the globe to show that “the world wants a real deal” on stemming climate change—kicks off today with the Global Day of Action, an urgent appeal to world leaders to take action against climate change. For more information on how you can get involved by holding your own vigil or taking part in a local gathering, visit the TckTckTck website.
Back in the official world of Copenhagen, the jargon can be thick and the acronyms confusing. It’s clear that the world’s leaders are gathered to discuss actions on climate change, but the international treaty negotiating process can be baffling. The Climate Action Network has compiled an accessible background and breakdown of the UNFCCC and COP15, entitled Copenhagen Climate Negotiations: A Briefing Book to help you figure it all out.
In other news, Annie Leonard, founder of Greengrants’ India Advisory Board and longtime friend of the organization, aired her latest work at the Klimaforum on Tuesday. Her new short film, The Story of Cap and Trade, explains this complex, often misunderstood system in a simple and engaging way. Watch it and find out why cap and trade markets, the primary solution proposed at the COP15 to reduce carbon emissions, may not be the right answer after all.
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On the Way to Copenhagen
Posted: December 11, 2009
I’m frustrated after a week of reading confusing and discouraging news reports from the UN Climate Conference – CoP15. For example, today Yahoo News reports that the European Union countries have pledged 2.4 billion euros ($3.6 billion USD) for climate change mitigation and adaption; the BBC reports that the EU pledge is 7.0 billion euros ($10.6 billion USD). So which is it? 2.4 billion or 7.0 billion?
Whatever the answer, it is a far cry from the 68.4 billion euros ($100 billion USD) that Hungarian-born billionaire financier George Soros says is needed to help developing countries address climate change. I hope I run into George when I get to Copenhagen.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when United Airlines told me I may miss my connection in Newark because of extreme winds on the East Coast. Extreme weather is perhaps the most obvious immediate local effect of global climate change. But it’s one thing for me to miss a flight because of extreme weather; it’s another for subsistence farmers in the developing world to lose a crop because of acts of nature. Of course draughts and floods have always challenged unprepared farmers, just like canceled flights have always disrupted travelers. But what is new is the increasing frequency and unpredictability of what used to be ‘natural disasters.’
Concern about growing food insecurity is just one reason I’m eager to get to Copenhagen to join my colleagues from the Consultative Group on Biodiversity, the Climate and Energy Funders Group, and the Funders Network on Trade and Globalization to study the role of private philanthropy in achieving a global climate deal.
I’m also eager to join my Global Greengrants Fund colleagues—advisors and grantees—who will be part of the “FLOOD” of climate activists organized by Friends of the Earth International on Saturday.
“Now boarding at gate B29.”
More later.
Chet Tchozewski
President, Global Greengrants Fund
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Indigenous Peoples Raise Their Voices around REDD
Posted: December 10, 2009
As world leaders debate at COP15 over who will bear the financial cost of climate initiatives and emissions reduction measures, those who will feel the true burdens of climate change are raising their voices and making their case at the Klimaforum. Indigenous peoples, coastal and forest-dependent communities, and local community groups have had little role in shaping mitigation policies like REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), which have enormous implications for the future of their lands and livelihoods. These four short films capture indigenous perspectives on climate change and REDD proposals, featuring grantees and partners of the Samdhana network, part of the Greengrants Alliance of Funds.
Greengrants made several grants to enable grassroots groups to go to Copenhagen.
The Indigenous Environmental Network is participating in two central talks today: Indigenous Perspectives on Forests and Climate Change and Indigenous People Speak Out. Meanwhile, grantee Land is Life, Inc. is holding an exhibition at the National Museum in Copenhagen entitled Conversations with the Earth – Indigenous Voices on Climate Change.
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Hondurans on climate change—We’re already acting!
Posted: December 9, 2009
Today at the Klimaforum in Copenhagen, our Central American partners discussed how climate change is having serious impacts on poor and rural populations. They also talked about community-driven solutions. Greengrants Honduras grantee the Pro-Development Committee for the Mocal Hydroelectric Project in Tomala, Lempira is developing a small-scale community-run hydroelectric project to generate and sell clean energy. The proceeds are being re-invested in the community. While large-scale dams can be extremely damaging to rural communities, locally-managed projects like this are one of the best sustainable solutions.
Climate change in Honduras, among many other developing countries, has real consequences for coastal and rural communities as sea level rises, food security becomes more precarious, and forests that are important carbon sinks continue to be cut down. Local community organizations are working hard to promote awareness about these impacts and develop resilient adaptation and mitigation measures. Telling these stories on an international stage is a big part of creating a world-wide movement for climate justice.
MORE COVERAGE:
Check out the video of the Klimaforum’s opening ceremony featuring Greengrants’ Nnimmo Bassey, also International Chair of Friends of the Earth International.
View yesterday’s briefing from the Climate Action Network.
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Public Forums and Direct Access: Making Sense of COP15
Posted: December 8, 2009
Greengrants’ West African Advisor Nnimmo Bassey, from Nigeria, spoke at the opening ceremony of Klimaforum09 last night in Copenhagen: “Climate justice delayed is an unacceptable denial of pains endured by victims of the climate crisis. It is time to stop playing politics, it is time for action!”
Klimaforum09 is the ‘people’s climate summit’ running in parallel with the official COP15 meeting. Organized by Danish leaders, Klimaforum09 gathers citizens from all corners of the world to create a socially just and sustainable future. It creates an open space, where people, movements and organizations can develop constructive solutions to the climate crisis, perhaps the most serious and urgent challenge ever to face humanity. Greengrants’ Global Advisors Pesticide Action Network and Friends of the Earth International are also participating, along with numerous grantees and other grassroots groups. If you’re in Copenhagen, check out the program.
Also promoting public involvement in Copenhagen is TckTckTck, a global alliance of civil society organizations, trade unions, faith groups and global citizens—all calling for a fair, ambitious, and binding climate change agreement. If enough of us stand up, world leaders will listen. To make your voice heard, sign on to the TckTckTck Campaign here. You can also check out live news feeds and blogger posts through TckTckTck’s ‘Climate Voice’.
And, Democracy Now with Amy Goodman is broadcasting live from the Bella Center, the official COP15 venue. Check out the roundtable discussion featuring Jubilee South and the Indigenous Environmental Network, both of which were funded by Greengrants to send delegates to Copenhagen. Don’t miss out on this front line coverage.
Stay tuned for more news from the ground!
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What’s at stake in Copenhagen?
Posted: December 7, 2009
Today marks the beginning of two weeks of global climate change discussions in Copenhagen, Denmark. The 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will be where governments negotiate the next international agreement on climate, replacing the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. The goal is to reach a political agreement that outlines the targets the world will adhere to for greenhouse gas emissions and the mechanisms we will use to get there. While most doubt that a binding agreement will emerge in the next two weeks, it is absolutely clear that the stage we set in Copenhagen will have significant ramifications—for the planet and people around the world—especially in developing countries.
Thousands of people are in attendance in Copenhagen. While government delegates are the official players in the discussions, it is critical for civil society—indigenous peoples, youth, non-governmental organizations, and ordinary citizens—to make sure their voices are heard. There is a robust program for their involvement going on in parallel to the official negotiations throughout the city. Greengrants advisors and grantees are here in full force, some whose travel from Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Nigeria, and Thailand came directly from small grants from Greengrants. Chet Tchozewski and Peter Kostishack from our Boulder office will arrive later in the week, alongside many of our colleagues in philanthropy.
Our goal? To ensure that there is real representation of those who are most affected by climate change and the policies proposed here in Copenhagen. There is too much at stake: land rights, livelihoods, access to clean water—the most basic human rights of the world’s citizens are being impacted by climate change and climate change policy.
Over the next two weeks, we will bring you the latest from the ground as discussions develop. To get you started, check out Chet’s commentary in Yale Environment 360.
Here’s to informed world action in Copenhagen!