| Update: Bonn Climate Change Talks |
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CARE has been active in the Climate Change Talks in Bonn from May 31 to June 11 with a delegation of nine staff. In addition, a group from the Southern Voices project – who work with CARE partner organizations in Tanzania, DR Congo, Nepal, Ghana and Vietnam – participated with the financial support of CARE. On May 28, just prior to the two weeks of negotiations, CARE organized a conference to present its latest study on adaptation, “Waiting for the water to come? Poverty reduction in times of global climate change.” Cynthia Brenda Awuor, CARE’s Climate Change expert for East and Central Africa,, gave a vivid description on the panel of how poor people in Africa will be affected by climate change and how they can adapt under the present circumstances. “When I was working in a Somali community in Southern Ethiopia, people were experiencing a long drought. According to the entire community, 2009 was the hottest year so far. Some of their livestock had died, and a majority of the living ones were weak and less productive. This causes a lot of suffering because livestock is their main source of income,” Awuor said. “To survive, many of the community members said they would leave it all to Allah (God). This was a sign that they were losing hope and were almost reaching the point of total despair.” On June 3, CARE together with the Accra Caucus on Forests and Climate Change launched a new report which proposes an alternative vision for achieving the objectives of REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). The Accra Caucus is a network of southern and northern NGOs representing around 100 civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations. Based on case studies from around the world, the report “Realising Rights, Protecting Forests: An Alternative Vision for Reducing Deforestation” argues for socially just policies and actions that tackle the drivers of deforestation, rather than focusing exclusively on carbon. “This study by the Accra Caucus argues that a global REDD agreement could do harm unless it safeguards the rights of people. Action on REDD must not occur without the free and prior and informed consent by the people affected by those decisions,” said Raja Jarrah, CARE International’s senior advisor on REDD and co-editor of the report. The Bonn Climate Change Talks covered a large variety of topics including REDD, Adaptation, Fast Start Finance, governance of finance and sources of finance. The CARE team provides an overview of the status quo from Bonn: Adaptation Parties also discussed the proposed terms of reference for the review of the Adaptation Fund. However, Parties were not in agreement on the scope and timing of that review, and it is likely that these discussions will need to continue before terms of reference are agreed. Parties did recommend the continuance of the Nairobi Work Programme. Finally, Spain formally announced in the LCA that it is working with Costa Rica and the United States on a near-term adaptation initiative. Details of the initiative are still being discussed among the three countries, but initial information indicates that they intend it to facilitate learning, particularly at the regional level, regarding adaptation approaches and measurements of success. Because these three countries have not finalized the initiative, CARE and partners a good opportunity to help shape it. REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) An instance of this potential danger arose when the Congo basin countries (COMIFAC -Central African Forest Commission) drew attention to the huge loopholes in rules being negotiated for developed country forest emissions under the Kyoto Protocol (LULUCF – Land Use and Land Use change). They contrasted this with the more stringent demands being proposed for developing countries to participate in REDD. While a technical fix has now been proposed for some of the LULUCF loopholes, the threat remains for weaker controls on REDD in the future, with disastrous consequences for forests and local communities. In parallel with the UNFCCC negotiations, a large group of countries have set up an Interim REDD+ Partnership to fast-track finance and readiness activities pending a UNFCCC deal, brokered by the Government of Norway. CARE’s concern is that this may enable REDD to start being implemented in certain countries without the agreed international safeguards that CARE has been advocating for in the UNFCCC. The apparent progress made by this partnership has led to some parties proposing similar ad-hoc negotiations for other negotiating tracks such as adaptation. Fast Start Finance The EU is, however, aware of these shortcomings in their reporting, and will try to improve the situation before Cancun. The reporting so far does unfortunately point in the direction of financing being old money in new bottles. The rest of the developed world still hasn’t reported anything on FSF. Governance of finance Sources of finance Meetings before COP 17 The studies presented in Bonn can be downloaded here: “Waiting for the water to come? Poverty reduction in times of global climate change” More information:
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