2009

Watch the video of the how the day unfolded

Ricardo Navarro from Friends of the Earth El Salvador opened proceedings at the Klimaforum by talking about the expulsion of the Friends of the Earth International delegation from observing the talks and how the people who represent the millions of affected people around the world are being denied a voice.

Today only two people from Friends of the Earth International were allowed into the conference centre where the talks are taking place.

"The blame game is now beginning for who will be responsible for the no solution."

Friends of the Earth International believes that rich countries are squarely to blame for the lack of any meaningful progress made so far.

Cristian Dominguez from the Bolivian negotiating team at the climate conference told the audience what it was like on the inside for developing countries:

"They don't want to talk about the Kyoto Treaty so they delay. Last night we stayed until 2am and achieved nothing."

He said the politicians of the developing countries were focusing on the past and unwilling to change, "they are like robots of the capitalist system."

"We have faith that Evo Morales [the Bolivian President] won't sign a document that goes against humanity, against Mother Earth" he concluded.

the climate fund

Most of the politicians and heads of state attending the summit have now arrived in Copenhagen and are making announcements on how they propose to move forward.

Today US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton announced a $100 billion climate fund. However, she did not say how much the US would contribute to this amount that falls far short of what the United Nations say is needed.

Read the press release

The event was hosted by Friends of the Earth Denmark in collaboration with Brian Vad Mathiesen, an assistant Professor at Aalborg University in Denmark. The Professor looked objectively at the case for and against CCS.

Firstly, Palle Bendsen informed us that the technology won't be ready until at least 2020 and not on a large scale until 2030. It's worth bearing in mind that 2020 is the date that countries are committing themselves to achieve large emissions reductions.

The Professor's presentation revealed some fascinating facts about CCS that never seem be raised by the people promoting this 'solution'.

Around 40% more coal will need to be burned just to enable the carbon dioxide to be captured and stored,

There are also added social impacts with CCS. In addition to the negative impacts of coal on the local population, there will now also be an impact on the people who live on land slated for the captured carbon facility. They will have to be evicted.

Professor Mathiesen said: "In Denmark at the moment a community of farmers need to be relocated to make way for a storage facility. They don't want to go and so the project has been delayed due as a result of their appeals."

At least in Denmark there is the benefit of an appeal. This can't be guaranteed for projects being developed elsewhere.

And finally, the money. It is estimated that a coal fired power station with carbon capture storage will take fifty years to achieve a return on investment.

With these stark facts laid out CCS clearly has to be exposed as a totally false solution to climate change.

Find out everything you need to know about carbon capture and storage

View another video here from the Danish Climate Movement

View some of the pictures here and many more on our Flickr account.

A full report will follow tomorrow.

Watch the video here

We also called on our cyberactivists to email the Canadian Prime Minister to urge the Canadians to up their targets after being voted Fossil of the Day the day before.

Watch the video here

Todd Stern, the US Special Envoy for Climate Change doesn't think rich nations owe a climate debt.

Speaking at a press conference about the USA's role in creating climate change he said:

"The sense of guilt or culpability or reparations, I just categorically reject that."

Instead he wants the poorest subsistence farmer in Africa to have the same responsibility for tackling climate change as an American with a
private jet.

With President Obama, the US has a unique opportunity to take the lead on tackling climate change. But Stern is threatening Obama's chances.

Call on Todd Stern to think again

Wednesday was a busy day all round for FoEI. The launch of our 40% report in the morning was followed by a 'target action' where Young Friends of the Earth walked the halls of the conference centre holding up large red targets calling for a commitment to emissions reductions of 40 percent without using any offsets (see video above).

Later the media team released a statement from our Chair Nnimmo Bassey directed at President Obama, who will be in Norway on Thursday (11th Dec) collecting his Nobel prize. The prize was awarded for the President's 'vision for a better future and his ability to inspire hope that bold change is possible'.

In the words of Nnimmo:

"We congratulate him on this honor, but he has not kept true to the vision he articulated during his campaign....he pledged to solve climate change, but the United States is now playing a harmful role on the global stage."

• Read the full statement here
  

The official launch of the Klimaforum took place in the evening with music and speeches from Henry Saragih, general coordinator of Via Campesina, Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International and Naomi Klein.

Nnimmo called for an end to backroom deals in the Bella Center - the venue of COP15 - and urged the delegates to listen to the voices coming from the people's summit.

The Kilmaforum was for "real people, talking about real problems, getting together to create movements and share the real solutions to climate change" he said.

On carbon offsetting he issued a red card to REDD, the carbon offsetting mechanism supported by many industrialised countries.

He finished his speech by calling on the audience to join him in one of his chants: "Keep the oil in the soil, keep the coal in the hole, keep the tar sands in the sand." Warmed up with Organic beer the audience were happy to oblige.

Following on from Nnimmo Naomi Klein the Canadian author of No Logo and the Shock Doctrine took to the stage and stated that “There is a difference between a deal and success and Klimaforum09 needs to be the lie detector when the politicians come out with a deal.”

This chimes exactly with Friends of the Earth International's demand that a deal is not what we're after it's a just climate agreement. This means emission cuts in developed countries, and money for developing countries to grow cleanly and adapt to the effects of climate change – but it also means a change in our consumption patterns.

As Naomi Klein put it, "Klimaforum is not about giving charity to the developing world it's about taking responsibility and the industrialised countries cleaning up our own mess.

Go to the Klimaforum website to find out what's taking place over the next two weeks.

Read her update here

Members of Friends of the Earth International will be in Copenhagen blogging right here on the many events taking place; from the UN negotiations in the Bella Center to the civil society event, the KlimaForum, where the people most affected by climate change will have a voice.

Outside there will be many peaceful demonstrations taking place including the Flood for climate justice where thousands of people are expected to flood through the streets of Copenhagen calling for a just climate agreement.

See you back here soon.

The Seminar is a part of the Friends of the Earth International project: Capacity building and networking among environmental NGOs and youth in South Eastern Europe with FOEI experience.

The project will last for three years and is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
 
If you are based in the region or this is simply something you're interested then please go to the Friends of the Earth Croatia website to find out more.

• Find out more
  

As Bangladesh's leading environmental attorney, Rizwana's legal advocacy for tighter regulations for the country's environmentally devastating ship-breaking industry in particular, makes her one of six winners of the world's largest prize for environmentalists this year.

Rizwana, who is also a member of the Friends of the Earth International Executive Committee, collected the award last night (April 20) at a ceremony in San Francisco and will be honoured on  Earth Day (April 22) at a smaller ceremony in Washington D.C.

The Goldman Environmental Prize was established in 1989 by San Francisco civic leader and philanthropist Richard N. Goldman and his late wife, Rhoda H. Goldman. It has been awarded to 133 people from 75 countries.

Prize winners are selected by an international jury from confidential nominations submitted by a worldwide network of environmental organizations and individuals.

• Watch a video of Rizwana's work
  
• Learn more about 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize winners from other regions
  
• Find out more about Friends of the Earth Bangladesh/BELA

Photo: Rizwana Hasan in San Francisco / credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

Friends of the Earth International are at the event and will be reporting back with media releases, blogs, audio reports and photographs.

Watch this space for all the updates.

• Listen to our audio reports on Real World Radio

• Read the Friends of the Earth US blog written by Health and Environment Campaigner Ian Illuminato.