highlighting climate justice and equity in international climate negotiations
FoEI worked hard to ensure that calls for climate justice and the voices of affected people were heard in international climate debates. We prepared well to maximise our presence at events connected to the UNFCCC process. We played a leading role in facilitating a worldwide climate justice movement, which connects policy advocacy and lobby activities with mobilization activities outside the negotiations.
Campaigners from member groups in all regions also succeeded in raising the issues of equity and justice in climate change debates at the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union Spring Energy Summit, the Gleneagles Dialogue, and the United Nations climate change negotiations in Accra (August 2008) and Poznan (December 2008).
Adding to the intensive efforts of FoEI’s campaigners, both outside and inside the meetings, FoEI’s former chair, Meena Raman (from FoE Malaysia), was invited to speak at UNFCCC meetings many times, enabling her to convey FoEI’s analysis of and observations on the climate change process.
FoEI used these opportunities to promote genuine solutions to climate change that are just and sustainable and support the human rights of local peoples. We also critiqued the lack of policy coherence between climate and trade/finance policies. Intensive lobby work was reinforced by the organization of protests, mobilizations and parallel events such as the huge public action promoting renewable energy, outside the EU’s Energy Summit.
The CJE Program coordination and member groups sought to analyze the role of FoEI at these meetings and to adapt the program’s strategies accordingly, in order to strengthen our capacity to deliver demands effectively in these spaces. We organized skill shares around the world, particularly to ensure that the Southern perspective is fully integrated into our work and to broaden the scope of our campaign activities.
