December

We're calling on developed countries to tackle climate change by urgently making real changes at home. Carbon offsetting – when developed countries buy carbon credits from developing countries to avoid cutting emissions themselves – has no part to play in a just international agreement to fight climate change.

We believe in Climate justice which 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.

Read our demands in full

closing press releases and analysis

Cancun package merely prevents collapse and leaves Kyoto protocol on life support

Friends of the Earth Europe: The Cancún agreement: Not worth cheering

blogs and comment

Henry Rummins blogs for Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Manuel Graf blogs for Friends of the Earth Germany

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View photos from the International Day of Climate Action

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The action, which took place during the second week of the UN climate change negotiations, demanded that all money to fight climate change should go through the United Nations, not the World Bank or any other multilateral development banks. The decision to establish a global climate fund under authority of the UN should be adopted at the climate negotiations currently taking place in Cancún.

The World Bank is the largest multi-lateral lender for oil and gas projects and a major actor in deforestation. It has failed to accept its own internal recommendations to stop funding destructive coal, oil and gas extraction. The World Bank is not a transparent or democratic institution and its decision-making is dominated by donor countries. It is also the world's largest carbon broker and it would be a conflict of interest for it to become the world's largest conduit for climate change mitigation funding.

The action also called for the European Union and other developed countries to provide transparent and appropriate finance, technology transfer and adaptation funding to developing countries. This is part of repaying the “climate debt” that they owe developing countries due to the large amounts of greenhouse gasses that they have emitted.

Susi Hammel, who took part in the action, said: “The European Union, and other rich industrialised countries, have a historical responsibility for causing climate change. As well as cutting their own emissions, rich nations have to transfer money and technology to developing countries to help them cope with the impacts of climate change, and develop in a sustainable way. We cannot trust the World Bank to deal with climate finance, as it is not democratic or transparent, and is a major supporter of fossil fuel projects. Instead, we need to see agreement in Cancún on a global climate fund under the authority of the UN.”

Any climate finance mechanisms must be designed to ensure human rights including Indigenous Peoples’ rights are protected, false solutions are rejected, and governance structures provide transparency and accountability. Carbon trading and international offsets must not replace new public money to enable developing countries to cope with the impacts of climate change.

As part of an international day of action to oppose false solutions to the climate crisis on December 7, 30 young people from across Europe targeted European institutions and corporations which support and fund nuclear energy. The message was simple: nuclear power is unsustainable and unacceptably dangerous.

"Nuclear energy is promoted as a clean technology but the mining of uranium has massive social and environmental impacts and the problem of safe nuclear waste disposal is yet to be solved. Young people are being locked into an uncertain future where they will have to shoulder the burden of this false solution." Susi Hammel, Young Friends of the Earth Europe.

As part of a series of actions, youth demonstrated outside the European Commission to highlight its ongoing support for this dangerous technology. They also took action outside the Foratom offices, a powerful pro-nuclear lobby group, and BNP Paribas whose significant financial contributions enable the ongoing development of the nuclear industry.
 
"What we need are real solutions. If the negotiators in Cancun care about our future, they will choose renewable resources and opt for decentralised production and distribution of energy. This will empower communities to directly produce their energy from local, sustainable resources." said Sebastian Power from the Federation of Young European Greens.

The action took place as part of the ‘1000 Cancun’s action day’ called for by the International peasant farmers network La Via Campesina. Participants in the action are youth who have gathered from all over Europe for a two week long Climate Justice Convergence in Brussels, in parallel to the UN Climate talks in Mexico. For two weeks, over 60 young people have gathered to take action and demand climate justice.
 
Find out more about the Youth Climate Justice Convergence

The event gave a clear signal that the UN climate negotiations, taking place in Cancún, Mexico must not be used to further the interests of rich industrialised countries, and big business. 

The participants also discussed the way in which European countries are responding to the climate crisis – and specifically the need to ensure that action to tackle climate change also brings us closer to achieving justice within and between countries.

The assembly was inspired by the call made by La Via Campesina for “Thousands of Cancuns” during the negotiations in Cancun. 

On the first day of the climate talks in Cancun, activists from the climate camp in Belgium, FoE Flanders and Brussels and the youth climate justice convergence in Brussels occupied the offices of IETA (international emissions trading association) for the whole afternoon. IETA was nominated in 2009 for the Worst EU Lobby awards.

 

For the whole of the Cancun talks, Young Friends of the Earth Europe is organising a "Cancun in Brussels" space for young European climate activists to come together, learn and create actions! 

 

On Thursday they took the Friends of the Earth online targeting Japan a step further by paying a visit to the Japanese Embassy in Brussels to deliver a letter and talk with a representative from the embassy.

View photos from the IETA sit in

View photos and video form The European Assembly for Climate Justice

Find out more about 1000 Cancuns