Fossil Fuel Invited to COP21 While Protest is Banned in Paris

[Jefferson23]

350.org organizer Cameron Fenton says the voices of indigenous groups and civil society will be silenced while fossil fuel industry is seated at the negotiating table - November 30, 2015

The UN's COP21, also known as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, will begin on Monday and run for ten days. Many climate activists see this as one of the most important climate conferences, considering the state of the planet. We have record-breaking global temperatures and extreme weather events causing deaths daily, according to a new UN report. And now for the first time in 20 years of UN negotiations, the aim is to agree on a legally binding agreement on climate and keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. But in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attack, security is tighter than ever before, and President Hollande has banned marches and other public events from taking place during the summit.

With us to discuss the upcoming COP21 and this ban on protests is our guest Cam Fenton. He is the Canadian tar sands organizer with 350.org and the author of a recent Huffington Post article Marching Matters: Ahead of the Paris Climate Talks. Thanks for joining us, Cam.

CAM FENTON: Thanks for having me.

DESVARIEUX: So Cam, we have a ban on major marches during the summit. Why is this an issue when the focus of the summit is really going to be on global leaders coming up with an agreement to limit greenhouse gases? Why does a ban on marches matter?

FENTON: I think it matters in a lot of ways, but foremost because the UN climate talks and the framework that's been built, it's a lot different from a lot of other global summits, where you know, if you have a G8 or a G20 summit there's a massive fence and you have the people outside and the government's inside, and there's sort of this very, very clear sort of conflict. At these UN climate talks people and civil society are, have been since the beginning, invited inside because they are not just sort of there as observers but a huge part of moving the negotiations forward, of raising key issues, of challenging governments and of holding sort of the worst actors accountable.

And so I think when you take out that element and when you remove it you silence a really important voice. Not just in the streets, but also that sort of has the ability to influence and impact the outcome of the negotiations. Especially around issues like the ambition of countries to actually meet the kind of climate targets we need, and the inclusion of things like equity and justice in an agreement coming out of Paris.

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=15169