COP25 Festers To A Close; Paris Guarantees Developed World Won't Pay, But US Wants More Guarantees

[hatrack]

Climate activists have found plenty to be angry about at this year’s UN climate talks, which are scheduled to conclude in Madrid tonight. From youth groups to indigenous people, civil society has been more riled than in previous years, as the disconnect grows between momentum on the streets and the slow progress of the negotiations.

“It’s like two parallel worlds,” says Sara Shaw, part of the Friends of the Earth International delegation at the meeting, known as COP25. “It’s so stark, the contrast between climate breakdown, the potential of massive expansion of fossil fuels, using markets to game the system, the access polluters have to these talks when civil society is really marginalised. I think it’s just coming together in a huge amount of frustration at the injustice of it all.”

While the UN climate talks have always been an opportunity for activists to express their displeasure – there were hunger strikes in 2013, for instance, following a typhoon in the Philippines – civil society groups have been particularly united in their frustration at the process this year, which culminated in activists being forcibly barred from the venue on Wednesday. Two issues have proved particularly contentious: the role of carbon markets, and lack of finance for countries that are already suffering the impacts of climate change – known in the negotiations as “loss and damage”.

At the meeting, the US put forward a proposal that would make it more difficult for poor countries to gain compensation for the damages caused by climate change in the future. The Paris Agreement already ensures that developed nations cannot be held liable for the damage that has been caused by climate change. Negotiators are seeking further protection by extending this clause across the UN’s climate convention at large.

EDIT

https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/12/13/cop25-anger-over-lack-action-vulnerable-states-climate-talks-conclude

[Mickju]

1. We are so fucked up!