[E-rundbrief] Info 2006 - #FaceTheClimateEmergency​ Open Letter

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief Info 2006 - climateemergencyeu: Open letter and demands to 
EU and Global Leaders. #FaceTheClimateEmergency​.

Bad Ischl, 23.7.2020

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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Open letter and demands to EU and Global Leaders

#FaceTheClimateEmergency​

https://climateemergencyeu.org/#letter

This letter has been sent to all EU leaders and heads of state on 16 
July 2020.

You must stop pretending that we can solve the climate- and ecological 
crisis without treating it as a crisis

Here are our demands of this open letter:

These are some first steps, essential to our chance of avoiding a 
climate- and ecological disaster​.

     Effective immediately, halt all investments in fossil fuel 
exploration and extraction, immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies 
and immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels.
     EU member states must advocate to make ecocide an international 
crime at the International Criminal Court.
     Include total emissions in all figures and targets, including 
consumption index, international aviation and shipping.
     Starting today – establish annual, binding carbon budgets based 
on the current best available science and the IPCC’s budget which 
gives us a 66% chance of limiting the global temperature rise to below 
1.5 °C. They need to include the global aspect of equity, tipping 
points and feedback loops and shouldn’t depend on assumptions of 
possible future negative emissions technologies.
     Safeguard and protect democracy.
     Design climate policies that protect workers and the most 
vulnerable and reduce all forms of inequality: economic, racial and 
gender.
     Treat the climate- and ecological emergency like an emergency.

We understand and know very well that the world is complicated and 
that what we are asking for may not be easy.​ The changes necessary to 
safeguard humanity may seem very unrealistic. But it is much more 
unrealistic to believe that our society would be able to survive the 
global heating we’re heading for, as well as other disastrous 
ecological consequences of today’s business as usual​.

The last few months the world has watched with horror how the COVID-19 
pandemic has hit people all over the globe. ​During this tragedy, we 
are seeing how many – not all – world leaders and people around the 
world stepped up and acted for the greater good of society.


It is now clearer than ever that the climate crisis has never once 
been treated as a crisis, neither from the politicians, media, 
business, nor finance. And the longer we keep pretending that we are 
on a reliable path to lower emissions and that the actions required to 
avoid a climate disaster are available within today’s system – or for 
that matter that we can solve a crisis without treating it like one – 
the more precious time we will lose.


There is one other thing that has become clearer than ever: Climate 
and environmental justice can not be achieved as long as we continue 
to ignore and look away from the social and racial injustices and 
oppression that have laid the foundations of our modern world. ​The 
fight for justice and equity is universal. Whether it is the fight for 
social, racial, climate or environmental justice, gender equality, 
democracy, human-, indigenous peoples’- LGBTQ- and animal rights, 
freedom of speech and press, or the fight for a balanced, wellbeing, 
functioning life supporting system. If we don’t have equality, we have 
nothing. ​We don’t have to choose, and divide ourselves over which 
crisis or issue we should prioritize, because it is all interconnected.


When you signed the Paris Agreement the EU nations committed to 
leading the way. The EU has the economic and political possibility to 
do so, therefore it is our moral responsibility. And now you need to 
actually deliver on your promises.


Net zero emissions by 2050 for the EU – as well as for other 
financially fortunate parts of the world – equals surrender. This 
target is based on a carbon budget that only gives a 50% percent 
chance of limiting the global heating below 1,5°C. That is just a 
statistical flip of a coin which doesn’t even include some of the key 
factors, such as the global aspect of equity, most tipping points and 
feedback loops, as well as already built in additional warming hidden 
by toxic air pollution. So in reality it is much less than a 50% chance.


And distant emission targets will mean nothing if we just continue to 
ignore the carbon budget – which applies for today, not a faraway future.


Talking about a “Next Generation EU” investment program while 
continuing to ignore the climate crisis and the full scientific 
picture is a betrayal to all “next generations”. Science doesn’t tell 
us exactly what to do. But it provides us with information for us to 
study and evaluate. It’s up to us to connect the dots. Well, we have 
done our homework and we will not accept your extremely irresponsible 
gamble. The insufficient 50% budget means giving up. And that is 
simply not an option to us.


Of course we welcome sustainable investments and policies, but you 
must not for one second believe that ​what you have discussed so far 
will be even close to enough. We need to face the full picture. We are 
facing an existential crisis, and this is a crisis that we can not 
buy, build, or invest our way out of. ​Aiming to ‘recover’ an economic 
system that inherently fuels the climate crisis in order to finance 
climate action is just as absurd as it sounds. Our current system is 
not ‘broken’ – the system is doing exactly what it’s supposed and 
designed to be doing. It can no longer be ‘fixed’. We need a new system.


The race to safeguard future living conditions for life on Earth as we 
know it needs to start today. Not in a few years, but now. And this 
needs to include a science based pathway which gives us the best 
possible odds to limit the global average temperature rise to below 
1.5 °C. ​We need to end the ongoing wrecking, exploitation and 
destruction of our life supporting systems and move towards a fully 
decarbonised economy that centres around the wellbeing of all people 
as well as the natural world.


If all countries were to actually go through with the emission 
reductions they have set as goals, we would still be heading for a 
catastrophic global temperature rise of at least 3-4°C. ​The people in 
power today have so far practically already given up on the 
possibility of handing over a decent future for coming generations. 
​They have given up without even trying.

The world’s planned fossil fuel production by the year 2030 accounts 
for 120% more than what would be consistent with the 1,5° target. It 
just doesn’t add up.
When you read the IPCC SR1.5 Report and the UNEP Production Gap 
Report, as well as what you have actually signed up for in the Paris 
Agreement, even a child can see that the climate and ecological crisis 
cannot be solved within today’s system.

That’s no longer an opinion, it’s a fact based on the current best 
available science.

Because if we are to avoid a climate catastrophe we have to make it 
possible to tear up contracts and abandon existing deals and 
agreements, on a scale we can’t even begin to imagine today. And those 
types of actions are not politically, economically or legally possible 
within today’s system.



In order to limit global heating to 1,5 degrees, the upcoming months 
and years are crucial. The clock is ticking. Doing your best is no 
longer good enough. You must now do the seemingly impossible.



And even though you might have the option of ignoring the climate 
crisis, that is not an option for us – for your children. Right now, 
there is no place on earth where children face a future in a safe 
environment. This is and will be very much a reality for the rest of 
our lives. We ask you to face the climate emergency.

by:
Luisa Neubauer

Greta Thunberg

Anuna de Wever van der Heyden

Adélaïde Charlier

This letter has been signed by the following people, along with 
thousands of activists and citizens, and hundreds of scientists. 
(Liste in: https://climateemergencyeu.org/#letter )


-- 


     Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
     Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
     Wolfgangerstr. 26, 4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
     fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
     Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at