[E-rundbrief] Info 2006 - #FaceTheClimateEmergency Open Letter
Matthias Reichl
info at begegnungszentrum.at
Do Jul 23 11:31:58 CEST 2020
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
================================================
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
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