I am posting this diary on behalf of Nichole Ghio of the Sierra Club. She is currently in Durban, South Africa attending COP17/CMP7, the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties (CMP7) to the Kyoto Protocol from November 28-December 9, 2011.
DURBAN, December 5, 2011 - At a Climate Change conference, it is easy to get wrapped up in policy and negotiations and lose sight of real people who are adversely affected by climate change, pollution, and energy access. However, if one takes the time and talks to people – not just those you traveled with or others working on and supporting your issues but, also, the groups in attendance from other countries advocating for their communities – a whole new world opens up.
Today was the first day the Sierra Club booth was up in the exhibition hall and over the next few hours, we met people from around the world fighting to protect their communities from coal projects, not unlike what we are trying to do in the United States. We met a man from Thailand who explained that they got rid of all coal projects in his country and are now eagerly planning new "clean" plants as an integral part of their development strategy. He was anxious to learn the truth about carbon capture and storage, clean coal, and regulations to fight them. A women’s activist from Limpopo, South Africa who works with the Venda, shared information on the struggle to stop a coal mine and how their community received threats from developers after writing a letter opposing the project. A representative from Indonesia, who works on forest issues in a country heavily impacted by coal mining, was excited to learn about the work we do in the states on similar issues.
Later in the day we hosted an open forum discussion at the People’s Space to connect activists from different parts of the world and explore the similarities and differences in our work. Soumya Dutta and Chaitanya Kumar explained that in India people have died fighting coal-fired power plants and families took turns going on hunger strikes. Bobby Peek told us how South Africa is building the world’s third and fourth largest coal plants with the World Bank’s largest loan to Africa. There is a catch: these projects benefit foreign corporations and not the people in whose names they are being built. Nezir Sinani connected the proposed World Bank-funded coal plant he is fighting against in Kosovo to the projects Bobby works on in South Africa, elaborating that after the issues with the Medupi coal-fired power plant were brought to light, the World Bank was hesitant to fund another project but caved after pressure was applied by the United States. Lori Goodman discussed how 30% of the people living on the Navajo reservation don’t have access to electricity and are reliant upon power from two dirty plants on the reservation. Both of these plants operate under less-than-stringent rules (as compared to neighboring plants) and ship their output to golf courses and swimming pools elsewhere.
But there are successes, too. Several of the proposed projects in India were stopped due to grassroots pressure, as was a proposed new plant on the Navajo reservation. And as we discussed these success stories and why they worked, we were able to tease out winning strategies. While negotiations creep along at a snail’s pace, the work being done outside of the plenary sessions takes on a new urgency. Bobby explained it best: the negotiations are a confusing world of grey suits and high heels that block people from engaging, but the work being done by affected groups without official sanction is already changing the world.
Over the two weeks of COP17, The Daily Durban provides a resource guide as well as a collaboration of writers and social media teams to provide 24x7 coverage of live events, news, side events, videos and radio shows from the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban, South Africa.
Contributing content for coverage of COP17 @ Kos are Kelly Rigg (GCCA); Franke James (Canadian enviroartist); Janet Redman, (Institute for Policy Studies); Bill McKibben (350.org); Nichole Ghio (Sierra Club); Polly Higggs (environmental attorney and ecocide mock trial author); and Victor Menotti (International Forum on Globalization).
eCOP is also sharing content from the People's Conference C17 and Occupy COP17.
Cartoon credit - Climate Progress
COVERAGE @ KOS
Monday 12/5 : Bill McKibben : The Most Important News Story of the Day/Millennium
Tuesday 12/6 : Nicole Ghio : Report from Durban - The Sierra Club at the Climate Change Conference
Wednesday: Ian Sullivan: Oxfam
Thursday: Victor Menotti (IFG), FishOutOfWater
Friday: Wrap
Sunday 11/27: Kelly Rigg : GCCA. Darwin Comes to Durban: Overcoming "Survival of the Fittest" Mentality at UN Climate Talks
Monday 11/28 Morning (Durban Time): Franke James
eCOP: Why would Canada censor artist, Franke James? See “Banned on the Hill”
Monday 11/28: WarrenS : Drowning Songs, Drying Songs, Dying Songs,
beach-babe-in-fl: Macca's Meatless Monday...Come Together in Durban
Tuesday 11/29: citisven : eCOP: HOT STUFF! From Durban to Rio - Introducing International Ecocity Framework & Standards
Sierra Club International: Durban's Dirty Energy Week
enviro writer : eCOP: Building US Leadership from the Inside
Wednesday 11/30: Janet Redman : Institute for Policy Studies: 1000 Durbans: Occupy the COP!
Thursday 12/1: FishOutofWater : Arctic Enters a New State
Throughout the talks, Daily Kos Eco writers are also re-posting relevant diaries at The Durban Daily.
Earthship Week One
Earthship Intro
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