WHAT ON EARTH WINTER 2020/21
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Climate talks are delayed but the struggle for justice must continue
Protest about Carbon Markets at Madrid Climate Conference. Photo: Victor Barro / FOEI
By Sara Shaw Friends of the Earth International’s Climate Justice & Energy Programme Coordinator This week marks the moment when activists from around the world would have gathered together on the streets of Glasgow to call for Climate Justice. The halls of the SEC would have been packed with delegates, civil society and, somewhat depressingly, fossil fuel lobbyists, for COP26 – the 26th year of UN climate talks. However, 2020 has not gone according to plan and the SEC, and the streets of Glasgow are standing largely silent. Covid-19 has brought huge suffering globally, and is compounding the interrelated climate, environmental and inequality crises, especially in the global South. Understandably, COP26 is postponed to November 2021. This is a blow for climate activists around the world, especially those hit hardest by the impacts of the climate crisis. While the pace of negotiations is achingly slow, and the talks are weighted in favour of the global North, delivering only a fraction of the level of climate action needed to address the climate emergency, this is the one global forum
where, in theory, every country gets an equal voice. Of course real world power relations, not to mention the pressure that big polluters exercise, come into play.
What is at stake in Glasgow Some of what the climate justice movement does at these talks is hold back the tide – for example there is a huge push by some governments backed by big polluters to finalise agreement on new global carbon markets. Carbon markets allow polluters to continue emitting greenhouse gases, for a price. This means that those with the money and power to do so (who are most responsible for climate change and should be doing the most to cut their emissions) are able to continue with business as usual. Carbon markets also lead to land grabs and human rights abuses in the global South. The global climate movement managed to block agreement on new markets at COP25 in Madrid, and this is a fight we will continue in Glasgow.
