I want to begin reminding that the impacts of Climate change we are living today are not a punishment that falls from heaven. Those have their historical responsibles: those who took our resoucers, our rights and our richness and now have the duty to honor their Debt in order to allow humanity to live with dignity and without the permanent threaten to their lives. That is challenge that has to be faced in this Intersessional Meetings of the UNFCC in Bonn.
Today, global warming shows the unequal relations that has enriched only a few proportion of people in the world. It shows those unequalities and how rich countries have developed under the occupation of our territories, our lives and of the atmosphere, where their emissions occupy the biggest proportion, while the worst impacts fall on the poorest people of the developing countries. That is why this crises must be faced with equity in order to give back humanity and fearness to the world.
Then, the voices that must be heard now are those that come from the people, and those that come from the Mother Earth claims. In April this year more than 35 thousand people have gathered in Cochabamba to discuss about climate crisis, trying to find out the structural basis of climate change and give some responses that the lack of results of the Copenhagen Conference gave to the world due the unilateral interests of some rich developed countries.
Thousands of grassroots organizations, some governments of the south, hundreds of civil society, ngos activists, peasants and women organizations, people from about 140 countries have contributed to an Outcome that expresses the voices of those who are excluded from this trascendental process that matters not only cientists, not only negotiators, but the people of this world, specially those who are suffering the most.
This Conference tried to recover the sense of multilateralism that has been lost in Copenhagen, and tried to recover also the common sense that tell us that this crisis must be faced with responsibility and honor. That tell us that we have to stop the unequal comsumtion fo the world goods, that we must stop unequality, that we must stop conceiving that the world is a “resource” instead our Home we must to respect and take care of.
The Bolivia sumbmission contained many innovative proposals following the World Peoples Summit on Climate Change and Mother Earth Rights, because they reflect what the real world want and what the earth really need, and this should not be ignored as it happened with the latests chair’s basis document for this negotiations. Proposals by many governments have been completely disgarded in the preparations of Bonn negotiations.
The World Peoples Summit on Climate Change and Mother Earth Rights, demand the developed countries cut their emissions in 50% by the period 2012 to 2017. It demands to stabilize the greenhouse gas concentrations at 300ppm. It also demands to begin a process under the UN to settle some principles to recover the lost balance in our relation with Mother Earth.
This outcome also asks to provide fear and transparent financial resources to face climate change impacts, without conditionalities and profit basis. To avoid market and mercantile mechanisms in the facing of this crisis, because it deepness the structural causes and impacts and make them worst.
The Conference also recovers the people’s voices on the urgent necessity to build an International Climate Justice Tribunal to show the magnitude of the impacts, the causes and to contribute to strenght the control mechanisms of WGEs and the binding commitments under the UNFCC and the Kyoto Protocol. But specially to give the voices to the people who is now suffering in the south and more and more in the north.
It is unacceptable that the oficial basis of this negotiation are not taking in considerations some of this proposals.
I am from La Paz, Bolivia, and it is really painfull to see our glaciers melting taking away our right water, the rights of thousands of thousands of peasants to their livelihoods because their communities sourround the glaciers and see our landscape, our identity and culture rights threatened. It has been very sad to see that in Brasil hundreds of people have died due the droughts last april. And even at the same time that negotiators are gathered in Bonn, at least 200 people died in Central America due the hurrican Aghata. Meanwhile official voices say that nothing substantive is going to be achieved in the negotiations to Cancun.
What you are waiting for? Are you waiting that this crisis get worst that only could be faced under emergency patterns? Are you waiting that this crisis must be faced only as a security issue? Are you waiting that many of us will dissappear to react? Technologie and Money will not give us a new planet. That is very clear.
Only changing the system with solidarity, justice, equity and the payment of the historical climate debt will give us the opportunity to face this global crisis.
Bonn, May 2010
Elizabeth Peredo Beltran
Solon Foundation – Bolivia