Warsaw must turn its back on corporate interests and their push for failed carbon markets

Civil society calls out the EU’s attempt to push more of the same failed carbon markets favoured by the biggest polluters, and urges countries to leave Warsaw with real climate solutions in the wake of the devastating super typhoon in Philippines.

Simone Lovera from the Global Forest Coalition said, “Super typhoon Yolanda is a stark reminder to everyone at the negotiations. Developed countries, the EU in particular, urgently need to raise their ambition on emissions cuts and finance, and stop their incessant attempts to push yet more failed carbon markets. If the EU and others get their way, the so-called ‘framework for various approaches’ will be a Trojan horse for a global carbon market, waving goodbye to any chance of stopping catastrophic climate change.”

Pascoe Sabido from Corporate Europe Observatory said, “It’s no coincidence that the biggest cheerleaders for new markets are also the biggest polluters. Under the failed ETS, climate crooks like ArcelorMittal and Polish coal giant PGE have not just kept on polluting, but they’ve got filthy rich from windfall profits. And even more unbelievable, they’re both official COP sponsors, pretending to be climate champions alongside fellow sponsors BMW and ALSTOM while lobbying behind the scenes to scupper any real solutions. You wouldn’t ask Marlborough to sponsor a summit on lung cancer, so why is it acceptable at the UNFCCC?”

David Kureeba from the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) / Friends of the Earth Uganda said, “Carbon markets have not just failed to cut emissions but they have devastated communities and environments. In lake Victoria, Uganda, the attempts by companies to un scrupulously   sell carbon credits from avoided deforestation under the pretext of improving community livelihoods, has driven some local communities off their lands,to be replaced by palm oil plantations. If Europe is serious about fighting climate change, it needs to stop promoting solutions that profit its own bankers and corporations and look to home when identifying emissions cuts. If the tragedy in the Philippines tells us anything, it’s that the time for flexibility has long-passed.”

Contact:

Pascoe Sabido: +48 733 586 333; Pascoe@corporateeurope.org;

Simone Lovera: +31 615 345 379; simone.lovera@globalforestcoalition.org;

David Kureeba: +48 733 019 295; kureebamd@yahoo.com

Notes to the Editor

·       The Global Forest Coalition (GFC) is an international coalition of NGOs and Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations defending social justice and the rights of forest peoples in forest policies.

·       Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is a research and campaign group working to expose and challenge the privileged access and influence enjoyed by corporations and their lobby groups in EU policy making.

·       National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) / Friends of the Earth Uganda is an action organisation committed to sustainable solutions to Uganda’s most challenging environmental and economic growth problems.

·       More than 135 organisations, including GCF, CEO and Friends of the Earth International, signed a joint statement prepared before COP19 calling for the immediate end to the corporate takeover of the COP and the expansion of carbon markets:http://scrap-the-euets.makenoise.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/COP19_Statement_English.pdf

·       On Monday, CEO released the COP 19 Guide to Corporate Lobbying, exposing which big polluters are behind COP19 becoming the most corporate captured COP of all timehttp://corporateeurope.org/blog/cop19-guide-corporate-lobbying