Oxfam: Tianjin climate talks must focus on the finance winnables
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Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo addresses the UN Climate Change Conference opened in north China's Tianjin, Oct. 4, 2010. [Zong Chao, Zhang Fang/China.org.cn] |
As the 4th UN climate change talks gets underway in Tianjin (4-9 October), Oxfam is calling for governments to make establishing a climate fund which delivers for the world’s poorest people the number one priority. (Gallery: Tianjin UN climate change conference held)
"There is still a lot to play for in Cancun," said Kelly Dent, Senior Climate Change Advisor for Oxfam, in Tianjin. "Establishing a climate fund which helps the world's poorest men and women adapt to a changing climate will save lives and could help salvage hopes for a global deal. It must be the number one priority in China."
World leaders promised to establish a new climate fund and rich countries pledged to mobilize US$100billion per year to help poor countries tackle climate change. Climate finance is one of a handful of issues where concrete progress is possible by Cancun. Getting an agreement will help rebuild trust in the talks and pave the way to the fair ambitious and binding deal which is still urgently needed.
"Negotiators in Tianjin don't need to go far to see what climate change is doing to the lives of the world's poorest people. Millions of poor Chinese are already struggling to feed their families because of increasingly unpredictable weather. There are millions more like them across the world and they need help to adapt," added Dent.
China is home to 20 percent of the world's poor people and is one of the countries most at risk from a changing climate. According to the Beijing climate centre extreme weather events have increased in recent years. Earlier this year, almost 20 million people in south-west China were left without adequate water supplies as a result of the worst drought in a century. In June 800,000 people were displaced and an estimated 1.24 m acres of farmland were affected after torrential rain led to the worst floods in a decade.
The Tianjin Climate Change Conference from 4-9 October marks the first time a Chinese city will host a UN international meeting on the subject of climate change and the last week of negotiations before Ministers gather for a Climate Summit in Cancun, Mexico in November and December.
As a major emerging economy China is responsible for a growing share of global emissions but is also the world's biggest investor in green growth:
• China is one of the world's biggest emitters of carbon dioxide but its per capita emissions are less than a quarter those of the US
• China accounts for nearly three-quarters of the net global growth in energy consumption but was the largest investor in green energy in 2009. The Chinese government dedicated one-third of its economic stimulus package (US$221 billion) to infrastructure that will promote energy efficiency, making it the largest green stimulus package in the world.
Oxfam is calling on world leaders to establish a new US$100 billion Climate Fund in Mexico and for funds to start flowing by 2013. They must ensure the fund gets money to the poor and vulnerable communities that need help adapting to a changing climate.
Cancun must also outline a process for deciding how the US$100 billion in climate finance should be raised. A significant proportion of this money should come from innovative sources. Charges on pollution from the global shipping and aviation industries or a Robin Hood Tax on the banking sector will raise billions without putting the squeeze on tax payers.
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