Greens at Downing St to start countdown to climate talks
28 November 2008
News from the Green Party | www.greenparty.org.uk
GREENS TO SOUND ALARM BELL OVER CLIMATE CHANGE AT DOWNING STREET
For immediate release, 27 November 2008..
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Media opportunity:
Green Leader, Caroline Lucas, MEP Jean Lambert and London Assembly Member Jenny Jones will deliver a letter printed with a stopwatch to No.10 Downing Street.
Friday 28 November 2008, 9.00 am
Accredited journalists and photographers will be allowed access to the photo call by the Downing St police.
Caroline, Jean and Jenny will all be available for interview at the photocall, or at nearby studios, until 10.30am.
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Senior Green Party members will be delivering a letter to Gordon Brown this Friday, ahead of the United Nations negotiation on climate change, which will be taking place in Poznań, Poland from 1-12 December[1].
Handing in an open letter, in an envelope printed with a giant stopwatch, at the door of Number 10 Downing Street, Caroline Lucas MEP, Jean Lambert MEP and Jenny Jones AM, will warn the Prime Minister that time is running out to take steps to tackle climate change.
Greens across Europe will be repeating this action, delivering letters to heads of government and environment ministers across the continent, in advance of the participation of a Greens/EFA group delegation of MEPs in the Poznań talks.
The letter emphasises how vital the Poznan talks will be. It says[2]:
"It is of the utmost importance that we achieve an effective agreement at the talks in Copenhagen in one year’s time in 2009, and Poznan will be an important milestone in the evolving negotiations."
The letter is also signed by Green MEP candidates who are standing the Green Party's target regions for next June's European Elections. The Green Party aims to gain new MEPs in Eastern and North West regions, and retain their two MEPs for London (Jean Lambert) and the South East (Caroline Lucas).
Green Leader, Caroline Lucas MEP, comments:
"Time is running out in the battle to address climate change. The talks next week in Poznań are a vital step in setting an ambitious agenda for next year's crucial Copenhagen summit. We must seize this opportunity to transform the way countries work together to tackle the greatest threat to our future.
"The EU can provide the leadership the world needs at this crucial time in our history, and that's why it's so important that we make progress next week in Poznań, and that more Greens are elected to the European Parliament next year."
Jean Lambert MEP adds:
"Since the publication of the IPCC report last year, climate science indicates that runaway climate change is likely unless extremely rapid cuts in carbon emissions take place within the next few years. The second world war saw us transform our economy in months, so this is entirely realistic.
"A similar effort is required now, and is justified, as the scale of the threat is far greater. Our children will not forgive us if we fail. The only morally acceptable conclusion for the talks in Copenhagen is to move in the direction of a zero carbon world as fast as we can, and the talks in Poznań can set the scene for this historic development."
ENDS
Notes:
1. The United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Poznań from 1-12 December 2008
In Poznań, Parties are expected to:
- Agree on a plan of action and programmes of work for the final year of negotiations after a year of comprehensive and extensive discussions on crucial issues relating to future commitments, actions and cooperation
- Make significant progress on a number of on-going issues required to enhance further the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, including capacity-building for developing countries, reducing emissions from deforestation (REDD), technology transfer and adaptation.
- Advance understanding and commonality of views on "shared vision" for a new climate change regime
- Strengthen commitment to the process and the agreed timeline
A positive outcome from the talks at Poznań will build momentum towards a successor agreement to Kyoto, at Copenhagen in December 2009.
More information at: http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_14/items/4481.php
2. The full text of the Green Party letter reads:
28 November 2008
To: The Prime Minister, Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP
Dear Prime Minister and Secretary of State,
We are writing to you regarding the United Nations negotiations on climate change taking place in Poznan this December.
It is of the utmost importance that we achieve an effective agreement at the talks in Copenhagen in one year’s time in 2009, and Poznan will be an important milestone in the evolving negotiations.
We should aim to reach zero carbon emissions in the shortest possible timescale, at the latest by 2030, and an international agreement is crucial if we are to achieve this. There can be no reason to reject such a goal, not least because the first countries to achieve it will be in a very competitive situation, while fossil fuel become increasingly scarce.
The EU can provide the leadership the world needs at this crucial time in our history. This will require us to be generous in our dealings with developing countries, taking full account of their concerns. Any negotiated agreement will need to be based on the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, with equity at its core.
Developing countries should also be provided with renewable energy technology free of charge. This will not only help to mitigate climate change, and help economies in developing nations, but will also enable worldwide price reductions in this new technology by generating economies of scale, benefiting everyone.
Since the publication of the IPCC report last year, climate science indicates that runaway climate change is likely unless extremely rapid cuts in carbon emissions take place within the next few years. The second world war saw us transform our economy in months, so this is entirely realistic.
A similar effort is required now, and is justified, as the scale of the threat is far greater. Our children will not forgive us if we fail.
The scientific uncertainty over tipping points, and the precautionary principle, demand that the only morally acceptable conclusion for the talks in Copenhagen is to move in the direction of a zero carbon world as fast as we can.
Caroline Lucas MEP, Leader, Green Party of England and Wales
Councillor Adrian Ramsay, Deputy Leader, Green Party of England and Wales
Jean Lambert MEP
Cllr Darren Johnson AM
Cllr Jenny Jones AM
Cllr Dr Rupert Read
Peter Cranie
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