Climate Justice and UNFCCC Processes

Brian Kagoro

IntroductionIntroduction There is compelling evidence that climate change is a serious

sustainable development challenge -- not only an environmental issue

Climate change is caused by anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) emissions

Energy production and use, land use change (agro-fuels), especially extractive industry activities, deforestation, fisheries are main sources of GHGs in Africa

Climate change impacts will affect all countries in Africa, especially the rural poor, small scale farmers with women and children been disproportionately affected

Developing countries and the poor will bear disproportionately high negative impacts

Consequently, climate change may undermine the ability of developing countries to achieve MDGs

Climate Change and Sustainable Development Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Africain Africa

Africa contributes only about 3.8% of total GHGs

Yet African countries are among the most vulnerable to climate change, because of the following factors: High poverty levels Heavy reliance on climate-sensitive sectors (e.g. rain-fed

agriculture, mining, oil & gas, fisheries, forests, tourism, etc.)

Poor economic and social infrastructure Existing stresses on health and well being (e.g., HIV/AIDS,

illiteracy) Conflicts Low adaptive capacity (limited human, institutional,

technological and financial capacities)

Climate change and Sustainable Development Climate change and Sustainable Development in Africain Africa

Africa is already witnessing impacts of Climate change, which will worsen with time, if decisive actions are not taken now: Constrained agricultural production and increasing food

crisis/insecurity

Increasing water stress and related water conflicts

Increasing energy constraints, further impeding industrial development

Expanding range and prevalence of vector-borne diseases (malaria, cholera, yellow fever, rift valley fever)

Rising sea level impacting livelihoods in coastal areas

Loss of biodiversity, forests and other natural habitats

Increased risks of conflicts arising from climate-induced population migrations (pastoralists)

Facing up to the Climate Change Challenge: Global Facing up to the Climate Change Challenge: Global ResponseResponse

Bali Roadmap: a two-year process of multilateral negotiation to finalize a post-2012 global agreement (regime) on climate change by December 2009

Review of the Protocol scheduled from 2008

Negotiations to be articulated around:

Mitigation

Adaptation

Technology development and transfer

Financing

Global Response to the Climate Change Challenge: Global Response to the Climate Change Challenge: Implications for AfricaImplications for Africa

Africa’s preparation to ensure that the concerns of the region are well articulated and reflected in post-2012 negotiations and decisions

Main issues of Concern for Africa relate to: Modalities for the review of the Protocol (comprehensive

revision vs. review of specific issues)

The developmental agenda of the Convention and Protocol

Funding and capacity building

Need for increased participation in flexible mechanisms (e.g. carbon trade and CDM)

Technology development and transfer

Fulfilment of commitments under the Protocol by the developed countries

Facing up to the Climate Change Challenge in Facing up to the Climate Change Challenge in Africa: Suggested ActionAid ResponseAfrica: Suggested ActionAid Response

Identify and develop a country programmes capacity to generate and administer an adequate base of knowledge to address climate change challenge for sustainable development

Focus on climate-related activities:

Policy research and analysis: control of activities responsible for emissions, participatory adaptation cost assessment

Consensus building at community and national level: alternative grassroots climate change adaptation strategies

Holding local corporations to account (responsibility &liability )

Capacity strengthening, technical advice and assistance

Communication and outreach and movement building

Knowledge management and peer learning

FINANCING CONSIDERATIONS

Funding for a new mechanism should be: Adequate, stable, and secure: Developed

countries should commit to provide stable funding that is sufficient to the task at hand, and that will remain so in the future.

Measurable, reportable and verifiable: Consistent with the requirements of the Bali Action Plan, capacity building and technology financing and transfer to support mitigation efforts in developing countries should be measurable, reportable and verifiable.

FINANCING CONSIDERATIONS 2 Additional to existing ODA: Funding for technology

transfer must be new and additional. Developed countries should not meet their commitments under the UNFCCC and the Bali Action Plan to finance the transfer of environmentally sound technologies by diverting funds from other development assistance programs. Similarly, funding provided outside of the authority of the UNFCCC should not be regarded as part of these commitments.

UNFCCC, Art. 4.3 emphasizes the need for “adequacy and predictability” in the flow of funds from developed countries in financing their commitments under the Convention. See also, Proposal by the G77 & China for a Technology Mechanism under the UNFCCC.

FINANCING CONSIDERATIONS 3 UNFCCC, Report of the Conference of the Parties on its

thirteenth session, held in Bali from 3 to 15 December 2007, Decision 1/CP.13, “Bali Action Plan”, para. 1(b)(ii).

UNFCCC Arts. 4.1c, 4.3 and 4.5. Proposal by the G77 & China for a Technology

Mechanism under the UNFCCC; China’s Views on Enabling the Full, Effective and Sustained Implementation of the Convention Through Long-Term Cooperative Action Now, Up to and Beyond 2012, at 2 (September 2008).

Proposal by the G77 & China for a Technology Mechanism under the UNFCCC.

Financing considerationsFinancing from the new mechanism should be: Provided on a grant or concessionary basis: In accordance with basic principles of

equity and “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” Article 11 of the UNFCCC specifies that a mechanism for the provision of financial resources and transfer of technology should operate on a grant or concessional basis. Any new mechanisms created for the post-2012 commitment period should also operate on this basis.

Unencumbered by unrelated policy conditions: The mechanism should be used to support policy reforms to facilitate research and development and investment in clean technology in carbon-intensive sectors such as energy, transportation, and forestry. However, it must be sensitive to preserving the domestic political space to craft policy solutions that are responsive to local needs. Funding therefore should not be tied to unrelated issues such as reforms in macroeconomic policy. UNFCCC, Art. 11.1.

See, e.g. UNDP’s proposal for a Climate Change Mitigation Facility, UNDP, Human Development Report 2007/2008: Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World, Summary, at 30; Proposal by the G77 & China for a Technology Mechanism under the UNFCCC.

ELIGIBILITY OF TECHNOLOGY 1The mechanism should prioritize the transfer and dispersion oftechnologies that: Have been prioritized through an inclusive and participatory

country-driven assessment processes: Technology needs should be identified through a country-driven process such as Technology Needs Assessment or a National Adaptation Plan of Action. Key stakeholders from government, civil society, and business should have a meaningful voice in assessing technology needs, and designing and implementing technology transfer strategies plans. Funds should be available for research and development to promote indigenous solutions to local needs.

ELIGIBILITY OF TECHNOLOGY 2 Promote the transition to low-carbon energy pathways: The

mechanism should only finance technologies that will facilitate a shift away from fossil fuel-based energy sources. It should not support new investments in incrementally more efficient processes for burning fossil fuels, such as supercritical coal technology.

Improve the efficiency of existing infrastructure and systems: The mechanism should prioritize end-use efficiency and demand side management systems that are often the least-cost energy solutions. (Climate Technology Initiative, Methods for Climate Change Technology Transfer Needs Assessments and Implementing Activities (2002).UNFCCC, Decision 5/CP7 and Decision 28/CP7 (2002). World Resources Institute, Contributions to a World Bank Administered Clean Technology Fund, at 2 (2008).

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT & POVERTY ERADICATION 1

The mechanism should also prioritize the transfer anddispersion of technologies that: Expand access to essential energy services for the

poorest: The mechanism should prioritize affordable, locally controlled technologies that can provide secure and affordable energy services to the 2 billion of the world’s poorest citizens who currently lack such services.

Promote economic self-determination and empowerment of the poorest: The mechanism should also finance technologies that reduce dependence and promote self-sufficiency for poor communities.

SSD & POVERTY ERADICATION 2

• Address the particular needs of women: Priority should also be given to energy technologies that may alleviate the disproportionate burdens of poverty that fall on women, such as the physical and health burdens associated with collecting and cooking with firewood.

BARRIERS 1 inadequate access to information about clean

technology, including cost comparisons, records of performance, technical specifications, and suitability

technical barriers to transferring technology, including a lack of infrastructure, limited skills and technical capabilities of firms to manage and adapt technologies, as well as a technology knowledge-base with capacity for operation and maintenance.

BARRIERS 2 lack of access to financing instruments and

credit for higher-cost of clean technologies, as well as insufficient investment for research and development.

cultural barriers exist, such as consumer preferences and social biases for absorbing, adapting, and accepting technologies.

Many developed countries cite political instability, corruption, and lack of civil society in the developing world as barriers to transfer.

BARRIERS 3 intellectual property rights (IPRs) has emerged as a

one of the most serious potential barriers to transferring clean technology. IPRs are creations and inventions, including copyrights, trademarks, and patents that provide the holder of these properties exclusive legal rights to control how their inventions are used, especially for commercial purposes.

Developing countries, however, see IPRs as limiting their access to at least two of the most essential ingredients of sustainable development: knowledge and technology.

BARRIERS 4 The degree to which IPRs will act as a significant

barrier to transferring technologies depends on many questions, including whether the particular technology already patented or will be patented, whether substitutes are available and affordable, and, if so, whether they are competitive in cost and performance. Another key question is whether the licensing terms of technology will be acceptable to those who most need it.

Barriers 5

• some broad patent might complicate the development of a major category of new more-efficient or less-expensive technologies,” blocking the way for innovation by others, including in solar but particularly in wind, where four firms control seventy-five percent of the global market. IPRs can restrict access in several ways, including ripple effects due to the existing concentration in the industry.

FINANCING POST-2012 1

• Shifting financial incentives to make climate technologies not only affordable to buy but profitable to sell

• Share Clean Energy “Software” by Capacity-Building with Lessons Learned

• Share Clean Energy “Hardware” by relaxing Intellectual Property Rights

• relax IPRs for climate friendly technologies

Ecological DebtEcological Debt may result from: the looting of developing

countries during colonial occupation; inequitable terms of trade; natural resource extraction and degradation as a result of the pressure to increase exports , and the intellectual appropriation of traditional knowledge related to medicinal plants and the additional fees that African countries pay in licenses.

Ecological debt may also manifest itself in a variety of forms. E.g. Climate change is a consequence of over-consumption, desertification that results from the overuse of land and water, the depletion of fish stocks as a result of over-fishing; and the poisoning of water sources that results from the unsustainable methods of waste disposal or toxic waste dumping

NB. The amount of waste and/or depletion of natural resources is directly related to the rate and nature of irresponsible consumption

Defining the Concept?• Ecological debt is premised on the over-

consumption of natural resources by northern, Emerging economies and corporations and the effect this has on ecological sustainability in Africa

• The major cause of ecological damage is unsustainable production and consumption patterns by countries, corporations and individuals

• The concept is sometimes used inter-changeably with the term ‘ecological over-shoot’

Defining Concept 2• Depletion of minerals and other nonrenewable

resources, dumping of toxics, bio-piracy and excess use of the planet’s CO2 absorption capacity are merely some of the many ways that Africa is being exploited on the ecological front. Africans are most exploited in this regard because non-industrialized economies have not begun to utilize more than a small fraction of what should be due under any fair framework of global resource allocation. The amounts involved would easily cover debt repayments.

Defining the Concept 3

• Ecologically unequal exchange is one of the reasons for the claim of the Ecological Debt. The second reason for this claim is the disproportionate use of Environmental Space by the rich countries.

• . Martinez-Alier elaborates with examples of Ecological Debt that are never factored into standard trade and investment regimes: ‘nutrients in exports including virtual water… the oil and minerals no longer available, the biodiversity destroyed.

• NB. These are difficult figure to compute, for several reasons.

Defining Concept 4

• Unpaid costs of reproduction or maintenance or sustainable management of the renewable resources that have been exported;

• actualized costs of the future lack of availability of destroyed natural resources;

• The Ecological footprint (CO2 emissions)• (‘Bio-piracy’). For agricultural genetic

resources, the basis for such a claim already exists under the FAO’s Farmers’ Rights.

Defining Concept 5• Compensation for, or the costs of reparation (unpaid) of

the local damages produced by exports (for example, the sulphur dioxide of copper smelters, the mine tailings, the harms to health from flower exports, the pollution of water by mining), or the actualized value of irreversible damage;

• (unpaid) amount corresponding to the commercial use of information and knowledge on genetic resources, when they have been appropriated gratis

• Compensation for amounts spent by African governments and citizens adapting to climate variability (often given as loans by culpable northern lenders)

Def. Concept 6 : Environmental Space

• (unpaid) reparation costs or compensation for the impacts caused by imports of solid or liquid toxic waste;

• (unpaid) costs of free disposal of gas residues (carbon dioxide, CFCs, etc), assuming equal rights to sinks and reservoirs.

The Three Core Basis of Ecological Debt in Africa

• FINANCIAL: This deals with the link between Aid flows, debt relief, and investment (e.g. an expanded CDM and/or new funds /technology for clean development )

• POLITICAL: This deals with the link between aid dependency and aid volatility and the lack of political space to regulate activities at a global level

• ENVIRONMENTAL: Deals with the actual scientific evidence on ecological damage suffered as a result of these activities(public health problems , damage to environment and climatic changes,etc.....also includes capacity development )

Ecological Debt and ODADevelopment aid , climate funding mechanisms and weak

regulation/commitments re: emission targets are major factors exacerbating ecological and social injustice and inequality in Africa. Three(3) channels can be identified to show the linkages between development aid and investments in the extractive industry.

• The first is the donors’ explicit exploitation of African countries’ aid dependency and their manipulation of debt relief to promote ecologically unsustainable policies.

• The second is the fact that. aid and loans have been given to facilitate unsustainable forms of direct resource extraction

• Thirdly, loans have been made to address environmental damage created by multinationals, whose host countries facilitated their original entry via policy-based aid.

Ecological Debt and Commodity Production/Exports

• Closely linked to aid dependency is over-reliance upon commodity production for export revenues. Most African countries are dependent on the exploitation of only one or two primary commodities for export earnings required to service their debts, and to facilitate development programmes.

• In Nigeria, for example, petrol comprises 95% of export earnings and 80% of total revenues. In Cameroon, petrol comprises 48.8% of export earnings. In DRC, diamonds contribute 42.6% to export revenues, and, in Zambia, copper earns the country 55.8% of its foreign exchange earnings.

African Development Indicators, World Bank, 2007.

Why Climate Justice?• Harm to the Ecology, Bio-piracy and Climate change have

devastating impacts on the rights ,livelihoods and dignity of communities, poor women , children and other vulnerable groups

• The cost of repairing the damage are astronomical and African countries and peoples are often forced to borrow money from violators to deal with adaptation needs

• There are internationally recognized rights that MNCs and defaulting governments violate with impunity and a measure of immunity

• The Africa of the future and future of Africa requires that this matter be dealt with to avert harm to posterity

It is a Rights Issue!• Right to development and sovereignty over

natural resources• Right to economic, social and political self-

determination• Right to highest standard Health and Well-being• Right to Food and Freedom from Hunger• Right to clean and healthful ecology• Environmental and Industrial hygiene• The Rights of Indigenous peoples(Institutions ,

property , labour , cultures & environment)

Rights at Stake 2

The Right to Global Public Goods of Indigenous Peoples: Right to participate in the use , management and

conservation of natural resources by local communities;

Right to participate in the benefits of exploration of mineral or other natural resources within their territories;

Right to receive fair compensation for any damages which they may sustain as a result of expropriation or other exploitation of natural resources

Its a Moral Issue!The Idea of Climate Justice is premised on the following:• Big polluters must “DO NO HARM "to Africa(or stop

their harmful consumption patterns; reduce CO2 emissions significantly)

• Cost of adapting to, mitigating and ensuring non-recurrence of climate catastrophes must be borne by the polluters

• Make available sustainable forms of technology and know-how to achieve sustainable clean development

• Avail Reparations for the harm you have so far caused(debt cancellation, rescheduling , new grants,etc)