Carbon Markets: Trading with our Future from Occupy Cop17 on Vimeo.

The group of more than 500 activists represent over 40 civil society organisations who fight for equitable access to land, food, water, shelter and clean energy. They travelled from various parts of South Africa: Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, East London, the Vaal triangle, Johannesburg, Welkom, Soweto and Mpumalanga. They will join thousands of South Africans who will march together on December 3rd to express outrage at the betrayal by the world’s governments at the climate change negotiations.

All 500 are part of a movement to campaign for one million climate jobs. Climate jobs are decent, people- and publicly driven jobs that reduce the causes and impacts of climate change. They are based on three principles: ecological sustainability, social justice and state intervention. Climate jobs:

1. reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses we emit, to make sure that we prevent catastrophic climate change;

2. build our capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change (e.g. jobs that improve our food security);

3. provide and secure vital services, especially water, energy and sanitation (this includes reducing wasteful over-consumption)

Events to take note of :

International Climate Jobs Conference

4 December 2011, 09h30-17h00

Launch of the One Million Climate Jobs research findings

6 December 2011, 10h00-15h00

At the People’s Space, Howard College, University of KwaZulu-Natal

South Africa must be held accountable for its own contribution to climate change, and must address its high emissions as part of an international strategy to slow down climate change. Although a relatively small economy, South Africa’s emissions are in line with highly industrialised countries such as Britain and Italy, primarily because of its energy-intensive mining and minerals-processing industries, coal-produced electricity and coal-to-liquids plants. It is responsible for about half of Africa’s emissions and is the 12th biggest emitter globally.

Electricity generation is responsible for about 40% of the country’s emissions with about 93 per cent of electricity generated from coal-fired power plants. The industrial sector accounts for over 40% of total energy consumption in the country, and over 50% of electricity. Industrial electricity demand is in turn dominated by key firms in the Energy Intensive User Group, an industry lobby group that together accounts for about 45% of electricity use in the country. Less than a fifth of electricity generated is used in homes, and even within the residential sector there is extreme energy injustice. Two million poor households use about 0.45% of the electricity sold by Eskom, and only 2.4% of residential electricity.

The richest 4% of South Africans are responsible for more carbon pollution than the poorest 80%.

To limit global warming to below 1.5° C, we need to reduce global emissions drastically by 2050, starting now. A fair carbon budget for the world would require South Africa to reduce its annual emissions by 25%. South Africa must plan well and use its fair share of carbon pollution space creatively, to develop new systems and industries that will allow us to make a just transition to a low carbon economy.

Contact :

Brian Ashley

info@climatejobs.org.za

082-0857088

www.climatejobs.org.za

The One Million Climate Jobs Campaign is an alliance of labour, social movements and other civil society organisations in South Africa that recognise the value of a collective approach to the crises of unemployment and climate change. It is based on well-researched solutions for how South Africa can immediately begin a just transition to a low carbon economy.

“Rich countries must meet deep emissions reductions that are science-based in order to prevent catastrophic loss of lives. We demand developed countries to cut domestically their levels of emissions between 40% to 50% by 2017 and 95% by 2050.  This must be done through a renewed and continuous commitment to the internationally legally binding agreement of the Kyoto Protocol which is the only instrument that has the only internationally recognized rules and deals with compliance” said Michele Maynard of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).

Developed countries are trying to ignore their historical obligations and furthermore they are trying to replace the KP with a very weak “pledge and review” system.

According to the United Nations, current pledges risk global warming of 2. 5° to 5°C within this century.  The IPCC estimates that Africa will warm 1 and ½ times this global level. This means that Africa stands to suffer as high as 7 degrees increase in temperature.

Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth international (FOEI) said “We are already in a planetary emergency,  but the polluting rich industrialized countries are trying to break their existing legal obligations to cut their emissions and seeking instead to direct the talks towards a “new mandate” and a “new treaty.” These are delaying tactics aimed at further preventing drastically needed actions on climate change and passing on the burden for climate action to developing countries.”

Willy D’Costa from Jubilee-South-Asia/Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JSAPMDD) said that the groups who came together for today’s action at the Speakers Corner are also calling for a “stop to false solutions.”  “The world’s elites want to continue their excessive emissions and are using governments to promote solutions that do not address the roots of the climate crisis. Instead these false solutions pave the way for private profits to be made from the climate crisis and peoples sufferings” said D’Costa who also represents the Indian Social Action Forum.  “We reject offsets, carbon trading, market-based approaches to forests, soil and water, large-scale geo-engineering and techno-fixes, nuclear energy, agro-fuels, and so called “clean coal.”

The groups urged developing country governments to uphold the welfare and interests of their citizens. “We ask our governments not to sell us out” said Lidy Nacpil of Jubilee-South-Asia/Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JSAPMDD).  “All countries and peoples must contribute to the effort to reduce global GHG emissions. But those responsible for the crisis must bear the greater share, proportional to their historical and continuing responsibility for the climate crisis. There is no time to lose. No more delays, no more deception, no more evasion, no more false solutions.”

 For further inquiry please call Malou Tabios Nuera  0727299228