Friends of the Earth International have been banned from the Bella Center where the official negotiations are taking place.

Members of Friends of the Earth groups from around the world who arrived at the Bella Center this morning to take part as official observers in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations taking place were told that their badges were no longer valid.

take action

We need you to tell Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, that this is a disgrace. Civil society and NGO's have every right to attend these talks and seek a fair deal for all.

Take action now!

German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen takes delivery of 10,000 signatures collected by Friends of the Earth Germany / BUND calling for at least 40% emissions cuts by 2020 with no offsetting.

At 10am on Monday morning Anje von Broock and Tina Loeffelsend form Friends of the Earth Germany / BUND delivered 10,000 signatures collected via the DemandClimateJustice.org website calling for at least 40% cuts in carbon emissions from Germany and the EU by 2020.

The minister said he welcomed Friends of the Earth International's efforts to push governments forward.

Picking up on Chancellor Merkel’s remarks that she will not make unilateral commitments now, Anje and Tina reminded the German government that, industrialised countries have led the way in carbon emissions and now have to take the lead in reducing them in Copenhagen.

Drastic reductions of at least 40% are needed from rich countries at home without offsetting.

The minister responded by stating the German government's mid to long-term reductions targets of 80-95% by 2050. At which point Anje questioned the Minister's commitment to that pledge given the investment currently going into new coal fired power plants in the country.

"That is something we can debate back home" the minister responded.

We look forward to what will be a lively debate.

The winner of the Angry Mermaid Award - to highlight how corporate lobbyists are sabotaging international action to tackle climate change will be announced by award-winning journalist and internationally bestselling author Naomi Klein at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen on Tuesday 15 December at 1pm.

The announcement will be followed by an award ceremony at the Klimaforum the people’s climate summit taking place in parallel to the UN talks at the alternative conference venue at DGI-Byen in Copenhagen at 4.15pm.

Eight lobby groups representing oil, coal, aviation, the chemicals industry and emissions trading have been shortlisted for the Angry Mermaid Award, alongside biotech company Monsanto, oil giant Shell and energy company Sasol.

Cast your vote online at www.angrymermaid.org

This morning Friends of the Earth International in partnership with the Stockholm Environment Institute held a press conference in the Bella Center to launch the 40% study which shows that 40% emissions cuts in Europe are achievable.

The study prepared by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) in partnership with Friends of the Earth Europe proves for the first time the feasibility and affordability of achieving at least 40% emissions cuts in Europe by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, without offsetting.

Dr Charlie Heaps from the SEI set out the methodology used in the report and his graph clearly showed that the current targets being proposed by Europe "leave little room for non-Annex 1 countries to develop."

Sonja Meister from Friends of the Earth Europe set out the case for why Europe really has to push for 40% and laid out some of the benefits too:

"The EU should recognise the benefits of making such cuts. Investment in renewables and energy efficiency would create seven jobs per every one in fossil fuels. There are also many health benefits."

Read the report here

Desperate to get any kind of deal, the Danish Prime Minister has been leading meetings with rich country negotiators to agree the wording of agreements before proposals are even on the table.

We need to make it clear to the Danish government that this isn't acceptable. As the hosts of the talks, their responsibility is to ensure a fair and transparent process, not to broker a deal at any cost to the millions of people in developing countries who will suffer most.

Email the President of the Conference of Parties now

Click here for in-deph coverage from Friends of the Earth International

Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth International and Henry Saragih, General Coordinator of Via Campesina speak at a press conference at the Klimaforum - the alternative climate summit - outlining their hopes for the two weeks.

The waiting is over. Yesterday was the first day of the Copenhagen climate summit and the Klimaforum - the people's climate summit. Our first posting is from the Klimaforum where I spent the day.

The official launch of the Klimaforum took place in the evening with music and speeches from Henry Saragih, general coordinator of Via Campesina, Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International and Naomi Klein.

Nnimmo called for an end to backroom deals in the Bella Center - the venue of COP15 - and urged the delegates to listen to the voices coming from the people's summit.

The Kilmaforum was for "real people, talking about real problems, getting together to create movements and share the real solutions to climate change" he said.

On carbon offsetting he issued a red card to REDD, the carbon offsetting mechanism supported by many industrialised countries.

He finished his speech by calling on the audience to join him in one of his chants: "Keep the oil in the soil, keep the coal in the hole, keep the tar sands in the sand." Warmed up with Organic beer the audience were happy to oblige.

Following on from Nnimmo Naomi Klein the Canadian author of No Logo and the Shock Doctrine took to the stage and stated that “There is a difference between a deal and success and Klimaforum09 needs to be the lie detector when the politicians come out with a deal.”

This chimes exactly with Friends of the Earth International's demand that a deal is not what we're after it's a just climate agreement. This means emission cuts in developed countries, and money for developing countries to grow cleanly and adapt to the effects of climate change – but it also means a change in our consumption patterns.

As Naomi Klein put it, "Klimaforum is not about giving charity to the developing world it's about taking responsibility and the industrialised countries cleaning up our own mess.

Go to the Klimaforum website to find out what's taking place over the next two weeks.

As world leaders meet in Copenhagen to discuss efforts to tackle global warming, we will be there calling on the rich industrialised countries to agree to urgent and dramatic cuts in their emissions right NOW.

Members of Friends of the Earth International will be in Copenhagen blogging right here on the many events taking place; from the UN negotiations in the Bella Center to the civil society event, the Klimaforum, where the people most affected by climate change will have a voice.

Young Friends of the Earth has released a school report for the end of the Barcelona session. It's a pre-exam assessment and shows Parties that some serious revisions are needed in order to pass the final exam in Copenhagen.

More than 1000 copies have been distributed among delegates and observers.

Media Advisory: 6 November 2009, Barcelona, Spain

Rich countries are deliberately attempting to sidetrack UN climate negotiations towards a weak, ineffective politically binding agreement in Copenhagen – rather than fulfilling their legal obligations to agree ambitious new targets to slash their emissions – at the conclusion of the latest round of UN climate negotiations in Barcelona, warns Friends of the Earth International.

"We have seen rich countries continually seeking to ditch emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol. They are tearing down an existing, legally binding international framework, which has taken years of negotiation to establish, in an attempt to wriggle out of their responsibility to cut their emissions first and fastest. Rich countries must agree to ambitious new targets – of at least 40 per cent by 2020 without carbon offsetting – under the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol if we're to have any reasonable chance of avoiding climate catastrophe and breaking the deadlock in negotiations"

Andy Atkins, Executive Director
Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

"The US must also take its place alongside other rich nations in pledging strong emissions cuts. The Obama administration's proposals for an alternative pledge and review system – where countries would propose targets for emissions targets – would leave us in the obscene situation of seeing a race to the bottom to see who can propose the lowest cuts. The African delegation was courageous in highlighting that rich countries have blocked steps at every turn to agree strong, fair and binding targets to slash their emissions."

Kate Horner
Friends of the Earth US Policy Analyst

Friends of the Earth International is running an international petition demanding industrialised countries to turn climate justice into reality, asking new targets of at least 40 per cent emissions reductions, without offsetting compared to 1990 levels as well as sufficient public finance for adaptation and climate protection in the global south. The world’s people are demanding real action.

www.demandclimatejustice.org

Plans to expand carbon markets at UN climate talks this December could trigger a second ‘sub-prime' style financial collapse and fail to protect the world from global warming catastrophe, a new report from Friends of the Earth warns.

‘A Dangerous Obsession' focuses on the buying and selling of a new artificial commodity - the right to emit carbon dioxide - which the UK and other developed country governments want to see expanded into a massive worldwide market and are pushing in the negotiations running up to the big Copenhagen climate talks in December.

Full report

Executive Summary of the report

Press release on report

Young Friends of the Earth Europe have been blogging from Barcelona, see their blog at: http://www.actnow09.eu/

Press release: 3 November 2009, Barcelona, Spain

African negotiators at the UN climate talks in Barcelona have refused to continue formal discussions about all other issues and are insisting instead that the talks focus on real carbon-reduction targets for rich countries.

Today (November 3) in solidarity with these demands Friends of the Earth International held an action in support of African delegates’ insistence that developed countries commit to new, strong binding targets. Delegates and observers were invited to join a human shield against the killing of Kyoto targets and instead urged to promote at least 40% emission reductions with no offsets by 2020.

Kamese Geoffrey of NAPE/ Friends of the Earth Uganda warned:

"Rich countries are attempting to dodge their legal and moral responsibilities to reduce emissions. Developing countries and communities have historically had practically no fault in the creation of climate change, yet they will be the first to face the devastating impacts of climate change."

Millions of people are already being affected by climate change impacts such as floods and droughts.

Line Kirk of Young Friends of the Earth added:

"The world needs those responsible for climate change legally bound to act. Rich industrialised (Annex I) countries are proposing the replacement of a legally binding instrument with a voluntary pledge system, which will almost certainly spell disaster for the planet and all people. We demand our future is secured through strong new targets for rich countries - without offsetting - under the Kyoto Protocol."

To see pictures of today’s action, go to: www.flickr.com/photos/participaciontierra

To take action visit: http://www.demandclimatejustice.org/

Business attempts to undermine a strong and just global agreement on climate change are being put under the spotlight in the countdown to United Nations negotiations in Copenhagen with a special award, jointly organised by Corporate Europe Observatory, Friends of the Earth International, Focus on the Global South, Attac and Spinwatch.

The Angry Mermaid Award - named after the iconic Copenhagen mermaid who is angry about the destruction being caused by climate change - will be decided by a public vote.

Candidates for the Angry Mermaid are corporations, major polluters and lobby groups which have been nominated because of their track record of lobbying to prevent effective action to tackle climate change, either by blocking positive solutions or promoting false solutions to tackling the problem.

A shortlist of candidates will be revealed online on Monday November 16 when voting opens. The winner of the Angry Mermaid will be announced at a ceremony in Copenhagen during the climate talks on December 15.

Nina Holland from Corporate Europe Observatory, one of the Angry Mermaid Award organisers, said:

“Anyone monitoring the progress of negotiations on a global climate agreement will be aware of the incredible levels of destructive corporate lobbying going on, internationally, but also possibly even more forcefully at the regional and national level.

"The Angry Mermaid Award exposes some of the worst corporate culprits. Millions of people are calling for strong and just action against climate change. Now they can vote to expose the worst of the worst at http://www.angrymermaid.org/”

Candidates have been sought from individuals and organisations working on climate change who were invited to put forward evidence of the lobbying activities of individual companies or industry groups. The shortlist will be selected by the award organisers on the basis of the evidence found.

For more information see: http://www.angrymermaid.org/

As the last week of U.N climate negotiations before key Copenhagen talks begins today, Friends of the Earth International called on President Obama to earn the Nobel Prize he was given for his efforts to strengthen international diplomacy.

Instead of cooperating effectively to solve the climate crisis, the US administration is undermining existing agreements and shirking wealthy nations' responsibility to lead the way in solving the climate crisis.

Failing to solve the climate crisis in a just and equitable way will undermine peace in our world and basic human rights. While the President's openness to diplomacy and international negotiations are a welcomed change, they must be matched by tangible action.

“The rest of the world seems to be suffering from a severe case of amnesia, forgetting that we have once already allowed the United States to severely weaken international climate agreements,” said Antje von Broock, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth Germany, referring to the policy positions taken by the United States during the negotiations to establish the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. “The European Union must not fall into the same trap again.”

Vanessa María Gálvez Hernández, from Ceiba/ Friends of the Earth Guatemala said: “The people of Central America are fighting to defend our territories in the struggle against climate change. Transnational corporations and elites are responsible for the crisis and are promoting false solutions such as extractive activities, monoculture plantations, agribusiness, carbon markets, and free trade agreements. Instead we are promoting “Good Living” which is based on the principles of solidarity, equity, harmony and respect for mother Earth.”

Friends of the Earth International is running an international petition demanding industrialised countries turn climate justice into reality, asking new targets of at least 40% emissions reductions compared to 1990 levels as well as sufficient public finance for adaptation and climate protection in the global south. The world’s people are demanding real action.

For more information visit: http://www.demandclimatejustice.org/

For pictures of climate justice march visit: www.flickr.com/photos/participaciontierra

The latest sketch from cartoonkate.co.uk depicts an intresting interpretation of our chances of getting a workable treaty from the Copenhagen COP 15 UN climate negotiations.

A couple of interesting pieces from the Bangkok talks as they ended last week.

BBC news

For those wanting more detailed info check out Third World Network's regular updates.

International climate change negotiations are underway in Bangkok, Thailand, and two intrepid members of our international team at Friends of the Earth, Karen Orenstein and Kate Horner, are there to participate in and monitor the talks.

See more videos from Friends of the Earth US.

The US has urged other rich countries to join it in setting up a new legal agreement which would - unlike the Kyoto Protocol -  force all countries to reduce emissions. Read more.

REDD, the United Nations scheme to to cut carbon emissions by paying poorer countries to preserve their forests could be at risk from organised crime if safeguards are not put in place. A Guardian investigation has found that the scheme may be impossible to monitor and may already be leading to fraud.

More from Bangkok. 131 countries have accuse rich nations of rejecting their historical responsibilities.

There's also a great blog on Grist.

Women’s rights organizations from Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other Asian countries unfurled a giant collaborative quilt on the impacts of global warming on Asian communities. Read their press release.

A new Global Witness briefing reveals why the forestry term ‘sustainable forest management' could spell disaster for the future of the world's forests.

Jairam Ramesh - Union Minister for Environment and Forests - said on Tuesday that “India will walk out” of the Copenhagen summit if the Western world insisted on enforcing any kind of legal bindings on emission trajectory. He went on to accuse European countries of destroying the Copenhagen agenda.

Sudan’s Ambassador Lumumba D’Aping, chair of the G77/China, said delegates from Europe and the US had stalled talks for the past two years with the intention of burying the Kyoto Protocol - the world's first legally enforceable international treaty designed to reduce emissions. See how the talks in Bangkok are progressing.

Officials from 190 countries are in Bangkok this week discussing a new global agreement on climate change. It's the latest round of the UN climate talks and negotiators have released a draft version of the agreement. The Guardian has a beginners guide to all 200 pages of it.

As world leaders gather at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, more than 125 groups representing constituents in over 100 countries delivered an urgent letter to President Obama requesting bold action to fight climate change.

The letter asks President Obama to set ‘a vastly higher level of ambition for the United States' contribution to both greenhouse gas emission cuts and a package of finance and technology for developing countries.'

See the letter in full.

As the world's attention increasingly turns to the impacts of climate change, at least one project intended to reduce global carbon emissions is accused of displacing indigenous persons from their home in Uganda. Read more.

The World Bank spends billions of pounds subsidising new coal-fired power stations in developing countries but at the same time claims that burning fossil fuels exposes the poor to catastrophic climate change.

The bank, funded by Britain and other developed countries,  has a goal of reducing poverty and calls on all nations in a new report to "act differently on climate change".

The World Development Report report advises against locking the world into high-carbon infrastructure. But it fails to mention the bank's own plans to subsidise coal power plants in India, South Africa, Botswana and other developing countries.

Last year the bank and its partner, the Asian Development Bank, approved $850million in loans to finance a coal-fired plant in Gujarat, western India. Read the rest of this story.

Gordon Brown has personally pledged to attend the Copenhagen climate talks in December to prevent an "unforgivable" failure to secure a new global deal.

Amid growing fears that the talks will fail the Prime Minister said he would join the negotiations and urge other world leaders to follow suit.

Mr Brown said that "securing an agreement in Copenhagen will require world leaders to bridge our remaining differences and seize these opportunities." But he also believes that this can be done, adding that if necessary to clinch the deal he would personally go to Copenhagen to achieve it.

Young Friends of the Earth made a great movie at at a recent summer camp.

What does your country do about climate change?

The controversial practice of carbon offsetting has come under fire in the US with a new report published by Friends of the Earth.

U.S. polluters use offsetts to send money overseas in exchange for promised—and often pretend—pollution reductions elsewhere.

Offsetting is a centerpiece of the energy bill that passed the House of Representatives in June and they may be included in soon-to-be-introduced legislation in the Senate.

A Dangerous Distraction explains how offsets work and concludes that they are a flawed approach to combating global warming.

Over thirteen thousand people from over 80 countries around the world have taken action to demand climate justice.

They've signed Friends of the Earth International's petition calling for climate justice.

This is fantastic news. Support from so many countries helps put pressure on world leaders to do the right thing by our climate.

World leaders will meet at the climate change summit in Copenhagen in December. They will be making decisions affecting the future of our planet.

Our petition calls on them to achieve fair and effective solutions to avoid dangerous climate change.

Join thousands across the globe and urge world leaders to do the right thing in Copenhagen.

• Sign the petition.

The world’s fastest Mount Everest climber - Pemba Dorje Sherpa - has called on the Australian Government to halve Australia’s carbon pollution by the middle of the decade to help stop the big melt in the Himalayas.

Mr Sherpa said his home was changing because of global warming with the glaciers around Everest disappearing and the way of life being threatened. He called on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to take real action to stop the big melt.

His call for action coincided with the release of a report by Friends of the Earth which says the big melt in the Himalayas is the one of humanity’s single greatest threats from global warming.

The High Stakes report says Australia's climate policy will not halt the glacial melt in the Himalayas which could put more than one billion people in Asia at risk.

Mr Sherpa joined Friends of Earth campaigners in a climb of Australia's highest mountain, Mount Kosciusko, to protest the failure by developed countries to adopt strong targets and fair policies in the international climate negotiations.

Check out pictures of the Mount Kosciusko climb and download High Stakes.

Many strong voices from Pacific, Melanesian, New Zealand and Australian civil society met in Cairns, North Queensland to raise concerns on climate change and human rights that are affected communities across the Pacific region.

The group is calling for immediate greenhouse gas emissions cuts to ensure that people across the Pacific can remain on their islands and ensuring ongoing cultural identity that is intimately tied to land.

Throughout civil society in the Pacific there is recognition of the linkages between climate change and self-determination: The right to determine your own future and that of your land. Ultimately this is a question of survival.

You can read more on the call to save the Pacific Islands here.

Friends of the Earth International has been following the UN climate change negotiations for over 14 years. Now more than ever we believe that an unprecedented amount of pressure in needed to force the wealthy industrialised countries of the world to create a just agreement on climate change. But the process to date on negotiations that are going to culminate at talks in Copenhagen this December has been thoroughly lamentable.

There are two fundamental requirements for a just international climate agreement that are already enshrined in the UN climate convention. Firstly, that  rich industrialised countries that are historically responsible for pumping out emissions for hundreds of years must reduce emissions first and fastest. Secondly, that these same nations must finance the adaptation needs, technology sharing and mitigation actions of Southern countries.

But a number of wealthy industrialised countries are questioning the principle of historical responsibility and shifting the blame onto major developing countries such as India and China. Yet whilst climate change requires global action the historical responsibility for the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions over the past 250 years lies with the industrialised countries of the Global North.

The distinct lack of achievement of the talks so far falls squarely on the shoulders of the rich industrialised countries. After 16 years, and despite the rhetoric we have heard about urgency, these countries are still failing to take the climate crisis seriously and realise their obligations under the UN climate convention. Instead, most wealthy industrialised countries have spent the majority of precious negotiating time crafting get-out-clauses and offsetting schemes at the expense of genuine reductions in emissions.

Now time is running short – for both the impending December 2009 negotiation deadline and for the planet.

In addition to massive domestic reductions of at least 40% reductions on 1990 levels by 2020, rich industrialised countries must commit to finance genuine low-carbon development in the Global South. Negotiations on forest protection must ensure that custodial rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities are genuinely protected. Monoculture tree plantations have to be excluded from the definition of forests and there must be an absolute rejection of the privatisation of forests through market-based schemes.

Across the world we have to let political leaders know that anything less that this is unacceptable.

2009 is a crucial year for climate activists and world leaders who will be making lasting decisions about limiting dangerous climate change at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen this December.

We want to bring together activists from all over the world to demonstrate the breadth and strength of feeling on climate issues. Our leaders and politicians must be told that we won’t accept another half-hearted agreement when they sit down to negotiate in Denmark.

There are many ways in which you can make your voice heard before and during the critical climate summit. Here are three things for starters...

1. Sign the petition (jump to step two if you've already done this)
Tell your government that you want a just agreement in Copenhagen by signing our online petition now!

The petition will be delivered to politicians and leaders in countries all around the world.  You can follow the progress of the petition -   how many people have signed up to it so far and who it's been delivered to -  on this blog.

http://www.demandclimatechange.org/

2. Send your message to the climate capsule
If you are affected by climate change, struggling against false solutions (such as nuclear power, large hydro dams and agrofuels), or are simply convinced that your government should do more to find fair solutions to the climate crisis send us your message!

Your message in the form of video, audio, photography, drawings or letters will be used in a number of ways during the climate negotiations. It could be part of an installation, a special Friends of the Earth 'newspaper', an interactive game or a special section on this website.

Find out more and contribute to the climate capsule.

3. Flood for climate justice
On Saturday December 12 2009 the 'Flood for Climate Justice’ will take place in Copenhagen. In the middle of the two weeks of negotiations, we will ‘flood’ through the streets of Copenhagen with our demands for climate justice.

We’re encouraging as many people as possible to come to Copenhagen, using the most environmentally friendly transport they can, to be part of a movement for climate justice. The event will be the high point in a year of cyberactions, street actions and campaigning from Friends of the Earth groups around the world.

If you share our vision please come and join the spectacle on December 12, when we will use our bodies and our voices to create a message that decision-makers and lobbyists cannot ignore: the flood is coming!

If you'd like to join us please contact your local Friends of the Earth group to find out if they have any group travel arrangements in place. Find the details of your nearest group.

 If you're based in England, Wales or Northern Ireland find out more here.