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Pushing for a strong, fair agreement after disastrous UN climate talks in Durban

In Durban, countries delayed taking action on climate change and shifted responsibility onto poor countries.

A new treaty, to be agreed by 2015 and take effect in 2020, will give all countries the same responsibilities for cutting greenhouse gases.

Not tackling climate change

The new treaty will not take effect until 2020
But scientists have warned that we need to cut global emissions well before 2020 to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Targets until 2020 are too low
Current pledges to cut emissions for the next 5-8 years will put us on course for 4-6 degrees of global warming.
Loopholes remain
The EU can still increase its emissions and meet targets because of carbon accounting loopholes.
Rich countries are shifting the burden onto poor countries
Even though rich countries are responsible for the majority of emissions, have benefitted the most from burning fossil fuels and have the resources to make emissions cuts.

This will leave millions at threat from increasingly frequent extreme weather events, and will hit the world's poorest people hardest.

Delaying action will also fail to drive clean growth and create green jobs through investment in renewable energy sources.

The fight is still on

The 'Durban Package' was not very ambitious but there are still areas where we can push for more:

The Kyoto Protocol
will be discussed next year - what emissions targets will be set and over what period of time.
A Green Glimate Fund
to help poor countries adapt to climate change has been established, but it has no money in it.
Loopholes
still exist, allowing developed countries to avoid taking climate action.
The Durban Platform for Enhanced Action
will be agreed in 2015, and needs to be fair, rules-based and in line with science.

The road ahead

Friends of the Earth will now be working hard to:

Push rich countries to reduce emissions in line with science, and provide finance and technology for developing countries to act.
Make sure that finance for the green climate fund comes from innovative public sources and not from risky carbon trading schemes.
Promote clean and affordable energy as an alternative to fossil-fuels and a solution to energy poverty.

We have little time left to avoid catastrophic climate change, which makes our campaigning work in this area even more important.

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Current Campaigns

International Climate

Pushing for a strong, fair agreement after disastrous UN climate talks in Durban

Not tackling climate change

The fight is still on

The road ahead

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