Rally pledged as climate talks approach 11th hour
350.org plans to defy Paris ban on protests as COP21 readies to reveal agreement
PARIS— As negotiators from more than 190 countries worked tirelessly through the night to forge a climate agreement that all nations will support, indigenous and civil society groups readied for mass protests Saturday despite a state ban on demonstrations.
Laurent Fabius, the sleep-deprived chair of the two-week Conference of Parties, known during this summit as COP21, emerged Friday evening to tell reporters he would release a final version of the agreement at 9 a.m. Paris time, a day later than originally expected.
“I will present a text that is as balanced and as ambitious as possible,” said Fabius, the French foreign minister.
Earlier in the day, federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna issued a statement pointing to “good co-operation around the table” on many issues that Canada has pushed for, including the idea of “ratcheting up” country emission-reduction targets every five years and assuring transparency of each country’s efforts.
She pointed to a reference in the text to limiting temperature rise to “well below 2 C” while “pursuing efforts to limit increase to 1.5 degrees.”
“Canada has advocated for this recognition of the urgency of the threat to small-island states, like the Marshall Islands, with whom we now stand as part of the High Ambition Coalition,” said McKenna, referring to a coalition of more than 100 developing and developed countries, including the U.S., co-operating as a block toward common climate goals.
Also Friday, Brazil announced that it, too, had joined the High Ambition Coalition, a move Greenpeace said would likely improve the dynamics of final negotiations. “With this move, Brazil can become a bridge builder to the others.” Protests Saturday a taste of what’s to come
Whether a strong or weak deal — or any deal — arrives Saturday, it’s increasingly clear that civil society groups have no intention of backing down from a core demand: the complete phase-out of all fossil fuel burning by 2050 in concert with a dramatic shift to renewable energy.
To amplify that message, up to 10,000 protesters are expected to gather in Paris midday for a public demonstration that will test the tolerance of French authorities.
A ban on such marches was imposed shortly after the Nov.13 terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people at various locations throughout the city.
An organizer of the protest, 350.org, said the demonstration will start at the famous Arc de Triomphe at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier. Nearly two kilometres of bodies, painted in red, will form a line along the main avenue.
“The action will be a reminder that there is no complete triumph in the battle against climate change — too much has already been lost — but that any progress will be led by the people, not our politicians,” the organization said in a statement.
350.org and Greenpeace International warned this week they plan to significantly bolster civil disobedience actions around the world in 2016, starting with a week of protests in May, and they named Canada as one of several countries that would be targeted.
“You can imagine human chains peacefully blocking oil exports, ordinary people walking arm in arm onto coalfields and defiant marches heading toward the headquarters of fossil fuel companies,” said Payal Parekh, global managing director of 350.org.
If Canada’s fossil fuel industry, particularly companies in the oilsands, thought the Alberta government’s ambitious new climate plan would convince environmental groups to ease up on their criticism, climate activists here say the opposite should be assumed.
Emboldened by U.S. President Barack Obama’s rejection in early No- vember of the Keystone XL pipeline project, groups such as 350.org say they’re going to step up and expand their activities. Oil and coal developers will be targeted, but so, too, will the financial institutions that keep financing their multibillion-dollar projects.
“Irrespective of what they deliver (in Paris), the movement towards a clean, just, renewable energy future has started, and this future is unstoppable,” said Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International.
Naidoo said it was ridiculous that countries were negotiating seriously about limiting global warming to less than 2 C, yet the option of freezing all new fossil fuel development has never been on the table.
Another Greenpeace spokesman, Martin Kaiser, said weak language within the latest draft of the agreement sends the wrong signal.
“Right now, if you were planning on investing in a new coal mine, this deal might not be enough to make you put your chequebook away,” he said. Complicated negotiations
Canada has been constructive during negotiations but hasn’t escaped criticism. Many environmental groups are angry the Trudeau government backed U.S. language within the latest draft that protects rich countries from future liabilities related to climate impacts. Instead, there is a vague commitment to “enhance action and support” for ad- dressing losses and damages.
Inclusion of special protective language where none was needed represents a gesture of bad faith that could further frustrate negotiations, observers said.
Several weak spots in the agreement were still requiring compromise heading into Friday evening. On the issue of transparency, rich countries want all nations to follow a single, standards-based approach to verifying their commitments; and on the issue of differentiation, rich countries want some emerging economies, such as China, to take on more responsibility and burden, with less developed countries demanding that their unique circumstances and capabilities be recognized throughout the agreement.
UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon described the negotiations Friday as “most complicated, most difficult.” Fabius said he was sure the text to land Saturday morning would gain approval later in the day. This article is part of a series produced in partnership by the Toronto Star and Tides Canada to address a range of pressing climate issues in Canada leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, December 2015. Tides Canada is supporting this partnership to increase public awareness and dialogue around the impacts of climate change on Canada’s economy and communities. The Toronto Star has full editorial control and responsibility to ensure stories are rigorously edited in order to meet its editorial standards.