Paris in retrospect: Justice listened to but not implemented

By Jacob Wieser, DKA

The Conference of Parties Number 21 (COP21) is over. A new global climate agreement has been adopted on Saturday 12 December 2015 - slightly later than expected. The past years have seen tough negotiations, now all governments of the world buy into it. Even the US and Saudi Arabia, who were referred to as blockers.

The global community aims to halt the global temperature rise until the end of the century well below 2 °C and strives for 1.5 which is vital for the survival of millions of coast dwellers. The states acknowledge their mutual moral duty. This is a victory. But the agreement is void of any mechanism for assuring this responsibility. No coercion, no enforcement. Periodic reviews are set to start in 2018. The sum of the national contributions to curb this crisis will lead to a temperature rise of 2.7 degrees or even more.

I have been hopeful so far

By Jacob Wieser, DKA

Text in German

Der UN-Klimagipfel neigt sich dieser Tage dem Ende zu. Wir sind nicht beim offiziellen Teil dabei. Wir treffen, besprechen und vernetzen uns abseits der Staatschefs. Wir, das ist die Zivilgesellschaft – NGOs, Glaubensgemeinschaften, Engagierte aus dem globalen Süden, dem reichen Norden, dem Osten und dem Westen. Wir, ein weltweites Netzwerk verschiedenster Gruppierungen, kämpfen für ein gerechtes Abkommen.

One week after the Climate change Paris agreement, looking back at the 196 Chairs Summit

by By Inès Bentolila, CIDSE 
 
People’s Climate Summit, Montreuil, Sunday 6 December

A few days after the end of the UN Climate Conference and the adoption of the Paris climate change Agreement, let’s look back at the 196 Chairs Summit. This peculiar meeting took place during the People’s Climate Summit / Village of Alternatives in Montreuil on Sunday 6 December.

“Do not go over the yellow line"… “The event will start soon, those who should sit on the chairs, come here!” … Jean Jaurès Square in Montreuil is gradually getting busy.

The alternative Tour in Paris – a story of hope

By Inès Bentolila, CIDSE 

As a Parisian who grew up in the South of Paris, I was glad to discover the northern part of the city and its cosmopolite 19th arrondissement under a “sustainable alternative” aspect. Indeed, this part of Paris is better known for its multiculturalism and for its people living often in precarious conditions rather than for its climate action.

Let's think and decide

The following text is a post-COP21 reflection on the importance of living a sustainble lifestyle, one that is respectful of people and nature. It is written by Natalia Lázaro Prevost, a Manos Unidas' volunteer from the delegation that participated in the Paris Program ofthe Campaign "Change for the Planet - Care for the People". The article is followed by a poem written on the ocassion of the Mass held on Sunday 13 December, by Laura Menendez, another volunteer from the Manos Unidas delegation.

Texts entirely in Spanish.

Climate justice cannot be achieved simply by addressing 'environmental' issues

By Brian O'Connell, volunteer, CAFOD

The pale, dim sentiment in the language of the final Paris agreement does not even begin to reflect the spectacular and dazzling opening lightshow from the Eiffel Tower two weeks ago. But the outcome of this summit was never going to match the expectation generated by the pre-conference spin and campaigners should celebrate the small progress which has been made. When you put nearly two hundred countries around a negotiating table, any progress is going to be slow. Nevertheless, this is the first time in history all the nations of the world have agreed a single document on how to tackle climate change.

Workshop on post-mining societies

By Stefan Reinhold

The difficulty to find a seat at the "Speak out on destructive extractives" workshop on Friday afternoon, shows great interest from the public to learn more about the issue of natural resources' extraction and possible alternatives to an extractives-based model of development.