Milieugroepen buitengesloten van klimaattop Madrid

Raise
your voice with people at the climate talks

ACT
NOW

Yesterday,
I stood in a loading dock outside the U.N. climate talks in
Madrid, and watched as a huge metal door slowly lowered to lock me
and hundreds of other people out.

We — climate justice
advocates, scientists, youth, women, indigenous leaders, and NGO
representatives from all over the world — had come together in
peaceful protest to sound the alarm, with one voice: The
COP25 negotiations are dangerously off track. People’s lives and
our planet are in peril. Global
North countries must #StepUpPayUp.

Instead of listening to our demands, they pushed us out. Big
Polluters stayed in. The exact opposite of what people like you
have demanded for years. The exact opposite of what the world most
needs right now for climate justice.

Late last night, the
U.N. agreed we would be let back in. But the likes of the U.S.,
EU, Australia, and Canada are still not listening. They’re
bullying developing countries. And they’re advancing the interests
of Big Polluters over people. We need to make sure they hear our
demands loud and clear.

Take
action in solidarity: Demand governments listen to the people and
prioritize real solutions, not polluters’ profits, at
COP25.

Here’s
why we had to act yesterday:

Obstructionist governments
like the EU, Canada, and Australia are siding with bullies like
the U.S. and Big Polluters, trying to ram through measures that
would effectively sink the Paris Agreement.

Yes, you read
that right. These countries are pushing such terrible rules for
implementing the Paris Agreement, that they could be worse than no
Paris Agreement at all. Here’s how:

• They’re
  proposing to create a largely unregulated market free-for-all
  where polluters can keep extracting, polluting, and poisoning
  communities with little regulation or accountability, while
  buying ineffective and unjust offsets around the world.

• They’re
  refusing to pay up for loss & damage for countries who’ve
  done little to cause the climate crisis but are already paying
  the price.

• They’re
  trying to advance policy that stands to protect polluters from
  being held liable for the damage they’ve caused.

Make
no mistake: The Paris Agreement was already nowhere near strong
enough. And this would sink the Paris Agreement. And, despite
Trump’s recent announcement of official withdrawal, the U.S. is
the ringleader. It’s trying to sink the ship even as it’s jumping
overboard. Governments like the EU, Canada, and Australia are
following its lead. And it’s all to protect the interests of the
biggest, most polluting corporations on the planet.

But it
doesn’t have to be this way. The EU, Canada, and Australia can
stop siding with the U.S. Developing countries can stand up and
stop these dangerous measures from going through. But they need to
hear from you — the people around the world outside of these
talks.

Act
now: Raise your voice to call out the U.S., EU, Australia, and
Canada, and advance real solutions at COP25.

You
may have seen coverage that the climate talks are already coming
to a close. But we know firsthand, from our decades of organizing
at U.N. treaty talks, that lots can change in the final 24 hours
— as long as we keep
up the pressure.

There’s
no doubt: Yesterday was heavy. We raised our voices in peaceful
protest. We banged on mugs and metal water bottles to raise the
alarm for the crisis we face. It was a powerful echo of solidarity
with our allies demanding justice in Latin America, for whom
“cacerolazos” like this are part of a long tradition of
peaceful protest.

In response, the people leading us,
including indigenous youth who have fought hard and journeyed long
to be here, were rounded up, pushed and shoved. We were kicked
out.

But we came back today because we know this isn’t
over… and because we know we’re not here alone. We’re here on
behalf of millions of people around the world who can’t be in the
room. They’re counting on governments to address this climate
crisis. To cut carbon emissions. To protect people’s lives and the
planet we call home. Will
you join us in raising your voice?

Thank
you for all you do to build a better world.

Onward,

Sriram
Madhusoodanan
Deputy Campaigns Director
Corporate
Accountability