PAN AFRICAN CLIMATE JUSTICE ALLIANCE

Say “No” to the Copenhagen Accord

The Copenhagen Accord threatens Africa’s future. It was the result of an exclusive, untransparent

and undemocratic process involving around 28 countries selected by the Danish

government, which excluded over 160 countries.

Africa’s position was supposed to have been defended by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of

Ethiopia. But the Copenhagen Accord falls far short of the African Group Position.

It is an illegitimate document that was not mandated and ignores years of work in the

legitimate UN processes. It was not adopted by the UN, is non-binding and has no legal

standing or effect.

We call on all African countries to reject the Copenhagen Accord for the following reasons:

· The pledges included in the Accord would give rise to 3.9°C of global warming,

implying around 6°C of warming in Africa. This is nothing less than genocide.

· The Accord's stated goal of 2°C is unacceptable to Africa, as it implies around 3

degrees of warming in all regions of Africa. As stated by Rev. Tutu “a global goal of

about 2°C is to condemn Africa to incineration and no modern development”. The

proposed review of a 1.5°C goal occurs too late to stabilize emissions at this level.

· The Accord threatens the Kyoto Protocol’s legally binding targets for developed

countries. It is merely a system of voluntary and unilateral pledges that does not

include science-based aggregate target, legally binding individual targets for

industrialized countries or effective compliance. It threatens to shift the burden of

climate change to developing countries.

· The Accord fails to share the atmospheric space fairly. Inadequate pledges by Annex

I countries (13-19% from 1990 levels by 2020) allow them to ignore historical

responsibility and grab a disproportionate share of the remaining atmospheric

space, denying it to Africa. This is climate colonialism. The African Group has called

for cuts of 45% by 2020.

· The proposed $10 billion in short-term financing for the period 2010 to 2012 is

inadequate. This will not be “new and additional” to ODA. The African Group has

called for short-term financing of $400 billion, with $150 billion immediately available

as “special drawing rights”.

· The proposal to “mobilize” $100 billion in longer-term financing is inadequate. There

is no commitment to “provide” this finance from public sources. The amounts are

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insufficient to stabilize concentrations of carbon dioxide below 300ppm – a goal

essential to Africa’s survival and prosperity. The African Group has called for longer

term financing by Annex I countries equivalent to 5% of their GNP.

· The Accord’s proposed finance and technology mechanisms fail to ensure

democratic, transparent and accountable governance of finances and technology

transfer under authority of the Conference of Parties, as called for by the G77 and

China.

· The Accord commits developing countries to new obligations regarding mitigation

actions, without adequate finance and technology. It imposes more stringent

emission reduction burdens on developing than developed countries.

The Accord undermines the UN process, the agreed principles of the UNFCCC and Kyoto

Protocol, especially equity and common but differentiated responsibility, and threatens a

deal under the UN that will truly safeguard Africa's future. Africa must not lend its

legitimacy to a parallel process that would undermine both the UN and Africa’s interests.

Based on these concerns, we call on all countries of Africa to reject the Accord. The Accord,

if implemented in its present form, would violate the human rights of millions of people in

Africa. We call on those countries that have associated themselves with the Accord to

disassociate themselves. No African country should sign a suicide pact.

Instead, we call on all countries to return to the multilateral UN process, and to build on the

progress made before and during the Copenhagen meeting on the two tracks of the

negotiations to implement the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol, where the African Group is

negotiating much higher levels of ambition. These positions should not be allowed to be

compromised by African countries associating with the Accord.

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