On Nov. 12, 2021 Humanity Rising brought its 12-day broadcast on COP 26 to a conclusion.

A surprising last minute Declaration from Civil Society, gave an unexpected twist to what appeared to be a repeat of prior COPs lack of commitment to emission targets, climate justice reparations or mitigation from the Global North to South. With the Declaration you read below we see two of the 4 Voices of the City stepping forward and claiming centre stage. Civil Society, lead by 350.org signed on to 10 Demands. Read their manifesto below and follow the links to add your own name.

The People’s COP 26 Decision for Climate Justice

A new Coalition from Civil Society has taken a stance against the government-run COP 26. They say:

Climate change already impacts and threatens billions of lives, with billions more on the line: it is those that have done the least to cause climate change that are most impacted, especially women, Black, Indigenous Peoples, and people of colour, peasants and rural people, youth, people with disabilities, local communities and frontline communities.

The climate crisis also amplifies the structural inequalities and injustices that have been hardwired into our economic and political systems that have resulted in a spiralling debt crisis, Covid vaccine apartheid and growing inequality and poverty.

Governments in the UNFCCC have repeatedly failed to deliver meaningful and just outcomes that will keep the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius despite growing urgency: time is running out.

Countries of the global North have the greatest historical responsibility for emissions and have grown rich through centuries of colonisation and exploitation of communities and nations in the global South. These countries, including the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Norway, Japan and those in the EU must finally do their fair share to address the climate crisis and pay their climate debt without delay.

Throughout the existence of the UNFCCC, governments have moved from policies, to empty pledges, to press releases and proclamations made outside the negotiations process that mean they cannot be held to account for failing to meet them. “Net zero” pledges without concrete plans to achieve Real Zero emissions, without adequate  legally binding commitments to protect human rights, are simply greenwashing, a smokescreen hiding the intent to continue polluting  and digging the graves of our present and future generations with impunity.

People are tired of waiting for governments to prioritize people and the planet over profits while so many lives are being impacted and lost. We are out of time and out of patience.

10 Demands

Civil Society Signatories therefore demand:

  1. Global North countries pay their climate debt:
  2. Deliver a Global Goal for Adaptation: 
  3. Address climate injustice and pay up for Loss and Damage:
  4. Urgently deliver your fairshare of action:
  5. Reject False Solutions:
  6. No trade off of Human Rights: 
  7. Big Polluters removed from this Process:
  8. Deliver Just Transitions:
  9. Co-operation and Solidarity 
  10. Do not exclude the People:

…

The Declaration Concludes

The time for words without action has come and gone. We no longer have the luxury of time to sit back and allow governments and private interests to destroy our future. Scientific predictions are increasingly dire; it is not hyperbolic to assert that the very future of humanity depends on the outcomes of these negotiations. Governments must immediately heed the growing demands of those already facing crisis and those who will face crisis and bravely reimagine our world in a way that guarantees everyone the right to live with dignity and in harmony with our planet.

The Era of Injustice is over!

Read the full manifesto here.

See who in Civil Society has signed on to the Coalition here.

This blog series follows the gathering, proceedings and commentary on COP 26 in Glasgow Scotland from October 30 to November 12, 2021.

The series includes the following blogs (unfolding as COP 26 unfolds):