The Biggest Climate Change Coalition Yet

The Biggest Climate Change Coalition Yet

Inter Press Service, 1 September 2005 - Eighteen leading organisations came together Thursday to set up the biggest coalition yet for fighting to limit climate change.

About 500 volunteers came together on London's South Bank to create a banner to mark the new group Stop Climate Chaos.

The groups that have joined forces include the National Federation of Women's Institutes, Greenpeace, Oxfam, Christian Aid, WWF, Friends of the Earth, People & Planet and Tearfund. Other groups are expected to join.

The coalition plans to use its huge base of support to campaign against British government failings while mobilising public support for government initiatives that reduce the high levels of carbon dioxide being emitted. Carbon dioxide is the leading "greenhouse gas" blamed for climate change.

But the campaign plans to take its initiative beyond Britain.

"The issue here is to make links between different countries and networks already in place in different regions," coalition director Ashok Sinha told IPS. "But we do want the moves up and running in the UK, and we want to apply pressure on the UK government to act."

The British focus of the coalition could be controversial following Prime Minister Tony Blair's insistence at the Group of Eight summit in July that little could be achieved if countries like the United States, China and India did not come on board for agreed action to contain climate change.

Blair said that if Britain -- or even all of Europe -- took all the action it should, it would count for nothing if other countries did not take action.

"In the end everybody has to play a role, whether it is the United States, India or China," Sinha said. "But we should not be held back by the United States. True, they are responsible for 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, but that still leaves 75 percent that has to be addressed and resolved. Within the U.S. there is pressure on the government to do more, but we don't have to wait for that."

In countries like India and China, the per capita emissions are still very low, Sinha said. "Developed countries must act before asking developing countries to take action," he said. It is they who created the problem, however unwittingly, and they must now take the lead in resolving it. And they must invest so that the developing countries move away from fossil fuels."

The new coalition plans to mobilise its millions of members and supporters to put pressure on the British government because it says its plans to tackle climate change fall far short of what is needed. The new coalition wants the government to slash its global warming gas emissions and make fighting climate change a key part of its plans to deal with global poverty.

"The choices made in the next five or 10 years will determine the extent of the devastation faced by future generations," the coalition said in a statement.

Several of the leaders of environment groups lent strong support to the coalition's aims.

"With a threat this serious we had to join forces and start speaking with one single powerful voice," Greenpeace executive director Stephen Tindale said. "When the government does something good we'll be there to back it up, but when it fails we'll be making noise with millions of supporters behind us. Climate change should be an electoral issue like schools, hospitals and terrorism, and that's what we aim to make it."

Tony Juniper, executive director at Friends of the Earth said: "Climate change is a massive threat to millions of human lives and much of the world's wildlife, yet politicians are still allowing greenhouses gases to rise. Stop Climate Chaos will bring together environment, development, social, and faith groups to create unprecedented pressure for change."

Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth said that Hurricane Katrina, which struck the southern United States early this week, should be "a wake-up call for President Bush on the need for urgent U.S. action to tackle climate change."

Friends of the Earth said that although there is at present no means by which to tell whether this particular storm was due to human induced global warming, "the devastation it has caused is consistent with the projections generated by climate change models that suggest such storms will become more severe as the world warms up."

The eco-watchdog group pointed out that in stark contrast to the position of the Bush Administration, the New Orleans City Council in May 2001 passed a resolution urging federal action on climate change.

The danger posed to the city by global warming was recognised in June by New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin who noted: "The International Panel on Climate Change has warned that New Orleans is the North American city most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The rise of the Earth's temperature, causing sea level increases that could add up to one foot over the next 30 years, threatens the very existence of New Orleans."

Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS).