Expectations from Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) – RIGHT TO SURVIVE IS NON-NEGOTIABLE

We, the above-mentioned alliances, networks and coalitions of civil society organizations of Bangladesh, on behalf of the people of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, appreciate the Government of Bangladesh and participating countries for convening the latest session of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) on 13-14 November 2011 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, prior to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations going to be held from 28 November to 9 December 2011 in Durban, South Africa. We congratulate the Maldives and Kiribati for successfully convening the past two sessions of the CVF.

We observe that ‘G77 and China’ being unable to protect the interests of the most vulnerable people, represented mostly by the Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of Africa, Asia, Caribbean and the Pacific, and appreciate the emergence of CVF as an alternate platform to voice the concerns of the Most Vulnerable Countries (MVCs). We urge the participating countries to make CVF a formal negotiating platform in the UNFCCC processes to ensure the right to survive of over a billion most vulnerable people on earth, the segment of the mother earth who are the least responsible for building up and contributing to atmospheric load of greenhouse gases and who, ironically, have been struggling just to ensure their survival in the wake of climate change.

We call on all Parties of the UNFCCC to recognise the CVF as a legitimate collective voice of the people most vulnerable to climate change in the negotiation processes, where the group comprising the majority of Parties to UNFCCC; three-quarters of the membership of the G77; and in excess of 1 billion people globally. We appreciate the CVF for envisioning the platform to ventilate common positions of the vulnerable country Parties to UNFCCC.

We express our profound disappointment to the fact that the global leadership collectively failed to live upto their promises towards settling with firm collective actions by 2009, as agreed through the Bali processes and that a few Parties have been deliberately wasting time to delay firm actions which might have created much improved opportunities for the most vulnerable to first survive and then thrive on a least cost development pathway.

In the context of current state of play in the multilateral climate negotiations, taking into cognizance the vision of the CVF to emerge as a formal negotiating platform and the urgency to push for a settlement of collective actions through a legally binding agreement, recognizing the outcome of the ‘International Civil Society Conference: The Rights of the Most Vulnerable Countries in Climate Negotiations’ which was convened in Dhaka on 27-29 July 2009, we urge upon the CVF to consider the following.

Affirmations
1.         We reemphasise the principles enshrined in the UNFCCC that the global response to climate change should be undertaken on the basis of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and that they should not interfere with the realisation of the right to survive and the right to equitable economic growth for vulnerable countries.
2.         We affirm that the global response to climate change that is agreed at COP17 must be consistent with what the science demands for the continued survival of the people, cultures and countries that are most vulnerable to climate change.

Shared Vision
3.         We call on all Parties to the UNFCCC to act with renewed urgency and determination to ensure that a fair and safe legally binding agreement is reached at COP17 which will deliver long-term stabilisation of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at 350 ppm level that limit global average temperature increases to no more than 1.5°C compared with pre-industrial levels; that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak no later than 2015; and must reduce by at least 95% below 1990 levels by 2050 (though this should be revised upwards if the science so dictates).

Mitigation
4.         In line with the urgent action that the science demands, Annex 1 Parties must reduce their emissions by at least 45% in aggregate against 1990 levels by 2020. The majority of this action must be undertaken domestically in order to guarantee a low carbon global future.
5.         Finance and technological support must be made available for developing countries for the implementation of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). All NAMAs must not count towards fulfilment of any Annex 1 emissions reductions.
6.         Major emitting Parties not making any reduction commitment for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, following a shorter second commitment period, can join the third commitment period to contribute to GHG emission reduction to save the planet earth.

Adaptation
7.         Three key principles crucial to adaptation must be addressed through the possible adaptation framework:
(i)       focus on the most vulnerable countries, communities and people;
(ii)     rights-based approach to adaptation;
(iii)    country-owned, transparent, participatory, sustainable, gendered, community-based, and drawing on local and indigenous knowledge.
8.         Adaptation framework must consider:

• Adaptation should be defined in communities and countries, not globally.
• Communities empowered to take local action and decide what is needed for their adaptation.
• Internal and international movement, relocation, rehabilitation and reintegration of people displaced by weather related extreme events and trends.

Finance
9.         We recognise the commitment made by developed country governments in Cancun to mobilise jointly $100 billion per year by 2020 from a wide range of public, private and alternative sources of finance. The ultimate needs of developing countries, based on numerous expert reports, are very likely to be higher, and we call for agreement in Durban on a trajectory of scaled-up climate finance from 2013 to 2020 capable of at least meeting and exceeding this figure. We stress that this finance should be new and additional to pre-existing commitments of development assistance (0.7% of GNI) and provided so as to provide predictability to developing countries. We stress that streamlined direct access to public, grant-based finance is vital to meet the urgent adaptation needs of MVCs.
10.     The commitments of developed countries to provide adequate, new and additional and predictable climate finance to developing countries should be met first and foremost through direct contributions from national budgets. A significant portion should be provided through the new Green Climate Fund, with an allocation of at least 50% to adaptation, in view of achieving an appropriate thematic balance with mitigation, and paying particular attention to the needs of MVCs. The provision of finance for adaptation should be grant-based.
11.     In addition to the budget contributions of developed countries, we call on the international community to agree and implement without delay innovative sources of public finance that respect the principles of the UNFCCC. Such sources will be vital in enhancing the overall scale, additionality and predictability of climate finance flows.
12.     Carbon pricing instruments for the international transport sector, if implemented based on ‘no net incidence principle’ for developing countries, and taking particular account of the needs of the MVCs, is a particularly promising option which should be explored in Durban. We welcome recent reports assessing such options, including the report of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Advisory Group on Financing for Climate Change and the report of the World Bank, IMF and other international organisations to the G20.
13.     We welcome recent progress towards the implementation of Financial Transaction Taxes (FTT) in some developed countries, and call on those countries to guarantee that a significant proportion of the revenues generated are dedicated to international development and climate finance, with particular regard to the needs of MVCs. At least USD 150 billion per year must be made available through the UNFCCC for climate change requirements in developing countries, of which at least USD 50 billion per year must be for adaptation, and MVCs should be prioritised. Finance must not be in the form of loans and the scale of finance required must be reviewed and revised as necessary as more information regarding adaptation needs and the extent of impacts become known. This finance must be raised through binding commitments for Annex 1 Parties, based on their historical responsibility and financial capability.
14.     The Green Climate Fund (GCF) must ensure:

• the continuity in national climate change planning and priority setting,
• common and simplified access, including direct access by country governments and civil society,
• the establishment of a single national mechanism to receive and channel funds in line with coordinated national plans, and
• the citizenry and civil society to monitor their own government’s progress against national plans.

Capacity Building & Technology Transfer
15.     Annex 1 Parties must provide adequate support for socially acceptable and gendered technology research, training, development and diffusion. Emphasise and first prioritise adaptation technologies already available in the South, including indigenous knowledge and skills.
16.     The needs of MVCs and developing countries must be provided for through balanced representation on all technical panels.
17.     Intellectual Property Rights must not hinder the access to necessary adaptation and mitigation technologies.
18.     Recognising that identification of adaptation needs will primarily occur at the local level, capacity building, knowledge generation, information sharing and institution building at local, district and sub-national levels must be facilitated and financed.

Concluding Remarks
We all have a role to play in combating this global challenge of climate change. We call upon CVF and participating governments to engage fully and effectively in the international negotiations in support of our demands herein, and we urge all Parties to the UNFCCC to work urgently and resolutely to agree a fair and safe deal at Durban CoP17 for the benefit of us all. We, the MVCs can afford no delay and no excuses.

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