Yesterday, on Dec 1, groups of environmental organzations and concerned students and community members gathered in front of the White House to demand that President Obama take action on climate finance. What is climate finance, you ask? Climate finance is the idea that in order for people to adequately adapt to climate change and to take mitigating action against climate change, there needs to be the funds to do so. Proponents of climate finance believe that those funds should come from those nations that have contributed so much to the problems of climate change.
But the rally in DC was not the only climate action yesterday. In Cancun, Mexico, a similar rally was taking place outside of the COP 16 climate discussions. A phone call from the DC action to the Cancun action reported that while specific measures to achieve climate finance (like how to gather the money) were not going well, the support for a Global Climate Fund was clear, which is a huge step forward in the goal of climate change action.
Since the COP 16 has started in Cancun, little has been agreed upon, and the hope of coming out of Cancun with a binding agreement to reduce carbon emissions is unlikely. the United States is presenting a ‘no-nonsense’ front at the conference, insisting that developing countries meet their demands in order for the US to take action to meet the demands of developing countries (like climate finance).
The rally yesterday was also held to hand over the petition that was circled asking President Obama to keep his promise to give aid to poor nations during the negotiations in Cancun. This petition was signed by more than 250 of students in our network, and more than 25,000 people total! The petition is being delivered in Cancun to delegates there and to a senior White House official. With any luck, this petition will show the United States climate delegation that people here support climate action now!
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