In the midst of the COP26, the twenty-sixth climate conference, we at NOVACT take as our own the call for the last chance to face the climate emergency. The position of the scientific community is clear: if we do not act with determination before the end of the century, there will be no habitable future for humanity.
From our mission and nonviolence to transform society and together with the strength of the people we consider essential:
1. That the world’s governments and powerful organizations respond to the social demands and the ones from scientific community of the IPCC to curb the increase in global temperature and all the socio-environmental consequences.
- The COP26 agreements must maintain a maximum global temperature increase of 1.5ºC. To achieve this, global emissions must fall by at least 45% by 2030 and National Emissions Containment Plans (NDCs) must incorporate urgent actions in the short term.
- The demands must be transferred not only to the countries that emit polluting gases, but also to the consumers of both public and individual goods with a high carbon footprint.
2. That all organized people possess great power of change.
- As citizens, we can influence the political agenda; getting involved in political processes or activist collectives from the perspective of transformative nonviolence, to remind the agents of power of our concerns and, as a consequence, what their priorities should be.
- As consumers, we can incorporate degrowth practices; promote the circular economy; drive our demand towards carbon neutral, proximity or fair trade products.
3. That environmental decision-making needs to be inclusive.
- No aid to fight the effects of the climate emergency can be associated with credits that increase both the Global Debt and the vulnerability of the most affected countries. The countries of the global South are the ones that generate the least emissions and are also the ones that will suffer the most from the consequences of global warming, with scarce economic resources to cope with these effects.
- We call attention to the fact that Green Recovery Plans are not taking into account the effects of business investments on human rights. On the contrary, such plans develop emission reduction technologies generating significant territorial and human rights impacts in contexts of colonial occupation of territories or internal armed conflicts. For example, in #WesternSaharaOccupied #TerritoryPalestineOccupied.
- In the face of the climate migration movements that are already occurring and will increase in the coming years, there must be a response that guarantees human rights, based on international law, and from a humanitarian and non-securitarian point of view.
4. That the global minimum tax of 15% for multinationals has to be debated taking into account that:
- It should not mean permission to pollute for a fee (as is already the case with carbon credits).
- It must involve a fair and discriminatory global redistribution according to the environmental impact already generated.
- Clarity must be provided on who multinationals will be taxed by.
- The tax is meaningless if we continue to uphold the Energy Charter Treaty, an international agreement that establishes a multilateral scheme for foreign investment in the energy industry. This agreement gives rights to large multinational fossil energy companies over the rights that we the people demand to tackle the climate crisis. Immediate abandonment of the Energy Charter Treaty is essential to make any ambition to curb emissions meaningful.
- Investor-State Dispute Settlement System (ISDS) tribunals cannot intervene in fossil fuel reduction policies. Currently, the most polluting multinationals are demanding compensation when states take measures to reduce emissions. That is why it is essential to stop these tribunals governed by the laws of commercial profit and not by the laws of life. #STOPISDS
