“Time is running out, the future is now!”

CAMPAIGN POSITIONING STATEMENT

Humanity is at a very critical moment, resulting from a multidimensional crisis that puts people’s health and lives and ecosystems at risk. It has also deepened the enormous inequalities that already existed globally, having exacerbated socio-economic vulnerabilities and environmental issues, mainly to the detriment of historically discriminated groups in our countries, in the Global South: women in all their diversity, children, youth, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants and local communities, people with disabilities, sexual diversity, small rural producers, migrants, lower income households, elderly adults, among others. Any decision will affect the sustainability of a dignified life, plus the economic, political, health and peace crises make action difficult.

Today’s emergency has historical roots anchored in the extractive processes on which welfare regimes were founded in today’s rich countries, added to an unfair and neo-colonial international financial system that will never respond to the needs of the Global South if it is not reformed. Highly unsustainable economic models such as capitalism, consumerism and extractivism have accumulated wealth for a few, surpassing the natural limits of the planet through the overexploitation of resources and the generation of high levels of pollution, which have led to environmental crises such as the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity, which according to science, are already having irreversible effects, and if advancing at the current rate, could lead us to a point of no return, which could imply a sixth mass extinction, that is, the first caused by economic models.

The latest reports and estimates from the scientific community and the United Nations are alarming and pose a “red alert for humanity”, considering that there are less than 3 years left to opportunely stop the climate change crisis and reach a safe scenario for life, in accordance with one of the objectives set out within the Paris Agreement, to limit the increase in temperature to 1.5°C.

In other words, there is an urgent need to act immediately, putting a dignified life at the center of decisions and implementing real solutions that respond to the magnitude of the emergency and are built from a systemic approach to climate justice.

There is no time for distractions, given the imminent risk of the extinction in the planet, it is banal to pretend that the war between Russia and Ukraine is the number one priority , and that the economic resources of the most polluting countries are being allocated to that cause, to purchase weapons and to finance the fossil fuel industry, accelerating the climate change crisis instead of addressing it, once again weakening the climate agenda, as happened in 2020, putting at risk the fulfillment of the Paris Agreement and the necessary commitments to mobilize climate finance to countries that need it the most.

A few days before the beginning of one of the most important international negotiation instances on climate change, the COP27 in Egypt, we, the signatory organizations and networks, make an urgent call demanding that you, leaders and representatives of the delegations of countries of the Global North that will participate in this event, recognize that you are the main responsible for the historical climate debt with the planet, and therefore, that you should be the ones to make the greatest efforts:

• Under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, we demand urgent action at the level of all governments, but mainly from the industrialized countries of the Global North which, together with the large fossil corporations, are the main responsible for the climate change crisis. This implies curbing their investments in fossil fuels on a global scale; reducing their consumption of resources and energy; accelerating their transition to new low-carbon development models, without deepening extractivism in the Global South, to stop the false “just transition” that continues the depredation and dispossession in our territories.

• We also demand that the Global North stops promoting false solutions to the climate crisis such as carbon markets, carbon neutrality and carbon capture technologies, which do not solve the problem , but deepen inequalities.
• We demand that, in the context of a just reparation of the historical climate debt, the industrialized countries stop blocking the proposals of the countries of the global south, aiming for the implementation of a new financial mechanism that channels resources to cover the millionaire losses and damages that are being caused by extreme weather events, which disproportionately affect the most vulnerable groups and which will become more frequent and devastating as time goes by.
• We demand new and additional climate financing funds, different from debt, beyond the unfulfilled goal of USD 100,000 million per year, to respond to real needs, especially adaptation measures. We see with great concern that 81% of international public climate financing was channeled to our region through loans, even for adaptation issues. We also consider it necessary to seek other alternatives, such as a new issuance of Special Drawing Rights, and/or the cancellation of debt service payments by public and private creditors, mainly for countries affected by extreme weather events.

Similarly, and recognizing that the countries of the Global South cannot remain on the sidelines since they are highly vulnerable to climate impacts, and that addressing the climate crisis must be a global effort, we demand the following to our representatives and leaders from Latin America and Caribbean:

• Greater prioritization of the climate agenda, mainstreaming the climate variable in all sectors of the economy, to achieve synergies between the economic, climate and development agenda, which allow the implementation of comprehensive solutions with a long-term vision to the multiple crises that we are facing. The former should be aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and in compliance with the Escazu Agreement.
• Greater climate ambition, since the current commitments established in the Nationally Determined Contributions are highly insufficient and do not lead to the scenarios recommended by science within the framework of the Paris Agreement.
• Advancing in the implementation of these climate commitments urgently.
• A change in the energy and economic matrix of our countries, in search of alternative development models and new paradigms no longer rooted in extractivism, allowing us to undertake transformational changes, rescuing our knowledge and the feminist proposal for the sustainability of life. Recognizing that it is necessary to have fiscal space and economic sovereignty, for which the transformation of the global financial architecture is essential.
• The implementation of policies and actions that prioritize adaptation and protect the natural wealth of our countries, as well as the communities that preserve it, penalize its destruction and promptly attend to emergencies derived from the climate crisis. There is an urgent need to reduce the latent risks of the climate crisis on the health, food and water security of our population, and to preserve all natural species and ecosystems, which are so important for climate regulation and other natural phenomena that allow life on the planet. All this, modifying the unfair sexual division of labor, to ensure that women in all their diversity will not continue to subsidize adaptation to the climate crisis.
• Finally, we demand that our leaders in the region come together to bring concrete proposals to COP27, that amplify our voice, since we are the ones who are unfairly experiencing the greatest impact of the climate crisis.

History has placed you in a privileged position at a critical moment, where it takes courage to make the right decisions. We demand you to be co-responsible for our existence and not accomplices in this catastrophe. The financing and development policy decisions made TODAY will be decisive, we will not be able to go back.

As the name of our initiative mentions: “Time is running out, the future is now!”

Justice for the planet and the well-being of people!

Visit the website for more information: https://www.latindadd.org/2022/09/23/el-tiempo-se-acaba/