Public Appeal

For account to be taken of populations threatened by climate change in the framework of the fifteenth Conference Of the Parties (COP 15) – Copenhagen in December 2009.

- 2009: year zero for victims of climate change ?

In 2009, the Signatory States of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change will meet in Copenhagen to tackle the difficult task of constructing a system to follow the Kyoto Protocol.
The delegates will be mindful of GIEC recommendations: if average planetary warming is not to exceed the critical threshold of 2° C relative to the pre-industrial climate, human emissions of greenhouse gas will have to be reduced by at least 50% relative to emissions in 2000. In spite of this, worldwide emissions continue to rise.

The urgency of committing to ambitious targets is made even greater by the fact that the harmful consequences of the “enhanced greenhouse effect” are already being felt in the most exposed territories and ecosystems.
That these consequences have a destructive impact on dependent populations.
That these populations are often the ones who contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions.
That the degradation of the most fragile environments is a factor in migration.
That if the status quo is allowed to persist, climate-linked migrations could involve tens or even hundreds of millions of people in the next fifty years.
That part of these migrations, internal or external, particularly in cases of the ineluctable disappearance of territory, will be irreversible.
That the resulting migration, dispersion of communities and loss of contact with familiar environments lead to disappearance of the knowledge, philosophies, languages and cultures which constitute the living inheritance of humanity and a reservoir of know-how for overcoming a climate crisis.
That in certain cases these migrations, combined with the appearance of famine and epidemics are factors in political and frontier unrest.
That some of these migrations may nevertheless be limited by appropriate help in adaptation.

This is why, in the wake of the appeals already issued (see useful Links) to all levels of political power which clearly set out the major human, environmental, economic, geopolitical and democratic implications of forced migration due to climate change, we issue this clear demand to the delegates to the 15th Conference Of the Parties:
that in parallel with the crucial debates on adaptation policies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the agenda should attach significant importance to taking account of the populations most vulnerable to climate change and their possible displacement.
And that the debate should be directed towards the implementation of world governance with substantial financial resources and tasked with:
1° Aiding and developing research work to produce a detailed assessment of the present and future consequences of global warming for the human race and the remedies to be brought to bear
2° Support adaptation policies designed to help the populations most at risk to deal with the degradation of their environment, without being constrained to migrate
3° Provide emergency funds in cases of natural disasters linked to climate change, in order in particular to allow survivors to return to their homelands
4° Be logistically and legally prepared to welcome climate refugees in a spirit of climatic justice and with total respect for human rights
5° Organise cooperation at all levels, particularly involving the local governments, which are relevant and complementary places for action and solidarity
We therefore hope that in the wake of the Kyoto Conference, which took account of the anthropogenic origin of the acceleration in climate change, Copenhagen will be marked by a recognition of the magnitude of the human consequences of that change.