An estimated 40,000 people from all around the world are arriving in Durban, South Africa this week for COP 17, the UN’s latest round of climate talks. Civil society organizations – including 4 IDEX Partners – are mobilizing from all over the world to put pressure from the outside on the government negotiators on the inside.
Katherine Zavala – IDEX’s Program Manager, Grassroots Alliances – is in South Africa on a site visit to our partners and to support their activities at COP 17. She reports from Durban.
What is COP17?
COP17 is the 17th annual meeting where world governments get together to discuss and negotiate solutions to mitigate climate change. COP stands for Conference of Parties – the parties being the 195 nations that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The ultimate goal of the UNFCCC is to get nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions, so that these gases stabilize at a level that will prevent “dangerous” climate change.
Why COP 17 Matters for Grassroots Organizations
Many grassroots organizations were disappointed with the outcome of the last COP (COP16), held in Cancun, Mexico to the point where many feel (and rightly so) hopeless with this process and foresee governments once again prioritizing false market-based solutions to climate change.
But it is important to continue to mobilize and amplify the voices of grassroots organizations, especially those based in South Africa, as the COP17 lands on the African continent for the second time.
The People’s Space: IDEX’s South African Partners and Their Role in COP 17
Durban is home to two of IDEX South African Partners. One of them, South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), is actively convening and establishing the alternative civil society space (The People’s Space) during COP17.
This space will provide the base for organizations to network and share grassroots solutions to tackle climate change in real, practical ways to ensure their communities’ ability to cope with and adapt to climate change.
Four IDEX Partners in South Africa to Present Their Climate Justice Solutions
IDEX will be present at the civil society space, as an ally and supporter of four IDEX Partners and Grantees who will all be present this week organizing and networking to promote their climate justice solutions:
- Biowatch will be presenting an Agro-Ecology and Climate Event on Wednesday November 30 @ 10am called “Small Farmers and Civil Society speak out! YES to agro-ecology and food sovereignty. NO to industrial agriculture, GMOs, pesticides and land grabs ” In the afternoon, Biowatch will also be facilitating and supporting activists and participants with materials to create posters in preparation for Global Day of Action on December 3rd.
- Surplus People’s Project will be supporting and accompanying around 15 small-scale farmers, members, farm workers/dwellers and the landless of the Agrarian Reform for Food Sovereignty Campaign, who will be traveling from Cape Town to Durban on Wednesday November 30. On December 2nd @ 10am, they will be facilitation a session called “Building a Movement of Resistance: Land Occupation and the Agro-Ecological Revolution.”
- Women’s Net will be present to train women journalists in community media to report on a global platform such as COP17 and bring in a women’s rights perspective to the discourse. Women’s Net is training 10 women journalists and taking them to Durban to serve as a basis to create a climate change project run from women’s perspectives. They will be based at the Alternative Media Center, making daily reports for the next two weeks.
- SDCEA is a member of C17 (Civil Society Committee for COP17), which includes representatives of 16 organizations including social movements, labour, environmental justice organizations, international environmental NGOs and faith-based organizations, that have coordinated the civil society space. SDCEA is also the main convener for the Global Day of Action.
The Global Day of Action
The Global Day of Action (GDA) on Saturday, December 3rd is marked by a non-violent mass march in Durban, demonstrating that addressing climate change is as urgent for the people of Africa as for those of the North. The march is to urge world leaders to take concrete steps to halt climate change.
