Collectively governments have failed to deliver in Durban. It’s 1am here, and it looks like nothing will be finalised. We’ve seen limited progress with finance to help developing countries adapt to climate change, but the pot remains empty. No clear plans are in place to ensure the pot does not remain an empty shell. Unable to reach an ambitious agreement on the Kyoto Protocol and related systems, the Durban conference has disappointed many.
With 300,000 climate related deaths every year, mainly in developing countries this lack of ambition is unacceptable. Climate change is a basic injustice and we have the means to rectify it, but the window is closing. We have to keep pushing for action from our leaders.
The process will continue, and people around the world will continue to work to ensure a global, fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement is put in place. We can’t afford to lose any more time. And after one of the most dramatic UN climate conferences i’ve ever participated in, I’m disappointed, but ready to carry on working for climate justice.
As our partner from El Salvador, Dr Ricardo Navarro, said: If your boat is sinking, you swim for shore. You don’t know how far away the shore is, you don’t know how rough the sees are, but you swim.
And it’s probably fitting here in South Africa to end this blog with a quote from Nelson Mandela:
It always seems impossible. Until it’s done.
