UN Climate Summit: A Fool’s Paradise
Commenting on statements made at the Climate Summit in New York City yesterday, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Head of Campaigns Mary Church commented:
“David Cameron brought nothing new to the table and is using the climate crisis to force dirty energy on the UK public. We know we need to leave 80% of fossil fuels in the ground to avoid catastrophic warming, so the last thing we should do is go after new sources like shale gas.
Cameron’s dash for fracked gas, which could see the whole of Scotland’s central belt licensed, is not just endangering public health and local environments but risking climate devastation.
“World leaders have once again failed to deliver what both climate science and hundreds of thousands of people this weekend demanded. The UK Government seem intent on business as usual when the science has profoundly changed the situation.”
Commenting on statements made at the Climate Summit in New York City yesterday, Friends of the Earth International Climate Justice and Energy coordinator Dipti Bhatnagar said:
“The Climate Summit was a fool's paradise out of touch with the climate emergency we are facing. The finance pledges tabled at the Summit had no specifics, no timelines, and nothing saying if they are about new and additional climate finance or simply aid pledged in the past and diverted from its original destination.”
Norway's Statoil oil giant stated today that fossil fuels will remain the core of our energy mix.
“Polluters like Statoil and Shell are unwilling to change and their influence is undermining the UN and our governments. Scientists are telling us that renewables, not fossil fuels, must become the core of our future energy mix, starting now, in order to avoid the worst the climate crisis may bring,” added Dipti Bhatnagar.
Six energy companies announced today that they have signed a pact to curb methane emissions. “The energy companies pact is a purely voluntary pact: they are not under obligation to disclose their emissions. This pact is just one additional half-baked corporate measure, a drop in the ocean when it comes to saving the climate. But it will surely help companies greenwashing their dirty image,” added Dipti Bhatnagar.
Commenting on President Obama's speech, Dipti Bhatnagar added:
“President Obama's statements at the Summit bordered on fantasy when he claimed that the US has been taking ambitious action to stop climate change. Obama derailed the Copenhagen climate talks in 2009 insisting on meaningless voluntary pledges instead of binding commitments. Five years on, the US government is still acting as a 'business prevention unit' at UN climate talks, consistently preventing global action to stop climate change.”
Notes to Editors
1. For more information on the Climate Summit: http://www.foei.org/news/climate-summit-world-leaders-fiddle-while-the-p…
2. Full text of Prime Minister David Cameron's speech at the UN Climate Summit: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/un-climate-summit-2014-david-came…
3. President Obama's remarks at the UN Climate Summit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/23/remarks-president-…
4. Friends of the Earth Scotland Press Statement, 28th July 2014, 'UK Government offers Central Belt to fracking industry': http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/offered-central-belt-fracking
5. BBC News, 22nd September 2014, 'Climate change summit: Global rallies demand action': http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29301969
6. Friends of the Earth Scotland is:
* Scotland's leading environmental campaigning organisation
* An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland
* Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 77 national member groups, and some 5,000 local activist groups.