Climate Backslide / Climate Stagnation
The G8/G20 meetings ended on Sunday with world leaders largely ignoring mounting international outrage about the impacts of fossil fuels and global climate change.
Despite BP's ongoing colossal oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, the G20 remains unwilling to take action to break the world's addiction to dirty energy. Rather than strengthen their commitments to reducing fossil fuel subsidies, they issued platitudes. While this will delight the fossil fuel lobbyists working hard to maintain their free ride, it does not change the reality of climate change. The planet is continuing to warm dangerously, communities continue to be ravaged by its effects and yet world leaders still shirk their responsibility to safeguard the climate for current and future generations.
Watered down and weakened
2 million people worldwide signed a petition calling for leaders to Invest in the Future Now, by tackling climate change, fighting poverty, and shifting to a low carbon economy. We demanded action - specifically, an end to fossil fuel subsidies, something they committed to do at last year's G20 meeting in Pittsburgh. But the fossil fuel lobby continues to demostrate its power over global politics, as, in Toronto, world leaders offered little visionary leadership.
Siding with the the richest industry in the world during a time of increasing desire for change merely shows where these leaders feel the real power is - with the past and not the future.
Full Op Ed for Sharing
Please use any or all of the full op ed story written by TckTckTck contract writer Brendan DeMelle. It can be changed, edited, and used without attribution, what is important is that GCCA partners and other supportive parties share the core message of a Climate Backslide or Climate Stagnation (partners can choose their own best approach), with the sub-message that politicians are moving one way while public opinion moves the other.
Joint Messaging Graphics
Please use any of the graphics in the sidebar, or linked here in your communications. We have a full sized banner, a tall banner, and a wide one, with both the "Climate Stagnation" and "Climate Backslide" messaging options.
Social Media Resources
Sample Tweets - Stagnation
- G8/G20 leaders stagnated on their climate commitments. Join the call to end fossil fuel subsidies now!
- The world can't risk stagnation in climate action. G8/G20: end fossil fuel subsidies now!
- Use the hashtag #climatestagnation when you tweet about the G8 & G20
Sample Tweets - Backslide
- G8/G20 leaders are backsliding on their climate commitments. Join the call to end fossil fuel subsidies now!
- The world can't risk a climate backslide. G8/G20: end fossil fuel subsidies now!
- Use the hashtag #climatebackslide when you tweet about the G8 & G20
Share our Facebook posts
You can share our posts about Climate Backslide on Facebook with this link
Recent Surveys
Poll finds deep concern about energy and economy (New York Times)
Overwhelmingly, Americans think the nation needs a fundamental overhaul of its energy policies, and most expect alternative forms to replace oil as a major source within 25 years. Those are among the findings of the latest nationwide New York Times/CBS News poll. Read the full article here.
2 in 3 Canadians want G8/G20 summiteers to discuss fossil fuel fix: Poll (Vancouver Sun)
Two of three Canadians want the Harper government to show leadership at the G8 and G20 summits and announce plans to eliminate subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, according to results of a poll released on Friday. Read the full article here.
Confidence in climate science remains strong, poll shows (The Guardian)
Climate science's winter of discontent has not made a large impact on the British public's attitudes to global warming, according to poll of over 1,800 people, that showed 71% of Britons are concerned about climate. Read the full story here.
Quotes from our partners
"As BP’s oil disaster continues to wreak havoc in the Gulf, the G20's first step to reduce fossil fuel subsidies is the right move to make. But unfortunately in Toronto, I am not seeing the visionary leadership that would shift those resources to developing a new clean energy economy." - Phil Radford, Greenpeace US (202.907.6500)
"The Canadian finance minister's officials told Jim Flaherty we could phase out fossil fuel subsidies. It would be good for the economy, the environment and could enable Canada to pay it's fair share to developing countries to help them cope with climate change. Unfortunately, the Harper government has decided yet again to side with the fossil fuel lobby" - Steven Guilbeault, Equiterre (514.378.0232)
“The greenest thing about the G20 is its ability to reuse and recycle earlier commitments. This summit could have been the beginning of real action towards a clean, efficient and resilient economy but all we got is some nice words about green economy and a recycled statement on fossil fuel subsidies” - Kim Carstensen, WWF Global Climate Initiative (647.328.5518 or +41 79 874 1682)
“For months, Stephen Harper has been downplaying the importance of climate change, dismissing it as a ‘sideshow’ to his G20 agenda. That lack of leadership from the chair helps to explain why this year’s G20 did little more than tread water on climate and energy, barely moving forward since their last meeting.” - Clare Demerse, The Pembina Institute (613.762.7449)
“As climate change continues to gather pace, it's the poorest and most vulnerable that are bearing the real costs. The G20 needs to get serious. The best thing leaders can do is agree on a tax on banks able to raise the money needed to help poor countries cope. This needs to be top of the agenda when they meet again in South Korea." - Robert Bailey, Oxfam International (+44 (0) 7720 254444)
“Recent work has estimated that globally more than US$500 billion a year goes into subsidising fossil fuel production and consumption, roughly ten times the annual amount estimated as adequate to meet global Millennium Development Goals for eradicating poverty.” - Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF’s Global Climate Initiative. Read the full post here.
"Saturday's final communiqué from the Group of Eight nations meeting in Canada demonstrated that little progress was made to solidify climate change as a paramount issue for world leaders. While four paragraphs in the communiqué were devoted specifically to climate change – including assurances that leaders are “committed to building low carbon and climate resilient economies” and that “climate change remains top of mind” - no new initiatives or specific actions were announced that might indicate a sense of urgency among the G8 leadership. - TckTckTck Read the full post here.
