3 - 7 November | People’s Climate Summit
Thousands of delegates and climate activists are in Bonn for the UN climate conference COP23. This is a unique opportunity to speak out for climate justice. The conference will be a space of networking and exchange that inspires and strengthens work for climate justice. Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung is supporting the People's Climate Summit.
There will be three evening Panels during the Summit:
Fighting extractivism and holding polluters accountable
3 November | 6 pm | Panel
People’s Climate Summit | CAMPO Campusmensa Poppelsdorf | Endenicher Allee 19, 53115 Bonn
The countries, that contributed least to climate change will be hit the hardest. The polluters, that is the big CO2 emitters, must be held accountable publicly and legally. They need to pay climate loss and damage and put an end to extracting fossil fuels. How can this be achieved? What are the demands of the poorest countries of the South on the countries of the North? How can we achieve climate justice?
Speakers:
- Saul Luciano Lliuya, mountain guide, plaintiff vs. RWE, Peru
- Makereta Waqavonovono, lawyer, Fiji
- Carroll Muffet, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), USA
- Kwami Kpondzo, Friends of the Earth International, Togo
- Nguy Thi Khanh, GreenID, Vietnam
- Teresa Anderson, ActionAid International, UK
Facilitation:
Barbara Unmüßig, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Germany
Leave it in the Ground: Ending the age of fossil fuels
4 November | 8 pm | Panel
People’s Climate Summit | IGS Beuel | Siegburger Straße 321, 53229 Bonn
Saving the climate? Sorted, Angela Merkel’s got that one in the bag. A renewable energy transition? What else did you have in mind, I mean, this isn’t the middle ages. And phasing out coal? Puh-leese, who doesn’t want that – after all, even the miners’ union says so. That this image of Germany as a squeaky clean champion of the environment has little to do with reality is becoming less and less of a secret: if you haven’t entirely slept through the ‘diesel scandal’, you’ll know that Germany remains a car country first, and a car country last. All the while the young but dynamic anti-coal-movement keeps pointing out the fact that Germany mines and burns more lignite than any other country in the world. COP23, presided over by the drowning island state of Fiji, but taking place almost smack in the middle of Germany’s largest lignite district, is not only the perfect place to expose this hypocrisy – it is also the place where we can come together to discuss our alternatives. In this case: how can we organise a phase-out of lignite here in this country? To be sure: the ‘whether’ of this is no longer up for debate – other questions, though, remain contentious even amongst ourselves. Should we get out now, right away – or maybe in about two decades? What about the often invoked ‘just transitions’ for workers in the coal industry? And if we get out of coal – does that simply mean burning more fossil gas? In what we hope will be a slightly different-than-usual evening podium, we will be discussing these and other questions with an exciting host of guests: some directly from here in the Rhineland; others from the other side of the planet. Come and join the debate!
Speakers:
- Charlotte Loreck, Öko-Institut, Germany
- Heather Milton-Lightening, Indigenous Climate Action, Canada
- nn., DGB, Germany
- Sean Sweeney, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, US
- Philipp Litz, agora Energiewende, Germany
- Noelie Audidor, Gastivists, UK
Facilitation:
- Lyda Fernanda, TNI, Kolumbien/Holland
- Tadzio Mueller, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Germany
From Counting CO2 towards a sweeping change: how do we work towards transition?
5 November | 6 pm | Panel
People’s Climate Summit | IGS Beuel | Siegburger Straße 321, 53229 Bonn
Climate justice is much more than a technical reduction of CO2-emissions – we need a sweeping transition of society. On this panel we will explore: How can we find an inspiring vision for a society based on caring for the planet and each other? What can we learn from positive examples around the world? How do we break out of our own single-issue„silos“ and connect for a common movement? What are important leverages and alliances to realize this change, to which physical places do we need to take our protest?
Speakers:
- Lidy Nacpil, Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development
- N.N., Indigenous Environmental Network
- Jutta Sundermann, Aktion Agrar
- Christiane Kliemann, Degrowth Network, Transition Bonn
- Magdalena Heuwieser, System Change not Climate Change
Faciliation:
Daniel Mittler, Greenpeace International
6 - 14 November | Events organized by Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung
Climate, Militarism and Wars
6 November | 2.30 – 4.30 pm | Workshop
People’s Climate Summit | Wissenschaftszentrum (WiZe) room 152 |
International climate diplomacy has evaded how systemic and structural issues are interlinked, and neither have these recognized how resource extraction breeds tensions, fuels conflicts and are facilitated by and have led to increased militarism and wars. Military interventionism and wars of aggression operate in the guise of the “war on terrorism”, but are actually wars to grab fossil fuel and other natural resources, as well as trade routes in these conflict regions. This workshop seeks to highlight these links and provide a space for strategic movement building.
Speakers:
- Tetet Lauron, IBON International, Philippines
- David Sauvage, CARES, Mauritius
- Andrea Torres, Tierra Digna, Columbia et al.
Just Transition and speeding up the development of renewable energies
6 November | 4.30 – 7 pm | Networking Event
Haus Migrapolis Café – Bonner institute für Migrationsforschung und Interkulturelles Lernen (BIM) | Brüdergasse 16-18, 53111 Bonn
Networking event for social movements and trade unions with MEP, MPs and other political leaders from the Party of the European Left and its national member parties as well as from the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left in the European Parliament.
Topics:
- How can we speed up the development of renewable energies?
- How can we end coal and lignite mining?
- How can we create a Million and more decent, well-paid and unionised climate jobs?
- Building alliances for a Just Transition.
The EU and its member states need to embark on an agenda of transformational change, one that puts the health and interests of the people and the planet first. A Just Transition must quickly be implemented in order to meet the targets agreed in Paris at COP 21. How can social movements, trade unions and politics work together to draw up long-term strategies?
Elements of these strategies are:
- Embedding an economic development policy in a strategy for climate justice.
- Investments in innovative, sustainable and renewable energy production.
- Strengthening local and regional economic cycles.
- Public expenditure from EU and member states to support these investments and the development of technologies.
- Include local and regional governments, cities and municipalities in this strategy building.
Speakers:
- Cornelia Ernst, MEP, DIE LINKE / GUE/NGL
- Xabier Benito Ziluaga, MEP, Podemos
- Molly Walsh, Friends of the Earth Europe
- Frederik Moch, DGB Bundesvorstand, Leiter der Abteilung Struktur-, Industrie-,
Dienstleistungspolitik - Sean Sweeney, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED), United States
Women for Climate Justice: a workshop for building strategies
7 November | 2.30 – 7 pm | Workshop
People’s Climate Summit | Wissenschaftszentrum
In cooperation with Solidaritas Perempuan, Critical Geography Collective, GenderCC, LIFE e. V.
A space to bring together women from different countries to share perspectives on false solutions and concrete actions to fight climate change. We will plan together strategies of action, advocacy and collaboration in order to have an impact at local, national and international level. This will contribute to bring our voices into the negotiations, providing a space of encounter to meet each other and to build hope and courage to continue with our struggles.
Speakers:
- Ndivile Mokoena, GenderCC Southern Africa, South Africa
- Dinda Nuurannisaa Yura, Solidaritas Perempuan, Indonesia
- Melissa Moreano, Critical Geography Collective, Ecuador
- Andrea Torres, Tierra Digna, Colombia
- Mahoma Lekalakala, Earthlife Africa, South Africa
International Rights of Nature Tribunal
7 – 8 November | 8 am – 7 pm
LVR-Landesmuseum | Colmantstr. 14-16, 53115 Bonn
Organized by the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature
The current ecological crisis requires that we transform our international and domestic legal systems to nurture the Earth Community, rather than allow its destruction. The International Rights of Nature Tribunal is a unique, citizen-created initiative that gives people from all around the world the opportunity to testify publicly as to the destruction of the Earth. The Tribunal provides a systemic alternative to environmental protection, acknowledging that ecosystems have the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate their vital cycles, with legal standing in a court of law. An esteemed panel of international Tribunal judges will make recommendations for Earth’s protection and restoration.
With:
- Tadzio Müller, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Germany
- Melissa Moreno, Critical Geography Collective, Ecuador
- Ndivile Mokoena, GenderCC Southern Africa
- Ken Henshaw, Social Action Nigeria
- Kashmira Banee, CARES, Mauritius
Fossil Gas: pathway to a clean energy future or route to dangerous climate change?
9 November | 4.45 – 6.15 pm | UNFCCC Side Event
COP23 Bonn Zone | Meeting Room 10
So-called “natural” gas is being sold by industry lobbyists as a “transition fuel” and “partner” to renewables. Yet, new fossil gas infrastructure is driving dangerous climate change and won’t keep us within a safe and fair carbon budget. Hear the facts – and how people are resisting on the ground.
Speakers:
- Prof. Kevin Anderson, Uppsala University, Sweden
- Jagoda Munich, Director, FOEE, Brussels
- Lise Masson and Becky Daniels, UKYCC, UK
- Belen Balanya and Pascoe Sabido, Corporate Europe Observatory, Brussels
- Roger Domingo, Support Centre for Land Change (SCLC), South Africa
Facilitation:
Dipti Bhatnagar, Friends of the Earth MozambiqueIn cooperation with:
Friends of the Earth International (FOEI), Food and Water Watch (FWW), United Kingdom Youth Climate Coalition Limited (UKYCC), Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
The contribution of local climate justice struggles to a gender-just implementation of the UNFCCC
14 November | 11.30 am – 1 pm | UNFCCC Side Event
COP23 Bonn Zone | Meeting Room 4
This side event is hosted by GenderCC-Women for Climate Justice, LIFE e.V. and the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung.
Female activists present local perspectives on smart agriculture and climate finance instruments. These will be linked to current negotiations on loss and damage. We will discuss how local equitable, gender-just, low-carbon solutions can be better supported by international climate politics and how to ensure that false solutions are not repeated.
Speakers:
- Ndivile Mokoena, GenderCC Southern Africa, South Africa
- Dinda Nuur Annisaa Yura, Solidaritas Perempuan, Indonesia
- Edna Kaptoyo, Indigenous Information Network, Kenya
- Sabine Minninger, Brot für die Welt, Germany
Facilitation:
Nadja Charaby, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Germany