The Forum first engaged with the topic of climate justice as the opening debate of its first main annual event, the 2008 Forum. Entitled “Climate Justice in a Shared Global Ecosphere”, and chaired by Mary Robinson, the debate concluded with a call for an alliance of leading people that could advocate for a just response to climate change. Kofi Annan announced his conviction to establish a Global Alliance for Climate Justice at the closure of the event.
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The Forum has since worked together with key public figures and civil society organizations to establish the foundations of this Alliance. It is our hope that it will ultimately come to involve anybody concerned by climate justice and willing to promote its cause.
The Forum also brought together an expert working group to develop a set of simple Climate Justice Guidelines. These Guidelines were the subject of the high-level Climate Justice Dialogue the Forum hosted together with the University of Pretoria in South Africa in February 2009. The Guidelines have since been updated to “Key Points on Climate Justice.”(pdf, 2.51MB)
Our current work is focused on the negotiations leading to the UN Climate Conference to be held in Copenhagen. The summit aims to agree on a replacement agreement for the Kyoto Protocol, whose main provisions expire in 2012.
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We believe Copenhagen is the international community’s best opportunity so far for tackling climate change. Many people are concerned about climate change, and although political leadership for a just agreement and awareness about how much is at stake has been low, attention to the issue has been increasing. No matter what happens at Copenhagen, the Forum expects efforts to reach a global greement to extend beyond 2009. Climate change is a complex and difficult problem to solve and will require an intense effort for years to come.
The Forum worked together in 2009 with the major communications firm Euro RSCG for the development of a comprehensive global campaign for climate justice. The Campaign has aimed to raise global awareness of the historic opportunity presented at Copenhagen and to trigger mass support for a just outcome there.
We have also collaborated closely with Oxfam, Greenpeace, WWF, Avaaz, 350.org, the World Council of Churches, the Global Campaign for Climate Action, and other civil society partners.