THOUSANDS PROTEST AT COP17 – DEMANDING ACTION TO SAVE THE PLANET

Today is the GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION, thousands of ordinary people from across Africa and the World are coming together to make sure their voices are heard. Some of those most affected by the impacts of changing climate will be taking part in the march including indigenous peoples,  peasant farmers from across the continent and hundreds of women from South African rural communities.

C17 Global Day of Action committee convenor Desmond D’sa: “World leaders are discussing the fate of our planet but they are far from reaching a solution to climate change. If they fail to make progress we will see drought and hunger blight our country and continent even further.”

The first period of emission cuts agreed under the Kyoto Protocol expires at the end of 2012. A new round of emission cuts must be agreed in Durban to avoid gaps between the first and second periods.

But developed nations are trying to shift their responsibilities for drastic emissions cuts onto developing countries that have done the least to cause the problem, while developing countries, joined by the European Union,  try to kill the Kyoto Protocol, and  call for a “new mandate” for the UN climate negotiation, trying to escape their responsibilities for climate action.

The US is leading the rich countries demand for a replacement of the Kyoto Protocol with a totally inadequate voluntary pledge where countries would decide their own emissions cuts on a national basis.