Author: Friends of the Earth Europe

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, December 18, 2009 – Commenting on the failure of rich country governments to secure a strong and fair UN agreement to tackle climate change in Copenhagen, Magda Stoczkiewicz, director of Friends of the Earth Europe said:

“Politicians cannot call this ‘outcome’ a success when in fact nothing meaningful has been agreed. Negotiations must now become even more intense to reach a just and effective climate agreement.”The European Union and other rich countries have stood motionless when giant strides forward are required given the scale and urgency of the climate crisis facing the world.

“The world now needs a bold dramatic shift in political will from the European Union and other developed nations responsible for causing the climate crisis.”With the eyes of the world on Copenhagen, Europe had the chance to commit to stronger action against climate change and break the deadlock, but EU leaders backed out of offering higher emissions reductions targets and adequate funds for developing countries.

“European and other developed countries must commit to at least 40% emissions reductions by 2020 without offsetting, and supply the money developing countries desperately need to deal with climate change. Failure to do so is shameful.”

Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International, stated: “Copenhagen has been an abject failure. Justice has not been done. By delaying action, rich countries have condemned millions of the world’s poorest people to hunger, suffering and loss of life as climate change accelerates. The blame for this disastrous outcome is squarely on the developed nations.”We are disgusted by the failure of rich countries to commit to the emissions reductions they know are needed, especially the US, which is the world’s largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases.

“The only real leadership at the conference has come from the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who’ve come together to demand strong action to prevent climate catastrophe. Their voices are loud and growing – and Friends of the Earth International will continue to be part of the fight for climate justice.”

***

For more information please contact:

Francesca Gater, communications officer for Friends of the Earth Europe, +45 298 42677 (Danish mobile) or +32 4 85 930 515 (Belgian mobile), francesca.gater[at]foeeurope.org

Sonja Meister, climate campaign coordinator for Friends of the Earth Europe, +45 617 27520 (Danish mobile) or +49 1766 4608515 (German mobile), sonja.meiste[at]foeeurope.org

Magda Stoczkiewicz, director of Friends of the Earth Europe, + 32 4 75 867 637 (Belgian mobile), magda.stoczkiewicz[at]foeeurope.org

PRESS STATEMENT

For immediate release

Copenhagen, Brussels, December 16 – Friends of the Earth representatives
have been barred from the United Nations climate talks in the Bella
Centre in Copenhagen today (Wednesday 16 December 2009). Every delegate
from the international environmental campaign group arrived at the centre this morning to find their badges were no longer valid.

Friends of the Earth representatives from countries ranging from Nigeria
to Japan and Denmark have been taking part in the negotiations over the
past two weeks calling for a strong and fair agreement, with rich
countries leading the way with emissions cuts of at least 40 per cent by
2020 without offsetting.

Magda Stoczkiewicz, director of Friends of the Earth Europe said: “It
is a crisis of democracy when campaign groups like Friends of the Earth which
represents millions of people around the globe are prevented from
participating in the talks where we are pushing for a just and effective
agreement to the climate crisis.

“If Friends of the Earth is not allowed inside the UN negotiations we
cannot play our crucial role in bringing the voices of citizens to the
talks, especially the voices of those who are disadvantaged and already
suffering most because of climate change. These draconian measures are
completely unjustified.

“Friends of the Earth is one of the most prominent groups calling for a
strong and fair agreement and we will not be silenced. We continue to
pressure rich countries, and especially the European Union to finally
commit to deep emissions reductions and its fair share of the urgently
needed climate finance for developing countries.”

Friends of the Earth International Chair Nnimmo Bassey had the following
statement: “We are surprised and shocked that Friends of the Earth member
groups from around the world and other non-governmental organizations
have been denied access to the negotiations this morning.

“Our organisations represent millions of people around the world and
provide a critical voice for climate justice inside the UN.”

Friends of the Earth is petitioning UN climate secretary Yvo De Boer to
protest against the ban and calling for members of the public to add
their name at www.foe.co.uk

ENDS

For more information and for interviews please contact:

Francesca Gater, communications officer for Friends of the Earth Europe,
+45 298 42677 (Danish mobile) or +32 4 85 930 515 (Belgian mobile),
francesca.gater foeeurope.org

Sonja Meister, climate campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe, +45
617 27520 (Danish mobile), sonja.meister foeeurope.org

Magda Stoczkiewicz, director of Friends of the Earth Europe, +45 617 22145
(Danish mobile), magda.stoczkiewicz foeeurope.org

As the European Commission attempts to find ways out of the financial
crisis, a new report from ALTER-EU analyses the composition of groups
which gave or still give advice to the Commission on financial issues
such as banking regulation, hedge funds, credit rating agencies,
accountancy rules and tax havens.

ALTER-EU will present the findings of its report ‘A Captive Commission –
the role of the financial industry in shaping EU regulation’ which
reveals an overwhelming dominance of representatives from the financial
industry on advisory bodies, and highlight the need for the Commission
to reform the way it gathers expert advice if it is to achieve real
change in the financial sector.

Speakers at the press conference:

Paul de Clerck, member of ALTER-EU’s steering committee will present the
findings of the report and make recommendations to policy makers.

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, President of the Party of European Socialists, ex
Danish Prime minister and MEP and current leading campaigner for
financial reform in Europe

and

Sven Giegolds, MEP for the Greens, member of Economic and Monetary
Affairs Committee and member of the Parliament’s new Special Committee
on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis

will comment on the report’s findings.

Yiorgos Vassalos, co-author of the report will respond to methodological
and technical questions.

Language of the press conference: English
Languages available for interviews: English, Dutch, French, Greek

For more information please contact:

Francesca Gater, communications officer for Friends of the Earth Europe:
+32 2 893 1010 or + 32 4 85 930 515, francesca.gater foeeurope.org

Please find venue access and location information here