A Life and Death Promise – An Avaaz Initiative
Dear friends from Canada,
It’s a life and death promise made 12 years ago — that rich countries would give 100 billion dollars per year to poor countries who’re ravaged by the climate crisis they did little to create.
The deadline’s up. The promise is unmet.
This week, ministers are meeting, with 3 weeks to go before the mega climate summit of the decade. If promises are not honoured, what good are negotiated words on paper?
That’s why it’s critical our representatives feel the heat *right now* — to keep their word and meet the shortfall, NOW. Lives hang on the line. Poor communities are condemned to climate devastation.
Canada is key — working to deliver an international plan to meet the gap but is still falling short in its own contributions! Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could commit to increase contributions and inject momentum for an ambitious deal for climate when it’s most needed. Write a heartfelt message to the politicians below — reminding them politely but firmly to do their fair share. (Additional information you can use to craft your message is given below)
Chrystia Freeland
Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance
chrystia.freeland@fin.gc.ca
Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Environment and Climate Change
jonathan.wilkinson@parl.gc.ca
Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister
Media@pmo-cpm.gc.ca
Our politicians will only bring real ambition if they feel the pressure coming from all of us — their voters. Below is some more information you can use to write your message:
- Canada must lead by example as the co-negotiators of the USD 100 billion delivery plan. Our own share of contributions is falling massively short.
- We need strong leadership now — Prime Minister Trudeau can lead the way by committing to quadruple our current climate funding pledge, to meet a fair share range of at least 4.4-6.0 billion CAD per year.
- Canada’s recent doubling of its climate finance commitment to CAD 5.3 billion over the next five years is still far from enough!
- This is our moral duty — we can’t turn a blind eye to low-income countries bearing the grave consequences of the emissions that we and other rich nations have benefitted from for centuries.
- Canada should support ambitious pathways that tackle inequality and meet funding promises at the same time, such as with an ambitious global corporate tax as a minimum floor to build on in future.
While finance ministers and leaders at the International Monetary Fund are getting together, the IMF just put out a report saying we’re still subsidizing fossil fuels with over 5 trillion dollars per year (or 11 million a minute!). It’s a lie when our politicians say there’s no money — they just lack the willingness and courage to put the money where it is needed to protect our ravaged communities and our dying ecosystems. Let’s call out those lies wherever we see them, and demand they put our money where we need it.
Power to the people,
Risalat, Diego, Oscar, Nax, Marta, Luciana, Lilian, Nell and the whole Avaaz team
P.S. The fair share numbers used in this email are taken from the research of the think tank Overseas Development Institute. A link to their report is provided among the list of sources below. Avaaz supports other credible research on fair shares such as national civil society organizations but is using a single source across countries for consistency of methodology.
More information:
- A $100 billion promise holds the Paris Agreement together. Now, it’s coming apart. (Grist)
- A fair share of climate finance: apportioning responsibility for the $100 billion climate finance goal. (Overseas Development Institute)
- Step up climate change adaptation or face serious human and economic damage. (UN report)
- It’s time to make clean energy investment in emerging and developing economies a top global priority. (International Energy Agency)
- Fossil fuel industry gets subsidies of $11m a minute, IMF finds. (The Guardian)
About Avaaz
Avaaz is a 65-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decision-making. (“Avaaz” means “voice” or “song” in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz’s biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.