On Monday December 9, Australia picked up it's third Fossil of the Day award at this United Nationas climate conference COP25 meeting in Madrid.
This award was goven to the USA and Australia for not contributing to the Green Climate Fund on Fonance Day at the conference. Both USA and Australia have stopped pledging any money to the Fund which allocates money for projects in developing countries for both mitigation and adaptation.
Australia argues that it is directing money for targeted climate related projects in the Pacific region through it's Foreign Aid budget, although this budget in recent years has been substantially slashed and reduced, according to the Lowy Institute: The state of Australian aid.
Australia stopped all payments to the Green Climate Fund in early 2019. In October 2019 Oxfam announced that Rich polluting countries such as Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the US are short-changing poor countries by billions of dollars by not contributing to the fund.
Commenting on the Australian budget in April 2019, which saw the Foreign Aid budget a sixth time in six years Oxfam Australia Chief Executive Dr Helen Szoke said on the Foreign Aid budget:
“Despite the predicted Budget surplus and a growing economy, we have seen, in essence, a continuation of cuts to the aid budget, meaning aid will continue its downward trajectory to a record low of 0.19 per cent of Gross National Income in 2021/ 22.
“And, with the Humanitarian Emergency Fund stalled at $150 million, it simply isn’t enough given current multiple humanitarian crises around the world, like the devastating flooding in southern Africa after Cyclone Idai. To meet urgent need, the Government should commit to at least doubling its total overall spending to the fund to $300 million.
“And, while we welcome the Government’s renewed focus on our Pacific neighbours, robbing the shrinking aid budget of $500 million to fund the new Pacific infrastructure facility is ill-conceived.
“Oxfam has concerns the model behind this Pacific cash splash may only benefit Australian companies and contractors, rather than genuinely meeting the development needs of our Pacific neighbours.
According to Oxfam Australia, OECD’s aid rankings released in April 2019 have seen Australia stay at 19 to out of 29 wealthy OECD nations that give aid, while Australia is the 13th largest economy.
CAN Europe also reminds that other contries need to top up their contribution to the Green Climate Fund:
At #COP25 today's #FossilOfTheDay is going to USA and Australia for not giving money to #GCF.
— CAN EUROPE (@CANEurope) December 9, 2019
Other countries -Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Austria - need to top-up their @theGCF contribution in line w their fair share
Perfect time for Ministers to deliver is this week #COP25 pic.twitter.com/QtAGamSQCm
Official Award Citation
Official Award citation for December 9:
#FossiloftheDay - US-3 FOSSILS!
🇺🇸 US for blocking #lossanddamage finance and insisting on playing a role in posing hurdles through a seat in ExCom
🇺🇸🇦🇺US & Australia for not contributing to the GCF on finance day
🇺🇸🇨🇦US & Canada for continued fossil fuel extraction
🏆#RayoftheDay🏆
🇩🇰Denmark for being a real climate champion, issues progressive climate law that's binding in line with #1o5C with a section about global cooperation to play a leading role and engage actively to deliver commitments including #finance
==Official Award citations==
Today we have a special star for Fossil of the Day! The United States (US) managed to get its name on three fossil awards in one day! This country is really making its best effort to be the worst for future generations and vulnerable communities worldwide!
The US is doing great at getting its name down in history as the frontrunner in destroying planet earth. Is it possible that it is hiding a Planet B somewhere for us or is it just enjoying leading the world peeps to mass suicide?!
Fossil one
So today we award fossil number one to the US for insisting to stay in the process just to block money while refusing to pay its share for causing all the loss and damage painfully felt by poor and vulnerable people worldwide through droughts, heatwaves, hurricanes, fires and other extreme weather events.
We’re here in the halls of power, and the table is set. Despite leaving the Paris Agreement, the US is inviting itself to have a seat at the table despite making it clear they have no intention of paying the bill. The US is trying to bully other countries into letting them stay on the board of the loss and damage Executive Committee, a core institution in the Paris Accord.
Meanwhile, Southern Africa faces its worst drought in 35 years. Eleven million people are facing climate induced starvation.
But what is the US even doing here at the table, it did boast about leaving the Paris Accord, didn't it? They have been leading a pack of blockers, part of the “rich boys club.” If these countries follow the US example, they’ll be forcing those hardest impacted to foot the bill. To that we say: “If you are going to leave, then you gotta get out of the way...."
Fossil two
The second fossil of the day award goes to the US and Australia for withholding their pledges to the Green Climate Fund (GCF)
Back in November, a handful of countries doubled their contributions to the GCF, but guess what? Most contributor countries were not up to the challenge. Two of them even forgot their responsibility to provide adequate and sufficient funding for poor countries: The US and Australia simply decided to turn their back and withhold their pledges, snubbing all the scientists and people in the streets sounding the alarm on the climate emergency.
Other countries including Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Ireland so far have not delivered double the dough and paid for the pollution they created!(we’re looking for countries to at least double their first GCF contribution, in line with their fairshare) So will ministers arrive to the party empty-handed tomorrow? What manners soiled with dirty fossil fuels! Or will they come with the goods, and top-up?
As a reminder, ambitious GCF contributions are key to support vulnerable communities adapting to climate change, and to create the right conditions for enhanced ambition in 2020.
Fossil three
The third fossil of the day goes out to the US and Canada!
Hey Canada! What good is it showing off progressive positions and pushing for human and indigenous rights here in COP25 and violating these same rights back home?!
Yes you, fingers are pointed at you for recklessly approving fossil fuel infrastructure projects that are not in line with the Paris Agreement, such as the TMX pipeline.
US friends of course completely out of tune with science and are moving ahead with dirty projects such as fracking in the Permian Basin. No wonder you were called out as the worst countries in the Production Gap Report.
In the age of climate emergency, the US and Canada need to keep fossil fuels in the ground and respect Indigenous rights and sovereignty. This includes for Canada to reject the Teck Frontier Mine, the largest tar sands surface mine ever proposed.
Ray of the Day
This law is really cool. It encourages global cooperation and enables Denmark to be a climate leader at the international level and deliver on commitments.
The story is not finished yet. Denmark set the target of reducing GHG emissions by 70% in 2030. Denmark agreed not to play the game of carbon trade to ensure complete environmental integrity.
Each sector is targeted with a strategy, including agriculture, transport and construction. These strategies are set annually in a “Climate Action Plan” based on an independent climate council, which will monitor that targets are being met through action. The Minister of climate has a duty to act on Climate Council recommendations.
Denmark thanks for setting a great example to follow!
About the fossils:
Every day at 18:00 local time you can watch the Fossil ceremony in Hall 4 during COP25.
The Fossil of the Day awards were first presented at the climate talks in 1999, in Bonn, initiated by the German NGO Forum. During United Nations climate change negotiations (www.unfccc.int), members of the Climate Action Network (CAN), vote for countries judged to have done their 'best' to block progress in the negotiations in the last days of talks.
About CAN:
The Climate Action Network (CAN) is a global network of over 1,300 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in more than 120 countries working to promote government and individual action to limit human induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels.
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