FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, December 4, 2023
Dubai, UAE – Today a letter was sent to the Biden Administration from nearly 50 organizations and 500 climate leaders from around the United States calling for the country to recognize its fair share, and lead with that philosophy in mind at COP28. “By recognizing its fair share, the United States would be acknowledging the historical emissions that it has produced over years, and taking action in line with how those emissions have influenced the changing climate. This would mean taking significant action domestically to reduce the US’ emissions overall, and supporting countries abroad financially and technically to bring down their emissions enough to address the historical imbalance,” says Susannah Tuttle, a coordinator of the US Fair Shares Collaborative and Director at North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light. “The US can be a climate leader by using this framework when developing the next set of Nationally Determined Contributions in order to take action in line with staying below 1.5℃,” says Tuttle.
“A significant opportunity for this COP would be to identify the need to implement a fair shares framework in the Global Stocktake,” says Victor Menotti with the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice. The Paris Agreement was set up to have countries create pledges, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) every five years with a Global Stocktake in between the pledges. The stocktake is supposed to look at how far the world has come to addressing the climate crisis, what is needed now, and what needs to happen next in order to stay below the 1.5℃ global average temperature limit. COP28 is hosting the first Global Stocktake discussion and will provide a report that countries will use to inform the development of climate policy moving forward.
“Several developing countries have proposed that a fair share model be used to develop the next NDCs as a way to move forward to meet collective goals in the Global Stocktake. However, the United States has been blocking language that would request that countries incorporate a fair share model and philosophy in the negotiations,” says Menotti. “This is not equitable nor addressing climate change to the degree needed in order to prevent significant additional warming,” he continues.
“This is why organizations that represent thousands of individuals and climate leaders around the country are calling on the United States to be a climate leader, and to use the Global Stocktake as an opportunity to lean in and do what is needed to address this global problem,” says Tuttle.
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Contact Information:
Susannah Tuttle
North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light
North Carolina Council of Churches
Director
(919)612-5526
susannah@ncipl.org
Natalie Lucas
Consultant
(928)600-7844
natalie.r.lucas@gmail.com