European Development Days 2009
The fourth edition of the European Development Days was held in Stockholm from 22 to 24 October. With almost 6.000 registrations, this year was marked by a record turn out. Organised by the European Commission in coordination with the Swedish EU Presidency, this forum for development cooperation policy and international issues brought together heads of state and government, Nobel laureates, international experts and academics, the media and members of the international civil society. CIDSE participated in a round-table discussion and was present with a Climate Justice stand during the event, which this year had “Citizenship and Development” as a theme, with a special focus on three issues: the global economic crisis; democracy and development; and climate change.
A Call for Climate Justice from the Development Village
With 6 weeks left before the crucial UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, CIDSE made good use of the opportunity to raise policy makers’ and the development community’s awareness on the human dimension of climate change. Together with its faith-based sister organisations, Caritas Internationalis and Aprodev, CIDSE was represented with a Climate Justice stand in the Development Village. A visible presence which resulted in the collection of many new signatures for the Climate Justice petition that CIDSE and Caritas Internationalis will hand-over to world leaders on the occasion of the December’s summit.
But if CIDSE participation in the EDD 2009 didn’t remain unnoticed, it is also thanks to the inspiring presence and tireless efforts of Firmin Adjahossou (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar - SECAM), a CIDSE partner from Ghana. By sharing his concrete expertise in dealing with the impacts of climate change, Firmin advocated for 3 days for the right to sustainable development of people in the Global South. People who are already struggling to adapt to the impacts of climate change despite doing least to cause it.
The Copenhagen Agreement and the Right to Development
Firmin conveyed this message not only to the visitors of the development village, but also during a Roundtable Discussion on climate change and development (a video of the event is available on YouTube), with the participation of: Clarisse Kehler Siebert from the Swedish Environment Institute; Sara Hlupekile Longwe, a feminist grass-root mobilizer from Zambia; Henrik Grape from the Church of Sweden; Satu Hassi, a Finnish Member of the European Parliament (MEP). The session was moderated by former Swedish MEP Anders Wijkman.
The discussion, co-organised by CIDSE, Aprodev and Caritas Europe & Internationalis together with several other organisations and institutions, started with an opening word from Sara Hlupekile Longwe, who drew a parallel between gender equality and climate change: “all issues are known but nothing is happening because of a lack of political will”.
“If there would be a 50% chance to board a plane and never land, nobody would agree to board. Climate change confronts us with the same situation, we now have 50% chance of irreversible change in global climate patterns with all the related negative consequences and still the G20 and the group of industrialized countries has not committed to doing what is necessary to avert this trend.“ Anders Wijkman |
Firmin Adjahossou called on the audience and policy-makers to reflect on their behaviour and their relation with the Creation: “we are part of Creation, not above Creation, we are not Creators”. Satu Hassi recalled Europe’s historical responsibility for climate change and the resulting obligation to participate in financing climate change adaptation and mitigation, as the EU continues to fail to reach an agreement in regard. From her point of view, the biggest challenge of climate change is to develop the ability to co-operate globally.
“A win-win solution for both developing and developed countries is still possible: developing countries could shift to greener growth and industrialized could shift to more sustainable patterns of consumption.” Henrik Grape |
Adjahossou stressed that political leaders are insufficiently aware of the realities of the local communities in developing countries who struggle every day with the consequences of climate change. He advocated for building bridges between political leaders, researchers and the local community for improving awareness. From the audience we heard a call for wider civil mobilization, and possiblle civil disobedience actions, in order to tell world leaders they need to act now. It was also stressed that there is a need to engage with private corporations as they are the primary stakeholders who can contribute to substantial change.
