ALBA Countries Define a Position on Climate Change

During the high-level meeting held in Caracas on June 24, the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America - People's Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) prepared a joint position before the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Glasgow, from November 1st to 12th, 2021. The text of the joint position is presented below.

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1. The ALBA members reaffirmed that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), its Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement represent the current binding legal regime to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level to avoid dangerous human interference with the climate system, as a result of the consensus reached by the international community's efforts to confront the global environmental challenge.

2. The ALBA members highlighted the universal nature of the Paris Agreement adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and reiterated the call for its full implementation, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

3. The ALBA members reaffirmed that it is crucial to meet the commitments of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including those related to Climate Change, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and the fight against desertification, pollution, among others, to protect Mother Earth through sustainable consumption and production, sustainable management of the natural resources and urgent measures to address climate change so that it can meet the needs of present and future generations.

4. The ALBA members Expressed that the Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement are not enough to achieve the goal of temperature stabilization, an essential step to stop the recurrence of devastating events and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to prevent the loss of biological diversity and the damage to ecosystems. For this reason, it is necessary to deepen the existing cooperation mechanisms among the regions, to constitute an alliance of international solidarity on climate change and other important environmental issues.

5. The ALBA members underscored that the challenge of the new reality imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic demands greater efforts to include all those who in the current circumstances have been limited from participating due to the virtual format of the meetings, as well as to incorporate and effectively involve human groups vulnerable to Climate Change, such as indigenous and local communities, afro-descendants, youth, migrants and women.

6. The ALBA members recognized that climate change is one of the five main causes of biodiversity loss, as stated by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) with an urgent call to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the degradation of ecosystems, which play a major role in the fight against climate change.

7. The ALBA members believed that the environmental crisis is a consequence of unsustainable production and consumption patterns of developed countries and especially, the lack of political will to meet commitments and obligations and emphasized the need to change consumption patterns and lifestyles in developed countries and to redesign the international economic, trade and financial system.

8. The ALBA members expressed that Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the most vulnerable territories on the planet as a result of the effects of climate change and emphasized that the ALBA-TCP countries are suffering the chronic and gradual impacts of climate change, which is affecting and freezing progress in sustainable development in harmony with nature and the fight against poverty.

9. The ALBA members urged to promote the transition to more sustainable patterns of consumption and production through the sustainable use of resources, focusing on the protection, conservation, and sustainable use of nature to help foster economies and promote social inclusion, with a gender approach and the eradication of poverty.

10. The ALBA members declared that the Unilateral Coercive Measures represent a crime against humanity and that they affect directly and indirectly the capacities to respond to the Climate Change crisis and the response capacities of States to guarantee the right to development of States and basic rights such as the right to water and a healthy environment.

11. The ALBA members recognized the importance of continuing the pending work in the framework of COP-26, with the firm commitment to defend the balance in addressing the issues of the Paris Agreement agenda, as well as giving political priority to loss and damage and adaptation in the management of national climate action and the implementation of approaches non-based on the market. They also recognized the importance of encouraging a dialogue on the impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on climate protection.

12. The ALBA members underlined the need to develop actions that allow peoples' access to new technologies, financing, and the construction of a genuine economy of eco-socialism and urged the construction of a new model of society based on the rights of Mother Earth and the rights of the peoples.

13. The ALBA members called for the promotion of the Rights of Mother Earth within the framework of the United Nations with the purpose that both individuals and institutions promote, through teaching and education, respect for these rights, and ensure, through national and international gradual measures, their universal and effective recognition and implementation.

14. The ALBA members endorsed the proposal of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to convene a United Nations General Assembly regular session on the rights of Mother Earth and the right to water for life. They also welcomed the agreements and proposals of the “Re-establishing our Connection with the Mother Earth: Global Reflections for the Defense of Pachamama”, held in La Paz, Bolivia, on April 22nd and 23rd, 2021, to draw up a roadmap for the upcoming COP26.

15. The ALBA members agreed to hold the ALBA-TCP Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Authorities on Environment and Climate change in virtual format, on July 7th, 2021, to draw up the roadmap for the upcoming COP26 with the priority environmental issues.

16. The ALBA members reiterated their willingness to continue working and cooperating to address climate change, which increases the frequency and intensity of natural phenomena that cause regrettable human and material losses, representing a threat to the coexistence of all forms of life that inhabit our planet and to the ecosystems that currently make up our habitat.