IFG Programs: Climate, Energy, and Global Resource Crises

IFG PROGRAMS: CLIMATE, ENERGY AND GLOBAL RESOURCE CRISES

IFG’s Climate, Energy and Global Resource Crises Program aims to accelerate global economic transition by establishing ecological limits and applying Indigenous Rights, as well as the Rights of Nature, in today’s emerging global resource regimes. Life on Earth has entered a new stage where humanity must share shrinking atmospheric space equitably; this requires democratic governance of our global “climate commons.” Foremost our efforts are focused within the UN climate talks, where we are working closely within key climate campaign networks to create constituencies, especially in the Global North, to advance the concerns of developing countries and communities. We engage everyone from indigenous leaders to clean energy companies to climate policymakers in order to build support for a fair global climate agreement, focusing on three key areas:

Global Climate Governance: To establish ecological limits and share atmospheric space equitably

The UN's COP 16 in Cancun established new institutions to support the Global South’s just transition to climate resilience, but those may be undermined by the adoption of the United States’ proposed “new paradigm” for global climate governance. Instead of science-based targets to define which countries will cut how much carbon, the U.S. proposes “voluntary” pledges which thus far add up to only half of what the world needs to reduce emissions in time to avoid a complete climate catastrophe. The United States’ “new paradigm” is a suicidal pathway toward a 5-6°C increase in global temperature, failing to achieve the Convention’s ultimate environmental objective, flouting its own established principles of equity, and backtracking from key commitments made by the world’s governments in 1992. Read more

Rainforest Conservation Rules: Protecting Our Planet’s most Diverse Places and Peoples

Global climate talks have great implications for protecting forests ecosystems and forest peoples. Fifteen percent of worldwide emissions now come from tropical deforestation, so there is no global solution without reducing deforestation. But the world must also protect the peoples who protect the forests, especially the 350 million indigenous peoples, most of whom still inhabit tropical ecosystems. That is why IFG emphasizes applying the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). We will advance financial frameworks for forest protection that ensure indigenous rights are respected, while also addressing the major drivers of deforestation within today’s global economic institutions. Read more

Climate Technology Cooperation: To Support Global Transition to Clean Energy Technologies

A critical challenge in guiding today’s global economic transition is how to reduce global GHG emissions while expanding energy access for poor people, especially in developing countries. A multilateral mechanism to transfer climate-friendly technologies is an essential element of a global climate solution. To help meet this challenge, IFG initiated, at the request of its partners in developing countries, a climate technology cooperation project with the aim of engaging the U.S. clean technology community to increase support for international technology cooperation provisions in U.S. climate policy. Read more

COP 17 Durban

Click here for analysis and activities from IFG and allies at COP 17 in Durban.