“It always seems impossible until it’s done”

By Ani Terton

I am streaming through the halls of the ICC in Durban looking for my future – a future of a rule-based, fair, multilateral system that will adequately deal with climate change.

I can hear the voices of progressive countries, the calls from small island states and least developed countries that 2020 is too late and that we need to be ambitious now. With 24 hours left countries must leave Durban with a mandate for a new legally-binding treaty to start in 2015. In the interim, we need a second commitment period (2012-2015) under the Kyoto Protocol. A second commitment period would mean that countries like Canada that have not met their targets would recommit to new targets that would bring global emissions down towards sustainable levels. This means ensuring that land-use, land-use change, and forestry and hot air loopholes don’t undermine our targets.

Ministers and negotiators, you must advance the demand of global society for effective action. And do not allow the United Sates and others to block progress.

You need to deliver a positive financial outcome. That must include a well-resourced Green Climate Fund, identification of funders and a financial transaction tax in developed countries as potential sources. Do not let the World Bank govern the Green Climate Fund, but rather let the fund be democratically governed by all the signatories to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Youth and civil society from around the world are watching you today and remind you of the famous words of Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

Now it is up to you to decide about our future.