Bonn, Germany – At a press conference held today at UNFCCC pre-COP29 climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany, civil society organizations raised concerns that Geoengineering is a risky facade that is being used to divert attention away from the urgent need to address the root causes of climate crisis.
As the second week of negotiations begins, negotiations are heating up and carbon markets are being once again touted as a climate ‘solution’. Silvia Ribeiro, ETC Group said, “We see how the UNFCCC agenda is riddled with false solutions, including dangerous proposals such as geoengineering. In Articles 6.2 and 6.4 which continue to be negotiated at the SB60, there are glaring attempts to legitimate land and marine geoengineering as carbon “removals”, for which there isn’t any proof they would work. Furthermore, they would introduce new threats to marine ecosystems, such as further acidification, depletion of oxygen and disruption of marine food chains.”
“All these proposals are at experimental or pilot scale and are under a moratoria in other UN bodies, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the London Convention on ocean dumping. Including geoengineering techniques as potential sources of carbon credits in carbon markets is tantamount to a fraud, as they are just speculative proposals that could have opposite effects.”, Silvia added.
It is not just UNFCCC which has become a battleground to push geoengineering and technofixes, this false solution has been making an appearance across various UN spaces. Niclas Hällström, WhatNext? added, “Unfortunately, we are seeing how geoengineering is trying to creep in many other multilateral spaces like UNEA. With widespread opposition to geoengineering by developing countries including the resolution on Solar Geoengineering sends a powerful message and underscores a broad commitment to upholding established norms of international environmental law. Geoengineering technologies are dangerous and do not have any role to play in our common future.”
It’s not just in the halls of UN, but outdoor geoengineering experiments and technofixes to manipulate the climate with the aim of countering climate change are taking place across the globe impacting communities, territories and Indigenous Peoples land, water and air. Mary Church, CIEL said, “We are deeply concerned about the increasing number of open water geoengineering experiments taking place. And as we look ahead to the Oceans Dialogue this week we have to remember that Oceans are our greatest ally in the fight against climate change, but we also know comparatively very little about them – interfering with them in this way puts at risk not only their natural capacity to absorb carbon but the role they play in sustaining life on earth. Along with over 100 civil society organisations we urge governments to stop outdoor experiments and uphold, enforce and strengthen international agreements restricting geoengineering.”
In addition to potential impacts on marine life and the fragile ecosystem, geoengineering also brings new risks to the lives and livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples, and traditional communities and fisherfolk who rely on marine and coastal ecosystems. Panganga Pungowiyi, Indigenous Environmental Network highlighted, “The impacts of geoengineering would be disastrous for the climate, environment, humanity and all life as we know it, particularly when deployed at scale. Geoengineering poses a grave threat to the Sacredness of all life and the traditional values of Indigenous Peoples who are generationally educated to treat nature with love and respect, not as an experiment to manipulate Earth.”
Just recently over 100 civil society organizations expressed deep concern about the growing number of open air and water marine geoengineering experiments in defiance of international agreements, calling on governments to prevent them from taking place.
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Additional Resources
- Carbon Markets, Geoengineering And Other False Solutions: What’s At Stake At The Current Climate Talks?
- Home! Alliance Statement On Marine Geoengineering Experiments
- Press Release: Geoengineering Our Oceans Needs To Be Halted
- City Of Alameda Puts A Stop To The University Of Washington’s Marine Cloud Brightening Experiment
About Hands Off Mother Earth! (HOME) Alliance
The Hands Off Mother Earth! (HOME) Alliance is a driving force in the fight against the growing threat of large-scale technological manipulation of the climate and biodiversity: geoengineering. We are an international civil society network of close to 200 organizations from over 45 different countries, from the Global South and the Global North. HOME was first launched as a global campaign in April 2010 at The World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia. In October 2018 we released the HOME Manifesto denouncing geoengineering with a demand for an immediate stop to all open-air experiments. Follow us: X | LinkedIn | YouTube
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