CIEL to Attend Climate Conference in Lima

For Immediate Release
December 1, 2015

 

The 20th Conference of the Parties (COP20) for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Lima, Peru represents a crucial moment for policymakers to commit to ambitious action to address the climate crisis. COP20 is the last decision-making meeting before next year’s COP in Paris, where countries are expected to sign a new binding climate agreement. The decisions made in Lima will shape the level of ambition and scope of the agreement to come out of Paris in 2015.

COP20 is a critical opportunity to integrate human rights in the new agreement. All countries have obligations to protect human rights in the context of climate change. CIEL will be working to highlight the intersection of human rights and climate change to protect peoples and communities most vulnerable to but least responsible for climate change. We are also working to integrate policies that safeguard rights and ecosystems when addressing climate change in the new agreement and within key climate institutions and initiatives (e.g. REDD+, the Green Climate Fund, and the Clean Development Mechanism).

Being the first COP to be held in the Amazon Basin, in a country grappling with massive deforestation and loss of biodiversity, key issues will be forests, land-use, and rights. CIEL will be closely following negotiations on the REDD+ framework and land-use, working to ensure that community land and forest rights are strengthened.
In addition, building on CIEL’s work to hold State and corporate accountable for their contributions to climate change, CIEL will be co-hosting discussions that explore the climate responsibilities of major carbon producers.

For more information, please see CIEL Attends COP 20 – The Human Rights COP in Lima, Peru.

CIEL Experts:

Niranjali Amerasinghe, Director of the Climate & Energy Program. Niranjali has expertise in compliance, finance, energy, and forest issues, and will be in Lima with a particular focus on REDD+, safeguards, accountability, and issues related to the Green Climate Fund.
Email: namerasinghe@ciel.org

Alyssa Johl, Senior Attorney, Climate & Energy Program. Alyssa specializes in climate change and human rights issues, and will be in Lima following safeguards, accountability, and public participation, while highlighting the human rights impacts of the Clean Development Mechanism.
Email: ajohl@ciel.org

Allie Silverman, Staff Attorney, Climate & Energy Program. Allie, who specializes in forest governance and REDD+, will be in Lima working towards a rights-based approach to land use through working with the Tri-Caucus, forest governance, and REDD+ SIS.
Email: asilverman@ciel.org