THE HAGUE MANDATE

Declaration on the need for an effective and fair agreement to protect the global climate A statement prepared and endorsed by an international group of concerned organisations from the South and the North, for the sixth conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP6) in The Hague, November 2000.

Whereas

the World's climate is changing because of man-made emissions of greenhouse gases;
the people least responsible for these emissions are affected most by the impacts of climate change;
cuts in emissions can and should be made by industrialised countries as agreed in Rio in 1992;
cutting emissions will bring about the innovation needed for sustainable development in North and South

We believe that:

no citizen has a right to pollute more than any other;
every citizen has an equal right to the resources of Earth for sustainable development;
every country has a duty to ensure its emissions do not exceed its global per capita share.
past, current and future emissions from industrialised countries have, do and will exceed for an unknown period their fair share by far and that this is unfair

We note that:

The Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change could fail to stabilise atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration at a sustainable level and, in its current form, is also inequitable. We therefore call on the Governments of the world to implement the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol so that:

the overwhelming majority of emission reductions are made in the high per capita polluting countries (domestic action first)
poor countries who are less able to develop in a low polluting way are helped to do so by industrialised countries in a way which ensures that only sustainable technologies and necessary know-how are transferred, leading to long-term economic benefits for those countries
mechanisms are developed whereby those who emit above their fair share provide adequate resources to developing countries vulnerable to the impacts of climate change for both disaster preparedness and disaster relief and rehabilitation
other environmental and social problems are prevented by a clear focus of the Protocol's flexible mechanisms on renewable energy and energy efficiency projects

We specifically call on governments to adopt a "The Hague Mandate" committing all Parties to secure further global reductions in emissions beyond the first step taken by the Kyoto Protocol until 2012, ensuring that:

Total emissions are reduced to levels that do not lead to dangerous changes in the world's climate. This implies agreement of a global limit on greenhouse gas emissions and a time plan after 2012.
After 2012 greenhouse gas emissions are reduced and distributed on an equitable basis so that within decades each country's share of allowed global emissions reflects its share of global population.

Organisations from all over the World are urged to sign on this declaration.

Sign-on online or contact:

Roda Verheyen
Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland