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‘Don’t assume that you don’t have power to bring about change, together we will end the climate crisis’
Caoimhe de Barra, CEO of Trócaire, and Ineza Umuhoza Grace, Founder and CEO of the Green Protector. Photo: Mark Stedman
There is hope of getting global agreement on the establishment of a Loss and Damage fund at COP28, according to the leader of the world’s largest network of climate groups.
Tasneem Essop, executive director of Trócaire partner ‘Climate Action Network International’ (CAN-I), is just one of the renowned international experts who spoke at Trócaire’s 50th anniversary conference in Dublin on September 7, 2023.
From tackling the climate crisis to the closing of civil society spaces, read below the key takeaways from Trócaire’s 50th anniversary conference.
Tasneem Essop, executive director of Trócaire partner ‘Climate Action Network International’ speaking at Trócaire's 50th anniversary. Photo: Garry Walsh
Tasneem Essop, executive director of Trócaire partner ‘Climate Action Network International’ (CAN-I) said there is hope of getting global agreement on the establishment of a Loss and Damage fund at COP28 (November 30 – December 12).
The aim of the Loss and Damage Fund is for the Global North to provide financial assistance to nations in the Global South as they deal with the negative consequences that arise from the unavoidable risks of climate change.
“Last year at COP27, we finally had a breakthrough by agreeing a Loss and Damage fund should be established. It was civil society that achieved that because of the pressure we put on governments globally. We really made it an issue that couldn’t be ignored any longer … but now we need to establish it,” Essop said at Trócaire’s 50th conference.
“The other big issue at COP28 is the ending the use of fossil fuels. It will be difficult because the fossil fuel companies wield huge power, but we can do it.”
“The Global North owes the Global South $170 trillion in global debt because of the overuse of the carbon budget. The Global North says they don’t have the money. Let’s be frank – they find the money when it suits them – when banks need to be bailed out, when Covid-19 happened, when wars break out. The Global North is the driver of the climate crisis and they owe us, it’s that simple.”
Essop, who is from South Africa, and was an activist during the apartheid, said that she remains hopeful that the world will come together to stop the climate crisis.
“When I was a young person, I never thought I’d see freedom in my lifetime. But we fought for the freedom. We won our freedom. Don’t assume that you don’t have power to bring about change. It is the combination of individual actions that causes collective change. Because the history of change in the world, whether it is the right to vote for women in the past, whether it was against slavery in the past, whether it was against apartheid, whether it was against colonialism, all that change was driven through the power of people. The same will be true for the climate crisis.”
Claudia Paz y Paz, first woman attorney general of Guatemala who was key in the conviction of dictator Ríos Montt who served as de facto President of Guatemala from 1982 to 1983. His brief tenure as chief executive was one of the bloodiest periods in the long-running Guatemalan Civil War. Claudia with picture of Maria Soto, Ixil leader celebrating the conviction of Ríos Montt outside the court in May 2013. Trócaire provided longstanding support to partners and survivors of the genocide. Photo: Mark Stedman
Claudia Paz y Paz, a Guatemalan lawyer who served as the first female attorney general of Guatemala (2010 – 2014), said that the people of Guatemala are being pushed further into poverty due to the closing of the civil society space.
Paz Y Paz, who currently serves as a Director for Trócaire partner ‘Center for Justice and International Law’, said there is an increase in autocratic governments in Central America which is leading to “corruption in the judiciary system, the criminalisation of human rights defenders and attacks on freedom of expression”.
“Communities are being deeply affected and many are forced to leave their countries. It can be very dangerous for journalists and INGOs to operate because they are being silenced and criminalised,” Paz y Paz said.
“Six out of 10 Guatemalan’s currently live in poverty, but Guatemala is not a poor country. It’s the unequal distribution of wealth that is causing such high poverty rates. The corruption we’re seeing in these autocratic governments is playing a big role. The more you decrease the space for civil society, for example if journalists or human right defenders can’t denounce this corruption and protest, the wealth will stay with the elites and the more people will face poverty.”
Climate protesters call for the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund at Dublin protest, November 2022. Photo: Catherine Devine
Ineza Umuhoza Grace, Founder and CEO of Trócaire partner ‘The Green Protector’ said that young people play a vital role in solving the climate crisis.
“It’s important for young people to take climate action because if we don’t, we aren’t going to have a future. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the Global North or Global South, all young people are vulnerable to climate change,” Grace said.
“We are a generation that is able to generate change. We hold leaders accountable and we redesign our way of thinking. We are a generation that believes in global solidarity and we see that we are in this crisis together. Every young person should take even a small step toward climate justice in their own context, because together, we have the power for change.”
Ineza Grace, Conor Molloy, Julius Ng’oma and Tasneem Essop at Trócaire's 50th conference. Photo: Garry Walsh
Julius Ng’oma, National Coordinator for Trócaire partner ‘Civil Society Network on Climate Change’ said that climate change is having devastating effects on Malawi.
“For the past two decades, droughts and flooding have become more intense and frequent. In the past four years alone, we’ve seen a new phenomenon of cyclones which are causing havoc. Thousands of people have died. Homes, schools and roads have been destroyed. Over five and a half million people have been displaced in Malawi with these cyclones in recent years,” Ng’oma said.
“A lot of people in Malawi are in a very desperate situation because as they try to recover from one event such as drought or flooding, they are then hit again and again. Cyclone Freddy which happened in Malawi in February 2023 caused a dire food shortage because most people lost their livelihoods. The drought and floods are also affecting people’s access to clean water, which also has a knock-on effect on agriculture.”
“These are the current lived impacts of climate change, but if we don’t act globally, it will get even worse in the future.”
Heba Aly, CEO of The New Humanitarian, at Trócaire's 50th anniversary conference. Photo: Garry Walsh
Heba Aly, CEO of The New Humanitarian, said that a locally-led approached must be used in order for the world to keep up with the rising humanitarian needs due to climate change, conflict and rising government debt.
“There will never be enough money for the rising needs, especially in light of the trends that we’re seeing that will drive continued exponential increase in humanitarian needs. Aid work is reaching its limits financially, operationally, structurally and ethically,” Aly said.
Aly added that the current humanitarian response model is no longer possible when “the whole world is in a crisis”.
“We saw that in Covid-19, but we’re going to see it even more during climate change, as the impacts become more and more widespread. As one aid worker told me, there isn’t an operation big enough for all of these crises. Second, the man-made solution that humanitarian aid is, by definition, makes sense when crises are temporary. But when they last six to eight years on average, sometimes decades, it’s just not operationally efficient to give people short term aid year after year.”
Aly said that locally-led aid can be realised by merging with INGOs, subcontracting to local organisations and challenging the make-up of the Security Council.
“Localisation becomes not just shifting the center of power in humanitarian aid, but shifting the international architecture that makes humanitarian aid necessary in the first place.”
“It might not seem realistic … but think of the things that once seemed impossible. The women’s right to vote, the end of Apartheid. Someone dared to try.”
“Knowing that the current approach to humanitarian response is incapable of meeting future needs causes the moral imperative to change. Localisation isn’t about improving the way you operate, it’s about ensuring that you can continue to meet your mission.”
