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by Staff Writers Paris (AFP) Jan 31, 2014
The United States and other governments accused of spying on negotiators at crucial UN climate talks in 2009 should "publicly renounce" such tactics, environmental groups involved in the process said Friday. Climate Action Network (CAN), a grouping of more than 850 environmental groups, reacted to media reports citing a leaked document from rogue US National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden claiming to show the NSA and allies had monitored the communications of other governments ahead of and during the 2009 round of talks in Copenhagen. "CAN condemns such actions," said the grouping, an active participant in the annual talks towards sealing a new, global pact to curb Earth-damaging climate change. "The work currently underway... already suffers from a dearth of trust between nations. If we are to achieve this monumental deal for the planet, all countries must work on repairing these burnt bridges." The Snowden document, carried by online news site the Huffington Post, states: "Analysts here at NSA, as well as our Second Party partners, will continue to provide policymakers with unique, timely, and valuable insights into key countries' preparations and goals for the conference. "While the outcome of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference remains uncertain, signals intelligence will undoubtedly play a significant role in keeping our negotiators as well informed as possible throughout the two-week event." According to the Huffington Post, these "Second Party partners" were the intelligence agencies of Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The document was dated December 7, 2009 -- the first day of two weeks of fraught negotiations. "The countries who have been accused of spying, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, are among those who have done the most to cause the climate crisis, and can also be leaders in delivering solutions," the CAN said in a statement. "But we need a radical shift in ambition and trust to tackle the planetary emergency." The world's nations have committed to signing a global pact by next year on curbing Earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions, to take effect by 2020. The previous attempt to conclude such a worldwide climate deal was the Copenhagen meeting, which ended in a near-fiasco without a formal agreement. The United States, the world's second-biggest carbon emitter after China, is opposed to any kind of a pact that imposes targets on individual nations for curbing greenhouse gas pollution.
Philippine climate change envoy leads new protest fast Naderev "Yeb" Sano, the Philippines' lead negotiator at United Nations climate talks, drank only tea and water throughout the last meeting in Poland in November, garnering world headlines and praise from developing nations. Sano's latest symbolic one-day hunger strike is an attempt to maintain pressure ahead of the next UN talks in Peru, with his tactics beginning to attract followers around the world via social media. "The objective is to keep connecting with the people who believe in climate justice ... I've always believed in fasting as an important instrument in provoking change," Sano told AFP. Sano will carry out his February fast while visiting Tacloban, a city in the eastern Philippines that was devastated when Super Typhoon Haiyan tore across the region in November. Haiyan, which was the strongest typhoon ever to make landfall and left 8,000 people dead or missing, triggered Sano's original decision to fast at the UN climate talks in Warsaw. Sano said he expected other people around the world connected via social media to follow his example, in what he believes will be a growing movement ahead of the Peru round of talks in December. The Peru gathering is vital in trying to secure a global pact by 2015 that would limit global warming to 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels. Sano's fasts have been promoted by Nobel laureate Al Gore's Climate Reality Project, which has 143,000 followers on its Twitter feed @ClimateReality. About 300 people around the world have committed to fasting in solidarity with Sano, according to Ashwini Prabha-Leopold, a spokeswoman for the Climate Action Network, a global coalition of more than 850 non-government organisations that is working to keep climate change to sustainable levels. "However this has not been promoted widely and we expect a growth in number as we move this initiative onto a bigger platform from February 1," Prabha-Leopold told AFP. The World Council of Churches has also called on its Twitter feed for people to join Sano in fasting on the first day of each month, promoting the hashtag #fastfortheclimate. "It is deeply moving to see so much support," Sano said.
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