For Immediate Release: September 7, 2021
CONTACT: andrei@gcclp.org
The Red, Black & Green New Deal (RBGND), a project of the Movement for Black Lives, stands in solidarity with the US Climate Action Network, the Climate Action Network International (CANI) and several nations of the Global South in calling for the postponement of the UNFCCC Climate Talks (COP26). The United Kingdom must provide a more inclusive process allowing for the participation of Global South delegates, observers and advocates.The 26th Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations is set to take place at the end of October through mid-November in Glasgow, Scotland. Rich countries, including the United Kingdom have had months to distribute vaccines equitably across the globe to create conditions that would allow for safe travel and large gatherings. However, they have failed to do so. Countries impacted first and worst by the ever increasing impacts of the global climate crisis are also feeling the effects of an inequitable distribution of resources including the inequitable global distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine and costly requirements based on a country’s access to those vaccines. As the global infection rate of Covid-19 continues to rapidly increase, it has become increasingly clear that the impact of the climate crisis and the pandemic are synonymous.
The Red, Black & Green New Deal (RBGND), a project of the Movement for Black Lives, stands in solidarity with the US Climate Action Network, the Climate Action Network International (CANI) and several nations of the Global South in calling for the postponement of the UNFCCC Climate Talks (COP26). The United Kingdom must provide a more inclusive process allowing for the participation of Global South delegates, observers and advocates.The 26th Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations is set to take place at the end of October through mid-November in Glasgow, Scotland. Rich countries, including the United Kingdom have had months to distribute vaccines equitably across the globe to create conditions that would allow for safe travel and large gatherings. However, they have failed to do so. Countries impacted first and worst by the ever increasing impacts of the global climate crisis are also feeling the effects of an inequitable distribution of resources including the inequitable global distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine and costly requirements based on a country’s access to those vaccines. As the global infection rate of Covid-19 continues to rapidly increase, it has become increasingly clear that the impact of the climate crisis and the pandemic are synonymous.
Earlier this year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report calling the climate crisis a “code red for humanity” and demands increased urgent action from the globe’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases. The RBGND stands with countries of the Global South in demanding the postponement of COP26, and calls for the UK to offer options that ensure a safe and equitable participation in the global climate talks. The Red, Black & Green New Deal (RBGND) is an initiative of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) that puts Black liberation at the center of the global climate struggle, and addresses the impacts of climate and environmental racism on Black Communities. The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) is a national network of over 150 leaders and organizations creating a broad political home for Black people to learn, organize and take action. M4BL includes activists, organizers, academics, lawyers, educators, health workers, artists and more, all unified in a vision for Black liberation and working for equity, justice, and healing.
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