[Cja] Climate Justice Groups at the Polish COP

[Asad Rehman]

Dear Friends
As many of you know the UN climate talks this year is being held in Warsaw, Poland (November 11th to November 22nd) - and although some groups have made some individual plans, there has been no attempt so far to coordinate or connect the dots between members of CJN!.
Whilst many groups have deprioritised the climate talks for various reasons and are concentrating their efforts at local and national level,  we can all agree that it's still important that the message of climate justice continue to be echoed inside the negotiating halls, even if it's being hijacked by dirty corporations and unwilling governments. In fact, this might makes the need for strong climate justice messages to be said out loud and clear even more important than ever before.
Many of the groups on this list and other international networks are going to be active during the Reclaim Power - Global Month of Action on Energy<http://www.reclaimpower.net>, the month before the COP, we would also like to ensure that the strong message of the month - rejecting dirty energy projects and promoting community-owned renewable alternatives - is also echoed at the Polish COP and frames the messaging of the civil society in Warsaw.
Therefore, it would be useful to set up some level of coordination between CJN-related groups attending the Warsaw climate summit, to ensure that we make the biggest impact possible with our very limited resources.

If there is interest we could contemplate the following:
- Setting up a CJN! Warsaw list for logistical coordination for those groups who are attending COP19.
- Will there be a need for CJN! meetings in Warsaw? If so, how often?
Last year in Doha we tried to convene daily meetings with sometimes little success. There will probably be many more people in Warsaw than Doha, although the limited badges will mean that not everyone may have access to the venue of the talks.
Unfortunately there is no organised outside civil society space this year unlike at other COPs, which will probably drastically limit the number of activists coming to Warsaw anyway unless they are accredited for the summit, however, there might be a youth activist hub for people to do online campaigning and related activities.
Would CJN members want to arrange some sort of space on the outside where discussions and meetings can be held as well as an inside meeting? Would any groups have the capacity to volunteer to take the lead on this?
Some events that we are aware of that are being planned include:
A conference of the youth taking place prior to the climate talks - which will feature an action for community energy/against dirty energy on Nov 9th.
On Saturday 16th November there will be a climate justice demonstration taking place in Warsaw. Climate justice groups in Belgium are organising a train for 'climate and social justice' from Brussels to Warsaw, stopping at Aachen, Koln, Berlin and Poznan on the way. The train will leave on Friday 15th (details from http://train-en.climatejustice.eu/ )
On 18th/19th November the World Coal Association is holding a two day conference 'International Coal and Climate Summit' with senior Polish government ministers involved as they try and push through dirty energy 'false solutions' such as clean coal. This summit will be a target for climate justice groups at the COP. http://www.worldcoal.org/resources/international-coal-climate-summit/
There is little time left before the COP but there is still a chance to make some coordinated effort in pushing back against the corporate takeover of the COP, and be loud about energy transformation and the possible alternatives. Please do share information about any activities you may be planning for the COP so that we can help disseminate that information amongst ourselves.
Please also let us know if you are going to be involved in the Month of Action prior to the COP - as we are building a global map of actions, and there is still time to get involved! Email reclaimpower2013 at gmail.com<mailto:reclaimpower2013 at gmail.com> or add your event directly to the map here<http://reclaimpower.net/events/share-your-plans>.
If you are attending the UN climate summit in Warsaw, please email Marco on marcodeli at gmail.com<mailto:marcodeli at gmail.com> - he has very kindly agreed to put together a CJN! Warsaw list if there is enough interest to do so..
Many thanks

 Asad and Marco


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