Abstract:

We, the civil society of the countries most vulnerable to climate change,
having met in Dhaka 27-29 July 2009 for the International Civil Society
Conference: The Rights of the Most Vulnerable Countries in Climate
Negotiations, call upon all governments to recognize the threats to
survival and development that anthropogenic climate change poses to
the most vulnerable countries, comprising Least Developed Countries
(LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and African countries. We
urge our governments to join together to raise the voice in the
international negotiations of those people who's very survival is
threatened by anthropogenic climate change for which they are least
responsible. We call on all Parties of the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) to recognize the Most Vulnerable Countries
(MVCs) as a legitimate collective voice at the negotiations, comprising
the majority of Parties to UNFCCC; three quarters of the membership of
the G77; and in excess of 1 billion people globally.
The Bali Action Plan states that the long-term cooperative action (LCA)
process under UNFCCC should: 'reduce vulnerability of all Parties, taking
into account the urgent and immediate needs of developing countries
that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change
especially The least developed countries and small island developing
states, and further taking into account the needs of countries in Africa
affected by drought, desertification and floods.'
Climate change is now a reality for MVCs. Adapting to climate change is
not a choice it is a necessity. We are being hit first and worst by the
impacts of anthropogenic climate change for which we are not
responsible. MVCs must be urgently supported to adapt to the climate
change that is now unavoidable.
The amount of climate change that we must adapt to is entirely
dependent upon the level of mitigation globally. Ambitious actions and
deep emission cuts by developed countries can substantially reduce the severity of the impacts we will face, and we call on the Annex 1 Parties to
the UNFCCC to act urgently and ambitiously.
We urge all Parties to the UNFCCC to ensure that an agreement is reached at
C0P15, to ensure our continued survival