Affirming our dedication to Life in all its forms; a commitment to
its preservation and defense; the overwhelming scientific
and empirical evidence of a planetary emergency; the
growing peril for all of Earth’s inhabitants; the moral
imperative and practical obligation to assure the
continuance of life on the planet;
Recognizing the urgent need to achieve deep reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation), we commit to 40%
reductions by 2025 (27% of 1990 levels) and 60% by 2030
(48% of 1990 levels) on a pathway towards 85% reductions
of 2005 levels by mid-century.
Conscious of our role as a major emitter of harmful emissions, we
shall now take bold steps to balance and redeem our
historical actions by effecting ambitious cuts as required
by science to avert irreversible, catastrophic climate
changes looming on the horizon.
Noting with grave concern the approximate 50% gap between the
sum of national pledges and emissions reductions
necessary to maintain the agreed-upon average global
temperature rise under 2ºC, we urge all major emitters to
redouble their efforts prior to the year 2020, with a view
towards sustained reductions leading to a peak and
subsequent decline in emissions no later than 2020.
Likewise, we urge all developing nations to hold
emissions to current levels and seek to transition to low-
carbon, renewable energy sources over the next decade.
Underscoring the most recent scientific assessments indicating
that global temperature rise must not exceed 1.5ºC in
order to ensure climate stability ─while current trends
are tracking towards a dangerous 4ºC rise─ we will make
strenuous efforts to remain under the 1.5ºC target.
Acknowledging that developing nations bear little responsibility
for the problem, suffer the greatest impacts, and possess
insufficient resources to cope and/or modify their
situation, we commit to assisting them in the following
ways:
Adaptation / Loss and Damage
In accordance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), of which the United States is a signatory, we commit to protecting citizens and ecosystems at home and in vulnerable nations by 1) enhancing knowledge and cooperation in risk management and providing financial assistance in cases of extreme and slow onset climate events, and 2) assisting in mitigation efforts through support for the transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon, renewable energy in the form of technology development and transfer, information-sharing, capacity-building, and financial resources to enable peoples to address the adverse effects of climate change, adapt to changing conditions, build resilience, and achieve societal equity.
Finance
To accomplish these goals, the United States shall provide an additional $3 billion dollars in calendar year 2015, with subsequent contributions of $5 billion annually between 2020-2025, in compliance with the global commitment by industrialized nations in the 2009 UN Copenhagen Accord to begin providing annual climate finance of USD 100 billion by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries in mitigation and adaptation.
Agreeing that each Party’s Intended Nationally Determined
Contribution (INDC) towards achieving the goals of the
Convention shall represent a progression beyond its
current undertaking, we submit the following policy
program:
Presidential Campaign for an Energy Revolution
The President of the United States shall lead a program of education and action among the citizenry regarding the severity of the crisis and the need for a shift in mindset and consumption patterns. The major emphases will include but not be limited to: conservation, elimination of wasteful energy use, across-the-board energy efficiency standards, ending subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, a revenue-neutral fee on carbon, phase-out of fossil fuel use and shift to renewables, changes in industrial agriculture system, reforestation, restructured energy production and distribution, social equality, lifestyle changes in accord with planetary health, and re-instill respect and reverence for the natural world that sustains us.
The Energy Revolution will be economy-wide; we possess the technology but must now muster the political will. Promotion and support for carbon trading offsets and similar policies that do not effectively reduce emissions shall be suspended. Given his unique position, the president shall mobilize public support for this program and exercise the full power of his office to prioritize the well-being of the nation’s people over and above private interests.
Legal Force
This Covenant shall serve as the basis for the official U.S. position at the Paris 2015 UNFCCC negotiations, as a faithful representation of the will of U.S. citizens, and for leadership in seeking incorporation of its principles into the forthcoming Treaty, to be legally binding for all Parties, and subject to Monitoring, Review and Verification. By law, the president possesses the authority to enter into international agreements that commit the nation, should such an Accord be approved
*************************
Sources
1. Carbon Market Watch, http://carbonmarketwatch.org/about/.
2. Center for Biological Diversity, “Yes, He Can! President Obama’s
Power to Make an International Climate Commitment Without
Waiting for Congress,” December 2009
3. Climate Action Tracker, http://climateactiontracker.org/
4. Friends of the Earth, “A step too short: Obama’s new carbon
pollution rules must be strengthened,
”http://libcloud.s3.amazonaws.com/93/7e/a/4714/Carbon_rule_factsheet.pdf
5. “Friends of the Earth response to Sec. Kerry's speech at Lima COP,”
Dec. 11, 2014, http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2014-12-
foe-response-to-sec-kerrys-lima-speech
6. Greenpeace International et al, Energy [R]evolution: A Sustainable
USA Energy Outlook, May 2014
7. Greenpeace USA, Kyle Ash, “Paris Treaty Is Best Even with USA as a
Non-Party: But the USA Has No Ratification Dilemma,” December
10, 2014
8. John Bellamy Foster, “James Hansen and the Climate-Change Exit
Strategy,” Monthly Review Press, Feb. 1, 2013
9. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Fourth
Assessment Report, 2007
10. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Fifth
Assessment Report, 2013
11. Union of Concerned Scientists, “Strengthening the EPA’s Clean
Power Plan,” October 2014,
http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2014/10/Strengthening-the-EPA-
Clean-Power-Plan.pdf
12. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), COP 15, 19, 20
13. US Government: Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species
Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Global Climate Protection
Act, Environmental Protection Agency
14. World Bank, Turn Down the Heat, Vols. I, II, & III: Why a 4ºC Warmer
World Must Be Avoided, November 2012; Climate Extremes,
Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience, June 2013;
Confronting the New Climate Normal, 2014
******************************************
January 2015
Climate Justice at Union Theological Seminary
Climate.justice2013@gmail.com
Interfaith Moral Action on Climate
imaclimate@gmail.com
its preservation and defense; the overwhelming scientific
and empirical evidence of a planetary emergency; the
growing peril for all of Earth’s inhabitants; the moral
imperative and practical obligation to assure the
continuance of life on the planet;
Recognizing the urgent need to achieve deep reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation), we commit to 40%
reductions by 2025 (27% of 1990 levels) and 60% by 2030
(48% of 1990 levels) on a pathway towards 85% reductions
of 2005 levels by mid-century.
Conscious of our role as a major emitter of harmful emissions, we
shall now take bold steps to balance and redeem our
historical actions by effecting ambitious cuts as required
by science to avert irreversible, catastrophic climate
changes looming on the horizon.
Noting with grave concern the approximate 50% gap between the
sum of national pledges and emissions reductions
necessary to maintain the agreed-upon average global
temperature rise under 2ºC, we urge all major emitters to
redouble their efforts prior to the year 2020, with a view
towards sustained reductions leading to a peak and
subsequent decline in emissions no later than 2020.
Likewise, we urge all developing nations to hold
emissions to current levels and seek to transition to low-
carbon, renewable energy sources over the next decade.
Underscoring the most recent scientific assessments indicating
that global temperature rise must not exceed 1.5ºC in
order to ensure climate stability ─while current trends
are tracking towards a dangerous 4ºC rise─ we will make
strenuous efforts to remain under the 1.5ºC target.
Acknowledging that developing nations bear little responsibility
for the problem, suffer the greatest impacts, and possess
insufficient resources to cope and/or modify their
situation, we commit to assisting them in the following
ways:
Adaptation / Loss and Damage
In accordance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), of which the United States is a signatory, we commit to protecting citizens and ecosystems at home and in vulnerable nations by 1) enhancing knowledge and cooperation in risk management and providing financial assistance in cases of extreme and slow onset climate events, and 2) assisting in mitigation efforts through support for the transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon, renewable energy in the form of technology development and transfer, information-sharing, capacity-building, and financial resources to enable peoples to address the adverse effects of climate change, adapt to changing conditions, build resilience, and achieve societal equity.
Finance
To accomplish these goals, the United States shall provide an additional $3 billion dollars in calendar year 2015, with subsequent contributions of $5 billion annually between 2020-2025, in compliance with the global commitment by industrialized nations in the 2009 UN Copenhagen Accord to begin providing annual climate finance of USD 100 billion by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries in mitigation and adaptation.
Agreeing that each Party’s Intended Nationally Determined
Contribution (INDC) towards achieving the goals of the
Convention shall represent a progression beyond its
current undertaking, we submit the following policy
program:
Presidential Campaign for an Energy Revolution
The President of the United States shall lead a program of education and action among the citizenry regarding the severity of the crisis and the need for a shift in mindset and consumption patterns. The major emphases will include but not be limited to: conservation, elimination of wasteful energy use, across-the-board energy efficiency standards, ending subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, a revenue-neutral fee on carbon, phase-out of fossil fuel use and shift to renewables, changes in industrial agriculture system, reforestation, restructured energy production and distribution, social equality, lifestyle changes in accord with planetary health, and re-instill respect and reverence for the natural world that sustains us.
The Energy Revolution will be economy-wide; we possess the technology but must now muster the political will. Promotion and support for carbon trading offsets and similar policies that do not effectively reduce emissions shall be suspended. Given his unique position, the president shall mobilize public support for this program and exercise the full power of his office to prioritize the well-being of the nation’s people over and above private interests.
Legal Force
This Covenant shall serve as the basis for the official U.S. position at the Paris 2015 UNFCCC negotiations, as a faithful representation of the will of U.S. citizens, and for leadership in seeking incorporation of its principles into the forthcoming Treaty, to be legally binding for all Parties, and subject to Monitoring, Review and Verification. By law, the president possesses the authority to enter into international agreements that commit the nation, should such an Accord be approved
*************************
Sources
1. Carbon Market Watch, http://carbonmarketwatch.org/about/.
2. Center for Biological Diversity, “Yes, He Can! President Obama’s
Power to Make an International Climate Commitment Without
Waiting for Congress,” December 2009
3. Climate Action Tracker, http://climateactiontracker.org/
4. Friends of the Earth, “A step too short: Obama’s new carbon
pollution rules must be strengthened,
”http://libcloud.s3.amazonaws.com/93/7e/a/4714/Carbon_rule_factsheet.pdf
5. “Friends of the Earth response to Sec. Kerry's speech at Lima COP,”
Dec. 11, 2014, http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2014-12-
foe-response-to-sec-kerrys-lima-speech
6. Greenpeace International et al, Energy [R]evolution: A Sustainable
USA Energy Outlook, May 2014
7. Greenpeace USA, Kyle Ash, “Paris Treaty Is Best Even with USA as a
Non-Party: But the USA Has No Ratification Dilemma,” December
10, 2014
8. John Bellamy Foster, “James Hansen and the Climate-Change Exit
Strategy,” Monthly Review Press, Feb. 1, 2013
9. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Fourth
Assessment Report, 2007
10. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Fifth
Assessment Report, 2013
11. Union of Concerned Scientists, “Strengthening the EPA’s Clean
Power Plan,” October 2014,
http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2014/10/Strengthening-the-EPA-
Clean-Power-Plan.pdf
12. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), COP 15, 19, 20
13. US Government: Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species
Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Global Climate Protection
Act, Environmental Protection Agency
14. World Bank, Turn Down the Heat, Vols. I, II, & III: Why a 4ºC Warmer
World Must Be Avoided, November 2012; Climate Extremes,
Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience, June 2013;
Confronting the New Climate Normal, 2014
******************************************
January 2015
Climate Justice at Union Theological Seminary
Climate.justice2013@gmail.com
Interfaith Moral Action on Climate
imaclimate@gmail.com
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