Climate Change Has Dropped Off The Political Radar

With funding flows slowing, there’s a fear political pressure on the global process will dissipate.

A senior figure involved at the Paris talks asked me recently if I’d heard what plans NGOs had to keep the pressure up on leaders through 2016. They’d heard little. Neither, I confessed, had I.

It’s a curious state of affairs given last December nearly 200 countries finally agreed to start walking towards a future without fossil fuels.

But there are concerns that the diplomatic masterstroke signed off in the French capital was the zenith – and now world leaders have other things on their mind.

Fears of a global economic slump, US presidential elections, crashing oil prices, Syria, Brexit and the militarisation of the South China Sea have knocked global warming off the front pages.

Add to that a mini exodus of the key figures who helped make Paris a success: UN climate chief Christiana Figueres leaves in July, COP21 president Laurent Fabius unexpectedly quit this week.

It’s still unclear who’s running the show for Morocco at this year’s UN summit. Control of the COP22 summit was first with the environment ministry, then foreign affairs, and now with the department of interior.

And there’s also flux at NGO level, with the WRI’s Jennifer Morgan leaving her influential role as unofficial civil society strategy chief to take joint charge of Greenpeace.

Earlier this week members of the Climate Action Network – a broad coalition of green NGOs – met in Berlin to work out a path forward. Those taking part described the talks as positive.

But with many US groups focused on the presidential elections and funding flows slowing, there’s a fear political pressure on the global process will dissipate.

Some groups in developing countries are struggling to keep their advocacy channels open when they’re most needed.

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