COP 19 – A breakthrough for Taiwan’s youth’ - Voicing out for international youth at Conference of Parties (COP)

On November 13, at the 2013 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 19) in Warsaw, Yang Qi-hong (楊?弘) of Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition (TWYCC) represented The Youth Climate Movement (YOUNGO), where he called for international attention to climate change financing. This is the first time a representative from TWYCC has made a formal speech at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Speaking on behalf of international youth, Yang Qi-hong from the TWYCC began his speech on ‘Loss and Damage’, emphasizing that the international community must focus on climate finance: “Climate finance is not economic assistance, and not a carbon market. Providing climate finance should be a legal obligation,” he said.

So-called ‘Loss and Damage’ is a resolution to set up an international disaster management mechanism. In the face of climate change, ‘Mitigation’ strategies and ‘Adaption’ actions are not sufficient to immediately respond to the attack of extreme weather incidents. The mechanism will provide immediate financial compensation to countries hit by extreme weather disasters, and will be incorporated into the climate convention fund.

However, funds promised by developed countries have not been forthcoming, to such an extent that presently the Special Climate Change Fund (氣候公約基金))(SCCF) has insufficient funds to meet international demands. Among these is the Green Climate Fund (GCF) based in South Korea, which at present has only US$7.3 million - a long way short of the US$100 billion annual target.

Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition has been concerned over the climate fund issue for a very long time, and in June of this year (2013) it sent a youth representative to participate in the 4th Green Climate Fund (GCF) Meeting in Songdo, South Korea. The representative had the opportunity to exchange ideas and cooperate with NGOs from around the globe, this time representing the international youth voice at the United Nations. In the future, Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition (TWYCC) will continue to actively participate in all relevant conferences and pay close attention to the progress of negotiations, urging international delegates to build a more comprehensive fund system.

COP 19 – A breakthrough for Taiwan’s youth’
- Voicing out for international youth at Conference of Parties (COP)
URL:https://www.peopo.org/news/223465

(以下為中文對照)
【COP19台灣青年首次突破！】 --於締約國大會為國際青年發聲--

台灣青年氣候聯盟（TWYCC）COP19青年楊?弘，在華沙時間13日上午聯合國氣候變遷會議中，代表公民社會團體之一的青年非政府組織（YOUNGO）發言，呼籲國際重視氣候變遷的融資問題。此為台灣青年首度代表國際青年於聯合國氣候變遷綱要公約（UNFCCC）締約國大會的正式會議中發言。

台灣青年氣候聯盟楊?弘代表國際青年發言，從損失與賠償（Loss and Damage）著手，強調各國應著力氣候融資：「氣候融資不是經濟援助，更不是碳市場。提供氣候融資應該是一個法律義務。」

所謂損失與賠償，為公約決議設置的災害風險管理機制。面對氣候變遷，當減緩（Mitigation）策略與調適（Adaptation）行動都不足以立即回應極端氣候事件所衍生的災害衝擊時，本機制將提供受極端災害衝擊的國家立即的資金補償，因此應將其納入此氣候公約基金。然而，已開發國家允諾提供的資金遲遲沒有到位，以致目前氣候公約基金完全不足以提供國際需求，其中位於南韓總部的綠色氣候基金 （Green Climate Fund, GCF）仍只有730萬美元，距離每年1000億美金的目標遠遠不足。

台灣青年氣候聯盟長期關注氣候基金議題，曾於今年（2013）6月派遣青年前往韓國參加綠色氣候基金會議，與各國公民社會團體交流、合作，這次更代表國際青年在聯合國發聲。未來台灣青年氣候聯盟仍將積極參與相關會議、持續關注談判進展，督促各國代表建立更完善的基金制度