We are Here to Stay

Sara Cowan is blogging from Lima, Peru at the UN climate talks for Bella. Sara is a campaigner with Oxfam Scotland and is part of the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland delegation to the UNFCCC. Follow the latest from Lima on Twitter: @sara_cowan @OxfamScotland and @sccscot

Yesterday people from across Peru, Latin America and around the world took to the streets of Lima to demand climate justice now. Around 15,000 marched through the city in the largest march Peru has seen for 20years.

This demonstration of solidarity follows on from the hundreds of thousands of people who took to streets around the world in September, most notably in New York, to make the same call. People have shouted loudly for change and they have shouted for the rights of those that others are trying to silence.

In the run up to the Paris COP next year, and beyond, we need to keep up this pressure. Governments around the world must feel the force of public opinion to drive them forward towards agreeing an ambitious deal. We need to show that inaction is not an option. We must be, and we are, here to stay.

It is up to governments to take progressive action but they need us to push them along the way so please join Stop Climate Chaos Scotland members in adding your voice to this call throughout the next year, and beyond.

Meanwhile, inside the conference centre, the negotiations continue but there is a feeling they are taking too long to get through the difficult issues. There is little doubt that Lima will produce some form of agreement, but the pace and tenor of discussions are raising fears that few if any of the details that need to be agreed before Paris will be resolved this week. This could leave lots of the detailed work to do next year.

One crucial element needed is agreement on a roadmap showing how developed countries will meet their $100 billion promise to climate finance and how to decide what is expected from each country when they put forward their initial offers early next year.

Today will see more high level talks take place and the arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry, who will address the conference. His arrival demonstrates the importance the Obama administration has placed on the outcome of the negotiations taking place this week.

The talks are officially scheduled to finish tomorrow but it is likely negotiations will continue throughout tonight and on into Saturday.

The big worry is that we will leave Lima with a vague and highly limited agreement that poisons the well for Paris. Nobody wants to trip up the Paris talks before they begin and the Presidency is actively trying to avoid it. They must succeed.