The Manifesto 2017

The Paris Agreement came into force on 4 November 2016. In Marrakech the roadmap to its implementation was approved. Now the time has come to act it  in  every country, every city, every company, every family…

We already know in advance that this is a huge challenge. No generation in the history of mankind has ever faced such a global, complex and hard to solve problem. But it is also a huge opportunity, not only by avoiding the impact of climate change, but also because it brings economic stimulus, employment, lower air pollution and a better life today for future generations. Tackling climate change is also an enabler of many other Sustainable Development Goals.

It is also a serious ethical conflict that impacts mainly on the most disadvantaged sectors of the population and which is jeopardising the future of our children and the coming generations. Besides, if we fail to take action, the irreversibility of the situation will mean that the measures we take in the future will be ineffective and much more costly. We are the only generation that can actually do something prominent to halt climate change.

That is why we ALL have to act: actors big and small or public and private;  governments local or global; society in general… we ALL have to move ALL the levers of change (regulatory, technological, fiscal, financial, cultural, etc.) and we have to do it NOW. We have already done a lot of talking and now we have to urgently mobilise ourselves in every country and sector.

The Bonn Climate Summit is going to be very important because now is the time to accelerate the definition of the Paris Implementation Guidelines and therefore the schemes to implement the global agreement reached in Paris as well as the process for the Facilitative Dialogue to take place in 2018. Now it’s the time to speed-up the scale and pace of climate action globally. There is no time to waste.

Those of us that have joined the Moving for Climate NOW initiative come from various countries and organisations. It should not be strange to have different opinions about some aspects of the policies to be implemented. However, we are aware that given  the seriousness of the situation, we have to concentrate on JOINING and MULTIPLYING forces to mobilise society all around the world and halt climate change. Debate should not delay action. Public administrations, NGOs, companies: society as a whole has to  be mobilised.

In this huge mobilisation for climate, the following points are very important and urgent:

  • Fighting climate change is a cross-disciplinary effort that helps meet the rest of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achieve well-being for all people within the planet’s
  • Clean energies (renewables, energy storage, mobility, etc.) are under a deep technological revolution that can spur solutions to climate
  • Fighting climate change should also be an opportunity to create jobs, improve air quality in our cities, enhance public health, safeguard biodiversity, our oceans, water resources and the agrofood sector,
  • All nations should preserve the multilateral consensus achieved in the Paris Agreement and advance collectively towards ambitious and inclusive global climate action, focusing on mitigation of climate change impacts and also on building climate adaptation and resiliency, especially in the most vulnerable regions.
  • The right policies and the right tools are needed now. Every minute counts. Public authorities should take advantage of all opportunities for action to implementing the Paris Agreement, including new regulations, economic and fiscal instruments, public procurement to boost companies that are more committed to climate, leading by example at their own facilities, education and awareness schemes,
  • Building innovative alliances is an opportunity to achieve success. Public-private partnerships, multi-stakeholder or cross-sector alliances that are built sharing the same values and targets to optimise resources and enhance
  • The financial system should mobilise the huge volume of economic resources needed to finance the transition towards a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. Sustainable financing, mainly from private sector, will be key to tackle this challenge and, in particular, to achieve at least the annual $100 billion climate finance roadmap for 2020, set by the Paris
  • The technological transition should be completed as soon as possible and mechanisms should be set up to transfer it to developing and vulnerable
  • Companies should use their resources to help create a low-carbon, climate- friendly and resilient economy as soon as
  • The general public and social organisations should implement the values and habits that are crucial to solve the current climatic crossroad we are
  • Energy, which is the main cause of the problem, should also be the main source of solutions with a model based on clean energies, sustainable mobility and energy efficiency. And, the good news is that technological progress is on the side of climate.

The slogan for this initiative, Moving for Climate NOW, sums up our message to society: Let’s ALL move, pulling ALL the levers RIGHT NOW.

We are pedalling as we say this because the bicycle is an example of good technology, beneficial for people’s health and well-being and also for the climate.