Voices for Justice: PWYP Members Make Their Mark at COP16

This morning, Colombia time, Publish What You Pay (PWYP) members and partners from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) will start making their way through the corridors of COP16 in Cali. COP16 is the short name of the 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference, gathering the countries that have signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and a wide range of stakeholders caring for the planet.

We are going there with other members of the Group for a Just Energy Transition in Latin America and the Caribbean, to advocate for a future that prioritises justice, sustainability, and inclusivity. It has now become obvious that the world needs to turn to cleaner energy sources. But what is less obvious is how just this transition will be, if we let governments and companies take the lead. How will they ensure that the people who are impacted by this transition – and among them, the most marginalised groups – participate in decision making? What are the guarantees that the transition will benefit them, grant them access to clean energy, and not undermine them further? 

PWYP and partners from Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, and Brazil, will take advantage of COP16 to amplify the voices of the voiceless.

A just transition away from fossil fuels

Climate change is a pressing threat demanding immediate action. At the UNFCCC COP28 last year in Dubai, the world agreed to phase out fossil fuels. Now we need to ensure that this is happening in a just way, with richer nations acting first and fastest, and supporting low and middle-income countries to operate their own transition.

Under the Paris Agreement and the CBD, LAC countries have agreed to reduce their emissions and turn to renewable energy. Yet, many countries like Brazil, Mexico and Argentina continue to invest in fossil fuel infrastructures. 

Oil and gas extraction impacts key ecosystems. In LAC, it has caused significant biodiversity loss and degraded essential ecosystems on which communities rely, particularly in the Amazon, the Andes, and coastal areas. 

And on top of this, continuing investing in fossil fuels is creating more debt and is putting our economies at risk, as oil and gas prices are meant to peak in the following decades. Even if oil and gas-dependent countries don’t bear alone the responsibility of the climate crises, they need to have a clear plan to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. The Civil Society Equity Review estimates the timeline by when each country needs to phase out. Variations are linked to how dependent the country is, and to what economic alternatives it can develop. 

In any case, every country needs to have an exit strategy, even if it is logical that the length of this transition will vary from one country to another and the specific context. In the short-medium term, it can mean to commit to no new oil and gas projects and ensure that current revenues from the oil and gas sector are used to develop renewable energy sources and alternative economic sectors, as well as to finance climate adaptation and mitigation.

If they fail to do that, governments risk plunging their people into more poverty, debt, and environmental destruction. 

Local communities and feminist approaches must lead the transition

A just energy transition won’t happen without actively involving Indigenous and peasant communities. They need to have access to decision-making spheres. In LAC – as in Madagascar, where I am from, and in many Global South countries -, local communities, indigenous peoples and rural women have often been excluded from energy access. A feminist, community-driven model of renewable energy is essential to reduce inequalities, break extractivism and ensure equitable access to clean energy for all.

Governments and companies need to make information publicly and easily available, in languages that marginalised groups can understand. 

Making change at the regional level, and defending defenders 

Countries are stronger together. Coordinated regional efforts are urgently needed to align national policies with international climate and biodiversity commitments, and to promote renewable energy. Along with the UNFCCC COP30 happening in Rio next year, COP16 is an opportunity for LAC to pave the way for a cleaner, fairer world. Civil society collective action will be key to make this happen.

This collective action is also critical in pushing for better protection of human rights defenders, who are the targets of attacks and threats. According to Global Witness, more than 2,100 land and environmental defenders were killed globally between 2012 and 2023, with alarming rates in LAC. Climate and biodiversity talks are a waste of energy and time if they continue neglecting the fate of those who fight for their rights across the world; and there can’t be any justice in the energy transition as long as independent voices, such as Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu in Azerbaijan, continue to be repressed. Justice starts with freedoms: of expression, of thought, from fear, and PWYP will keep fighting for them until they are guaranteed and protected. 

Climate justice demands action, let’s make the most of COP16 so that our voices are heard!