April 7, 2010
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 205000
Dear Mr. President,
In your inaugural and State of the Union addresses, you recognized that the destiny of the United States is connected to those beyond our shores, and that the U.S. must play a leadership role in advancing the common security and prosperity of all people. Global climate change poses a profound and fundamental threat to that common security and prosperity, to the global economy, and to the lives, livelihoods and basic human rights of billions of people. These impacts, like the greenhouse emissions that drive them, have no borders.
To address climate change, groups of countries will inevitably come together to develop initiatives that meet their specific needs, such as in the G20. Ultimately, however, solutions to the global threat must be agreed upon at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as it is the only space that respects the sovereign and equal rights of all countries – those most responsible for climate change and those most affected by it – to protect their economies, their people, their territory and their planet from the threat of climate change.
At the April UN climate talks in Germany, we therefore urge your Administration to:
Commit to the continuation of a two-track negotiating process throughout 2010, the Kyoto Protocol track and the Long-term Cooperative Action track.
We thank you for your consideration of this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
1Sky
350.org
ActionAid USA
Africa Action
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Black Mesa Water Coalition
Capuchin-Franciscan Justice, Peace & Ecology Office
Capuchin Province of St. Joseph
CARE USA
Climate Collaboration Network of Corporate Ethics International
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for International Environmental Law
Center of Concern
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Community Action for Justice in the Americas, Africa and Asia
Crude Accountability
Earthjustice
EcoEquity
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Friends of the Earth US
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
Global Exchange
Global Witness
Indigenous Environmental Network
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Institute for Policy Studies, Sustainable Energy & Economy Network
Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense, AIDA
International Accountability Project
International Forum on Globalization
International Rivers
Jubilee Montana Network
Jubilee Northwest Coalition
Jubilee Oregon
Jubilee San Diego
Jubilee USA Network
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities.
National Wildlife Federation
New Rules for Global Finance
North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network
Oil Change International
Oxfam America
Rainforest Action Network
Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL)
Sierra Club
The Biomass Accountability Project, Inc.
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth
Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office
United Methodist Women
Washington Association of Churches
Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)
cc: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of Treasury Timothy F. Geithner
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 205000
Dear Mr. President,
In your inaugural and State of the Union addresses, you recognized that the destiny of the United States is connected to those beyond our shores, and that the U.S. must play a leadership role in advancing the common security and prosperity of all people. Global climate change poses a profound and fundamental threat to that common security and prosperity, to the global economy, and to the lives, livelihoods and basic human rights of billions of people. These impacts, like the greenhouse emissions that drive them, have no borders.
To address climate change, groups of countries will inevitably come together to develop initiatives that meet their specific needs, such as in the G20. Ultimately, however, solutions to the global threat must be agreed upon at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as it is the only space that respects the sovereign and equal rights of all countries – those most responsible for climate change and those most affected by it – to protect their economies, their people, their territory and their planet from the threat of climate change.
At the April UN climate talks in Germany, we therefore urge your Administration to:
- Uphold the UNFCCC as the sole venue for international negotiations to reach a global climate change agreement that is fair, effective and comprehensive.
Sincerely,
1Sky
350.org
ActionAid USA
Africa Action
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Black Mesa Water Coalition
Capuchin-Franciscan Justice, Peace & Ecology Office
Capuchin Province of St. Joseph
CARE USA
Climate Collaboration Network of Corporate Ethics International
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for International Environmental Law
Center of Concern
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Community Action for Justice in the Americas, Africa and Asia
Crude Accountability
Earthjustice
EcoEquity
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Friends of the Earth US
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
Global Exchange
Global Witness
Indigenous Environmental Network
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Institute for Policy Studies, Sustainable Energy & Economy Network
Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense, AIDA
International Accountability Project
International Forum on Globalization
International Rivers
Jubilee Montana Network
Jubilee Northwest Coalition
Jubilee Oregon
Jubilee San Diego
Jubilee USA Network
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities.
National Wildlife Federation
New Rules for Global Finance
North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network
Oil Change International
Oxfam America
Rainforest Action Network
Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL)
Sierra Club
The Biomass Accountability Project, Inc.
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth
Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office
United Methodist Women
Washington Association of Churches
Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)
cc: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of Treasury Timothy F. Geithner
4-10 Obama-UNFCCC Bonn sign-on.pdf