Asiya Deserves a Better Climate Change Bill

Last year the House of Representatives has passed its first U.S. legislative plan to cap pollution generated in this country while assisting developing countries to adapt to changing climates. However, the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009,” passed by the House on June 26 2009, did not go far enough to make the changes that are needed. The Senate is developing climate legislation. Now is the time to let your Senators know that you want a bill which truly helps poor people in developing countries, like Asiya Begum in Bangladesh, to adapt to a changing climate.

“We don’t understand the seasons anymore,” Asiya said. “We used to have six seasons, but during the last five to six years everything has been upside down. Now the winter is hot and the summer is cold.”

ActionAid is working with Asiya and other community members to find new ways to plant food crops in this changing environment, but those efforts need to be scaled up dramatically at the national and international level over the coming years.

To help people such as Asiya, ActionAid worked with NGO partners and with Congressional offices to make the House bill as strong as possible.

Unfortunately, the bill fell short on several fronts including:

  • An emissions reduction target equivalent to approximately 4 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 instead of a 40 percent target equivalent;
  • Provisions to give away approximately 85 percent of pollution permits, instead of ActionAid’s recommendation to auction all permits;
  • Less than $1 billion for developing countries to adapt to climate change, when at least $7 billion should have been included in the bill for international adaptation;
  • Less than $1 billion is to be transferred to developing countries for clean technology transfer when at least $5 billion is needed; and
  • Provisions for at least 40 percent of the funding to be directed towards a multilateral climate fund, leaving the door open for those funds to go to the World Bank instead of just through the United Nations.

These issues are vitally important to our partners on the ground in developing countries.

Please sign our petition calling on the Senate to draft a just climate bill, keeping in mind those who have contributed nothing to the problem of climate change, but who are bearing brunt of the impacts.