There are plenty of warnings about this. A space that should focus on fighting one of humanity’s biggest crises like climate change is in the crosshairs.

The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the UNFCCC, held last December in Durban, South Africa had similar outcomes as the previous editions: lack of significant proposals on emissions reduction and climate finance for the most vulnerable countries.

Anabella Lemos, of Friends of the Earth Mozambique, said: “This is my first time at a conference and I think it will be the last one. We are trying to change something that is being controlled by transnational corporations. We have no peoples’ governments, we have businessmen”.

The leader said this in an interview with Real World Radio at the COP in Durban. Even though the conference took place nearly four months ago, Anabella’s assessment coincides with that that social movements and organizations from all over the world have made for several years now.

Amid the critiques of the UNFCCC process, Anabella’s statements have perhaps been the harshest in Durban: “everything is bought up inside the COP”.

The activist said there is no chance of changing the power relations and the corporate and governments interests inside the COP. “I am here because there is always hope that something can be done, that our voices will reach our leaders. But they don’t”.

Anabella, one of the long-standing representatives of Justica
Ambiental, claims that the fight against climate change lies in creating a big global climate justice movement. She believes the movement already exists and that it is moving forward, but it needs to be strengthened.

Justica Ambiental took a big delegation of activists to Durban, in order to strengthen the relation between the organization and the social movements from all over the world in their demand for climate justice.
The ecologists also worked very closely in Durban with a big delegation of La Via Campesina Mozambique.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/foei/