Groups ask Obama to stick with UN as site of climate negotiations

A coalition of organizations, including Friends of the  Earth, have signed a letter asking President Obama to recognize that solutions to the climate crisis 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.

The text of the letter follows and can also be viewed here (pdf):

April 7, 2010

Presidente Barack Obama
La Casa Blanca
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.
* 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.

Atentamente,

1Sky
350.org
ActionAid EE. UU.
Africa Action
Red Ambiental de Asia Pacífico
Black Mesa Water Coalition
Capuchin-Franciscan Justice, Peace & Ecology Office
Capuchin Province of St. Joseph
CARE USA
Climate Collaboration Network of Corporate Ethics International
Centro para la Diversidad Biológica
Centro de Derecho Ambiental Internacional
Centro de preocupación
Red de Acción Climática de Chesapeake
Centro Columbano de Defensa y Difusión
Community Action for Justice in the Americas, Africa and Asia
Crude Accountability
Justicia para la Tierra
EcoEquidad
Comité de Amigos sobre Legislación Nacional
Amigos de la Tierra EE. UU.
Alianza Global para Alternativas a la Incineración
Intercambio global
Testigo Global
Red Ambiental Indígena
Instituto de Política Agrícola y Comercial
Institute for Policy Studies, Sustainable Energy & Economy Network
Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense, AIDA
International Accountability Project
Foro Internacional sobre la Globalización
Ríos internacionales
Jubilee Montana Network
Jubilee Northwest Coalition
Jubileo de Oregón
Jubilee San Diego
Red Jubilee USA
Oficina Maryknoll para Asuntos Globales
Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities.
Federación Nacional de Vida Silvestre
Nuevas reglas para las finanzas globales
North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network
Cambio de aceite internacional
Oxfam América
Red de Acción por la Selva Tropical
Resistencia a la destrucción ambiental en tierras indígenas (REDOIL)
Sierra Club
The Biomass Accountability Project, Inc.
Asociación Unitaria Universalista de Congregaciones
Ministerio Unitario Universalista para la Tierra
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