GAME ON! Advocacy Tour ahead of COP27

^{©Christliche Initiative Romero}

Ahead of COP 27, EU DEAR project “GAME ON!” organised an advocacy tour with three representatives from Central America and young ambassadors, from 22 October to 6 November.

In Prague, they held a Climate Justice Breakfast with journalists and a Climate Coffee Circle with activists. In Budapest, they had an open board discussion and visited a climate art exhibition. They also visited German towns and cities. In Brussels, they held a policy roundtable in addition to advocacy meetings with MEPs. They shared their stories and expertise in community environmental protests, access rights to land and water, and policy negotiations.

As per the Climate Game petition, they called for a loss & damage fund and other climate financing for climate justice. One representative stated: “We have pushed and will push for polluters, both companies and governments, to make up for the damage they cause and fill the loss and damage fund.”

The Central American activists also highlighted the need for monitoring mechanisms to ensure that climate financing is used for the foreseen purposes. Spanish MEP Cesar Luena promised to pass the message about the misuse of climate finance in Nicaragua. He will send official cards to both the climate and environmental and external relations committees of the European Parliament. Czech MEPs Mikuláš Peksa and Markéta Gregorová promised to push for a climate refugee status. In Germany, at the Federal Foreign Office, they again discussed climate financing and the importance of monitoring that the funds actually reach the civil society they are destined for.

The tour guests also spoke with activists in Lützerath, a German village threatened by lignite mining. A Central American activist was shocked by the destruction of the landscape: "When I see pictures like this, I think of Latin America, not Europe." At a conference and lecture about socio-ecological transformation, one Central American climate expert cited the successful El Salvador 2017 organised resistance to gold mining - as it was threatening the water supply.

Another topic of conversation was what the European climate movement can do for the Central American movement. They stated: “Even if the decades of struggles in the Global South differ from the comparatively young climate movement in Europe, every environmental problem should be met with resistance and organised fight - no matter where.”

On a dedicated web page, GAME ON! notes the world’s Climate Injustice- how “those who are least responsible for the crisis are bearing the brunt of its devastation.” Through a video, they highlight the case of Guatemalan communities, whose plantations suffer from drought and then flash floods. Their usual two harvests per year are reduced to zero. But innovation is helping them to adapt to and mitigate the effects of global warming.

On the website, Game On’s Young Ambassadors continue to share their personal stories of climate crises through video addresses: climategame.eu/mystory They also call upon readers and listeners to 1) raise awareness, 2) inform political decision makers and 3) demand climate financing. climategame.eu/petition