The Government of Chile took COP25 to Europe:

The Climate Conference COP25 was scheduled to be in Chile. However, after massive violence and repression from to the citizens, the government decided to take the climate conference to another continent.

Hundreds of climate activist and Latin American NGOs were left behind with no help to receive fair refunds for their plane tickets to reach the new location, no consideration was made on the efforts done for months to have activities on the ground in Chile, and uncertainty over how will they get visas to enter Europe remains. Another truth to this change is that most NGOs and activists from the Latin American region will not be able to participate.

We have a very short message:

We can´t do it alone:

We have put all our effort this year to accomplish our mission but these unforeseen economic barriers are leaving us out. We need donations to take our team of activists to COP25. It is simple, please donate whatever you can. This will help us to recover our funds and make it to COP25 in Madrid.

There are many other ways to donate. For more details on that, you can visit: www.larutadelclima.org/donation/

Participation in Climate Conferences is a right: that is it.

Public participation is an essential element of the Paris Agreement. It is simple: you cannot have climate actions that are effective without the public and a human rights-based approach. We at La Ruta del Clima have been promoting public participation as a right of every person and a necessary element for the social-economic transition we must do in light of climate change. However, current decisions by the Chilean Presidency of the Climate Conference seem to have forgotten that this was a Latin American COP. It is not right to leave us behind.

Our work for COP25

In preparation for COP25 in Chile, over the past year, we have been working on several activities including participating in and presenting at civil society forums and dialogues, hosting capacity-building workshops, and ramping up our multimedia advocacy campaign to spread awareness about climate change.

As observers of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and in our official capacity, we have the opportunity to have an impact on important events such as COP25 and exercise our right to participate. This year we assembled a team of 7 volunteer activists to carry out our work for COP25 which includes, participating at side events and executing our communications and advocacy agenda, for whom we had already booked and purchased airfare as well as housing. However, the last minute changes have left us without the required resources.

Participation in Climate Conferences is not balanced.

It is a fact that participation of Global South civil society organizations is very low in most conferences. For Latin America hosting the conference in Chile was an opportunity to have our voices heard and push the climate governance process closer to our needs and priorities. Vulnerable populations in our region require that the UNFCCC consider our context and take action.

At COP23 in Germany, the participation of Latin American NGOs was very low. Out of the approximate 4600 NGO participants, only 4% were from Latin America. Now with this last-minute change of location, is making that these numbers drop further, as NGOs from our region can’t muster the funds in so limited time and with such increases of costs. That is why we at La Ruta del Clima need your support to fulfill our task and be a voice for Latin America in the Climate Conference.