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Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent was ‘shamed’ by six Canadian Youths as they displayed  their shirts revealing a message   “Turn your back on Canada” prominently displayed on their shirts, as Keny began  his speech during the COP17 in Durban, yesterday.

The youths , members of the  Canada Youth Delegation were protesting Canada’s role during the Climate change meeting.

“Our so-called Environment Minister entered these talks by going on record that he would be defending the tar sands. I have yet to hear him say that he’s here to defend my future,” said James Hutt, one of the youth delegates who participated in the action. (more…)

COP17 starts today, 28 November, in Durban, South Africa with Archbishop Desmond Tutu reiterating the need to keep the earth from all forms of degradation because in his words;  “This is the only home we have” 

Speaking in an interfaith rally in Durban, Tutu urged the United Nations conference on climate change (COP17) to deliver a fair, ambitious and binding treaty to address climate change effectively.

The interfaith rally, held at the Kings Park Stadium on 27 November was the first event for faith communities in Durban, who have been preparing for COP17 since one year ago.

“We have faith!” proclaimed bishop Geoff Davies, director of theSouthern Africa Faith Communities Environmental Institute, one of the key organizers of the rally. “Africa is a continent of faith, and we have come here together from different faith traditions to voice our moral and spiritual call for a paradigm shift. We call for climate justice now,” said Davies.

During the rally Tutu also delivered the petition with 200,000 signatures of support titled “We have faith” to the incoming president of COP17, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South African minister of International Relations and Cooperation, and to Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UNFCCC Secretariat. (more…)

Archbishop Bishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has urged western countries to join the fight for a legal binding deal on climate change at COP 17 saying both the rich and the poor are prone to its effects, saying climate change is a big enemy that no country can fight alone, hence the need for all nations to stand together and speak with one voice.

Speaking during the Interfaith Rally that also marked the launch of the COP 17 held at Kings Park Stadium in Durban South Africa, yesterday,  Tutu said:

“I want to tell you that this is our home (earth), whether you are rich or poor we both belong to this home, if you destroy it is not only Africa that will suffer, don’t be cheated you will also be affected”

Tutu

“For your own sake, we are inviting you who are rich to come on our side and fight climate change. God created us to be a family, we are all members of the human family lets care for one another as members of the same family”.

The highlight of the rally was the handed over  of over  200,000 petitions signed by concerned Africans to South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs,  Edna Molewa.

Receiving the petitions from Desmond Tutu, Molewa thanked the Faith Based organizations for organizing the Inter-faith rally and for considering taking a leading role against climate change.

She said faith based organizations are the most indispensableelement in the great fight for climate change.

“It is in such difficult times like this that we invite divine intervention, as the incoming COP president I make a commitment that your petitions will be taken seriously and will get the attention they deserve,”. Said Molewa.

Youths from different parts of the world gathered at the stadium in their large numbers to have their voice heard. They brought the petitions in a wooden ark led by a team of cyclist who cycled 1078km for 17 days from Mesina to Durban.

The event was spiced with presentations from athletes who are also environmental campaigners Lewis Pugh and Braam Malherbe.

There were also musical performances by Black Mambazo Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Arno Carstens and HHP.

The youths braved the rains, and danced as nobody’s business to the tunes of Chaka Chaka who took the audience by storm with her old renditions in the likes of Winkomboti and other reggae tunes originally performed by Bob Marley and Lucky Dube.

Nnimmo Bassey, a Nigerian poet was the last to speak and strongly emphasized on the need for the parties to make a deal that will help change the current climate situation.

“We want something tangible to be done out of the COP 17 or else Africa will be cooked and flied. We will not leave until something has been done” said Bassey.

Bassey who works for Environmental Rights Action (friends of the earth) said In Africa everything is possible, giving examples of the end of South African apartheid era in 1994 saying in the same manner climate change will be won in Africa.

As the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17)  begins in Durban, tommorow,  diplomats form some developing countries are threatening to stage  “occupy”  sit-ins and boycotts over the lack of urgency in the talks, the Guardian reports.

The move follows a call by the former president of Costa Rica for vulnerable countries to refuse to leave the talks until “substantial” progress has been made.

“I have called on all vulnerable countries to ‘occupy’ Durban. We need an expression of solidarity by the delegations of those countries that are most affected by climate change, who go from one meeting to the next without getting responses on the issues that need to be dealt with,” said José María Figueres. (more…)

The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th

Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties (CMP7) to the Kyoto Protocol, will be holding in Durban, South Africa from November 28- December 9, 2011.

All around the world millions of the poorest people are already facing the impacts of climate change, including floods, famine and severe weather conditions.  During the two week meeting, delegates from all over the world with be discussing as well as negotiating to find solutions to this global problem.

eWASH correspondent Njide Onwunyi will  be attending and be bringing you live updates.