listening post

A prisoner

of hope
TreaTing global issues musT feel like TreaTing eye-brows. when you pull one hair, Two more pop up in iTs place. however, mary robinson, who aTTended The recenT cop18 congress on behalf of her foundaTion, feels she is bound To acT on These issues by The cluTches of hope. rory coen spoke To her abouT QaTars human righTs issues, The mary robinson foundaTion for climaTe jusTice and The ongoing conflicTs in The region.
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ollowing her Nelson Mandela lecture in South Africa earlier this year when Mary Robinson ruffled some feathers in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) Party regarding issues of corruption, she said she always understood that [the fight for] human rights is about speaking truth to power. I was speaking as a true friend; tough love if you like, she said. The former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights conceded that she could have highlighted more abuses of power from her regular visits to the country, but felt as an outsider it might not be her place; it was better to establish herself first as a friend and then do what a true friend does: be honest in assessment. Since joining the Silatech Foundation some time ago, Robinson has been spending more and more time in Qatar promoting the project. And whilst she is keen to observe how Qatar continues with its economic and social development, and commitment towards energy efficiency, she also feels that some darker issues are clouding the countrys image abroad. She didnt need much encouragement to comment on Qatars much publicised human rights issues. The conditions for migrants in the labour camps are not good, she said. Any migrants that Ive talked to tell me theyre here because they have to be here. Theyre not happy; they dont believe this is a good place to be working, but theyve no choice. Qatar is branding itself, both politically and economically, as a player in this region. This treatment is going to undermine that sooner rather than later unless theres an understanding that you cannot build your success on the backs of a modern form of bonded labour, she said. Robinson empathised with the locals in so far as they had a right to protect their identity and culture in the midst of the massive influx of foreign workers, but she felt they should bend a little more to accommodate the people who are building the nation. Its simply an economic cost to make sure that the workers have the proper conditions and choices so they dont have their passports removed and these other practices that we hear about, she said. Climate Justice After leaving her post as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2002, Robinson learned she could achieve more outside of the constraints that a multilateral organisation inevitably imposes, where her outspoken views on civil liberties made her an outsider and an awkward voice. By setting up The Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice (MRFCJ) in 2010,

she had the scope to push through her own agendas without being railroaded or sidetracked by political preferences. Her foundation looks crucially not at the subject of climate change but that of climate justice for those people vulnerable to the impacts of climate change that are usually forgotten the poor, the disempowered and the marginalised across the world. Her primary focus during the COP18 sessions was to change the narrative regarding climate change and instead on focusing on the melting ice-caps and the rising water-levels, look at the poor and innocent female farmers in the fields who cannot fend for their families because of climate change. We start from a human rights perspective as you might expect, said Robinson, looking at the injustices of those who are affected by climate change and the fact that they are the least responsible. Its hurting poor communities all over the world, especially in poor, small island states and its undermining their ability to get access to food, water and health. Its displacing huge numbers of people and it will predictably displace as many as 200 million by 2050 and we dont even have a framework to deal with it yet! Robinson mentioned how the future of small island states was being compromised by climate change. Her foundation is all about getting justice to those who need it most and certainly some of these island states are living each day one at a time because of climate change. In a discussion Avoiding a 4-Degree Warmer World: The Need for Global Action, hosted by the World Bank and Qatar during COP18, officials from two island states in the Caribbean Sea were almost weeping as they made their presentations. A four-degree warmer world could ultimately see the worlds oceans rise to unprecedented levels and drown these island states forever. The Minister for Environment in Costa Rica, Rene Castro explained that participants at the congress were treated to CO2-neutral coffee from his country. By its nature, coffee is a product that has the potential to create a large negative environmental impact. Castro said that if Costa Rican delegates were coming to Qatar to plead for more sensitivity, then they would bring a tiny sample of what they were doing to reverse the trends; they would show some example and walk the walk. The Minister of Environment in Grenada, George Prime told his audience that two one-in-50-year hurricanes hit his island in 2004 and 2005 where total damage costs tallied to twice that of the countrys GDP. Octobers Sandy was another reminder of how fragile their state is. Even if these island states reduced their carbon footprint to zero, their futures are out of their hands. It would ultimately depend on how the rest of the world reacts to the threat of climate change. So could their eventual demise be construed as gang manslaughter,

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profile:
Mary robinson was born in County Mayo, ireland in 1944. she was the seventh and first feMale President of ireland (1990-1997) and the seCond united nations high CoMMissioner for huMan rights (1997-2002). she has been sitting with the elders sinCe its foundation in 2007. she is Chair of the international institute for environMent and develoPMent (iied) and is also a founding MeMber and Chair of the CounCil of woMen world leaders. she established the Mary robinson foundation for CliMate JustiCe (www.MrfCJ.CoM) in 2010.

with no nation being held accountable? Wheres the justice in that? Equity-centric The MRFCJ is pushing for a people-centred approach to climate to get it across that this is happening to the poorest and the most vulnerable now and there are very specific things that we can all do. More like Mary Poppins than Mary Robinson, she reeled off the worlds stakeholders responsibilities. We need to ensure that there is equity right across the board, she explained. Starting with equity in mitigation - those most responsible must act much more ambitiously and take seriously their common but differentiated responsibilities. We know now that emerging economies are also big emitters so instead of pointing their finger at the [developed nations], they also have to take responsibility. We also need equity in adaptation, she continued. We must realise the support that many developed countries give to developing countries is being undermined by the impacts of climate change that they are responsible for. There needs to be a focus on big money - new money for adaptation, which is already promised but its not enough. The smart finance and the 100 billion-a-year by 2020 deals may sound generous but when you look at how certain communities affected dont have insurance and dont have a Plan B, you understand that more money is needed. Then we need equity in the transfer of technologies as part of the building of trust the technologies that the rich world is developing should be made available to the rest of the world, she said. Robinson

recognised the work Qatar was doing in this space especially and highlighted how encouraged she was to hear Fahad bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, Chairman of the Organising Sub-Committee for COP18/CMP8 talk about how these Qatars technologies must be applied and made available for the poorer countries in this region Finally, she said, taking a breath, we need more equity in finance, and I dont think this will happen until we get a proper understanding that the real narrative is about people and how climate change is affecting them, including the stories of how theyre transitioning to climate compatible growth and development. Hopes for the future Whilst climate justice is the focal point of the foundations principles, it is also trying to highlight other imbalances which it feels is retarding global progression and innovation. One of the aspects which it is working on is gaining a fairer gender balance in key committees and organisations. During Robinsons campaign for the Irish presidency in 1990, she encouraged Mn na hEireann or the Women of Ireland to stand up and be counted. She has never let go of this particular baton. We managed to get the [gender imbalance] decision adopted by the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI), she said proudly. We would not have been able to get that decision if the Qatar presidency hadnt backed it. I met with the president of COP18, HE Abdullah bin Hamad AlAttiyah during gender day and I told him that we needed his support on the proposal and he said he would do the right thing. He referred it to the SBI and it was negotiated

everybody wanted it to happen so were very proud. Robinson is truly an individual with influence which is evidenced in her position on The Elders an international nongovernment organisation of public figures noted as elder statesmen, peace activists and human rights advocates. At 68 years of age, shes virtually a baby sitting alongside Nelson Mandela (94), Jimmy Carter (88), Fernando Cardoso (81) and Desmond Tutu (81). The 12-member group meet to discuss and recommend on salient global issues such as the political instability across the region. We discuss these devastating conflicts a lot, and Lakhdar Brahimi (the UN peace envoy to Syria) broke down in tears when we turned to the situation [in Syria] in a recent discussion, said Robinson. Theres so much instability in the region and its very worrying so much gender-based violence. When I think of what happened in [Goma, DR Congo] recently with the rebels coming in. I know what happens on the ground when there is this kind of movement of male militia. Women, including grandmothers and young girls, being raped and re-raped. It infuriates me that this kind of thing can happen. She summed up her appreciation for the problems and issues the world is now facing from the devastation in Syria to the threat of a four-degree warmer world in a manner and method which only some people are blessed with. I have adopted Archbishops Tutus way of saying this and he has been through a lot more than me, she said with a sense of modesty, Im not an optimist, Im a prisoner of hope

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