Media Releases

Oxfam reacts to NZ Government’s biofuel obligation

November 9, 2022

The Government’s biofuel obligation risks doing more harm than good for the climate and global hunger, said Nick Henry, Climate Justice Lead at Oxfam Aotearoa:

“We welcome the decision to rule out the use of palm and soy oil and to limit the use of food and feed to produce biofuel. But this does not go far enough. As our recent briefing paper details, all crop-based biofuels contribute to the increasing levels of hunger across the world.

“Under a similar system in the EU, Europe is burning 17,000 tonnes of rapeseed and sunflower oil per day – the equivalent of 19 million 1L bottles every day – that could be used for food. What’s more, if the Government move ahead with its mandate, it will contribute to land use changes around the world which are extremely harmful to local communities and to the climate.

“Minister Woods is clearly committed to managing the impacts of transport on the environment. We acknowledge changes have been made to improve the biofuel obligation, but it is crucial Minister Woods goes further to reduce the serious harm a biofuels obligation can have on people and planet. The Government must rule out using any food crops and have strict standards to not only protect the environment, but also human rights.

“We look forward to working with the Government to inform and improve its approach to sustainable transport.”

/ENDS

Notes

Oxfam Aotearoa briefing paper on biofuels: https://www.oxfam.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Dont-Burn-Food-Policy-Briefing.pdf

According to the European Federation for Transport and Environment, 18 percent of the world’s vegetable oil production goes to biodiesel. Nearly all of this is fit for human consumption. In recent years, Europe put 58 percent of all rapeseed and 9 percent of all sunflower oil consumed in the region into its cars and trucks. See: https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/food-vs-fuel-europe-burns-19-million-bottles-of-sunflower-and-rapeseed-oil-every-day-in-cars/

COP27: Oxfam reacts to NZ Government’s loss & damage announcement

November 9, 2022

Oxfam Aotearoa welcomes and congratulates the NZ government’s recognition that loss and damage exists and requires funding, but Jo Spratt, Communications and Advocacy Director says it still isn’t good enough:

“Sadly, this is not new funding. Instead, it is allocated from New Zealand’s existing climate finance, which is for adaptation and mitigation. Financing for loss and damage must be new and additional to adaptation, mitigation and overseas aid funding. There is a severe funding shortfall – countries are suffering irreversible damage in the climate crisis.

“To put it into perspective, last month Oxfam revealed that 55 of the most climate-vulnerable countries have suffered climate-induced economic losses totalling over half a trillion dollars during the first two decades of this century.

“While New Zealand is amongst the leading countries in providing dedicated funding for loss and damage, two further steps are necessary to clearly demonstrate our commitment to the Pacific. First, New Zealand must back-up this announcement by supporting a new loss and damage finance facility to help ensure that finance to address loss and damage is accessible and sustained and is delivered in accordance with the principles of climate justice. Second, New Zealand can pledge this $20 million allocation to the new facility.”

ENDS

A billionaire emits a million times more greenhouse gases than the average person

November 8, 2022

Billionaire investments in polluting industries such as fossil fuels and cement double the average for the Standard and Poor group of 500 companies – Oxfam

The investments of just 125 billionaires emit 393 million tonnes of CO2e each year – the equivalent of France – at an individual annual average that is a million times higher than someone in the bottom 90 percent of humanity.

Carbon Billionaires: The investment emissions of World’s richest people, is a report published by Oxfam today based on a detailed analysis of the investments of 125 of the richest billionaires in some of the world’s biggest corporates and the carbon emissions of these investments. These billionaires have a collective US$2.4 trillion stake in 183 companies.

The report finds that these billionaires’ investments give an annual average of 3m tonnes of CO2e per person, which is a million times higher than 2.76 tonnes of CO2e which is the average for those living in the bottom 90 percent.

The actual figure is likely to be higher still, as published carbon emissions by corporates have been shown to systematically underestimate the true level of carbon impact, and billionaires and corporates who do not publicly reveal their emissions, so could not be included in the research, are likely to be those with a high climate impact.

“These few billionaires together have ‘investment emissions’ that equal the carbon footprints of entire countries like France, Egypt or Argentina,” said Nafkote Dabi, Climate Change Lead at Oxfam “The major and growing responsibility of wealthy people for overall emissions is rarely discussed or considered in climate policy making. This has to change. These billionaire investors at the top of the corporate pyramid have huge responsibility for driving climate breakdown. They have escaped accountability for too long,” said Dabi.

“Emissions from billionaire lifestyles, their private jets and yachts are thousands of times the average person, which is already completely unacceptable. But if we look at emissions from their investments, then their carbon emissions are over a million times higher,” said Dabi.

Contrary to average people, studies show the world’s wealthiest individuals’ investments account for up to 70 percent of their emissions. Oxfam has used public data to calculate the “investment emissions” of billionaires with over 10 percent stakes in a corporation, by allocating them a share of the reported emissions of the corporates in which they are invested in proportion to their stake.

The study also found billionaires had an average of 14 percent of their investments in polluting industries such as energy and materials like cement. This is twice the average for investments in the Standard and Poor 500. Only one billionaire in the sample had investments in a renewable energy company.

“We need COP27 to expose and change the role that big corporates and their rich investors are playing in profiting from the pollution that is driving the global climate crisis,” said Dabi. “They can’t be allowed to hide or greenwash. We need governments to tackle this urgently by publishing emission figures for the richest people, regulating investors and corporates to slash carbon emissions and taxing wealth and polluting investments.”

The choice of investments billionaires make is shaping the future of our economy, for example, by backing high carbon infrastructure – locking in high emissions for decades to come. The study found that if the billionaires in the sample moved their investments to a fund with stronger environmental and social standards, it could reduce the intensity of their emissions by up to four times.

“The super-rich need to be taxed and regulated away from polluting investments that are destroying the planet. Governments must put also in place ambitious regulations and policies that compel corporations to be more accountable and transparent in reporting and radically reducing their emissions,” said Dabi.

Oxfam has estimated that a wealth tax on the world’s super-rich could raise US$1.4 trillion a year, vital resources that could help developing countries – those worst hit by the climate crisis – to adapt, address loss and damage and carry out a just transition to renewable energy. According to the UNEP adaptation costs for developing countries could rise to US$300 billion per year by 2030. Africa alone will require US$600 billion between 2020 to 2030. Oxfam is also calling for steeply higher tax rates for investments in polluting industries to deter such investments.

The report says that many corporations are off track in setting their climate transition plans, including hiding behind unrealistic and unreliable decarbonisation plans with the promise of attaining net zero targets only by 2050. Fewer than one in three of the 183 corporates reviewed by Oxfam are working with the Science Based Targets Initiative. Only 16 percent have set net zero targets.

Ahead of the deliberations at COP27, Oxfam is calling for the following actions:

Governments to put in place regulations and policies that compel corporations to track and report on scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3 GHG emissions, set science-based climate targets with a clear road map to reducing emissions, and while at it ensuring a just transition from the extractive, carbon intensive economy by securing the future livelihoods of workers and the affected communities.
Governments should implement a wealth tax on the richest people and an additional steep rate top-up on wealth invested in polluting industries. This will reduce the numbers and power of rich people in our society, drastically reduce their emissions. It will also raise billions that can be used to help countries cope with the brutal impacts of climate breakdown and the loss and damage they incur and fund the global shift to renewable energy.
Corporations must put in place ambitious and time-bound climate change action plans with short-to-medium term targets in line with global climate change objectives in a view to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

“To meet the global target of keeping warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, humanity must significantly reduce carbon emissions, which will necessitate radical changes in how investors and corporations conduct business and public policy,” said Dabi.

Notes:

Download Oxfam’s report “Carbon Billionaires”.

Oxfam began with a list of the 220 richest people in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and worked with data provider Exerica to identify a) the percentage ownership these billionaires held in corporations b) the scope 1&2 emissions of these corporations. To calculate the investment portfolios of individual billionaires, we used the analysis by Bloomberg, who provide detailed breakdowns of the sources of billionaire wealth. Here is the methodology note.

The estimate on the money that could be raise on wealth tax on millionaires, multi-millionaires and billionaires, is through using data from Wealth X and Forbes.

Recent data from Oxfam’s research with the Stockholm Environment Institute shows that the wealthiest 1 percent of humanity are responsible for twice as many emissions as the poorest 50 percent and that by 2030, their carbon footprints are set to be 30 times greater than the level compatible with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.

The GHS protocol greenhouse accounting standards widely used globally spells out the three categories of gas emissions associated with companies as follows: Scope 1 are direct emissions from the company’s operations. Scope 2 are indirect, where the emissions take place elsewhere. Scope 3 are all other indirect emissions, this includes everything from emissions in the company’s supply chains to employee commuting, to the use of the products they sell by consumers.

Little for developing countries to cheer about in climate finance report

November 1, 2022

In response to the US$100bn climate finance progress report, by Canada and Germany on behalf of the donor countries published today, Nafkote Dabi, Oxfam International Climate Policy Lead said:

“While this report provides helpful information on various actions to advance the climate finance agenda, it fails to boost confidence that developed countries will make significant and swift progress on meeting their commitment to provide US$100 billion annually, over 2020-2025 to assist poor countries. The report would have been an ideal moment for developed countries to spell out how they will compensate for missing the US$100 billion mark earlier through additional climate finance in subsequent years. Also, it lacks a robust roadmap as to how they’re going to double adaptation finance by 2025, something they agreed to at COP 26.”

“Poor countries who are worst affected by this climate crisis will find little here to cheer. Countries in Asia, East and West Africa are experiencing more frequent and more severe impacts of climate change, and they have done little to cause it, and they are least prepared to cope with it. That’s why these financial pledges to them are so important. Their citizens are struggling now to cope with catastrophic climate-induced disasters such as droughts, floods, and unpredictable rainfall, which have reduced food production, resulted in water shortages, destroyed livelihoods, and displaced millions.”

“To make matters worse, rich contributors gave more than 70 percent of their climate finance in the form of loans in 2020. This means that poor countries are being loaded up with more debt to pay for climate damage. And even though rich countries claim to have mobilised around US$83 billion in climate finance in 2020, of which US$68 billion they claim was provided as public climate finance, recent Oxfam analysis shows that the actual support provided was just a third of what the reported figures for public finance suggest.”

“At the upcoming COP27 in Egypt, developed countries must address this glaring gap by committing to significantly increase grant-based finance, something that developing countries have long been calling for.”

Rich countries fail to submit ambitious plans to cut emissions

November 1, 2022

In response to the UNFCCC’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report published today, Chelsea Hodgkins, Oxfam’s Climate Change Policy Lead, said:

“This report shows world leaders are still failing to address the climate crisis —our planet is currently on track for a catastrophic global temperature rise of 2.5°C. Scientists are clear: it’s now or never to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Climate change is causing suffering across the world, and it will continue to do so. People are already being pushed from their homes, and are facing hunger and drought, floods, and other climate-induced disasters.”

“The climate crisis does not affect everyone equally —it has a disproportionate impact on people in poorer countries as well as women, Indigenous peoples and other marginalised groups. This is why governments must develop and implement NDCs with equity at the forefront. So far, progress on the inclusion and protection of women and Indigenous peoples’ rights, namely land rights, has been abysmal.”

Oxfam supports calls from allies, including the Business and Human Rights Resource Center and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights International, for NDCs to include specific plans for ensuring equal access to clean, reliable and affordable energy and clear protections for land rights. NDCs should also guarantee the rights of environmental defenders and Indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent.

“Countries must work toward putting our world on a safer path by collectively reducing emissions by at least 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030. Today’s report shows that the combined climate plans submitted will increase global emissions by over 10 percent by 2030. This is alarming.”

“Rich countries have yet again failed to prioritise our planet. They have shown a lack of interest and commitment to addressing climate change that they are largely responsible for. Every fraction of warming is a death sentence, especially for poor communities that are most affected yet least prepared. We call on countries that have not yet submitted their revised climate plans to do so with urgency. They must do so based on their fair share to limit warming to 1.5°C and with specific protections for women, Indigenous peoples, environmental defenders, and marginalised communities.”

INGOs sign southern-led pledge to create a more equitable aid system by 2030

October 27, 2022

Some of the world’s biggest aid and development organisations have signed up to a far-reaching set of commitments to create closer partnerships with local and national organisations in a drive to shift more power, decision-making and money to the places worst affected by crisis and poverty.

The agencies, which include CARE International, Christian Aid, Plan International, Save the Children International and Oxfam International, believe being “locally led and globally connected” will mean bigger, longer-lasting impacts on people’s lives.

‘Only through such partnerships will we remove any dependency on aid and continue to build the strength of the communities we strive to support,’ they say.

The commitment to equitable partnerships forms part of a ‘Pledge for Change’ that follows a two year-long process convened by Adeso, a humanitarian and development organisation in Somalia. International non-government organisation (INGO) leaders in the Global North have heeded challenges from their counterparts based in the Global South as part of the process.

The Pledge for Change focuses on three key areas: equitable partnerships, authentic storytelling, and influencing wider change.

‘There are times when INGOs should complement local knowledge, expertise and relationships with our resources and skills, but we need to know when to step away as well,’ the pledge says.

It acknowledges that big international organisations competing for funds, facilities and talent can unintentionally weaken civil society in the countries where they operate: ‘In the years ahead, we’ll allocate more resources to help local and national organisations take the lead.’

The Pledge for Change also commits to ‘authentic storytelling’ that stops reinforcing harmful stereotypes.

‘We will continue to show the harsh realities of poverty, conflict, hunger and natural disasters because humanitarian crises should not be sanitised,’ it says. ‘But we’ll avoid exploitative imagery that portrays people as helpless victims. We will give credit to partners where it’s due.’

The Pledge for Change, which was developed in collaboration with sector leaders from the Global South, acknowledges inequalities in the system that date back to the colonial era. It requires large INGOs to ensure a more equitable approach and recognises the unique role local organisations play in aid delivery.

The chief executives who have signed the pledge say they will press for implementation across the sector, track progress and report it publicly to show how they are ‘walking the talk’ over the next eight years.

Find out more about the Pledge for Change here: www.pledgeforchange2030.org

Quotes from signatories:

Degan Ali, Chief Executive of Adeso:

We wanted the Pledge to be different from past processes for change in aid. First off, all activities were led by the global south – with Adeso convening the group and other activists giving feedback and sign-off to the pledges as they were being developed. Secondly, it started as a small group of CEOs that have a personal commitment to decolonization and who sought a space to imagine change with their peers. It was a manageable number of people to coordinate and all members really had a say in the final product. Finally, the accountability mechanisms will be designed by global south activists and organizations to ensure that INGOs are being held accountable to their partners and the communities.

Rose Caldwell, Plan International UK:

Locally led and globally connected is at the heart of Plan International’s new Global strategy “All Girls Standing Strong” and that because we know that localisation is essential to ensure we achieve a just world for all children. By setting aspirational targets, Pledge for Change is critical to ensure the change that is needed actually happens. It challenges us to deliver on our Pledge and encourages others to start the journey.

Loreine B. dela Cruz, Executive Director, Center for Disaster Preparedness Foundation (CDP):

The Pledge for Change is a historic milestone in the field of humanitarian and development. The bold step taken by leaders and practitioners to use their power to transform themselves and the sector, in order to build a stronger aid ecosystem based on the principles of solidarity, humility, self-determination, and equality.

The leaders and practitioners decided to accelerate the change taking different paths to achieve the collective goals of equitable partnership approach; of telling stories in an ethical and safe way demonstrating partners’ resilience and praxis; and wider influencing for change.

The ultimate measure and real achievement of this is making spaces and actions on the ground demonstrating the power shift to local actors and amplifying their voices and leadership in various platforms at varying levels.

Danny Glenwright, Save the Children Canada:

I’m proud to have spent my career working in the non-profit and media sectors focused on telling stories about human rights abuses and inequality and working strategically to address these issues and their root causes. Like many people who work at Save the Children, a passion for positive social change and an equally passionate frustration with inequality, racism, and oppression – and the slow pace of change to address these – is what drives me.

Our sector is at a critical juncture in its history: global disparities and social challenges are growing and expanding despite decades of work to address them – even as we’re more interconnected than at any time in history. At Save the Children Canada, we recognize that to sustainably and collaboratively meet these challenges, we must face up to our role in perpetuating some of these inequalities as well as our history as an international NGO based in the Global North, with all the privilege and power that entails. Collaborating with the Pledge for Change process is part of this and participating in it has contributed to our vision for a significant organizational shift to understand and transform unequal power dynamics in all we do.

Gwen Hines, CEO, Save the Children UK:

Signing onto this incredibly important pledge is another step in our journey of shifting the power into the hands of children and their communities. It is only by moving capacity, resources, and ownership to national and local organisations, that we will be able to achieve meaningful and lasting change for children and their communities.

Sudhanshu Shekhar Singh, Founder and CEO, Humanitarian Aid International:

During my career, spanning over three decades, I have seen several processes aiming at reforming the humanitarian architecture but not changing much in favour of local actors and the affected population. The Pledge for Change gives high hope to the community of local actors as this framework is based on clear and measurable indicators. The pledge holds the senior leadership to account for disseminating the commitments and track the delivery on the commitments. I particularly appreciate the decolonial approach and bringing back ethics in communication, which is not racist and respectful to the people we serve.

Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro, Secretary General of CARE International:

CARE International is delighted to be part of this critical and long overdue initiative aiming at shifting power to local organizations and adopting a truly ‘locally-led and globally-connected’ approach to humanitarian response and development. The Pledge for Change will help us learn more meaningfully and transparently from organizations from both the Global South and Global North as we continue to adjust a fast-evolving aid and development ecosystem. This has never been more important as millions are impacted by conflict, climate change and deep inequality. The global majority’s voices must be at the heart of decision-making – this is the main aim of this Pledge.

Danny Sriskandarajah, Oxfam GB Chief Executive:

If organisations like ours are to have the radical impact we seek, then it is clear that we must transform the way we work. It is vital that our sector leads by example in making sure that the way we work embodies the values we stand for. That means doing all that we can to nurture a vibrant and resilient civil society in the countries we operate and engaging our supporters in new ways that are based on solidarity across borders.

Peter Walton, CEO CARE Australia:

The Pledge for Change commitments are not only the right thing to do morally, they are also essential if we are serious about addressing many of the unprecedented challenges the world is facing. International aid needs this long, overdue rethink. It’s time to move beyond the rhetoric into genuine behavioural and systemic change.

Patrick Watt, Chief Executive of Christian Aid:

There is a huge unfinished agenda in how International NGOs exercise power, practice partnership, and portray people. Pledge for Change signals a real commitment to progressing that agenda, and putting more power and resources in the hands of partners, and communities affected by poverty.

Chernor Bah, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Purposeful:

The global aid system is currently not reflective of our common humanity and solidarity – and it often ignores its history and complicity in upholding unjust and unequal power systems. This pledge articulates critical intentional thoughts, actions and behaviors that are past overdue to reform this system. If all actors abide by the pledge, it would be an important step to decolonize aid and create a more just and equitable development community. This is why Purposeful is proud to sign on and be part of this much needed process.

Mary Ana McGlasson, Center for Humanitarian Leadership:

The Pledge for Change is a critical milestone in moving the system forward from its current state of inertia toward more equitable and decolonised ways of working. The Centre for Humanitarian Leadership (CHL) is incredibly proud to have been a part of Pledge for Change in a supportive and guiding role since its inception. While CHL is not an operational actor, we wholeheartedly endorse the pledge as a lever for systemic change.