The last 15 UN climate change conferences resulted on a pessimistic and frustrating feeling. Nevertheless, the Copenhagen summit brought new questions to the centre of the public debate, as the imperative matter of the social justice, the messages of street demonstrations where many people got united for climate and the strong proposals of states as Bolivia, who claimed for the need of a Climate Criminal Court.

After Copenhagen and Cochabamba, we hope that the access to resources, the wealth distribution and other social questions will be an invariable part of the agenda.

From Cochabamba, will have an answer from the ecological, social and left movements, who started to integrate social and environmental problems as one side of the same coin, and this outcome will have a future and constructive influence in Mexico negotiations.

The EL contribution

The contribution of the Party of the European Left can be very significant, as the one of many other lefts parties and movements, because the struggles for justice and equality are already part of left wing ideology.

The best way to put climate change solutions at the heart of the talks is to involve the people and to start to discuss all the issues that are related to the climate crisis, the social and economic crisis are all part of the same family. The workers struggles, the levels of GDP, the resources and the situation of vulnerable populations belong to the same social dimension. In contrast to much of the official talks and the technical concepts, it is time to enlarge the debate.

Marisa Matias is a member of Left Block, in Portugal, and has participated in Cop15 and Klima Forum as a member of European Parliament and of the Party of European Left, correspondingly.