Waste Pickers and Climate Change

Waste pickers are workers in the informal economy who recover recyclable materials from waste. They are invisible entrepreneurs on the frontlines of the fight against climate change, earning livelihoods from recovery and recycling, reducing demand for natural resources, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In Copenhagen, waste pickers will share their experiences and insights and advocate for alternative funding mechanisms to support fair and just solutions to climate change.

Waste Pickers on the Frontline Against Climate Change press conference at the COP 15 Climate Change Talks.

In the News:
"Wastepickers of the world unite at climate talks" By Agence France Presse

"KKPKP puts forth the merits of recycling at Copenhagen" By Laxmi Birajdar, TNN

Bonn Statement

Click here for the Climate Change Fact Sheet and Delegates Statement.

 

Open Letter


Protect the Climate
through Recycling!  

Please sign this open letter to be delivered to climate negotiators in Copenhagen. The new climate treaty must support efforts to increase recycling through the informal sector, instead of funding incinerators and landfill gas systems.

 

Download the pdf... or go directly to the on-line version

Blog

Waste Pickers and Climate Change Blog

Waste Picker Activities in Copenhagen


Dec 7th, 2009 14:00-14:30
Press Conference
Asger Jorn Room, Hall H of the Bella Center
(available live and on-demand www.unfccc.int )

Dec 8th, 2009 10:00-12:00
“Waste Pickers: Organizing against climate change and poverty through recycling”
Red Room, Klimaforum09 Tietgensgade 65 DGI-byen 1704

Dec 12th, 2009 18:15-19:45
“The Informal Sector and Green Jobs Creation”
Official side event, Room “Dan Turell”

Blog Links


Climate-Justice-Now.org

RealClimate.org

ClimateProgress.org

Dismantling India's E-Waste: Potential for Green Jobs?

 

Feature Publications


Cooling Agents
Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation by the Informal Recycling Sector in India

Almost 1% of the population in cities of the developing world is made up of recyclers, mostly informal and largely poor. Most of them are scarcely acknowledged legally. If, as common sense suggests, they save greenhouse gases by recycling, then it is unfair to ignore their mitigation work in cities.

Download the pdf... >>

Respect for Waste Pickers:
Protecting the Climate through Recycling

Reducing, reusing, and recycling municipal waste is one of the easiest and most effective means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A new, non-market, climate finance mechanism is needed to support the formalization and expansion of the informal recycling sector.

Download the pdf... >>