Category: International Political Engagement

On March 21, the 40th session of the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution recognizing the importance of environmental human rights defenders and their protection.

The resolution was proposed by Norway and titled “Recognizing the contribution of environmental human rights defenders to the enjoyment of human rights, environmental protection, and sustainable development.”

Why was this resolution needed:

Environmental human rights defenders play a key role in protecting ecosystems and supporting a healthy and sustainable environment for all. Defending nature against greater destruction often comes with immense risks; in 2018, 321 human rights defenders were targeted and killed for their work — the highest number on record so far. More than three-quarters of those murdered were environmental human rights defenders.

Key aspects of the resolution include:

• Countries are called to adopt laws and protection measures to guarantee protection for defenders
• A requirement for accountability for attacks and threats against defenders
• A call for businesses to carry out due diligence and meaningful inclusion and consultation for those who would be affected by their plans

You can view the declaration here

In December QUNO attended the COP24 in Katowice, Poland. Lindsey Fielder Cook feeds back on the outcomes of the COP and the negotiations on the Paris rule-book in her article ‘The Bare Minimum‘.

At the COP, QUNO worked with others to create a side event that gathered a diversity of voices. With speakers from the interfaith community, a scientist from the IPCC, and leadership from the UNFCC the event’s focus was on working together across differences: Building a Spirit of Solidarity to overcome climate crisis Thursday, 06 Dec 2018 15:00-16:30. A recording of the event is still available to view via the UNFCCC webcast site.

QUNO also observed the operationalisation of the Local Communities and Indigenous People’s Platform, which will meet for their first Facilitated Working Group meeting in Bonn preceding the SB50.

A summary of the COP’s outcomes are available on the UNFCCC website.

QUNO’s special report draws information from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change negotiations and its full report. With an eye on Katowice’s COP24, we highlight factors that both negotiators and citizens can influence such as governance, behavior and land use.

From 1-6 October, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) met in Incheon, South Korea, to present its Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C ,and to work with States to finalize the Report’s Summary for Policy Makers (SPM).  The full Report took nearly two years to prepare; it included ninety-one authors and review editors from 40 countries, contributions from thousands of expert and government reviewers worldwide, and cited over 6,000 scientific references.

QUNO was an expert reviewer and was present at the IPCC meeting in Incheon.  We worked with scientists to engage negotiators on the Report findings, and made four interventions to strengthen what we considered significant research findings in the Report.  This included research findings that human behavior change, including diets, consumption and land-use, would make profound contributions to reducing GHG emissions, and reduce a reliance on geo-engineering that remain unproven on a large scale.  QUNO, under FWCC representation, calls for personal witness alongside political engagement with decision makers, to ensure humanity acts in time to protect the most vulnerable, and all future generations, from catastrophic climate change.

You can read our special report now.

QUNO Geneva has published “A Negotiator’s Toolkit – Second Edition” to support climate negotiators in their work to engage busy Ministries with reasons for urgent, rights-based climate action.

Ministers and other decision makers face competing demands and priorities, but they may also be more receptive to one argument over another. One person may better respond to economic concerns, for example, another to scientific findings. The booklet offers ten concise summaries compiled from expert voices in climate change related sectors. We hope these summaries help negotiators engage with colleagues back home on why urgent, rights-based climate action is critical to the long-term well-being and stability of their countries.

The summaries are based on presentations given by experts at a side event in May 2017, during the climate change conference in Bonn. The Healthier World Argument was compiled following this event. We are thankful to colleagues at Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University and at Newcastle University, for co-hosting this side event in May 2017.

Eileen Flanagan is helping people to make their activism more effective through her online courses. For five years, she has served as board chair of Earth Quaker Action Team, a  group which successfully pressured one of the largest banks in the US to stop financing mountaintop removal coal mining.

Read more about Building a Nonviolent Direct Action Campaign

Previously from Eileen Flanagan:
Building a Nonviolent Direct Action Campaign

We Were Made for this Moment: Finding Your Role in Strategic Activism

Alan Burns from the Charlotte Friends Meeting (U.S.) runs a website called ThinkGlobalGreen, which he updates regularly with climate news from around the world. An article about how his website came to exist was published in Quaker Earthcare Witness magazine. He keeps up to date on climate action lawsuits against world governments, such as the Juliana lawsuit (where young people aged between nine and 20 claim the federal government has promoted fossil fuel production, worsening climate change and therefore violating their constitutional right to life, liberty and property) that is at last going to trial, possibly late this year.

There is a weekly newsdesk page which gets updated each Saturday for the latest climate action news.

The COP23 which took place last month brought to light an important aspect of the struggle to stop climate change: governments agreed to integrate gender equality as a guiding principle for climate action by adopting the first UN Climate Gender Action Plan. This aims to highlight the role of women in climate action and advance gender-responsive national and international climate policy work.

To read the full article by QUNO Geneva’s Isobel Edwards click here.