Events

GLOBE ACTIVITIES @ COP28

luthiers — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 08:05:43 +0000

GLOBE ACTIVITIES @ COP28 luthiers Fri, 10/13/2023 - 11:05

GLOBE@COP28 – INNOVATING FOR PARLIAMENTARY IMPACT

GLOBE International has been supporting the engagement of parliamentarians at UNFCCC COPs since their very inception in the 1990s. Our raison d’etre is to make parliamentarians better informed and more effective on climate change and related challenges. We work to support parliaments and parliamentarians create the legal underpinnings for climate commitments through framework legislation; ensure adequate budget allocation so plans are matched by finance; hold the executive to account for delivery; show leadership and action in parliamentarians’ own constituencies; and work to create broad public and stakeholder support for climate action.

Over the years at COPs, GLOBE has historically organised 2-day GLOBE Legislator Summits in national parliaments (where these coincide with COP venues) as the principal gathering and networking platform for parliamentarians at COPs. Our COP21 Global Legislators Summit, held in the France’s National Assembly, was the largest in GLOBE’s 30-year history.

At COP26, with the world still emerging from COVID, we organised our first ever hybrid COP26 GLOBE Legislators Summit, in partnership with the Scottish Parliament. Marking our 30^th anniversary, and headlined by GLOBE co-founder, Vice-President Al Gore, our COP26 Legislators Summit set us on the path to hybrid events as the new normal. At COP27, we continued this with a hybrid COP27 GLOBE Legislators Summit held in Cairo.

GLOBE@COP28 – STEP-CHANGE IN IMPACT

COP28 marks two major firsts for GLOBE International and the broader parliamentary constituency:

For the first time, the COP28 Presidency, the UAE national parliament, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and GLOBE International will be working together to deliver a Parliament Day (6 December 2023)

GLOBE is marking a step-change in our presence at COPs by taking the decision to host the first-ever Parliamentary Pavilion at a UNFCCC COP, instead of a 2-day Legislators Summit.

The Parliament Day on 6 December 2023 will be marked by a Parliamentary Meeting in the Green Zone, organised by IPU and the Federal National Council of the UAE, with GLOBE International involvement – programme here; and by activities taking place in the Parliamentary Pavilion and other venues across the Blue Zone (details in the COP28 Parliamentary Calendar).

DEBUT OF THE FIRST PARLIAMENTARY PAVILION

The Parliamentary Pavilion will offer greater sustained value over the two weeks of COP28, providing a designated gathering point for the world’s parliamentarians attending COP. It will enable caucusing and networking, foster peer learning and exchange of good practice, with a view to more effectively impacting COP negotiations and outcomes.

The Pavilion will provide a presentation space – featuring approx. 50 events over the course of the two weeks – as well as offer a meeting room for bilaterals and private sessions for parliamentarians. Events will be livestreamed and, where possible, GLOBE is encouraging parallel events to be held in national parliaments over the course of the two weeks.

The Parliamentary Pavilion is being organised as a service to the broader global parliamentary constituency as an initiative of GLOBE International with funding from the UK Government. The Parliamentary Pavilion is open to, and organised in partnership with, other parliamentary networks and organisations, in order to strengthen the parliamentary constituency at COP and beyond.

Parliaments are the constitutional backstops for accountability and must be involved in a more visible and effective way at COPs. The Pavilion is a means of bringing them together across party and political divides to build coherence and common agendas for delivery on commitments made at COP28.

Click here for more information on the COP28 Parliamentary Pavilion.

FURTHER GLOBE SERVICES TO THE PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY AT COP28

In addition to the Parliament Day and the Parliamentary Pavilion, GLOBE is also providing the following services to the parliamentary constituency, in our role as the UNFCCC Focal Point for the Parliamentary Group, to enable parliamentarians to engage more effectively in the UNFCCC and related processes:

COP28 Parliamentary Calendar

Parliamentarians@COP28 newsletter

Monthly COP28 information webinars for Parliamentary Group

Pre-COP28 Expert Webinar (27 November 2023)

Parliamentary excursion on COP28 Rest Day (7 December)

Post-COP28 Expert Webinar (January 2024 tbc)

Sign up here to receive regular Parliamentary Pavilion updates from COP28 and also receive the link to join events at the Pavilion virtually.

Events

GLOBE ACTIVITIES @ COP27

luthiers — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 18:05:43 +0000

GLOBE ACTIVITIES @ COP27 luthiers Tue, 10/18/2022 - 21:05

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for the hybrid GLOBE COP27 Legislators Summit (7 - 9 November 2022) at the Sheraton Hotel in Cairo, Egypt.

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE SUMMIT WEBSITE.

The GLOBE COP27 Legislators Summit will take place from 7-9 November in Cairo, Egypt, coinciding with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP27 hosted by the Egyptian Government in Sharm El-Sheikh (7-18 November 2022).

Click HERE to sign up for our COP27 Newsletter

The hybrid GLOBE Summit will use the latest digital conferencing technology to offer a highly interactive web platform enabling engagement, information exchange and networking amongst parliamentary and other delegates joining from across the world (and in-person on 7-8 November) in Cairo.

2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit (1992) which produced three landmark agreements on climate change, desertification and biodiversity. The resulting UN Framework Conventions on Climate Change (CCC COP27), Biodiversity (CBD COP15) and Desertification (CCD COP15) all have significant COPs (Conference of Parties) taking place this year. While the Climate Convention's Paris Agreement and Glasgow Climate Pact have captured global attention, the Biodiversity Convention’s post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and the Desertification Convention’s land restoration agenda are less known, but equally vital to prevent further unravelling of planetary boundaries. As the world struggles with the interlocking climate and nature crises, global pandemics, geopolitical conflict and resulting impacts on food, energy and water security – all of which have taken their toll on development and economic stability - it is essential to improve alignment among the three Rio global sustainability frameworks and integrate a risk-informed approach to policy making, as required under the more recent Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015) championed by the UN agency for disaster risk reduction (UNDRR).

As climate-related disasters increase in frequency and intensity worldwide, and issues of loss and damage, risk and resilience move up the COP27 agenda, the Summit provides an opportunity for legislators to hear from experts and each other on how improved awareness, alignment, resourcing and implementation of the Rio conventions can not only help advance COP27, but ultimately help deliver Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. The Summit builds on GLOBE’s ‘Coherence & Convergence’ approach to these global agreements, adopted in 2015, and showcases work underway in parliaments around the world, in partnership with the UNFCCC, UNCBD, UNCCC, UNDRR, UNEP and GEF.

SUMMIT OUTLINE

Monday 7 November 2022
ARRIVAL: Delegates arrive in Cairo and cultural tour day with a welcome event in the evening.

Tuesday 8 November 2022
FOCUS ON AFRICA:

This will be a hybrid event with in-person and online delegates issuing a 'Call to Action' for COP27 from African legislators.

Session 1. Profiling GLOBE's work in parliaments across Africa on climate and natural resource governance and delivery of the nature-dependent SDGs via legislative reform, capacity building and advances in environmental accounting, in partnership with UNEP and the Global Environment Facility.

Session 2: Promoting dialogue and collaboration between similar initiatives working under the framework of the UNFCCC as well as the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), with reporting and insights on the outcome of the UN CCD COP15 in Abidjan and the upcoming UN CBD COP15 in Montreal in December 2022.

Session 3: Dialogue Platform for parliamentarians and private sector leaders to ensure synergies in delivery of global frameworks and initiatives, with a focus on outcomes of the COP26 Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use with key government and private sector players.

Wednesday 9 November 2022

DELIVERING ON THE RIO CONVENTIONS:

Virtual full-day event using the interactive Let's Get Digital platform addressing the interlocking Rio+30 agendas and highlighting risk governance.

Session 1: From COP26 to COP27 - a Status Report

A deep-dive into the COP27 agenda and how it has been shaped by the global pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, unprecedented climate change impacts and increasing global vulnerability. Focus on legislative responses and the role of parliaments in addressing systemic risk and resilience. Case studies from parliamentarians in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Australia and Pakistan.

Session 2: Rio+30 - Securing alignment among the Rio Conventions and the Sendai Framework

Presentations by the three Rio Conventions & UNDRR on mechanisms to align agendas and improve coordination. Case studies from Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Oceania and the Middle East, with lessons for parliamentary engagement.

Session 3: Drafting Climate Change Legislation- What works & what have we learnt in three decades?
Introduction to complex architecture of national climate change legislation by distinguished jurists from Brazil, Pakistan and Europe. Climate laws are now being tested in courts through litigation. What does adjudication tell us about what works and what doesn’t? What does success look like and what must the next generation of laws incorporate to meet the objectives of the Rio Conventions?

Session 4: 'We are creating risk faster than we are reducing it.' How the Sendai Framework can help frame risk-informed legislation

An expert-led session by UNDRR on the Sendai Framework Mid-Term Review and the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2022 (GAR22), drawing out key lessons and guidance for parliamentarians on how to manage risk and improve resilience in strategic national frameworks.

Click HERE to sign up for our COP27 Newsletter

Events

GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit (Edinburgh 5-6 November 2021)

luthiers — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 21:45:17 +0000

GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit (Edinburgh 5-6 November 2021)

luthiers Mon, 10/19/2020 - 00:45

Pre-registration is open - Click here

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Watch it here:

FRIDAY: https://www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/globe-cop26-legislators-summit-november-5-2021

SATURDAY: https://www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/globe-cop26-legislators-summit-november-6-2021

Introduction

GLOBE International has hosted legislators’ summits coinciding with the UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COPs), since its very inception almost 30 years ago. These are key moments for cross-party legislators to convene, share innovations and best practice, network and strategise on common agendas. Outcomes can include calls to action, regional action plans, task forces or campaigns. GLOBE’s COP21 summit at France’s National Assembly in December 2015 was the largest in its history and attracted high-level speakers and delegates from parliaments, judiciary, United Nations, international bodies, business & industry, civil society, media and philanthropy. COP presidents and UNFCCCC Executive Secretaries have supported and often participated in these GLOBE summits.

This year, GLOBE International is honored to be working in partnership with the Scottish Parliament, one of the world’s youngest and most modern parliaments. In light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, this will be a hybrid event. Physical participation will prioritise parliamentary delegates, including those from partner parliamentary networks. Thanks to the Scottish Parliament’s state -of-the-art IT facilities, however, we hope to reach hundreds more delegates around the world through our digital platform. The virtual Summit will be open to participation by other stakeholders, including business and civil society.

In light of GLOBE’s commitment to gender equality and in recognition of the under- representation of women in all their diversity parliaments, we are working with SheChangesClimate and others to support gender balance at the Summit and COP26 deliberations. Gender will be a cross-cutting theme across the Summit agenda. As part of our commitment to political education and citizenship development, we also have a strong youth engagement focus to this year’s Summit and are delighted to work with Scotland’s unique Children's Parliament and youth parliaments worldwide to highlight young peoples’ expectations of their political leaders and demands for their future.

CONTEXT FOR THE COP26 LEGISLATORS SUMMIT

The UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement on climate change was signed on 12 December 2015 at COP21 and came into force on 4 November 2016. It represents the world’s first comprehensive treaty to tackle climate change, committing every country to greenhouse gas emissions reductions to keep global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and to strive to keep temperature rise to below 1.5°C.

In November 2021, the world’s governments will come together in Glasgow for the first five- yearly review of the Paris Agreement to commit to enhanced collective action to combat the urgent threat of climate change. Hosted jointly by the British and Italian governments, COP26 has been delayed by one year due to the global Covid-19 crisis. Delegates will gather in Glasgow at a time of great uncertainty, with economies reeling from the impact of the pandemic and uneven vaccine rollout hampering recovery. The latter also impacting the resumption of international travel and in-person meetings - hitherto an essential aspect of effective diplomacy.

Against this backdrop, leaders may be tempted to think ‘recovery first, climate later’ but with successive UN reports pointing to accelerating climate impacts, deepening ecosystem decline and widening social inequality, the opportunity for the coronavirus crisis to spur moves to ‘Build Back Better’ and a green, fair and resilient recovery are still very much within the within the realms of public acceptability, indeed demand. Not least because of the intensity of scrutiny that government climate action has come under from newly-mobilised young people and publics around the world.

The good news is there has been a marked recent surge in public and private actors, including cities, regions, business and investors, adopting long-term emissions reductions targets - the so-called net zero goals - in line with the Paris Agreement. Countries such as the US, EU, UK, China, Japan and South Korea - representing more than 70% of the world’s economy and 51% of global emissions - have made net zero commitments by 2050 (or 2060 in the case of China). Others are expected to follow suit during the course of the year.

But while long-term goals set the direction of travel, there will be no timely net zero transition without mid-term goals and ambitious national climate action plans, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of the Paris Agreement. For this reason, political attention is on 2030 decarbonisation targets, the adequacy of NDCs and climate finance.

To put the magnitude of the transformation required into context: in 2019, global decarbonisation was only 2.4% and, at the latest count, the ‘enhanced’ NDCs submitted to the UNFCCC would still result in a 3°C temperature rise. According to one report, achieving the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1. 5°C and delivering net zero will require a five-time increase in the rate of global decarbonisation every year, starting now.

For this reason, the theme of the GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit is accelerating climate action and delivering a green, fair and resilient recovery.

Pre-registration is open - click here

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UNIQUE ROLE OF LEGISLATORS IN RAISING AMBITION & SECURING CONSENT

Although the Paris Agreement does not explicitly mention the role of legislators in addressing climate change, other than ‘recognizing the importance of the engagements of all levels of government and various actors, in accordance with respective national legislations’, GLOBE legislators have demonstrated the importance of their constitutional duties of law-making, scrutiny and budgetary approval. In particular with regard to the growing body of national climate change laws and frameworks, many of which GLOBE members themselves have been involved with as initiators or supporters.

In addition, since prior to Paris, GLOBE International has advocated that legislators are, in fact, most suited to undertaking the Monitoring, Reporting & Verification (MRV) of national commitments in UNFCCC negotiations, due to their formal constitutional role of holding governments to account as elected representatives of the people.

Importantly, at a time of rising populism, political polarisation and distrust of institutions, politicians and legislators have a significant role to play in securing public support and consent for transformative climate action. The COVID19 experience has shown that public consent cannot be assumed and phenomena such as digital misinformation, disinformation and fake news are new forces complicating political responses to the climate emergency.

2021 – YEAR OF THE ‘RIO CONVENTIONS’

Since Paris, and the development of its ‘Coherence and Convergence’ programme to integrate the UN’s 2015 Summits (Sendai, SDGs and Paris) rather than pursue as standalone government objectives, GLOBE has continued to promote an integrated approach to governance scrutiny by lawmakers.

In 2021, this integrated approach takes on greater significance as all three of the Rio Conventions – climate change, biodiversity and desertification – will be holding their Conference of Parties this year. GLOBE International is committed to a joined-up approach and working to promote the work of all three convention secretariats for greater impact.

GLOBE INTERNATIONAL – ROUTEMAP TO COP26

Over the coming year, GLOBE will work closely with the UNFCCC, COP26 Presidency, other Rio Convention secretariats, UNDRR and others, to engage with parliamentarians. GLOBE will support parliamentary engagement in the relevant processes and encourage national and regional parliaments to exercise their scrutiny and budgetary powers to raise ambition of NDCs, ensuring budget for green recovery packages.

GLOBE International will participate in and support both London Climate Action Week (26 June-4 July 2021) and the Italian Pre-COP Youth Summit (30 September 2021) as key milestones for parliamentary and youth engagement. At London Climate Action Week, which has rapidly become one of the largest international climate events outside of the UNFCCC, GLOBE International will be hosting the London Schools Climate Summit and Student-MP Climate Surgery, in partnership with a range of national and international organisations.

From March 2021, GLOBE will be hosting monthly briefing webinars on the COP26 process for legislators, in partnership with E3G and others. The webinars will track key moments on the global climate and sustainability calendar, including the COP26 Presidency’s Climate & Development Ministerial, the US Earth Day Climate Summit, the G-7 and G-20, the UN Food Systems Summit, the UN Convention on Biodiversity COP15, the Pre-COP Youth Summit, and the Convention on Desertification’s COP15 closing the year.

Addressing lessons from central government and parliaments’ response to COVID19, with particular reference to managing systemic risks while maintaining democratic legitimacy, as a guidepost to managing future disasters will be a common thread throughout the year.

Pre-registration is open - click here

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SUMMIT PROGRAMME

The programme for the two-day GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit is under development with a focus on the primary theme of accelerating climate action and delivery of a green, fair and resilient global recovery, whilst strengthening democratic integrity, securing consent and energising whole-of-society public engagement for sustained delivery.

DOWLOAD THE PROGRAMME HERE

The needs and interests of young people will be foregrounded with active engagement with youth parliaments, organisations and networks, in the run-up to and ahead of the GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit. On Friday 29 October, GLOBE will host a special Scotland-wide Student-MP Climate Surgery, in partnership with the Children’s Parliament and others.

Commitments and outcomes from this event will be launched globally on the opening day of the GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, as an example of parliamentary leadership in establishing new forms of meaningful youth engagement.

The Summit will be informed by and contribute to official deliberations at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow, including through delegates participating in events in both the Blue and Green Zones. The GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit is the only international parliamentary event taking place at the Scottish Parliament during COP26 and will be open to participation by delegates from other parliaments and parliamentary networks.

The following subjects and themes will be integrated in the programme agenda:

NDC Scrutiny
Climate & Green Finance
Loss and damage
Climate Security
Risk Governance
Democracy & Consent
Climate Litigation & innovative legal mechanisms
Just Transition
Public Participation (Eg. Citizens Climate Assemblies)
Women and Climate Action
Health & Climate Change
Coherence & Convergence in policy making

For more information please visit https://www.globecop26summit.org/

Events

GLOBE @ London Climate Action Week 2021

GLOBE — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 21:45:05 +0000

GLOBE @ London Climate Action Week 2021 GLOBE Mon, 10/19/2020 - 00:45

WHAT IS THE STUDENT-MP CLIMATE SURGERY?

CLICK HERE FOR BROCHURE

On Friday 2 July 2021, GLOBE will be facilitating Student-MP Climate Surgeries across London. This year this will be a key component of the Schools Climate Summit held during London Climate Action Week (26 June - 4 July 2021), an annual event that GLOBE has been a founder partner of since its inception in 2019.

This section outlines the background and objectives of this unique initiative and explains how London MPs and students in their constituencies can become involved, with a view to improving democratic dialogue on climate change and on-the-ground outcomes.

CONTEXT

On 20 August 2018, a young girl rode her bike to the Swedish Parliament and sat down on the cobblestones outside with her placard reading ‘School Strike’. Without knowing it, Greta Thunberg had launched a revolution.

Since then youth climate strikes have spread worldwide and the rise of youth activism has been a geo-political game-changer. With the right to vote for 16-year olds being a key demand of student Climate Strikers in the United Kingdom, how can young people's voice and calls for climate action be reflected in politics?

Across the world, youth climate strikers have taken to the streets on Fridays, giving rise to the #FridaysforFuture movement, with young people marching to centres of political power such as Parliament Square in the heart of London.

In the United Kingdom, however, Members of the House of Commons are typically not in Parliament on Fridays, but at their constituency surgeries, as Fridays are traditionally reserved for constituency business.

Mindful of this - and the need to connect student activism with political and civic education - in 2019, the legislators network GLOBE International, initiated the first ever Student-MP Climate Surgery in London. This first effort took place on Friday 5 July 2019 during London Climate Action Week 2019. This was the start of an annual effort to put a practical spin on #FridaysforFuture and support democracy in action.

WHY LONDON?

There are 73 Members of Parliament in London. One in nine of every UK member of parliament is a London MP. This is the largest concentration for any region in the UK - and a severely under-leveraged resource for climate action.

Our Student-MP Climate Surgeries seek to change this and act as a test bed for effective youth civic engagement in similar democratic settings beyond London.

OUR OBJECTIVE is to bring London’s MPs together annually with students during London Climate Action Week to:

improve awareness of the role of MPs in addressing climate change as part of student’s broader political and citizenship education,
improve MPs understanding of the concerns and demands of young people on the climate and nature emergencies, and
promote more responsive politics and catalyse practical collaborative cross-party action on climate change by London MPs, accelerating solutions and producing positive outcomes for London and beyond.

2021 & COP26– A BIG YEAR FOR CLIMATE ACTION

This year GLOBE will be holding the Student-MP Climate Surgery again during London Climate Action Week 2021 (26 June – 4 July 2021) - a major 'whole of society' mobilisation moment ahead of the UK-hosted UN Climate Summit in Glasgow in November.

The Student-MP Climate Surgery in London is an important feature of the youth engagement focus of the GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit, held from 5-6 November at the Scottish Parliament - the largest gathering of global parliamentarians at COP26.

Ahead of COP26, GLOBE is partnering with Scotland's Children's Parliament, the country's Centre of Excellence for children's participation and engagement, to mobilise a similar Student-MP Climate Surgery on Friday 29th October. This Surgery will be held across Scotland with Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and Members of the UK Parliament (Westminster). The outcomes, pledges and calls to action from this youth mobilisation across Scotland will be shared on the opening day of the GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Friday 5th November 2021.

The Student-MP Climate Surgery in London will be held on Friday 2nd July during London Climate Action Week. This year it will be an integral part of London’s debut Schools Climate Summit (Tuesday 29 June 2021), the first such event to bring schools together around the climate agenda. Details can be found in the Summit brochure here. The brainchild of GLOBE International chief executive, Malini Mehra, the Schools Climate Summit calls on London’s 3500 schools to ‘think like a system, and act as a sector’ to help deliver the city’s ambitious 2030 net zero climate goals. It places schools at the heart of local climate action.

Supporting political education and civic engagement by young people, in particular in the lead-up to and at the UN Climate Summit COP26 (Glasgow, November 2021), is a key objective of GLOBE International’s educational efforts.

The Student-MP Climate Surgery also gives practical effect to the Lesson Plan ‘Writing to your MP’ developed as part of the LCAW London Climate Curriculum by GLOBE International, World’s Largest Lesson and London Sustainable Schools Forum, in partnership with Unicef and support from UNESCO.

QUESTIONS FOR MPs

The Student-MP Climate Surgery puts students in the driving seat. It's an opportunity for young people to ask their London MP what they are doing about the climate emergency and to hold them to account. For example, by asking...

In December 2015, world leaders signed the Paris Climate Agreement and made a pact with citizens to deliver on its promises. Is your MP aware of the Paris Agreement and the full range of commitments made?
In June 2019 the UK House of Commons declared a climate emergency and adopted a Net Zero law on carbon emissions. What does your MP think of the Net Zero commitment and what do they see as their role in delivering it on the ground?
Is your local MP supporting private member bills such as the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill (CEE) bill?
Does the local constituency have a climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? What will Net Zero policies mean for local schools, jobs, homes, health, air quality and transport options? How will they be funded? Has your MP raised any of these issues with local or central government or in parliament
How are climate impacts affecting your local constituency? Have local climate risk assessments been done? What are local vulnerabilities and inequalities facing different communities and how are they being addressed? Has your MP raised any of these issues with local or central government or in parliament?
What lessons have been learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic for the Climate crisis?
What is your MP doing to ensure recovery from COVID-19 integrates the UK's climate commitments and promotes a Green, Fair and Resilient Recovery?
How is your MP engaging with the UK's hosting of the UN climate summit (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021? What are they doing to raise UK’s domestic ambition for acting on climate change?
What is your local MP doing to support more vulnerable nations and communities overseas and help deliver the promises of the Paris Agreement as a precondition for success at the Glasgow climate summit?

VALUE FOR STUDENTS & MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT ALIKE

This event turns MP's traditional Friday surgery into a platform for climate dialogue and political education for young people. Empowering students to raise questions with their MPs directly is an exercise in practical citizenship and democratic accountability.

For MPs the Student-MP Climate Surgery is a valuable opportunity to interact with concerned young people on climate change, learn about local concerns and respond to them.

Initiated as a pilot during London Climate Action Week 2019, it is intended as a mutually beneficial two-way dialogue and learning opportunity, making visible young people's concerns and identifying solutions.

It builds on GLOBE International's educational engagement with schools at LCAW 2019, created in close collaboration with the World's Largest Lesson and London Sustainable Schools Forum. The lessons plans for teachers produced conclude with an exercise to write a Letter to their MP which dovetails with this effort.

** HOW TO TAKE PART IN THE STUDENT-MP SURGERY ON FRIDAY 2 JULY 2021 **

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

1. Please contact schools in your constituency and inform them of your willingness to hold a Student-MP Climate Surgery with interested students at your constituency office, or a suitable location such as a school or community hall, as part of the Schools Climate Summit and London Climate Action Week.

2. Many schools in your constituency will have been informed of the Schools Climate Summit by London Councils and the Greater London Authority, both Summit partners, and may already be aware of the Student-MP Climate Surgery.

3. GLOBE International has published Guidance on effective climate change communication with children with the Climate Psychology Alliance, to assist with appropriate communication with children and young people.

4. Please let us know by email <MP-Surgery@globelegislators.org> if you are hosting a Student-MP Climate Surgery and we would be happy to provide further support as needed.

5. Please spread the word from your social media accounts, announcing that you are participating in #LondonClimateActionWeek and the #StudentMPClimateSurgery as part of the #SchoolsClimateSummit - copying to our twitter accounts @Globe_intl @climate_london @london_climate We will help amplify on social media.

STUDENT

1. Find your MP using this link from our friends at They Work For You. This helpful guide from the UK Parliament explains what MPs do. You must be a constituent of the MP - i.e. reside in their constituency - in order to write to them.

2. Email your MP with your request to meet with them on Friday 2nd July 2021 as part of the Student-MP Climate Surgery. Please mention this is being held as part of the Schools Climate Sum mit during London Climate Action Week (26 June – 4 July). Please use any of the questions suggested above or add your own to your request. Your authentic voice is the best.

Please use the suggested subject heading 'Meeting request FRI 2 JULY- London Climate Action Week' and copy your email to us at <MP-Surgery@globelegislators.org>

3. Consider meeting your MP with fellow students and accompanied by a teacher/ appropriate adult to ensure safeguarding requirements are met.

4. Given the demands on MPs time and COVID-19 restrictions, meetings may be virtual via MS Teams or Zoom. We are encouraging MPs meeting virtually with groups of students, or where possible, appropriately socially-distanced at suitable venues.

6. Please write-up / report back on your meeting with your MP and share widely within your school and community. We would love a copy and for you to keep us in touch with your progress.

FOLLOW UP

We’d love to know how things went! Please let us know – your experience will be helpful as part of our ongoing efforts to improve democratic engagement, share good practice and encourage better practice.

We will be in touch with London’s MPs and convene information and networking events to promote learning, collaborative effort and leadership for climate action in and beyond London. These annual Student-MP Climate Surgeries during London Climate Action Week will be a key focal point for reporting on and auditing local constituency action.

Any questions/ comments/ feedback & suggestions? Please drop us a line at <MP-Surgery@globelegislators.org>

Thank You and Good Luck!

RESOURCES

1. The UK COP26 Presidency is developing a Schools Pack to encourage engagement in ahead of COP26. Look here for further details.

2. The Committee on Climate Change is the UK's independent adviser on tackling climate change and produces excellent reports and data on climate change that can be accessed here.

3. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the principal international body tasked with climate change and has a huge amount of relevant resources here.

4. Check out our fabulous resources produced for the LCAW Schools Climate Summit here. They include the London Climate Curriculum and a treasure trove of Partner Resources by our many partners including the Royal Meteorological Society, Transform our World, Youth Climate Summit, ReBoot the Future, and others.

Events

GLOBE CBD COP15 Legislators Forum (Kunming 2021)

luthiers — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 21:44:01 +0000

GLOBE CBD COP15 Legislators Forum (Kunming 2021) luthiers Mon, 10/19/2020 - 00:44

Page under construction

Events

GLOBE ACTIVITIES AT COP26

luthiers — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 21:43:05 +0000

GLOBE ACTIVITIES AT COP26 luthiers Mon, 10/19/2020 - 00:43

Click HERE to sign up for our COP26 Newsletter

GLOBE International was active at COP26, the major summit of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), hosted by the United Kingdom in partnership with Italy, in Glasgow, Scotland (31 October to 12 November 2021). GLOBE was engaged in four principal ways highlighting the key role of legislators in holding governments to account for delivery of the Paris Agreement, exerting legislative leadership in creating ambitious legal frameworks, raising ambition ahead of Glasgow, and seeking to align key international processes such as COP26 and COP15 on biodiversity which are both integral to addressing the joint climate and ecological crises. Gender equality and youth engagement both featured as key themes in GLOBE's work and activities related to COP26.

At COP26, GLOBE hosted the hybrid GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit from Friday 5 - Saturday 6 November at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Working in partnership with the Scottish Parliament, this was the principal legislators event at COP26 featuring a high-level line-up of speakers. Due to pandemic restrictions, this was a hybrid event with a limited number of global parliamentarians participating in-person at the Scottish Parliament. An unlimited number of parliamentarians were able to join virtually, however, as digital delegates. They were able to avail of a state-of-the-art video conferencing platform to enhance the online experience. Other stakeholders from local government, civil society, business, academia, etc could also join online as observers.

Ahead of COP26, GLOBE worked with partners to promote dialogue between young people and parliamentarians on how to solve the climate crisis. These took the form of Student-MP Climate Surgeries in London, and across Scotland with MSPs and MPs, on Friday 29 October. Intended as a means of improving political understanding and supporting informed engagement on a critical issue for young people, these dialogues took place across Scotland with the support of Scotland's Children and Youth Parliaments. Billed as 'The Moment', the results of this Scottish youth-parliamentary dialogue were shared at the opening of the GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit on Friday 5th November 2021.

UNFCCC FOCAL POINT FOR THE PARLIAMENTARY GROUP

GLOBE International is honored to have been designated as the UNFCCC Focal Point for the Parliamentary Group to facilitate the engagement of parliamentary networks and parliamentarians at COP26 and UNFCCC meetings. The founding members of the Parliamentary Group comprise Climate Parliament, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, GLOBE International, InterPares/ International IDEA, ParlAmericas and Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

As Focal Point, GLOBE provided regular updates and hosted a series of webinars and information sessions on the road to and post-COP26 and supported cross-party parliamentary engagement at COP26.

The Parliamentary Group is open to parliamentarians, parliamentary networks or organisations seeking to advance the aims of the UNFCCC and implementation of the Paris Agreement.

COP26 HIGH LEVEL STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE PARLIAMENTARY GROUP

On 10th November Malini Mehra, CEO, GLOBE International Secretariat, delivered a COP26 High Level Statement on behalf of the UNFCCC Informal Group on Parliamentarians. Read it here in English, Spanish and French.

Watch the speech here in English - also available with Spanish and French subtitles.

For more information, please contact focalpoint@globelegislators.org

Click HERE to sign up for our COP26 Newsletter

Events

GLOBE @ London Climate Action Week 2020

luthiers — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 21:43:05 +0000

GLOBE @ London Climate Action Week 2020 luthiers Mon, 10/19/2020 - 00:43

Student-MP Climate Surgery 2020

The rise of youth climate activism has been a political game-changer. With the right to vote for 16-year olds being a key demand of student Climate Strikers, how can young people's voice and calls for climate action be reflected in politics?

The youth climate strikes have taken place on Fridays with young people marching to political centres of power such as Parliament Square in London. In the United Kingdom, MPs are typically not in Parliament on Fridays, but at their constituency surgeries.

In 2019, the legislators network GLOBE International initiated the first Student-MP Climate Surgery on Friday 5 July 2019 during London Climate Action Week 2019 to put a practical spin on #FridaysforFuture.

There are 73 MPs in London. One in nine of every UK member of parliament is a London MP. This is the largest concentration for any region in the UK. And an under-leveraged resource for climate action. Our Student-MP Climate Surgeries seek to change that.

OUR OBJECTIVE is to bring London’s MPs together annually with students during London Climate Action Week to:

improve awareness of the role of MPs in addressing climate change as part of student’s broader political and citizenship education,
improve MPs understanding of the concerns and demands of young people on the climate and nature emergencies, and
promote more responsive politics and catalyse practical collaborative cross-party action on climate change by London MPs, accelerating solutions and producing positive outcomes for London and beyond.

This year GLOBE will be holding the second Student-MP Climate Surgery again during London Climate Action Week 2020.

Putting students in the driving seat, this is an opportunity for young people to ask what their London MP is doing about the climate emergency and hold them to account. For example, by asking...

-- Last year the House of Commons declared a climate emergency and adopted a Net Zero law on carbon emissions. What does this mean on the ground?

- Does the local constituency have a climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? What will Net Zero policies mean for local schools, jobs, homes, health, air quality and transport options? How will they be funded? Has your MP raised any of these issues with local or central government or in parliament?

-- How are climate impacts affecting your local constituency? Have local climate risk assessments been done? What are local vulnerabilities and how are they being addressed? Has your MP raised any of these issues with local or central government or in parliament?

-- What lessons have been learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic for the Climate crisis?

- What are MPs doing to ensure recovery from COVID-19 integrates the UK's climate commitments and promotes a Green, Fair and Resilient Recovery?

-- How are MPs engaging with the UK's hosting of the UN climate summit (COP26) in November 2021? What are they doing to raise UK’s domestic ambition for acting on climate change?

This event turns MP's traditional Friday surgery into a platform for climate dialogue and political education for young people. Empowering students to raise questions with their MPs directly is an exercise in practical citizenship and democratic accountability.

For MPs the Student-MP Climate Surgery is a valuable opportunity to interact with concerned young people on climate change, learn about local concerns and respond to them.

It builds on GLOBE International's educational engagement with schools at LCAW 2019, created in close collaboration with the World's Largest Lesson and London Sustainable Schools Forum. The lessons plans for teachers produced conclude with an exercise to write a Letter to their MP which dovetails with this effort.

HOW YOU CAN TAKE PART IN THE STUDENT-MP SURGERY ON FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2020

1. Please find your MP using this link from our friends at They Work For You. This helpful guide from the UK Parliament explains what MPs do.

2. Email your MP with your request to meet with them on Friday 20, November as part of the Student-MP Climate Surgery during London Climate Action Week.

Here is a suggested template.

Please use the suggested subject heading 'Meeting request 20/11- London Climate Action Week' and copy your email to us at <MP-Surgery@globelegislators.org>

3. Consider meeting your MP with fellow students and accompanied by a teacher/ appropriate adult.

5. Please write-up / report back on your meeting with your MP and share widely within your school and community. We would love a copy and for you to keep us in touch with your progress.

We will be in touch with London’s MPs and convene information and networking events to promote learning, collaborative effort and leadership for climate action in and beyond London. These annual Student-MP Climate Surgeries will be a key focal point for reporting on and auditing local constituency action.

Any questions/ comments/ feedback & suggestions? Please drop us a line at <MP-Surgery@globelegislators.org> Thank you.

Events

GLOBE @ London Climate Action Week 2019

luthiers — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 20:58:09 +0000

GLOBE @ London Climate Action Week 2019 luthiers Mon, 10/12/2020 - 23:58

GLOBE International is proud to support London’s first-ever Climate Action Week. Held in partnership with the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority, London Climate Action Week was initiated by E3G and takes place from 1 – 8 July 2019.

London boasts the largest concentration of organisations working on climate change across policy, business, finance, law, insurance, advocacy, science, technology, diplomacy and academia. London Climate Action Week (LCAW) is designed to connect and leverage these institutions - including through their international reach - for greater collective impact at the global and local level. With the support of the GLA, many London stakeholders have come together to showcase climate solutions, promote innovation and demonstrate leadership.

Activities are taking place across the city at, or engaging, a range of London institutions such as the City of London, The Economist, LSE, Imperial College, The Supreme Court, English National Opera, Tate Modern, Chatham House and Southwark Cathedral.

The full calendar of 100+ registered events for the week can be accessed here.

GLOBE International’s Malini Mehra has been closely involved with the week’s design and delivery. A commissioner on sustainable development to the Mayor of London, she has worked with London’s diverse communities to engage arts and culture, faith, youth, schools, media, entertainment, sports and other sectors in a full-spectrum programme of events. Her blog Beyond the Climate Bubble: London’s Diversity in Action highlights some of these.

GLOBE International is proud to be hosting a number of events and initiatives during LCAW2019 with UK Members of Parliament and partners including the Club of Rome, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & Environment LSE, Project Everyone, World’s Largest Lesson, London Sustainable Schools Forum, UK Climate Change Coalition, Client Earth, E3G, Commonwealth Environment Law Initiative and The Roundhouse.

Please click below for more information about GLOBE International's events at LCAW 2019:

Responding to the Climate Emergency - The Role of Parliament. Monday 1 July 2019. House of Commons, London
Are Courts the New Crucible for Climate Justice? Thursday 4 July 2019. Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change & Environment LSE
Climate Justice - What Role for the Courts? Wednesday 3 July 2019. The Supreme Court, London
Student - MP Climate Surgery. Friday 5 July 2019. At MP surgeries across London. #FridaysForFuture
Climate Change Resources for London Schools. From 1 June 2019 onwards

Events

CBD COP13 Legislators Forum (Cancun 2016)

luthiers — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 20:33:39 +0000

CBD COP13 Legislators Forum (Cancun 2016) luthiers Mon, 10/12/2020 - 23:33

By invitation of the Government of Mexico and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBDS), on 7 December GLOBE International convened the CDB COP13 Legislators Forum as one of the official fora of the COP.

Legislators from 20 countries adopted the CBD COP13 Legislators Forum Communiqué calling for the integration of biodiversity into public policy. Click here to download the Communiqué.

National and local legislators from over 20 countries including Argentina, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria and Senegal amd Taiwan participated in a 1-day programme focused on highlighting the imperative of biodiversity for a prosperous and sustainable world.

The Forum was opened by Mexico's Environment Secretary and COP13 President Rafael Pacchiano Alamán and Quintana Roo State Governor Carlos Joaquín González, followed by CBD Executive Secretary Dr. Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias.

The Opening Segment gave way to a high-level Opening Panel chaired by Senadora Silvia Garza Galván (Mexico) which addressed the challenges and opportunities of integrating biodiversity as a transversal axis in the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The panel included: Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati, Head of Biodiversity, Land and Governance Programme, Division of Environmental Law and Conventions, UN Environment Programme; Dr. Gustavo Fonseca, Director of Programs, Global Environment Facility (GEF); Senator Angélica Araujo (Mexico), Coordinator of the Parliamentary Meeting of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2017; Ms. Liliana López Ortiz, Focal Point of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) Parliamentary Initiative; Mr. Marcos Mancini, Head of Sustainability, Banorte Financial Group; and Ms. Malini Mehra FRSA, GLOBE International CEO.

Session 1, chaired by Deputy Viviane Le Dissez (France), received contributions from legislators from Cameroon, France and Mexico reporting on national experiences integrating biodiversity into water governance.

Session 2, chaired by Dr. Kennedy Graham MP (New Zealand), focused on the progress made in Mexico and Colombia integrating biodiversity mechanisms and objectives into forest governance with the support of the Japan Biodiversity Fund.

Session 3, chaired by Deputy Mariana Arámbula (Mexico), received contributions from parliamentary delegates from El Salvador and Japan on their respective national strategies for the integration of biodiversity into national productive sectors.

Session 4, chaired by Deputy Mirza Flores (Mexico) focused on national experiences of legislators from Kenya, Senegal and Japan integrating biodiversity into disaster risk reduction policies.

In the Forum Communiqué legislators firstly welcomed that:

'(...) Governments, through ministers and others heads of delegations have adopted the Cancun Declaration on Mainstreaming the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity for Well-Being and committed to its objectives.', with many of whose statements they concurred.

In addition they stated that:

'(...) Bearing in mind that conservation, sustainable use, and where necessary, restoration of ecosystems are needed for achieving disaster risk reduction, we note the relevance of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in efforts to promote a holistic approach to mainstreaming biodiversity for the well-being of current and future generations.

Furthermore, we emphasise the important, and often neglected, role of women in biodiversity conservation and equitable use of natural resources, and the crucial need for gender aware and gender responsive policies and frameworks in addressing the biodiversity crisis by promoting women’s active participation in problem-solving and decision-making on the issues.

We Pledge, as legislators in our national and sub-national parliaments, to:

Work with governments and other stakeholders to achieve the objectives of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Targets, to

Use our constitutional powers of review, scrutiny, budget and law-making to hold governments to account in our national parliaments for their commitments made at this and related multilateral fora, to

Work tirelessly in our home parliaments and in partnership with stakeholders and legislators elsewhere, to promote a more coherent and convergent approach to governance, bearing in mind government’s diverse international commitments on the broad sustainability agenda, encapsulated in Agenda 2030, and the imperative to break down silos and develop new more effective models of governance for sustainable development to meet the ambitious goals of the major summits of 2015 and Cancun’s 2050 Vision of Living in Harmony with Nature.

We welcome the opportunity of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2017 (22-26 May, Cancun, Mexico), including the parliamentary meeting on 23 May, to further efforts recognising the links between disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, climate change and sustainable development.

In conclusion, we call upon the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, Cancun, Mexico, 2016, to take into account this Communiqué and the engagement of parliamentarians in its work. We also request the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to call on its Secretariat to recognise the contributions that parliaments and legislators can make in the mainstreaming of biodiversity and, in particular, commend their role in ensuring transparency and democratic accountability in its concluding report to the Conference.'

The Communiqué is available in English and Spanish at the CBD COP13 website:

Download Spanish version (PDF)

Download English version (PDF)

Events

GLOBE COP21 Legislators Summit (Paris 2015)

luthiers — Sun, 11 Oct 2020 15:43:46 +0000

GLOBE COP21 Legislators Summit (Paris 2015) luthiers Sun, 10/11/2020 - 18:43

TOWARDS COHERENCE & IMPACT

The challenge of Paris and the Post-2015 Agenda for a prosperous and sustainable world

GLOBE COP21 Legislators Summit
4-5 December 2015
National Assembly of France
Paris, France

It has been confirmed that GLOBE International’s annual legislators’ summit will take place in Paris from 4-5 December 2015. The Summit will be hosted by the Assemblée Nationale, France’s national parliament, and supported by GLOBE France in collaboration with the GLOBE International secretariat.

The theme of this year’s summit is TOWARDS COHERENCE & IMPACT: The challenge of Paris and the 2030 Agenda for a prosperous and sustainable world.

As has become custom, the annual GLOBE meeting coincides with the Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This year’s COP is the 21st since the establishment of the UNFCCC at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, and a highly-anticipated event - seen as the landmark climate conference since Kyoto in 1997. COP21 is expected to result in a legally-binding international framework agreement limiting greenhouse gas emissions and setting the world on to a more sustainable, low-carbon growth pathway for decades to come.

Events

Events

GLOBE ACTIVITIES @ COP28

GLOBE ACTIVITIES @ COP27

GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit (Edinburgh 5-6 November 2021)

Pre-registration is open - Click here

Preinscripción en español abierta - pulse aquí

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Watch it here:

Introduction

CONTEXT FOR THE COP26 LEGISLATORS SUMMIT

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UNIQUE ROLE OF LEGISLATORS IN RAISING AMBITION & SECURING CONSENT

2021 – YEAR OF THE ‘RIO CONVENTIONS’

GLOBE INTERNATIONAL – ROUTEMAP TO COP26

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Pré-inscription en français ouverte - cliquez ici

SUMMIT PROGRAMME

GLOBE @ London Climate Action Week 2021

GLOBE CBD COP15 Legislators Forum (Kunming 2021)

Page under construction

GLOBE ACTIVITIES AT COP26

GLOBE @ London Climate Action Week 2020

Student-MP Climate Surgery 2020

HOW YOU CAN TAKE PART IN THE STUDENT-MP SURGERY ON FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2020

GLOBE @ London Climate Action Week 2019

CBD COP13 Legislators Forum (Cancun 2016)

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GLOBE COP21 Legislators Summit (Paris 2015)

TOWARDS COHERENCE & IMPACT

The challenge of Paris and the Post-2015 Agenda for a prosperous and sustainable world