“We strive to lead.”
In his speech at COP22, U.S. State Secretary John Kerry highlighted that "there’s nothing partisan about climate change for the world scientists who are near unanimous in their conclusion that climate change is real, it is happening, human beings for the most part are causing it, and we will have increasing catastrophic impacts on our way of life if we don’t take the dramatic steps necessary to reduce the carbon footprint of our civilization." At COP23 in November 2017, he wants to attend as "Citizen Kerry".
Now that the at times turbulent US election has past, attention must return to cooperating on the global challenges that affect us all, like climate change which 23 high profile military leaders and experts from around the world have today labelled as a threat to peace and stability. In a joint Global Climate and Security Consensus Statement issued by the Climate Security Working Group, the signatories have called for world leaders to address climate risk in their national, regional and international security planning.
Which are the most useful twitter accounts to follow during COP22? We provide you with a list of useful twitter accounts with a foreign policy perspective to keep an eye on before, during and after COP22:
Regional trade deals are often met with negativity by green groups because of potential contradictions with climate policy. And some World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules may be seen as hampering emission reductions. But rather than focusing solely on what is wrong with the trade system, the debate should also focus on how governments could try to shape trade agreements to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
On October 13, the United Nations General Assembly appointed Antonio Guterres as the next UN secretary-general.
Vulnerable countries urgently need predictable support, funding that will offer countless health, economic and development co-benefits of cleaner energy sources writes Ambassador Janine Felson, the Deputy Permanent Representative Permanent Mission of Belize to the United Nations.
Assessing the positive impacts of climate action, an approach which considers the broad spectrum of social, economic and health benefits, has increasingly gained global recognition. This is due, in part, to the insightful work done by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. On this platform, Christian Friis Bach from UNECE noted on February 2016: “Taking into account such co-benefits can radically change the picture and demonstrate that action can pay off, not only in the long term, but also in the short to medium term.” With the Paris Agreement recently ratified by the European Union (EU), what is the potential of the benefits approach for achieving these new commitments in Europe?