EU delegations and EU Member State Embassies all over the world join forces to emphasise the importance and benefit of climate action on the second Climate Diplomacy Day, 17 June 2015. This time, the sense of urgency is unmistakable as the decisive UN Climate Conference COP21 in Paris will take place later this year. To keep us on track to limit global temperature rise to below 2°C, the international community needs to secure a fair, ambitious and legally binding international agreement there. Not only will climate action allow mitigating risks to human livelihoods and to international security; it will also bring about significant economic and business opportunities. Timely investment in low carbon, climate resilient development can generate jobs and growth, and reduce the long term costs of lowering emissions and adapting to climate change impacts.
From interviews, roundtables and conferences to film screenings and bicycle tours – European diplomats will use innovative formats to highlight the positive action that is being taken around the globe. In Berlin, the German Federal Foreign Office, the British and the French embassies invite to a panel discussion and reception on how climate change concerns every one of us.
By following #ClimateDiploDay on Twitter, you will get the latest updates on Climate Diplomacy Day 2015 and the events taking place at about 50 locations worldwide.
The first Climate Diplomacy Day was carried out successfully by Germany, the UK and France on 9 September 2014, with parallel events taking place in over 30 countries. For more, watch this video.
Find more information on the European Climate Diplomacy Day here.
In this interview, EcoPeace Directors Nada Majdalani (Palestine), Yana Abu-Taleb (Jordan) and Gidon Bromberg (Israel) explain why disengaging from a shared environment can aggravate the region’s security challenges.
At the conclusion of the 50th Pacific Islands Forum, Pacific leaders issued a Forum Communiqué and the ‘Kainaki II Declaration for Urgent Climate Change Action Now’ – the strongest collective statement the Forum has issued on climate change. Pacific leaders highlight the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, the SAMOA Pathway Review, and 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the UNFCCC as “global turning points to ensure meaningful, measurable and effective climate change action”.
If ratified, the Mercosur-EU trade deal may reinforce the parties’ commitment to climate action. Yet, its potential relevance is weakened by a language that often stops short of concrete commitments, as well as political resistance.
Iraq is on the verge of an environmental breakdown, and climate change is not helping. The country's fragile environment and the increasing scarcity of natural resources — particularly water — are a result of poor environmental management, as well as several political and historical factors. However, as climate change impacts add to the existing pressures, the environmental collapse turns into a security issue.