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.
A new publication on SDGs and foreign policy, prepared by researchers at the German think tank adelphi, highlights a phenomenon I call this the ‘Great Splintering’ – the fracturing of political will for collective action on the global stage. This article outlines five steps we could take to revive multilateralism.
Satellite analysis shows ‘vanishing’ lake has grown since 1990s, but climate instability is driving communities into the arms of Boko Haram and Islamic State. Climate change is aggravating conflict around Lake Chad, but not in the way experts once thought, according to new research.
At a meeting of the Arctic Council, secretary of state Mike Pompeo refused to identify global warming as a threat, instead hailing an oil rush as sea ice melts. The US refused to join other Arctic countries in describing climate change as a key threat to the region, as a two-day meeting of foreign ministers drew to a close on Tuesday in Ravaniemi, Finland.
Around 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood, and about 2.6 billion people rely directly on agriculture. Deforestation, land degradation, and unsustainable management of ecosystems threaten those livelihoods and may contribute to resource-related conflicts and social unrest.