Sponsored by Climate Vulnerable Forum members Bangladesh and Philippines, together with all other Climate Vulnerable Forum members and a total of over 110 countries co-sponsoring, including the African Group and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously adopted a new resolution today on human rights and climate change.
Introducing the resolution as a question “none other than a matter of survival” the Ambassador of Bangladesh to the United Nations at Geneva, H.E. Mr. M. Shameem Ahsan, said “the timeliness of this resolution cannot but be stressed as the world witnesses growing climatic vulnerabilities while working on developing a robust, legally-binding outcome this December in Paris,” adding “We are grateful to the different delegations for their positive outlook and willingness and also for joining us in consensus. To you all, this is a support you are lending to millions of people who are in vulnerable situations due to climate change.”
US leadership on climate action: what a nice surprise! However, Germany needs to quickly step up efforts – or stand to lose its reputation in climate mitigation and energy transition.
In 2018, many countries, including India, have been at the receiving end of the worst disasters the world has ever witnessed. It is imperative that they adopt a human security approach to achieve “freedom from hazard impacts” – nationally through a scientific disaster risk reduction strategy, and internationally through climate diplomacy.
Climate diplomacy has been picking up momentum in 2018. To celebrate Climate Diplomacy Week 2018, we collected our 10 best climate diplomacy stories of the year. Travel with us from Brussels to The Hague, Rio de Janeiro, New Delhi, Beijing and San Francisco.
San Francisco’s Global Climate Action Summit ended on 14 September with non-state actors sending a call to action to governments ahead of the crucial COP24 in December, while highlighting their pivotal role in reducing emissions and reaching climate targets.