emissions

Adequate reparation in the future LBI: The example of mining disasters

Join us for this official side event during the 7th session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights.

Examining the concrete situations in Marinduque Island (the Philippines) and Minas Gerais State (Brazil), panelists will interrogate whether articles in the current draft for the legally binding instrument would support the rights of victims to access justice, individual or collective reparations, and effective remedy.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sF_Md1ynQ1e4bYxqpoidqw

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com.

Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition

Convened by the Government of Italy and building on the success of the 2019 UN Youth Climate Summit, the event will take place from 28 to 30 September and provide young delegates an unprecedented opportunity to put forward ideas and concrete proposals on some of the most pressing issues on the climate agenda. The first two days will be dedicated to working groups, while the last day will feature a discussion between young delegates and the Ministers attending pre-COP 26.

Interested young people can either:

  • Submit an application by 14 March, detailing the ways they are working with and leading other young people to advance climate action. Experienced young climate leaders are encouraged to submit their application for a chance to be one of two young people representing their country in Milan.
  • Enter the #SumItUp Competition, by submitting a creative sum-up of their favorite #Youth4ClimateLive episode before the 31 March deadline. Youth with creative communication skills and digital storytelling experience are invited to enter the #SumItUp Competition, where one winner will be chosen to travel to Milan and participate in the Youth4Climate event.

The application and the competition provide young people two opportunities to be part of this historic event, whether they are experienced climate activists or just starting their climate advocacy journey. To be eligible to attend, applicants must be between the ages of 15 and 29 and, if selected, all applicants under the age of 18 must be accompanied to the event by a chaperone.

For more information about the Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition event and other ways to get involved in advance of COP26, please visit the Government of Italy’s webpage. Or, catch up on past episodes of the Youth4ClimateLive virtual event series at Youth4Climate.Live. Please direct any questions to youthenvoy@un.org.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the vice chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com. 

South-South Sharing of Experiences in Macro-Financial Policies for Structural Transformation

UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

Meeting the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is inextricably linked with the process of structural transformation. Macroeconomic and financial policies are a key area in which many developing countries face limitations in their capacity to effectively design, manage, coordinate, implement, and evaluate the policy levers of structural transformation. South-South sharing of experiences, including by drawing lessons from success stories such as China’s development strategy, can help to address this shortcoming and assist national capacity-building.

China’s successful development experience over the past 40 years has been based on a pragmatic, gradual and experimental approach to development. Many other developing countries adopted policy strategies that emphasize reducing state influence over key macroeconomic policy levers such as exchange rates and interest rates, combined with broad-based liberalization and privatization at the sectoral level. This latter approach did not result in structural transformation. As such, China’s experience may act as a reference point from which other developing countries can assess alternative economic policy options that are consistent with their own objectives for structural transformation and adapted to their own specific circumstances.

This webinar looks at macroeconomic and financial policies from a comparative cross-country perspective. It aims at fostering a better understanding of the key macroeconomic and financial policy challenges that developing countries face and the extent to which China’s development strategy, trajectory and dynamics can inform other countries’ macroeconomic and financial policy strategies.

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ryV6dH_4SsKEuaGb7o44tw

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org.

Towards the creation of a UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change

Dear friends and colleagues,

As the 47th session of the Human Rights Council (21 June-13 July 2021) is about to end, we would like to invite you to a virtual briefing for civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, to take stock of the most recent developments on the proposal to establish a new UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change under the Human Rights Council and discuss the way forward.

The event Towards the creation of a UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change: Briefing on the June/July 2021 Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC47) will take place on Thursday 15 July, from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM GMT+2/CEST.

Register at the following link: https://bit.ly/2SVkcZu. Interpretation in French and Spanish will be provided.

Please find the concept note here and the background note here.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org.

Is Extractivism Compatible with Sustainable Development?

Please join us in the Mining Working Group’s side-event at the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2021.  Our speakers from the Philippines, Brazil, Bolivia and Democratic Republic of Congo will discuss the impacts of mining and extractive industries and initiatives in their communities to address poverty and human rights abuses brought about by extractive development.

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81514341374?pwd=TWdBSGdtNm1xWmlFZjI5Z0hFaFBodz09

Meeting ID: 815 1434 1374
Passcode: 826876

Spanish translation provided.

About the organizer:

The NGO Mining Working Group (MWG) is a coalition of NGOs that, in partnership with our members and affected local communities, advocates at and through the United Nations for human and environmental rights as related to extractive industries. The MWG addresses unjust and unsustainable extractive practices and policies through the lens of the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples and Earth’s carrying capacity. The MWG promotes a human and ecological rights framework as the foundation for sustainable and just natural-resource management, through: just and transparent international policies; national laws and practices that meet the highest international standards and obligations; and intervention to address violations. In this context the MWG also advocates for the use of economic benefits of resource extraction for the holistic and long-term social, economic, and sustainable development needs of local communities.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

2nd Open Science Conference: From Tackling the Pandemic to Addressing Climate Change

You are invited to attend the Second United Nations Open Science Conference, From Tackling the Pandemic to Addressing Climate Change. This three-day virtual Conference will take place on 21-23 July 2021 and is organized by the United Nations Department of Global Communications, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development Goals.

The conference will bring the global discussion on the connection between open science and climate action to the United Nations in New York and will highlight open science initiatives and infrastructures from around the world as well as policies that can strengthen these. Policy makers, librarians, publishers and research practitioners will discuss what open science has learned – and is still learning – from tackling COVID-19, and how this can be applied into actions addressing the global climate crisis, at the interface of science, technology, policy and research.

In cooperation with the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), the Conference will also engage with early career leaders advancing openness in research and education at a time of lockdowns, and has invited them into conversation with established leaders and policy makers in this key area for advancing the 2030 Agenda.

More information on the conference programme, including registration, is available on the website (Twitter hashtag: #OpenScienceUN).

Kind regards,

Division for Sustainable Development Goals, UNDESA

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN.

Webinar on Adaptation Communications

Webinar on Adaptation Communications: draft supplementary guidance for voluntary use by Parties in communicating adaptation information through Adaptation Communications

Pursuant to decision 9/CMA.1, paragraph 15, the Adaptation Committee (AC) is hosting a webinar on adaptation communications: draft supplementary guidance for voluntary use by Parties in communicating adaptation information. During the webinar, the Adaptation Committee will present its progress to date on this work and invite reflections from Party representatives, practitioners, and other experts engaged in work relevant to the adaptation communications. The input received during this webinar will inform the AC’s efforts to refine and finalize this work by June 2022.

The webinar will be guided by the following objectives:

  • 1. Soliciting input on the draft supplementary guidance from Parties, practitioners, scientific actors, and other experts;
  • 2. Hearing experiences of Parties who have already prepared, or are in the process of preparing, their adaptation communications;
  • 3. Hearing experiences of Parties or practitioners who have used other UNFCCC guidance materials relevant to adaptation or other workstreams.

The agenda for the webinar and further details will be made available soon at http://unfccc.int/event/AC-webinar-AdComs.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit  ngocsdvienna.org.

Sustainable Recovery pledge launch

Join the launch of the Sustainable Recovery pledge

COVID-19 continues to have a devastating effect on people and countries across the world. Not only does it take lives and affect livelihoods, economies and societies – it also poses serious threats to the enjoyment of human rights.  And it is hampering progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

As countries are preparing to build back after the pandemic, it is important that this is done using the 2030 Agenda, grounded in States’ human rights obligations, as well as the Paris Agreement, as the blueprint. But how exactly?

Join the high-level online event on Wednesday 30 June at 2:00-3:00 PM (CEST) and follow the launch of the Sustainable Recovery Pledge which until now has backing from 39 states across the world.

Learn more & register here: humanrights.dk/events/launch-pledge-building-better-future-all-human-rights-its-heart

Among speakers will be senior UN officials and high level members of governments, including:

  • UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Michelle Bachelet
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Mr. Jeppe Kofod
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Mr. Andrés Allamand

You will also meet representatives from civil society and business alongside human rights experts. The event will have interpretation to English, Spanish and French. It will be recorded and made publicly available.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee for Rare Diseases, please visit ngocommitteerarediseases.org.

Promoting Women’s Agency in Responding to the Climate Crisis

A Faith Based Conversation: Promoting Women’s Agency in Responding to the Climate Crisis

Speakers:

  • Dr. Angela Reed RSM – Head of Mercy International Association: Mercy Global Action Office, Sisters of Mercy
  • Karyn Bigelow – Climate Change Policy Advisor, Bread for the World
  • Lynnaia Main – Episcopal Church Representative to the UN, The Episcopal Church
  • Ruth Ivory Moore – Program Director, Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Moderated By: Jasmine Huggins – Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor, Church World Service

Co-sponsored by: Church World Service, the Episcopal Church, Bread for the World, Sisters of Mercy, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. 

World Bicycle Day

The mobility needs of people who walk and cycle – often the majority of citizens in a city – continue to be overlooked, states Share the Road Programme Annual Report 2018, even though the benefits of investing in pedestrians and cyclists can save lives, help protect the environment and support poverty reduction. Meeting the needs of people who walk and cycle continues to be a critical part of the mobility solution for helping cities de-couple population growth from increased emissions, and to improve air quality and road safety.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), safe infrastructure for walking and cycling is also a pathway for achieving greater health equity. For the poorest urban sector, who often cannot afford private vehicles, walking and cycling can provide a form of transport while reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, diabetes, and even death. Accordingly, improved active transport is not only healthy; it is also equitable and cost-effective.

  • The bicycle is a simple, affordable, reliable, clean and environmentally fit sustainable means of transportation;
  • The bicycle can serve as a tool for development and as a means not just of transportation but also of access to education, health care and sport;
  • The synergy between the bicycle and the user fosters creativity and social engagement and gives the user an immediate awareness of the local environment;
  • The bicycle is a symbol of sustainable transportation and conveys a positive message to foster sustainable consumption and production, and has a positive impact on climate.

World Bicycle Day:

  • Encourages Member States to devote particular attention to the bicycle in cross-cutting development strategies and to include the bicycle in international, regional, national and subnational development policies and programmes;
  • Encourages Member States to improve road safety and integrate it into sustainable mobility and transport infrastructure planning and design, in particular through policies and measures to actively protect and promote pedestrian safety and cycling mobility, with a view to broader health outcomes, particularly the prevention of injuries and non-communicable diseases;
  • Encourages stakeholders to emphasize and advance the use of the bicycle as a means of fostering sustainable development, strengthening education, including physical education, for children and young people, promoting health, preventing disease, promoting tolerance, mutual understanding and respect and facilitating social inclusion and a culture of peace;
  • Encourages Member States to adopt best practices and means to promote the bicycle among all members of society, and in this regard welcomes initiatives to organize bicycle rides at the national and local levels as a means of strengthening physical and mental health and well-being and developing a culture of cycling in society.

To learn more about how and why the UN commemorates this unique observance, visit un.org/en/observances/bicycle-day.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO committee on Mental Health, please visit ngomentalhealth.org. 

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