ON 10 November 2022, QUNO Human Impacts of Climate Change representative, Lindsey Fielder Cook, spoke on an expert panel to over 60 country negotiators and civil society at the Global Stocktake Technical Dialogue on international cooperation for holistic and integrated approaches to addressing the climate crisis. Lindsey began by asking the negotiators and civil society to engage from both the head and heart before speaking on what holistic and integrated approaches mean, and then celebrating several recent examples of international cooperation which represent such approaches. Afterwards, Lindsey reflected on holistic and integrated approaches that can dramatically scale up climate action but need greater international cooperation that the Global Stocktake engagement can signal. Several such approaches included rights-based approaches, the importance of sustainable and just economic systems, as well as what real human security, and how the GST can embrace language of responsibility. 

Following the decision at COP27 for new funding arrangements to be established in order to address the loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, QUNO offers this working paper. It is focused on innovative and fair sources of finance for addressing loss and damage. This is a working paper that is open to receiving comments (see end note on how to share comments). It is offered in the spirit of the polluter pays principle without endorsement of any arrangement. 

In October 2022, QUNO joined representatives from the Friends World Committee for Consultation, Friends Committee on National Legislation, American Friends Service Committee, Canadian Friends Service Committee, the Quaker Council on European Affairs and Quaker Peace and Social Witness in releasing this statement on the Peace Testimony and the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

The following is QUNO’s submission to the United Nations Secretary General’s consultation on "Net Zero", with an emphasis on real transformation of root causes driving climate change, and avoidance of "greenwashing" under some ‘net zero’ approaches.  In particular, the need for rapid reduction and use of fossil fuels for a safer chance to remain within a 1.5C temperature rise limit. Along with highlighting the need for rapid reduction, the submission draws attention to threats in renewable energy investment being sidelined by investment into geo-engineering such as off-sets and carbon capture storage, the latter technology being expensive, not yet available to scale, prone to emission leakage and enabling ongoing fossil fuel extraction and burning activities. This submission draws attention to the actions we can take to achieve net zero emissions and emphasizes the importance of conserving and restoring ecosystems.

The following brief was submitted to the Human Rights Advisory Committee in response to a questionnaire on the impact of new technologies for climate protection on the enjoyment of human rights. The submission outlines the human rights abuse concerns linked to geo and climate engineering technologies and includes detailed references to findings from the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) AR6 Report.

The Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva, under the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), is the only accredited faith-based observer organisation actively engaged at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  From 14-27 February, the IPCC held an intergovernmental meeting to finalise a Summary for Policy Makers (SPM) of its report, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. This is the second of three sections completing the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which collates the latest climate science – what is happening, why, and what we can do to transform human activities driving global heating - and involves hundreds of scientists worldwide and thousands of peer-reviewed studies. Once approved by governments, IPCC reports have been used by citizens to in turn hold their governments to account for insufficient action on climate change.  During the IPCC meeting, Lindsey Fielder Cook, Representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change at QUNO Geneva, made 29 interventions on behalf of FWCC.  Her interventions can be read in the attached document below.

The Human Impacts of Climate Change programme jointly made a submission to the UNFCCC’s Katowice Committee of Experts on the Impacts of the Implementation of Response Measures (KCI), working alongside colleagues from the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA). The Committee – which features representatives from each of the five UN regional groups, one member from the least developed countries, one member from the small island developing States and two members from relevant intergovernmental organizations - was established in 2018 to produce work on the impacts – both positive and negative - of responses to climate change taken by different actors. QUNO has been an observer of KCI meetings throughout the course of these years, advocating for responses that take human rights into account.

The submission focused on the transition from fossil fuels-based energy consumption to renewable energy, advocating for a just energy transition in which resources are mobilised in such a way that reduces inequality and guarantees human rights. Specifically, the paper outlined the negative impacts on human rights of large-scale renewable energy projects that fail to consider their impact on the local communities and environment where they are being built. The paper discusses the alternative decentralised renewable energy systems (DRE), as an existent model for energy transitioning that is human rights compliant.  

The authors write that “[the climate response] requires costs, as well as benefits, to be fairly distributed to ensure the decarbonization of our energy system does not further exacerbate or entrench existing inequalities.” This submission aligns with QUNO’s ongoing advocacy for a climate response that is human rights-centred and which ensures climate justice.  

To read the full joint submission, click below.

QUNO's December 2021 issue of the Geneva Reporter newsletter is available below. This issue includes reflections and updates from QUNO staff who attended COP 26 in Glasgow on November 2021. This issue also provides updates on our programs, Peace and Disarmament (P&D) and Human Rights and Refugees. We also welcome QUNO's new incoming director, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, and say farewell to our outgoing director, Jonathan Woolley who will retire on 31 December 2021.You can read more about Nozizwe and her vision for QUNO in the Q&A section. 

QUNO's September 2021 issue of the Geneva Reporter newsletter is available below. This issue includes an updates of our work leading up to COP 26 in Glasgow as well as our work on legal arms trade and human rights, trade and sustainability at the WTO, and the HRC and dehumanizing treatment of migrants. Our QUNO Q&A for this issue features an interview with former PA Daniel Cullen.