📢 BREAKING!
In a historic decision, the @UN General Assembly just adopted the resolution to universally recognize the right to a #HealthyEnvironmentForAll!
This signals what we hope will be the beginning of a new era in rights-based environmental policy.
A thread 🧵👇
The adoption of the resolution to recognize the right to a #HealthyEnvironmentForAll arrives after:
🦸♂️ Decades of demands from civil society & Indigenous Peoples organizations,
🇺🇳 Recognition of the right to a healthy, clean, and sustainable environment by the @UN_HRC in October.
Representatives from civil society and Indigenous Peoples organizations — who have been advocating for this resolution for decades — share why this step is so significant!
“This is historical because the right to a healthy environment was so far missing from the universal catalog of rights that should be protected and guaranteed to all human beings without any discrimination.” — Sandra Epal-Ratjen of @FranciscansIntl
“This is a powerful keystone in the progress to justice and the saving of the planet at such a critical tipping point.” — @BirdLife_CEO of @BirdLife_News
“The @UN General Assembly’s universal recognition of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a crucial step forward towards delivering on the promise of the SDGs and creating an equitable, carbon neutral, and nature-positive world.” — @WWF_DG of @WWF
“Implementation of this right can change the future of humanity.” — Daniel Magraw of @JohnsHopkins' Foreign Policy Institute
“While this resolution is no panacea, with sustained advocacy from all stakeholders, it is a stepping stone to lasting peace and prosperity, and a future in which people live in harmony with nature.” — @WWFGovernance of @WWF
"It shines a spotlight on the terrible risks that environmental defenders face on a daily basis and begins the process of protecting everyone." — @RBratspies of @CUNY Center for Urban Environmental Reform
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What do Canadian start-up Planetary Technologies & the @EnvAgency have in common? A secret marine geoengineering experiment involving dumping magnesium hydroxide into the sea off the coast of Cornwall 🇬🇧.
In March 2023, the St Ives Bay community learned that Planetary Technologies had been secretly operating an ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) experiment in their beautiful Bay 🦭🌊 in an attempt to draw down #CarbonDioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the ocean.
Reminder: Marine geoengineering activities - like this Enhanced Ocean Alkalinity project:
⚠️ Are a dangerous distraction from real solutions to the climate crisis & the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels.
⚠️ Go against the global moratorium on geoengineering @UNBiodiversity.
The @EUCouncil just adopted the European Union’s proposal to leave the controversial #EnergyCharterTreaty, an international agreement protecting fossil fuel investments.
We celebrate this victory for people, the environment & the climate.
#ExitECT
The cornerstone of the #EnergyCharterTreaty has been the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (#ISDS) mechanism that allows companies to sue governments through private arbitration courts if they pass or enforce laws that affect the companies’ investments.
“The EU’s decision to leave the #EnergyCharterTreaty reflects the recognition that a regime designed to protect fossil fuel investments is fundamentally incompatible with the climate action needed to protect people and the planet," CIEL @NikkiReisch.
CIEL's @joie_chowdhury is at @ITLOS_TIDM 🇩🇪 awaiting the first-ever #Climate #AdvisoryOpinion.
The #ITLOSAO will spell out States' legal responsibilities to reduce #GreenhouseGas Emissions to protect the #Oceans.🌊
Follow along here 🧵 for live updates 👇
Excitement is running high at the @ITLOS_TIDM, the hearing will be packed.
Today is a testament to the resilience of @cosis_ccil, an alliance of9⃣small island States🇦🇬🇹🇻🇵🇼🇳🇺🇻🇺🇱🇨🇻🇨🇰🇳🇧🇸.
We are honored to be in solidarity with these leaders in the fight for climate & #OceanJustice.
#ITLOSAO doesn’t start until 12 CEST.
👀📺 Watch live:
Here's a bit more background before today's historic #AdvisoryOpinion by @ITLOS 👇
Nearly 200 fossil fuel lobbyists registered for #INC4, outnumbering national delegations, scientists, and Indigenous Peoples at the #PlasticsTreaty negotiations in Ottawa.
🎥Watch Civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ reactions 👇
There is too much at stake at #INC4 to advance a #PlasticsTreaty. CIEL’s @rachelradvany tells us why it is impossible to ignore the power dynamics that exist in these negotiations and obstruct meaningful progress to address the #PlasticsCrisis.
Communities heavily impacted by plastics, should have a seat at the table of the #PlasticsTreaty negotiation. Suzanne Smoke, Anishinaabe Indigenous Knowledge Keeper, Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus @S_N_N_1 says: Enough! We must protect our future generations.
🔎 A closer look at yesterday’s @BerkeleyLab report on #PlasticsAndClimate which reveals plastics are at the heart of #ClimateChange & undermine our ability to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C degrees.
🧵bit.ly/3JmKpXg
🔑 Key Finding: If plastic production keeps expanding, it could account for nearly one-third of the Earth’s remaining carbon budget by 2050.
We need a #PlasticsTreaty that
🏭 Halts the buildout
❌ Limits and reduces plastic production
🧪Covers the full plastics life cycle
🚨 In 2019 @CIEL_tweets warned urgent, ambitious action was critical to prevent plastics' climate impacts.
📈 Yesterday’s @BerkeleyLab report reveals plastic production alone could account for 1/5 of remaining CO2 budget.
🌍 As #COP28 kicks off, @UNHumanRights experts call for an urgent & just phase-out of @FossilFuels, due to their severe negative impacts on #HumanRights & the #ClimateCrisis. 📰 Full statement:
@UNHumanRights @FossilFuels 🛢️#FossilFuels are the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, driving the #ClimateCrisis. This year's record-breaking 57.4 gigatons of CO2-equivalent emissions threaten the #ParisAgreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C. #ClimateAction
💰 Urgent action is required from wealthy States & high emitters to spearhead the #FossilFuelPhaseOut. This starts with avoiding new investments, ending subsidies, and providing crucial support to developing countries for a #JustTransition. #ClimateJustice #COP28