NANHRI SIDE-EVENT AT COP29 BAKU, AZERBAIJAN
The 29th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP 29) is an annual international climate change meeting organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where the world takes decisions to address climate change, including the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The primary focus for this year’s COP 29 will be to finalize the first enhanced transparency framework and establish a new collective quantified goal on finance, among other critical issues.
Background
As the impact of climate change continues to shape the future of our planet, its effects proliferate and affect populations on a global level. Climate change have the potential to undermine a range of procedural and substantive rights, often through impacts on access to and use of natural resources. These risks include infringement of the rights of affected individuals and communities to access to information and participation in decision-making, to the enjoyment of rights associated with livelihood, land, culture and self-determination, and to the right to redress for violations of those rights.
In 2015, the Paris Agreement marked a global change in the commitment of countries to address adaptation, capturing the need to increase its visibility and support for it. As part of the efforts, parties established the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) to serve as an overarching aspiration to raise ambitions and accelerate collective actions on adaptations.[1] Adaptation and mitigation efforts globally are currently insufficient to address future risks. While advocacy by inter-governmental organizations, states and civil society aims to accelerate climate action, to date the focus of this advocacy has been primarily on mitigation.[2]
As the need to mitigate and adapt to climate change becomes increasingly urgent, governments and other actors must take significant steps to mobilise funds. Recent progress includes the operationalization of the Green Climate Fund, and a collective pledge under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Even so, the scale of the challenge of mobilizing sufficient climate finance remains considerable. Current progress should be seen in the context of the commitment made by States under the Paris Agreement to make ‘financial flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.
As part of the global efforts to address the challenges of climate change, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, calls for climate action. The Paris Climate Agreement also adopted in 2015, under the UNFCCC, calls on Parties to, “respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants and children.”[3]
As countries and stakeholders gear towards the COP 29 conference, key critical issues for discussion will be how to integrate human rights considerations into policies, processes and actions on adaptation and climate finance. The discussion will require a push for policy coherence with existing human rights obligations and principles in key international instruments concerning adaptation and climate finance. It is against this backdrop that NANHRI is organizing a side event on “Leveraging Human Rights Frameworks to drive inclusive Global Goal on Adaptation and its implementation in Africa’’ at the sidelines of COP29 to be convened in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Objectives:
- To provide a platform for discussion on how to leverage on Human Rights Framework to drive inclusive Global Goal on Adaptation and its delivery in Africa
- To discuss ways of enhancing coordination between Human Rights, Climate justice actors and other stakeholders to support climate change adaptation measures in Africa.
Expected Outcomes:
- Recommendations on how Human Rights Framework can be used to drive inclusive Global Goal on Adaptation and its delivery in Africa.
- Recommendations on how to improve coordination among various stakeholders in furthering climate adaptation actions.
Format of the side event:
The side-event will be preceded by a high level opening remarks address followed by a panel discussion from experts which will be guided by key areas of discussions. There will be both in-person and online participation.
[1] Next Steps for Defining a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning System for the Global Goal on Adaptation by COP 28 (iisd.org)
[2] Climate Adaptation and Human Rights: Potential Directions for Health Advocacy and Research – Health and Human Rights Journal (hhrjournal.org)
