"Climate change is running faster than we are. The commitments made so far by parties to the Paris Agreement represent just one third of what is needed. We risk irreversible catastrophe if we don't act more quickly and with more ambition" - Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations (Climate Finance Ministerial Meeting)
UN COP27 - Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt (7 - 16 November 2022)
BIODIVERSITY DAY - 16 November.
For many years the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis have been treated as separate issues, but the reality – as highlighted on Wednesday at COP27– is that there is no viable route to limiting global warming to 1.5°C without urgently protecting and restoring nature. “The two need to be looked at as being on the same wavelength, and not one higher than the other,” Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the international legal instrument to protect biodiversity ratified by 196 nations.
‘Biodiversity Day’ at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh comes just two weeks ahead of a high-level gathering of CBD States Parties in Montreal, aimed at reversing biodiversity loss.
“Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish. It is either a Climate Solidarity Pact – or a Collective Suicide Pact,” the UN Secretary-General told over 100 world leaders reunited for the first official plenary of the UN Climate Change Conference.
REVIVAL: Stories of Rewilding Sussex
Revival is a documentary by youth council members of the United Nations Association Climate & Oceans. The film explores four rewilding projects throughout Sussex, from clay to seabed. In the midst of a global ecological and climate crisis, is rewilding part of the solution?
Out on 26 October 2022
Cuckoo Song by Cosmo Sheldrake (London based nature inspired composer)
Watch the Full Documentary HERE
The Ocean Symposium and Marine Exhibition 2022
The Ocean Symposium 2022 is a multi- stakeholder event taking place in Sussex, with a local and a global approach. The theme this year is "Empowering Communities for Ocean Action". It will include an exciting Marine Exhibition with different interactive stands. This event will provide updates of different marine projects across Sussex and Internationally. Attendees to this event will be able to interact directly with the Speakers during the Q&A sessions. The event will showcase exciting new Sussex underwater marine biodiversity, as well as unique international Ocean short films.
Get tickets HERE
Announcing UNA Climate & Oceans offical partnership with Furnace Brook
We are delighted to announce Furnace Brook as an official partner of UNA Climate and Oceans. Furnace Brook is a rural Arts, Ecology & Micro Enterprise Hub where responses to the climate and ecological emergency and our collective disconnect from the natural world are researched and demonstrated.
Furnace Brook is the new home of UNA Climate & Oceans with team members; Zoe May (Narrator), Kelly Jull (Educator) and Claire Ellison (IT & Design) assisting UNA Climate & Oceans with our exciting new programme including Generation Restoration Certification.
Join the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, join our Network!
For more information, please follow this link Generation Restoration
The first ever UNA C&O Ecosystem Restoration Event
The first ever UNA C&O Ecosystem Restoration Event took place on 1st July 2022 at Furnace Brook CIC. We were absolutely delighted with how many changemakers from Sussex, Kent and beyond took the time to attend.
With fabulous presentations from Prof Rupert Read, Dr Chris Sandom and Bryan Spooner of the Rural Transition Alliance Programme, networking sessions and the official launch of the Generation Restoration Network.
The Generation Restoration Network is a network of like-minded individuals, schools, organisations, groups, projects and businesses to share knowledge, support and resources that will assist with restoring our precious and fundamental ecosystems, in response to the climate emergency. To find out more or to join please click here
UN OCEAN CONFERENCE, Lisbon, Portugal. 27 June - 1 July 2022
Between 27 June and 1 July 2022, world leaders, youth, entrepreneurs, and civil society gathered in Lisbon, Portugal, for the second UN Ocean Conference, to mobilise action and jumpstart science-based innovative solutions aimed at starting a new chapter of global ocean action. Co-hosted by Portugal and Kenya, the event was a platform to effectively address the challenges that the ocean is now facing.
UN Names Sir David Attenborough "Champion of the Earth"
The United Nations has recognized Attenborough’s outsized impact on the global environmental movement, presenting him with the UN Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. The award is the UN’s highest environmental honour and celebrates those who have dedicated their lives to tackling crises like climate change, species loss and pollution.
“You have been an extraordinary inspiration for so many people,” said Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), as she presented Attenborough with the award. “You spoke for the planet long before anyone else did and you continue to hold our feet to the fire.”
Along with his work in the media, Attenborough is one of the leading voices of the global environmental movement. He has appeared at landmark summits, like the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference, where he has called for a unified global effort to combat the threats to the Earth.
UN Day to combat desertification and drought - 17 June 2022
Drought is one of the most destructive natural disasters in terms of the loss of life, arising from impacts, such as widescale crop failure, wildfires and water stress. Exacerbated by land degradation and climate change, droughts are increasing in frequency and severity, up 29% since 2000, with 55 million people affected every year. By 2050, droughts may affect an estimated three-quarters of the world’s population. It’s a global and urgent issue.
Between 1900 and 2019, droughts impacted 2.7 billion people in the world, and caused 11.7 million deaths.
Drought, with a focus on early action to prevent disastrous outcomes, is the theme of the Desertification and Drought Day marked on 17 June 2022.
This year’s global observance of Desertification and Drought Day will take place in Madrid, Spain. Spain is vulnerable to drought, water shortages and connected climate change impacts. The Spanish Government is at the forefront of dealing with these issues and has best practice to share.
UN Climate Change Conference, Bonn, Germany, 6 - 16 June 2022
In a powerful address, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary, Ms. Patricia Espinosa announced the end of her term in office after six years at the helm of the UN climate change secretariat. She urged delegates to continue to support its work, and “inclusive multilateralism”, which encompasses the work of all key stakeholders to address climate change.
In Bonn, this week, world governments will focus on work in the key areas of mitigation, adaptation, support to developing countries - particularly finance - and loss and damage, according to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, UNFCCC. The UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn will Lay the Groundwork for Success at COP27.
UN World Oceans Day - 8 June 2022
The purpose of UN World Oceans Day is to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilize and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world's oceans.
This year, the United Nations will host the first hybrid celebration of the annual event on 8 June 2022, hosted in-person at the UN Headquarters in New York to be broadcasted live. It will highlight the 2022 theme of “Revitalization: collective action for the ocean”.
World Environment Day 2022
What is World Environment Day?
Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and held annually on 5 June since 1973, World Environment Day is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach and is celebrated by millions of people across the world. This year it is hosted by Sweden.
UK Government Climate & Oceans policy: Science, Formation and Implementation of offshore renewable energy
This webinar aims to shed light on the science driving UK Government climate policy, its formation, and how policy then informs the push for UK offshore renewable energy. Offshore wind accounts for 13% of the UK's total energy budget (ONS, 2020.). With spiralling energy costs looming and a concerted push towards renewables, it is essential to understand how this growing source will shape the energy sector in the next few decades.
For more information please visit the following link HERE
The Global Biodiversity Framework: Is extinction inevitable?
The United Nations Association Climate & Oceans hosted this interesting online event that addressed the issues regarding the loss of Biodiversity on the planet. Dr Adriana Ford explained what the Global Biodiversity Framework has achieved so far since 2020, what we need from COP15 in 2022, and what can you do about it at local level.
Response Letter from the Minister of State for School Standards to our Youth Statement Report
Read Letter HERE
UNA Youth Ambassador, Gail Sant, meeting with H.E. Abdulla Shahid, President of the UN General Assembly (Delegate to COY16 and COP26, Glasgow, November 2021)
UN COP26 - the outcome: The Glasgow Climate Pact
After extending the COP26 climate negotiations an extra day, nearly 200 countries meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, adopted an outcome document that, according to the UN Secretary-General, “reflects the interests, the contradictions, and the state of political will in the world today”.
Read full article HERE
United Nations Association Climate and Oceans partners with Our Isles and Oceans
The United Nations Association Climate and Oceans has announced its partnership with the recently launched Our Isles and Oceans offshore sailing project.
Our Isles and Oceans launched at the beginning of June 2021 and is an organisation built to create funded training programmes for young people affected by the pandemic and lockdown. Our Isles and Oceans is also one of the first organisations announced as a Clipper Race Team Partner in the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race.
Our Isles and Oceans’ mission statement is ‘Youth Opportunity and Professional Development for Sustainable Livelihoods.’ It intends on, through the vehicle of sport and business, highlighting the importance of a sustainable future for the next generation and has now secured a partnership with the United Nations Association Climate and Oceans as the UN heads into a Decade of research on Ocean Science for sustainable development (2021 - 2030).
READ MORE HERE
First group of Ambassadors - Week 1
UNA Climate & Oceans' Youth Ambassador, Jemma Sargeant, visited Our Isles and Oceans
Biodiversity and Climate Crisis Summit - Digital Environmental Exhibition 2021
READ ARTICLE HERE
Making Peace with Nature
The first UNEP synthesis report is titled: “Making Peace With Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies” and is based on evidence from global environmental assessments.
The resulting synthesis communicates how climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution can be tackled jointly within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. The report serves to translate the current state of scientific knowledge into crisp, clear and digestible facts-based messages that the world can relate to and follow up on. It first provides an Earth diagnosis of current and projected human-induced environmental change, by putting facts and interlinkages in perspective, including by using smart infographics. In building on this diagnosis, the report identifies the shifts needed to close gaps between current actions and those needed to achieve sustainable development. The analysis is anchored in current economic, social and ecological reality and framed by economics and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. By synthesizing the latest scientific findings from the global environmental assessments, the report communicates the current status of the world’s urgent issues and opportunities to solve them.
UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION
CLIMATE AND OCEANS