OHPA Weekly Newsletter #8
Week of May 31th 2024
Welcome to the eight issue of The Open Society Hub for the Politics of the Anthropocene weekly newsletter.
Landmark ruling decrees Wealthy nations must cut carbon emissions faster than developing nations
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which is responsible for upholding the 1982 UN convention on the Law of the Sea, ruled this week that industrialized wealthy nations must cut their emissions at a faster rate than developing states. The Commission of Small Island States on. Climate change and International law, made up of nine Caribbean and Pacific Island states lead by Antigua and Barbuda and Tuvalu requested the advisory opinion. While largely symbolic, this is yet another example of both domestic and international legal action being used to fight climate change.
Source: WEC
WHO announces General Program for 2025-2028 to focus on Climate change as well as Health
The WHO approved its general programme of work which included climate change mitigation in response to increasing global health crises as one of its six strategic objectives for the next three years. Climate change presents a significant threat to global health, exacerbating vulnerabilities in health systems and widening health inequities. The focus of the directive is to bolster health care systems in vulnerable states as climate change exacerbates ongoing crises.
Source: World Health Organization
Wealthy nations finally meet 100bn climate finance goal - two years late
For the first time in 2022, wealthy states met their pledge to give over $100bn to climate finance according to the OECD, up from $89.6bn in 2021. The figure being surpassed represents a milestone in climate negotiations as it represents a mutual commitment by nations which have been historically distrustful of one another in climate diplomacy. The shift is also significant as the financing was not merely public money but also private investment, as firms and governments alike begin to realize the calamity the climate crisis will wreak on the international economy in coming decades.
Source: Climate Home News
GB News continues to give airtime to UK’s main Climate Denial group ahead of General Election
GB News, a notoriously partisan and extreme news network, has repeatedly given airtime and hosted programs with the UK’s most prominent climate denialist group, the Global Warming Policy Foundation. The GWPF produces reports which contradict established climate science and purport policies against reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These attitudes are reflected in the current Tory parties’ policies, however due to the upcoming election this July it remains to be seen if Rishi Sunak can salvage arguably one of the most disastrous governing tenures in contemporary British politics.
Source: Desmog
Antigua and Barbuda Agenda announced as test case for climate and Financial justice, announces UN Chief
António Guterres announced this week it was time to implement new avenues to achieve financial and climate justice for SIDS (Small Island Developing Nations). SIDS have faced disproportionate effects from the climate crisis already, and Prime Minsters of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Brown called ignoring SIDS’ predicament a “gamble with our collective future.” UN general assembly president Dennis Francis said without global financial reform SIDS cannot reach their full potentials, and significant investment is required to mitigate the oncoming crisis.
Source: UN News
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