Latest content: Environment and climate change

Young climate activists from across the Commonwealth shone a light on just how critical youth are at a series of events organised by the Commonwealth Youth Programme at this year’s COP but demanded world leaders need to take more action beyond the annual conference.

The Commonwealth Secretariat organised its first Commonwealth Pavilion at COP26 to serve as an inclusive and collaborative space for member countries and accredited organisations to meet, host side events, convene meetings and showcase research. Here are some of the highlights from the first week of COP26 at the Commonwealth Pavilion. 

Days before the global COP26 climate talks began in Glasgow, HRH The Prince of Wales met with the Commonwealth Secretary-General, The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC for a high-level discussion at Clarence House, to call attention to the crucial importance of sustainable urbanisation in tackling climate change.

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Blog by Samuel Ogallah, Commonwealth National Climate Finance Adviser to Eswatini

As the countdown to COP26 continues, young environmental activists and innovators, academics, experts, and government officials joined a series of regional dialogues to help set the youth agenda at the conference.

Blog by Samuel Ogallah, Commonwealth National Climate Finance Adviser to Eswatini

A blog by Sharon Ngetich, Climate Change Officer, Climate Change Section, Economic, Youth & Sustainable Development Directorate, Commonwealth Secretariat

During a visit to The Bahamas this week, the Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland called for urgent action to ensure improved climate resilience of small states and promised to amplify the concerns of small and other vulnerable states at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow this November.

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Commonwealth Secretary-General invites 20 young Bajans to join youth climate action initiative

Foreign Affairs Ministers from across the Commonwealth met yesterday for the 21st annual Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM). The meeting was held virtually for the second year in a row due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) deployed to The Bahamas to observe the 2021 General Election has released their statement on its preliminary findings on the election stating the overall process was “credible, inclusive, and transparent.”

Though living standards and human capital have improved across the predominantly rural archipelagic nation of over 80 islands since its 1985 induction into the Least Developed Country (LDC) category, Vanuatu remains extremely vulnerable due to high exposure to disasters and low coping capacity.

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Ahead of COP26, the Commonwealth Secretariat yesterday in collaboration with the University of Cambridge Research Centre of Resilience and Sustainable Development launched phase two of the ‘Our Action, Our Future’ project aimed at helping guide much-needed policy change to empower youth in Small Island Developing States.

Yesterday, 20 world-class experts from around the Commonwealth joined two virtual consultations focussed on how to help attract sustainable finance for investment in youth and biodiversity in SIDS.

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The following blog is based on a speech the author presented to the UK-Pacific High Level Dialogue on Climate Change in July 2021, which has been adapted and updated for this website.

<em>A blog by Christine Awiti, Economic Advisor, Commonwealth Secretariat</em>

The Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has spoken today urging the international community to make crucial changes to how it delivers finance to developing nations, proposing a new system that moves beyond the use of GDP as the sole criteria for receiving certain types of support.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has urged member countries to integrate sustainable land use management into their national climate action plans, with a focus on nature-based solutions, on the road to the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 this November.