Making climate justice a reality: A people-centered response to the climate emergency (Part I)

Responding to and tackling the climate emergency requires a robust engagement of all sectors and segments of society. While governments should ensure their own collaboration and alignment of policy implementation through multilevel governance, broader civil society needs to be empowered and incorporated in order to ensure that the climate emergency response is widespread, all-encompassing, and most importantly, equitable. Prioritizing and addressing the needs of those who are most vulnerable and often disenfranchised or underrepresented in policy development and decision making processes is indeed fundamental and needs to be at the core of the leaders’ agendas.

Additionally, climate emergency finance needs to consider the needs of both current and future generations, as well as all segments of society. Investment and expenditure of financial resources should be done equitably, prioritizing the most vulnerable groups of our populations. These groups should be actively included in all stages of planning and decision making processes, rather than having decisions made for them without their informed and meaningful input and engagement.

Discussants share experiences and examples of inclusive and equitable climate emergency action planning, successful approaches being taken, and challenges that still need to be addressed and overcome. The ever-growing importance for all levels of government to engage all stakeholders, especially youth, in a rapid transition toward climate-neutral economies, and the role that the UNFCCC’s Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) plays in supporting this mission are key discussion points in this session.