Day Secretary 5

Day Secretary 5

Posted on November 5, 2021
in COP26 Notes Second Nature Team
Good morning from Glasgow! I really wanted to avoid long lines today, so I got up early and took the train into the Scottish Exhibition Center, arriving around 7am. It was great to be able to get in so early to get some work done in the morning, particularly because I don’t have WiFi where I’m staying. I found a warm spot, drafted the November issue of the Second Nature Monthly Policy Updates (check out past newsletters here !) and caught up on some emails I had fallen behind on.
I started my morning by attending a press conference on factory farming held by Compassion in World Farming. It was a really phenomenal event , and I got to ask a question about environmental justice and animal agriculture, as well as why the issue of animal agriculture was so overlooked in the international climate conversation.
After that, I attended an event on Elevating Indigenous Youth hosted by the U.S. Department of the Interior, featuring Secretary Deb Haaland, the first American Indian to be appointed to a Secretary position. I was thrilled to go to this event as Secretary Haaland is one of my favorite US politicians and an enormous source of inspiration
“Young people are not just the leaders of tomorrow,” she told an overflowing room in the U.S. Center. “You are the leaders of today. In many ways, you are the adults in the room. You truly understand what you are up against.”
The event had a really cool format; Indigenous youth from around the world submitted videotaped questions directed toward different members of the panel, and you could vividly see where they were calling in from and their direct surrounding environment.
Secretary Haaland discussed what the Biden Administration is doing to support Indigenous communities, while avoiding speaking for them. “One of the things we are doing at the Department of Interior is administering grant funds so that local communities can take advantage of their climate funds to deal with weather events in a much more effective way,” Haaland said. “We’re not going to sit in DC and say we know exactly what local communities in Island communities should be doing.”
I really liked hearing her speak, and it was a welcome reminder that we have some really awesome people representing us at the highest levels of government. Haaland stressed the importance of procedural justice and inclusive policy making.
“We are working hard to ensure that tribes and communities have a seat at the table,” Haaland said. “They have the knowledge we need to tap into so that we can make the best decisions possible.”
After that session, I spent some time walking around the country pavilions, tuning into a variety of lectures before grabbing a sandwich for lunch, my first COP sandwich of the conference. It was actually really delicious – a hummus falafel sandwich with beetroot, and I was grateful to find a tasty plant-based option.
Then, I spent some time at some events in the Action Hub, including an event on ocean acidification and sea level rise, which is something I don’t know a ton about but made a point of being more informed about at COP. I also had the opportunity to meet up with some individuals in my network that I have never met in person before, which was great!
Today was also youth day, and there were lots of protests around Glasgow as well as in the conference center itself. These protests signify how exclusionary this conference has felt for youth, something that definitely rings true. Most negotiations are completely blocked off from public access.
Side note: I got to meet my Second Nature colleagues for the first time. Since I started this position remotely, I’d only ever met our President, Tim Carter, in person one time, and I had never actually met Steve beyond Zoom, so it was great to be able to talk off screen for the first time. Tim had arrived at the conference yesterday evening, and since I’ve already been here for four days, I tried to show him around. But, I’ll be honest. In about twenty minutes, I think he had already developed a better sense of where everything was than I have. I’ve been getting so lost walking around the venue, so unfortunately, I don’t think I was the most helpful guide.
I’m wrapping up this blog post today, marking my first full week at COP26. Lots in store for next week, I’ll be sure to keep you all posted.
Follow Noa throughout COP26 on Twitter (@noadalz).
Noa Dalzell is the Climate Policy Associate for Second Nature.
Questions? Looking for specific information and can't find it? None of the above? Help us, help you. Contact a member of the Second Nature Team today.
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Home National World Environment Day (5 June) | Secretary-General’s Message
The theme of this year’s World Environment Day, “Only One Earth”, is a simple statement of fact. This planet is our only home. It is vital we safeguard the health of its atmosphere, the richness and diversity of life on Earth, its ecosystems and its finite resources. But we are failing to do so. We are asking too much of our planet to maintain ways of life that are unsustainable. Earth’s natural systems cannot keep up with our demands.
This not only hurts the Earth but us too.  A healthy environment is essential for all people and all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. It provides food, clean water, medicines, climate regulation and protection from extreme weather events. It is essential that we wisely manage nature and ensure equitable access to its services, especially for the most vulnerable people and communities.
More than 3 billion people are affected by degraded ecosystems. Pollution is responsible for some 9 million premature deaths each year. More than 1 million plant and animal species risk extinction, many within decades.
Close to half of humanity is already in the climate danger zone – 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts such as extreme heat, floods and drought. There is a 50:50 chance that annual average global temperatures will breach the Paris Agreement limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next five years. More than 200 million people each year could be displaced by climate disruption by 2050.
Fifty years ago, the world’s leaders came together at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and committed to protecting the planet. But we are far from succeeding. We can no longer ignore the alarm bells that ring louder every day.
The recent Stockholm+50 environment meeting reiterated that all 17 Sustainable Development Goals rely on a healthy planet. We must all take responsibility to avert the catastrophe being wrought by the triple crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
Governments need urgently to prioritize climate action and environmental protection through policy decisions that promote sustainable progress. To that end, I have proposed five concrete recommendations to dramatically speed up the deployment of renewable energy everywhere, including making renewable technologies and raw materials available to all, cutting red tape, shifting subsidies and tripling investment.
Businesses need to put sustainability at the heart of their decision-making for the sake of humanity and their own bottom line. A healthy planet is the backbone of nearly every industry on Earth.
And as voters and consumers, we must make our actions count: from the policies we support, to the food we eat, to the transport we choose, to the companies we support. We can all make environmentally friendly choices that will add up to the change we need.
Women and girls, in particular, can be forceful agents of change. They must be empowered and included in decision-making at all levels. Likewise, indigenous and traditional knowledge must also be respected and harnessed to help protect our fragile ecosystems.
History has shown what can be achieved when we work together and put the planet first. In the 1980s, when scientists warned about a deadly continent-sized hole in the ozone layer, every country committed to the Montreal Protocol to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals.
In the 1990s, the Basel Convention outlawed the dumping of toxic waste in developing countries. And, last year, a multilateral effort ended the production of leaded petrol – a move that will promote better health and prevent more than 1.2 million premature deaths each year.
This year and the next will present more opportunities for the global community to demonstrate the power of multilateralism to tackle our intertwined environmental crises, from negotiations on a new global biodiversity framework to reverse nature loss by 2030 to the establishment of a treaty to tackle plastics pollution.
The United Nations is committed to leading these cooperative global efforts because the only way forward is to work with nature, not against it. Together we can ensure that our planet not only survives but thrives because we have Only One Earth.

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Marking International Day, Secretary-General Stresses Democracy Cannot Survive without Free Press, Freedom of Expression

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Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the International Day of Democracy, observed on 15 September:
Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of the International Day of Democracy. Yet across the world, democracy is backsliding. Civic space is shrinking. Distrust and disinformation are growing. And polarization is undermining democratic institutions.
Now is the time to raise the alarm. Now is the time to reaffirm that democracy, development, and human rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Now is the time to stand up for the democratic principles of equality, inclusion, and solidarity. And stand with those who strive to secure the rule of law and promote the full participation in decision-making.
This year, we focus on a cornerstone of democratic societies — free, independent, and pluralistic media. Attempts to silence journalists are growing more brazen by the day — from verbal assault to online surveillance and legal harassment — especially against women journalists.
Media workers face censorship, detention, physical violence, and even killings — often with impunity. Such dark paths inevitably lead to instability, injustice and worse.
Without a free press, democracy cannot survive. Without freedom of expression, there is no freedom. On Democracy Day and every day, let us join forces to secure freedom and protect the rights of all people, everywhere. Thank you.
The United Nations Resident Coordinator in China today said he is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives and destruction caused by the 5 September earthquake in Sichuan Province. He said the Organization stands ready to assist and support the Government of China’s valiant rescue efforts.

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