- Posted on July 10th, 2024
Global Call to Action Update – Paving the Way to COP30
Following on from Bonn Climate Change conference in June, we are pleased to share some updates on our campaign to put culture at the heart of climate policy at COP. Below is a short update on the campaign’s progress, and there is a longer update in the Global Call signatories newsletter should you wish to read it.
Building Momentum with the Global Call Campaign
With an increasing number of organisations, networks, and individuals from cultural heritage and creative industries joining climate action, our campaign leading up to COP30 is gaining momentum. Our sights are set on COP30 in 2025, Brazil, for the adoption of a Joint Work Decision on culture-based climate action. Leading up to this, we’re advocating for culture workshops to be held in 2025 by UNFCCC subsidiary bodies. From COP29 in Azerbaijan to COP30, our efforts will be dedicated to championing culture-based climate action. Read our strategy.
We’re also delighted to announce that Europa Nostra has secured a grant from the Geneva-based ALIPH Foundation to support our work.
Group of Friends of Culture-Based Climate Action
The Group of Friends for Culture-Based Climate Action, formed last year at COP28, is gaining momentum within the UNFCCC and beyond. Chaired by HRH Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad al Qasimi (UAE) and H.E. Margareth Menezes (Brazil), the Group of Friends now has 33 member states including culture ministers and government representatives from across the globe. It has been active in several strategic events, including the G20 where there is now a culture working group and the Global Call to put Culture at the Heart of Climate action has been acknowledged. We also hope that there will be a high level ministerial meeting at this year’s COP29 in Baku.
2024 G20 in Brazil
In May 2024, the Global Call made a significant impact at the G20 Culture Working Group meeting in Brasilia. Our message? A call for an ambitious outcome when G20 Ministers of Culture meet in Salvador, Brazil, this November. Together with People’s Palace Project and Perifalab, we rallied Brazilian civil society to support a political victory for culture at COP30.
Cultural and Heritage at Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB60)
The Bonn Climate Change Conference took place on 3-13 June 2024. It is an annual UN climate event that serves as the mid-year meeting of the subsidiary bodies of the UNFCCC. Its results are often highly influential on decisions made at the COP. Global Call signatories and Climate Heritage Network members took advantage of the 2024 meeting to showcase culture-based climate action, to work to embed culture in specific UNFCCC workstreams, and to build support for a JWD at COP30.
Entertainment and Culture for Climate Change Alliance (ECCA)
The UNFCCC is increasingly hearing the culture and climate change message. Cultural activists and the Group of Friends are mobilising an unstoppable movement for change. Significant strides are being made under the Entertainment and Culture for Climate Change Alliance (ECCA), and we’ll have a dedicated Culture Pavilion again at COP29.
The Entertainment + Culture Pavilion, a founding signatory of the Global Call, is a pioneering space dedicated to showcasing the power of art, music, storytelling, and cultural heritage in addressing the climate crisis. Last year at COP28 in Dubai, Julie’s Bicycle and other Global Call signatories partnered with the inaugural E+C Pavilion to cultivate an ecosystem for culture-based climate action and we invite all interested parties to join this collective effort. The Pavilion hosted a kickoff event for the Global Call as well as countless other events. Please read E+C’s impact report “MIND THE CULTURE GAP: How Culture Heritage, Entertainment + Storytelling Are Igniting Climate Action” and replay the webinar event to learn more.
