Countries of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) reportedly broke new grounds on Thursday, November 22, 2018 by successfully organising the first gathering of Heads of States and governments completely online at www.vitualclimatesummit.org, setting a precedent for a future of low emissions international fora.

The zero-carbon summit, which came as a response to the scientific report by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released last September, aimed at providing a platform for all leaders to commit to raising climate ambition by 2020 to keep warming below 1.5C degrees as agreed in 2015 in Paris and to safeguard vulnerable communities worldwide from runaway climate change.

Pre-recorded video statements, panels and films were screened over 24 hours engaging various audiences over social media. More than 50 countries participated including Costa Rica, Germany, France, Fiji, Philippines, Mexico, Norway, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Palau, Finland, Cambodia, Switzerland, Rwanda, Grenada, Lebanon, Kiribati, Ireland, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sweden, Santa Lucia, Barbados, Haïti, Mongolia and others.

The Summit has been described as an important show of leadership by the Marshall Islands and other countries most vulnerable to climate change, which optimised scarce resources to organise the Summit and build a coalition of frontrunners who will act as the driving force for a decision on enhancement at the upcoming UN negotiations (COP24) in Katowice and the UN Secretary General (UNSG) Summit in September 2019.

The Summit Host, President of the Marshall Islands and Chair of the CVF, Dr. Hilda Heine, announced new and ambitious climate targets becoming one of the first along with Fiji to respond to the Paris commitments and setting an example for other countries to follow to secure survival and protection of vulnerable communities worldwide.

The official outcome of the Summit, particularly the “Jumemmej Declaration” (Marshallese for vigilance against threats) will feed into the agreed mechanism to promote enhanced action by all nations party to the Paris Agreement dubbed the “Talanoa Dialogue” and sends a powerful call to arms to all leaders and non-state actors to enhance ambition by 2020 while emphasising the role of the UNSG Summit in 2019. The Declaration also announces that all CVF countries will enhance their own climate contributions by 2020.

CVF countries attempted to lead by example to emphasise that the transition to clean renewable energy and decarbonised economies that will keep warming below 1.5C is feasible and economically productive.

Although the Summit kicked off a snowball for enhanced commitments, which civil society will keep pushing to build up to a significant size during the climate talks in Katowice through to the UNSG Summit in 2019, many countries missed the intended purpose of the online meeting, either by not participating in the Summit or by failing to present new strong and ambitious commitments. As many speakers in the Summit expressed, enhanced commitments are the only way to safeguard vulnerable and other communities from dangerous climate impacts that are threatening their survival and peace and security worldwide.

The IPCC’s special report was clear. To keep the world safe from climate disasters, countries should take unprecedented actions to cut carbon emissions and a complete phase-out of coal by all members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development by 2030.

The Summit saw the participation of several civil society and organisational leaders including the UN, World Bank, the Global Environment Facility, the Elders, Oxfam, Mission 2020, SEforAll, Greenpeace, the WorldWide Fund for Nature, the World Resources Institute, CARE and others.

Caroline Kende-Robb, Secretary General, CARE International, says: “We will take a giant step towards keeping warming below 1.5C when we realise that women and girls are not only among the most affected but also leading positive change. CARE’s work with communities from Tanzania to Niger and elsewhere proves that climate justice and gender justice go hand in hand as women are initiating income-earning and renewable energy projects that benefit whole communities. A game-changer would be to have locally driven, gender-inclusive humanitarian response with women’s voice at the policy table and the financial means to make their recommendations reality.”

Helen Mountford, WRI Global Director of Economics and Programme Director of the New Climate Economy: “The Climate Vulnerable Forum is an important global moment for leaders to recognise the incredible economic and social opportunities to step-up climate action and achieve together the 1.5oC goal, as well as the mounting risks of delaying action. The latest New Climate Economy report shows that bold climate action can deliver $26 trillion in economic benefits between now and 2030, reduce deaths from air pollution, create jobs, and important new opportunities for women. We need to urgently seize these opportunities. With the announcements they’re making at the summit to enhance their Paris commitments, the CVF countries are providing leadership for the entire world, and as new WRI analysis shows, they can do so in ways that also deliver critical development benefits in energy, transport, and agriculture.”

Josianne Gauthier, Secretary-General, Coopération Internationale pour le Développement et la Solidarité (CIDSE): “The Climate Vulnerable Forum, through its online summit, reiterated a crucial message to the upcoming COP 24: all countries have to step up their climate commitments and urgently make all the possible efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 C. For CIDSE this means engaging society in a real shift in our economies and values to embrace a new system where we can live in balance with nature and in dignity. This requires an ambitious yet possible and needed change in the way we relate to energy, agriculture and to one another. In the panel we have the honor to host within the CVF we will listen to the stories of courageous people during this struggle and our commitment is to walk with them.”

The amount of gases that trap heat in the atmosphere have reached yet another record, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) reported on Thursday, November 22, 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland.

“There is no sign of a reversal in this trend,” the UN agency said in its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.

Average concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) climbed to 405.5 parts per million (ppm) in 2017, up from 403.3 ppm in 2016.

Levels of methane and nitrous oxide rose as well.

An industrial chlorofluorocarbon gas called CFC-11 has also been resurging, despite an international production moratorium.

According to the WMO, the most likely explanation is production of CFC-11 in eastern Asia.

“Without rapid cuts in CO2 and other greenhouse gases, climate change will have increasingly destructive and irreversible impacts on life on Earth.

“The window of opportunity for action is almost closed,” WMO Secretary, General Petteri Taalas, said.

“God gave us light to see the beauty of creation. God gave us love to live in fellowship with creation, and God gave us strength to care for creation.”

These are the inspiring words of ACT’s Climate Justice Ambassador Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town in South Africa. He spoke even as leaders from around the world on Wednesday, November 21, 2018 gathered for the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), in the form of a zero-emissions (virtual) summit, to champion climate action and to amplify the voices and efforts of communities on the frontlines of climate change.

The summit is hosted by the current presidency of the CVF, the Republic of the Marshall Islands – regarded as one of the world’s most vocal yet vulnerable countries to climate change. The theme of the forum is “Stepping up climate action to survive and thrive”.

As global commitments to address climate change are said to fall short of achieving the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature target, the findings of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming further emphasise the urgency for more ambitious nationally determined contributions, including emissions reduction targets.

“We know that our current way of life is not sustainable in the long-term. We know that our extraction of the earth’s resources and related emissions are capable of destroying creation,” said Archbishop Makgoba.

“The world is heating up, and we are seeing frightening effects. Lives of poor and vulnerable people have already been lost,” said Birgitte QvistSørensen, Moderator of ACT Alliance.

With COP24 only 10 days away, the summit presents a political moment for leaders to amplify the alarm on the urgency for more ambitious climate commitments. It will also provide an opportunity for parties to share on their innovative climate initiatives as an expression of solidarity with the climate vulnerable.

“Countries, communities and people who are affected by climate change today need our support. Not only to deal with the immediate challenges, but also for long-term transformation towards a sustainable way of life,” said Archbishop Makgoba.

ACT members and forums are implementing disaster risk reduction and adaptation initiatives in particularly vulnerable communities. ACT is also mobilising communities at the local, national and international levels, investing in capacity building for advocacy on climate justice.

ACT commends the efforts and leadership of climate-vulnerable countries and urges other parties to follow suit.

“I hope that we will see climate champions leading the way, announcing their commitments to take bold and ambitious action. I hope they will inspire us, and I hope that they will join ACT Alliance in our call for more ambitious climate action,” added QvistSørensen.

Renowned naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, is one prominent advocate of an initiative to bring the voice of millions of citizens around the world to the UN Climate Change Conference holding in Katowice, Poland from December 2 to 14, 2018.

The “People’s Seat” initiative combines digital technology, polling and the involvement of passionate climate change advocates, like Sir David Attenborough, to deliver messages about the need to act on climate change – and to engage people in the growing movement to take climate action.

The initiative comes not long after the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sounded the alarm bells with its special report on 1.5 degrees of global warming, warning that the world is headed towards a warming of over 3 degrees Celsius with current pledges under the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement.

And it comes as governments prepare to finalise the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement at COP24 in Poland and to discuss ways to raise ambition so that its goals can be achieved.

Sir David Attenborough, who will deliver the People’s Seat Address at COP24, based on inputs gathered in the lead-up to the conference, said this was a major opportunity to step up climate action at all levels of society.

“We all know climate change is global problem – and for that it requires a global solution.

This is an opportunity for people from across the globe, regardless of their nationality or circumstances, to be part of the most important discussion of this century; the unprecedented action needed to reach the Paris Agreement targets.

“I encourage everyone to take their seats and to add their voice so that the People’s Address truly represents a mix of voices from across the world,” he said.

The campaign will reach its apex with the People’s Seat Address when Sir David Attenborough will address the COP24 plenary with climate change stories gathered from around the world, collected via social media. The People’s Address will also trigger the launch of the Facebook Messenger “ActNow” Bot on the United Nation’s central Facebook account.

ActNow.bot will make it easier than ever before for people to understand what actions they can take personally in the fight against climate change. ActNow.bot will recommend everyday actions – like taking public transport and eating less meat – and track the number of actions to highlight the impact that collective action can make at this critical moment in our planet’s history.

The People’s Seat concept is endorsed by the Polish Presidency of COP24. Michal Kurtyka, Polish Secretary of State and incoming COP24 President, who said: “The COP24 Presidency encourages openness, listening and the full participation of civil society in global efforts to tackle climate change. This means encouraging the participation on the ground of observer groups in Katowice, showcasing the climate action of multiple stakeholders, and ensuring that COP24 is a digital COP, thereby allowing people around the world to participate to the greatest extent possible and ensuring the greatest possible transparency. In addition, we are pleased that the UN is pioneering the People’s Seat in Poland, a country which prides itself in being innovative and deploying cutting-edge technologies.”

Sir David Attenborough is launching the campaign with a video inviting viewers to share their thoughts on climate change. Over the next two weeks, thousands of influencers from around the world will also use polling and the hashtag #TakeYourSeat on social media to gather people’s experiences and opinions.

Patricia Espinosa, the Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, said: “We are already seeing dramatic impacts of climate change around the world with one degree of warming. COP24 needs to provide a robust response by quickly following through with what governments have agreed to do so that the Paris Agreement can unfold its full potential, namely to finalise its implementation guidelines.”

Alison Smale, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, said: “People need to be empowered in their own lives to be the change that we need for a sustainable world. We welcome the use of cutting-edge technology to help everyone around the world reduce emissions through the Actnow.bot. With this initiative, we are calling on citizens to act in ways that are feasible, fresh and have an impact.”

The initiative was first put forward by Michael Moller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG). Geneva is the location of headquarters of several UN agencies focusing on humanitarian issues.

He said: “The challenge to humanity that climate change represents is of such epic proportions that only through collective global action will we have a chance to combat it successfully. Every single human being on our severely stressed planet must take responsibility.

“If we don’t, we all fail with catastrophic consequences. The People’s Seat initiative provides the impulse for seriously ramping up global solidarity, especially among the young who, at the end of the day, are the ones who will have to deal with the mess we have left them with.”