Legislators from around the world discussed their role in implementing, monitoring and enforcing the major agreements of 2015: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR); and the expected agreement from the Paris Climate Change Conference.
The discussions took place at the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE) COP 21 Legislators Summit.
5 December 2015: Legislators from around the world discussed their role in implementing, monitoring and enforcing the major agreements of 2015: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR); and the expected agreement from the Paris Climate Change Conference. The discussions took place at the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE) COP 21 Legislators Summit.
Over 300 legislators from 67 countries participated in the GLOBE COP 21 Legislators Summit, which convened from 4-5 December 2015 on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Change Conference. The event focused on the theme, ‘Towards Coherence and Impact: The challenge of Paris and the Post-2015 Agenda for a prosperous and sustainable world.’
Speakers underscored the role of parliamentarians in translating the three international agreements into concrete actions on the ground, including through holding governments accountable, passing legislation and making budget allocations. Graham Stuart, GLOBE International, stressed that legislators “will have the task to enact new laws to implement them and ensure that their outcomes are mutually reinforcing.”
According to Margareta Wahlström, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), said parliamentarians need “strong will to holistically implement, monitor and report…provisions” of the major 2015 agreements. She highlighted parliamentarians’ role in “establishing the link between national and local policies,” and called upon parliamentarians to seize the opportunity to act with responsibility to their constituents, including engaging youth in the post-2015 development agenda.
UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark shared examples of legislators’ actions to support integrated approaches to climate change, DRR and sustainable development. She praised GLOBE for pursuing partnerships, developing laws and strategies on climate change and forming cross-party groups, all of which she said is critical in achieving “the big and interlinked agendas of 2015.”
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Angel Gurría stressed the importance of continued policy coherence, observing that “if we fail on climate, we may very well fail on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” He recognized the role of legislators in advancing the international climate agenda and ensuring proper implementation of laws, and recommended measuring progress towards climate objectives to help governments stay on track and share best practices, and reviewing polices and legislation to ensure coherence with climate objectives.
Lakshmi Puri, UN Women, called on parliamentarians to ensure that the expected Paris agreement has gender-specific references to make sure that it “does not exacerbate gender inequality and discrimination” and instead enables “women and girls to exercise their agency and enjoy their human rights while also ensuring more effective and durable development for all.” She further stressed parliamentarians’ responsibility to ensure that “global norm-setting marries climate justice with gender justice” and that parliaments themselves set standards of gender parity.
GLOBE is the world’s largest parliamentary network focused on legislative leadership on sustainable development and climate change. [UNISDR Press Release] [UNDP Administrator Statement] [OECD Secretary-General Statement] [UN Women Statement] [Summit Website] [GLOBE Press Release] [Event Programme]