Latest content: Commonwealth Climate Change Programme

National Parks and marine protected areas in The Bahamas both exemplify and help protect the archipelago’s vast marine and terrestrial ecosystems. But despite their important role, they are often ignored by the local community, who rarely visit or feel pride for them. To rekindle this lost relationship, Elijah raises awareness of the parks and marine protected areas and impacts of climate change through visual storytelling, which he believes is more effective for communicating with people than complex data and graphs.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has appealed to world leaders attending the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 to close the gap in ongoing negotiations this week in Glasgow, with millions of lives and livelihoods on the line in climate-vulnerable countries.

A new toolkit launched in the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 aims to unlock clean energy investments for small island nations, many of whom rely heavily on imported fossil fuels for power generation.

Leaders from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific have expressed their strong support for a proposed ‘Living Lands Charter’ that will spur cooperation among 54 nations to manage land use sustainably, protect the natural world and fight climate change.

Breaking the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and accelerating the global uptake of renewable energy will play a decisive role in diminishing the threat of global warming to the survival of life on earth, according to experts. But turning the vision into reality will demand unwavering political will and, critically, massive investment, which can no longer be shouldered solely by aid and development partners.

The Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with Mayer Brown assist the reform of national energy laws with a new online tool

The Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has called for developed countries to finally honour the decade-long pledge to make $100 billion available each year to fight climate change in developing countries.

Days before the global COP26 climate talks began in Glasgow, HRH The Prince of Wales met with the Commonwealth Secretary-General, The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC for a high-level discussion at Clarence House, to call attention to the crucial importance of sustainable urbanisation in tackling climate change.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has called for all countries to deliver an ambitious and transformative outcome at the imminent UN Climate Change Conference COP26, while appealing for increased support for the smallest and most vulnerable nations.

As the countdown to COP26 continues, young environmental activists and innovators, academics, experts, and government officials joined a series of regional dialogues to help set the youth agenda at the conference.

Blog by Samuel Ogallah, Commonwealth National Climate Finance Adviser to Eswatini

Emerging Commonwealth scientists win big in ocean innovation contest

In the third blog in a series of interviews with young climate leaders, we meet Mogesh Sababathy, a marine activist from Malaysia. He is also an example of how young people across the world can work with education institutions, businesses and governments to amplify their voices on environmental issues that affect all of us.

As part of our youth climate blog series ahead of COP26, meet Kushaal Raj, Acting Manager for Climate Change and the Ocean Specialist for the Ministry of Economy, Government of Fiji, where he develops ocean policy and provides technical expertise for international negotiations on ocean-related climate challenges.

The following blog is based on a speech the author presented to the UK-Pacific High Level Dialogue on Climate Change in July 2021, which has been adapted and updated for this website.

<em>A blog by Christine Awiti, Economic Advisor, Commonwealth Secretariat</em>

After an unprecedented pan-Commonwealth search for innovative satellite-driven solutions to tackle the challenges of the climate emergency and ocean sustainability, the Satellite Applications Catapult and the Commonwealth Secretariat are delighted to announce the inaugural finalists of the Hack the Planet competition 2021.

This week, Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, will push for bold and swift action in supporting small and vulnerable states to fight the global interlinked crises of climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and their resulting economic fallout.

More than 2,000 young leaders and youth-led organisations from across the Commonwealth are  urging governments to respect the needs and contributions of the world’s most vulnerable groups, in the lead up to global climate talks in Glasgow in November.

This blog about young scientist and 'plastic warrior' Kristal Ambrose is the first in a series launched during Youth4Climate and continuing in the lead up to COP26 and beyond, featuring young people from across the Commonwealth who are leading the way on local climate action.

Sepesa Curuki and his community are coming to terms with the prospect of relocation from Cogea village on Fiji’s second-largest island of Vanua Levu. Their village, which lies between two rivers that flow into the Pacific Ocean only 2km away, has been battered by intense and frequent cyclones, flooding and erosion, threatening their very existence.

Foreign Affairs Ministers from across the Commonwealth met yesterday for the 21st annual Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM). The meeting was held virtually for the second year in a row due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

IPS spoke to Commonwealth Secretary-General the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC about the Association’s climate initiatives, the unique challenges faced by small states, its focus on gender mainstreaming and access to financing for critical adaptation and mitigation projects.

During a visit to The Bahamas this week, the Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland called for urgent action to ensure improved climate resilience of small states and promised to amplify the concerns of small and other vulnerable states at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow this November.

A blog by Sharon Ngetich, Climate Change Officer, Climate Change Section, Economic, Youth & Sustainable Development Directorate, Commonwealth Secretariat