Latest content: Environment and climate change

The theme for this year’s World Water Day is Leveraging Water for Peace. It recognises the importance of water as a common good, especially between nations and disaffected groups of people.

Water is a fundamental resource for life. It is critical for sanitation, human development, and for the nature-providing ecosystem services and goods that maintain life as we know it.

Commonwealth climate finance advisors, along with beneficiary countries and regional and bilateral partners, convened in Canberra, Australia, from February 26 to 27, 2024. The meeting marked the conclusion of the first regional stocktake for the Pacific, aimed at evaluating the advancements facilitated by the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH) in the region.

The 2030 deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on limiting the global temperature rise, are alarmingly close.

By Keshav Dash, Commonwealth National Climate Finance Advisor to Tuvalu and Dr. Deepa Pullanikkatil, Commonwealth National Climate Finance Advisor to Fiji

Senior leaders from 21 sovereign wealth funds, managing over a trillion dollars in assets, gathered this week at the Commonwealth’s Headquarters in London to discuss scaling up investment to limit climate change.

The Commonwealth Secretariat in partnership with the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Resilience and Sustainable Development (CRSD), held a Cambridge Policy Simulation Lab (CPSL) on February 4-5 to stress test the Common Pool Asset Structuring System (COMPASS), a tool which has emerged from the 'Their Future, Our Action' initiative, that focuses on enabling small states to attract sustainable finance.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is working with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to help build climate resilience in small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the agriculture sector, with a focus on enhancing their access to funding to support their growth.

Blog by Dr Deepa Pullanikkatil, Commonwealth National Climate Finance Adviser for Fiji and Keshav Dash, Commonwealth National Climate Finance Adviser for Tuvalu

Blog by Chevaughn Brown, Membership Lead at the Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Network.

The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH) announced this week that it will be further expanding its network of experts available to member countries. 

A new Commonwealth e-learning course launched today will improve the ability of small and other vulnerable states to access billions of dollars in climate finance.

Blog by Micheala Chan and Angelos Pastras, the Commonwealth Sustainable Energy Transition Youth Action Group.

Education is the cornerstone of the energy transition. In an era dominated by social media, young people are uniquely positioned to leverage their influence to build public consciousness around energy challenges, shape public awareness and garner support for climate and energy policies. Movements such as School Strike for Climate provide a prime example, exemplifying the power of young people to effectively advocate for climate action.

The Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda has launched an initiative to support member countries to develop a coordinated national infrastructure for climate data to enable more resilient food systems.

The Commonwealth Secretariat and AGRA today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will leverage digital innovations to help transform smallholder agriculture across Africa. 

The Commonwealth Blue Charter Project Incubator today announced funding for four pioneering government-led projects in Commonwealth countries.

Young people, who are among those most at risk to the impacts of climate change, are not accessing the funds they need to tackle the challenges posed by global warming, according to a report published today.

The Commonwealth, in collaboration with the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) and the UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) held a high level panel discussion today to highlight new and emerging finance for sustainable investment in the ocean.

Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, has made her strongest statement yet on the urgency of the compound global crises unfolding as a result of climate change.

Youth leaders representing the Commonwealth’s 56 countries have urged leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai to move beyond speeches and deliver concrete action to safeguard the planet. 

Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patrica Scotland KC, today launched a toolkit to help governments rapidly decarbonise their oil and gas sectors and implement strategies to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

A new model law launched today by the Commonwealth Secretariat will help countries implement a carbon tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global heating to 1.5°C.

The Commonwealth Secretariat and global health non-profit PATH today announced a new accelerator to fast-track the development of promising innovations that address the extreme effects of climate change on health systems and the health of communities across the 56 Commonwealth countries.

A new implementation framework was launched today to facilitate coordinated action among the 56 Commonwealth countries on land, biodiversity and climate challenges, directly impacting a quarter of the world’s land area.