Below is the introduction to our latest newsletter. To read newsletters in full, sign up now or subscribe on Linkedin.
You can also view our COP28 event schedule here.
Dear Planetary Steward, dear friend of the Global Commons Alliance,
COP28’s success hinges on complex goals including agreement on equitable fossil fuel phase out, unprecedented food systems transformation and a Loss and Damage fund. But these goals do not exist in silos; they are intrinsically connected. We can only achieve them in a way that benefits people and the planet if we cooperate toward radical systemic change. And as the Earth Commission science, the Planetary Boundaries third update and the Global Stocktake synthesis report make clear, we need this change to emerge across all aspects of society urgently.
Whatever the outcome of the negotiations in Dubai, a revolution is already underway in nearly every sector around the world. As you will see at the multitude of events, launches and meetings planned at the Global Commons Pavilion, the Nature Positive Pavilion and far beyond (some listed below): companies, investors, cities, philanthropists and communities are on the ground driving interconnected solutions, today.
Global Commons Pavilion at COP28
And it is deep collaboration in this vein that will help deliver the co-dependent Paris Agreement and Global Biodiversity Framework. In the next two weeks we can expect a joint statement from the climate and biodiversity COP Presidencies on general principles for nature-climate alignment. Again, this will be an invitation for companies and investors to step up and align their own climate and nature plans.
By thinking systemically and collaboratively, new partnerships and new ideas will accelerate collective change. The Global Biodiversity Framework has galvanized many organizations to join hands in the Nature Positive Initiative to deliver measurable net positive biodiversity outcomes by 2030. This turnaround will depend on wholesale recovery of nature and natural systems being recognised and invested in as a core part of the food, health, climate, water, humanitarian and development agendas. Many dialogues happening in COP28 look set to open these doors. The Global Commons Alliance aims to nurture these dialogues, help to explain the interdependencies between climate, nature and people’s well-being, and encourage new partnerships that reach across these domains and connect local and global actors to drive systems change.
With all my best wishes,
Jane
PS I hope you enjoy our new website and visual identity, which we are delighted to launch today. Our heartfelt thanks to Johnson Banks, Fat Beehive and the wider team for helping us to launch this just in time for COP28!
The rest of our bi-weekly newsletter includes news across GCA such as:
- We’re hiring: Operations Lead
- New paper on Safe and Just boundaries for blue water
- Interview with Earth Commission co-chair Prof Joyeeta Gupta
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