Agnes Callamard will be attending COP26 in Glasgow from the 8-10 November
Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard will be attending the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, where she will be urging leaders to deliver bold action commensurate with the scale of the crisis before us, to prevent further loss of life and other human rights violations.
Agnes Callamard said: “The climate emergency is a human rights crisis of catastrophic proportions, and our leaders need to wake up and start acting like it. There has been a lot of noise, easy promises and symbolic gestures from world leaders on climate change, but no effective action. Many countries have failed to meet even existing commitments to submit updated pledges to reduce emissions.
“We don’t have the luxury of time for missed deadlines or political posturing. This year alone we’ve seen massive rainfall in Indonesia and Germany, scorching temperatures from Canada to Pakistan, and devastating drought in Madagascar – each calamity a warning bell that calls for ever bolder action. As the climate crisis intensifies with every passing day, so do the losses to our human rights. Lives are being lost, and our rights to health, adequate housing, food, water, sanitation, and many more, are threatened.
Amnesty International is calling on all countries to:
· Commit to ambitious and human rights-consistent targets to reduce emissions in order to keep us under a 1.5°C rise in global temperature;
· Commit to rapidly phasing out fossil fuels rather than relying on offsetting measures that delay climate action and may negatively impact on human rights;
· Put in place a global mechanism to support people whose rights have been affected, with wealthy governments paying for the costs through new and additional funding which is not subject to repayment;
· Adopt adequate measures to ensure the rights of all to information and participation are guaranteed in climate-related decision-making at all levels.