UNFOLD ZERO Newsletter

Posted: 16th May 2024

Follow-up to the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference in Nairobi featuring:
ImPACT Coalitions on Earth Governance and Just Institutions & the International Court of Justice
* May 23: A New Agenda for Peace: Priorities for the UN Summit of the Future
* May 30: Basel Forum on Peace, Climate Change & the Summit of the Future

From May 9-10, UNFOLD ZERO member organizations joined over 2000 other civil society organizations from around the world for the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference in Nairobi. The primary focus of the conference was on civil society perspectives, voices and input into the UN Summit of the Future.

The Summit of the Future provides a critical opportunity to build global cooperation, commitment and accountability to end war, protect the climate, foster human rights and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

But, there are strong political forces and vested interests in preventing progress. In order to build more effective advocacy by civil society, the Nairobi Conference established 20 ImPACT Coalitions on various issues and initiatives for the Summit of the Future. UNFOLD ZERO member organizations are most active in two of these: Earth Governance and Just Institutions and the International Court of Justice.
  
The Earth Governance ImPACT Coalition focuses on establishing and strengthening environmental governance mechanisms. Such mechanisms (political, judicial and executive) are vital to ensure implementation of environmental obligations and accountability to law protecting the environment. See Why Earth Governance.

Between now and the Summit of the Future, the ImPACT Coalition will organize events and advocacy on effective environmental governance proposals that are building traction, including some of the proposals from the People’s Pact for the Future, Climate Governance Commission and Mobilizing and Earth Governance Alliance.

At the Civil Society Conference in Nairobi, the ImPACT coalition workshopped six of these proposals:

• Declaration of a Planetary Emergency and Establishment of a Planetary Emergency Platform;
• Enhanced International Scientific Capacity;
• Establishing a UN Special Envoy for Future Generations and related Representatives of Future Generations at local, national and regional levels.
• The Future of UN Environmental Institutional Reform including Establishing a Global Environment Agency;
• Establishing an International Court for the Environment;
• Adapting Domestic and International Law to shift beyond the Anthropocene including through principles of Earth Trusteeship.

Join the Earth Governance ImPACT Coalition

This ImPACT Coalition will work with LAW not War, the Coalition for the International Criminal Court and other relevant organizations and networks to to advance key judicial initiatives leading up to and beyond the Summit of the Future.

The expectation of accountability and a rules-based legal order was a central ambition of the international governance system. With conflicts raging in nearly every region and atrocities compounding, more must be done to ensure the promise of justice is not illusory. Civil society has a vital role to play in this regard, working with States and other stakeholders,

The coalition supports the universality and effectiveness of the global judicial architecture, including the International Court of Justice which was established as the primary means for the pacific resolution of conflicts, the International Criminal Court which holds the ‘hope of humanity’ to end impunity, the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, and newly contemplated institutions that effectively work with regional and domestic systems.

ImPACT coalition convenor: Rebecca Shoot [email protected]Join the ImPACT Coalition on Just InstitutionsThis online meeting, organized by the United Nations Association of New Zealand (UNANZ), will include an overview of the preparations for the UN Summit of the Future and discussion on what should be priorities to advance at the Summit by civil society, the New Zealand government and like-minded countries.

This is a follow-up event to the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference, in which UNANZ participated and joined the Common Position of United Nations Associations. Register for the UNANZ eventArmed conflicts – including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Israel/Hamas conflict – are causing devastating impacts on civilians and the environment and are increasing the threat of nuclear weapons use. Meanwhile, the climate crisis is bringing humanity closer and closer to a catastrophic collapse of the planetary ecosystem that could end civilization as we know it.

This in-person regional forum will include representatives of government (local and national), civil society organizations and youth from the ‘three country region’ connecting Germany, France and Switzerland (with Basel at the centre).

The forum will include discussion of the UN New Agenda for Peace, current cases in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) including on armed conflicts and the Obligations of States with Regard to Climate Change. plus civil society proposals to the UN Summit of the Future.Registration: In-person Basel Forum on the UN Summit of the FutureYours sincerely
UNFOLD ZERO