Mobilizing Climate Actors in International Geneva

Global Climate Emergency

The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in 2022 recognizes that the magnitude of recent changes in the overall climate system and the current state of many aspects of the climate system are insufficient:

This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction. It shows that climate change is a grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet. Our actions today will shape how people adapt and nature responds to increasing climate risks. Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC

In the AR6, the IPCC emphasizes that the risks associated with global warming will inevitably increase in both the short and long term. Global warming has already reached 1.1°C and could reach 1.5°C well before 2040. The scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change threatens humanity and the planet. Climate risks are appearing earlier than expected and more severely. Ecosystems and human populations are being pushed to their limits and beyond. Any further delay in concerted global action will destroy any hope for a livable future.

In October 2018, the IPCC issued a special report on the consequences of global warming of 1.5°C, finding that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far-reaching, and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society. While previous estimates focused on estimating the damage if average temperatures were to rise by 2°C, this report shows that many of the adverse impacts of climate change will materialize at the 1.5°C mark.

Even below 2°C of warming, some risks would lead to widespread, invasive, and potentially irreversible impacts. These damaging losses to ecosystems and human societies can be partially reduced by short-term actions limiting warming to about 1.5°C. However, IPCC estimates that from 2040 onward, human and natural systems will face increased risks. Ecosystems will face increasing extinction risks as warming increases. Water resources will also be impacted, posing many challenges to their management.

WMO State of the Climate Reports

Since 1993, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), through the Commission for climatology and in cooperation with its Members, has issued annual statements on the status of the global climate to provide credible scientific information on climate and its variability. WMO and its Members monitor the state of the climate, at global, regional and national  level, to inform policy makers of the utmost urgency of climate action. It is a custodian of the Global Climate Observing System, which assess climate indicators and impacts.

The WMO’s State of the Global Climate report 2025 confirms that 2015-2025 are the hottest 11-years on record, and that 2025 was the second or third hottest year on record, at about 1.43 °C above the 1850-1900 average. Extreme events around the world, including intense heat, heavy rainfall and tropical cyclones, caused disruption and devastation and highlighted the vulnerability of our inter-connected economies and societies. It finds that the Earth’s climate is more out of balance than at any time in observed history, as greenhouse gas concentrations drive continued warming of the atmosphere and ocean and melting of ice, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). These rapid and large-scale changes have occurred within a few decades but will have harmful repercussions for hundreds – and potentially thousands – of years.  Other key findings include:

• Earth’s energy imbalance is highest in a sixty-five-year record
• The ocean has been absorbing about eighteen times the annual human energy use each year for the past two decades
• Extreme weather impacts millions and costs billions

→ Read more in the WMO press release

Impacts of Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) met for its fifty-eighth Session in the city of Interlaken, from 13 to 17 March 2023, to finalize the Synthesis Report of its sixth assessment cycle (AR6 SYR). The report,  released on 20 March 2023, provided policymakers an overview of the state of knowledge on the science of climate change.

Human Health

According to IPCC, any increase in global warming is projected to affect human health, with significant negative consequences. Lower risks are projected at 1.5°C than at 2°C for heat-related morbidity and mortality and for ozone-related mortality if emissions needed for ozone formation remain high. Urban heat islands often amplify the impacts of heatwaves in cities. Risks from some vector-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, are projected to increase with warming from 1.5°C to 2°C, including potential shifts in their geographic range. Find more about the IPCC results on health in AR6 WGII Chapter 7.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050, due to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress alone. The direct damage costs to health are estimated to be between US$ 2–4 billion per year by 2030. In October 2022 ahead of COP26, WHO published a Special Report on Climate Change and Health and open letter spelling out the many and inseparable links between climate and health and calling to step up climate change. In September 2022, WHO and over 190 other signatories from the health sector called for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to protect the health of current and future generations.

Human Rights

Climate change is an existential threat for people and the planet. Its harmful effects undermine the full enjoyment and realization of all human rights, disproportionately affecting those who are already in vulnerable situations. Over the past years, the Human Rights Council took on resolutions and discussions on specific aspects of climate change, while Special Rapporteurs contributed with reports on specific thematic angles within their mandates. In September 2022, the UN Special Rapporteur on climate change presented his first report to the UN General Assembly on the « Promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change mitigation, loss and damage and participation« , stressing that the climate change emergency comes with inherent serious human rights abuse.

Geneva Rights and Climate Talks

The Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change reports to the Human Rights Council during its June session on issues related to her mandate. The Geneva Rights and Climate Talks aim to harness the opportunity of this moment of the year to reflect on the challenges posed by the impacts of climate change, and on how Geneva contributes to bringing together the actors working towards placing human rights at the heart of climate action.

Biodiversity and Ecosystems

On land, impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems, including species loss and extinction, have already been observed with rising temperatures, increased ocean acidity and decreased ocean oxygen levels. These terrestrial, freshwater and coastal ecosystems provide value and services to humans. Global warming of 1.5°C is projected to shift the ranges of many marine species to higher latitudes as well as increase the amount of damage to many ecosystems. It is also expected to drive the loss of coastal resources and reduce the productivity of fisheries and aquaculture. Anthropogenic climate change has further increased the intensity of precipitation and weather events. These changes and the resulting hydrological effects have affected species and ecosystems, with negative consequences for food security, water resources, and ecosystem services in general.

Latest science:

• The latest IPCC Report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (AR6, WGII) provides in-depth evidence of the impacts on terrestrial and marine ecosystems, water-related risks, as well as agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture. The IPCC also provides specific analysis on the impacts on particular ecosystems in its special reports: Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate and the Special Report on Climate Change and Land.
• The European State of the Climate 2025 focuses on biodiversity and underscores the interconnectedness of biodiversity and climate change, as climate change drives biodiversity decline, which in turn accelerates climate change. Concurrently, biodiversity resilience aids the adaptive capacity of ecosystems to withstand the impacts of climate change. It also stresses that climate change and biodiversity are interconnected with key systems with cascading impacts leading to major risks for ecosystems, as well as sectors such as food, health and the economy.

Tipping Points

There is growing evidence that important tipping points, leading to irreversible changes in major ecosystems and the planetary climate system, may already have been reached or passed. Tipping points in the climate system refer to thresholds that can occur as a consequence of human induced climate change, and that lead to changes are abrupt, high-impact, large-scale and often irreversible. Ecosystems as diverse as the Amazon rainforest and the Arctic tundra, may be approaching thresholds of dramatic change through warming and drying. Mountain glaciers are in alarming retreat and the downstream effects of reduced water supply in the driest months will have repercussions that transcend generations.

In spring 2022, Switzerland proposed that the IPCC elaborate a Special Report on “Climate Tipping Points and their Implications for Habitability and Resources”, which will be prepared in the framework of the IPCC’s 7th Assessment Cycle, scheduled to start in 2023.

Additional news on tipping points include:

• Earth’s climate is approaching irreversible tipping points | The Economist | 13 August 2025

Data on climate-related temperature increase

Land Temperature

Rising land temperatures reinforce need for urgent action. The earth’s mean near-surface temperature has risen by more than 1°C compared to the pre-industrial era and, at current rates, this will reach 1.5°C by around 2040 and possibly earlier. To turn this around, we all need to implement lifestyle changes, provide financial and technical assistance for developing nations, and support for nature-based solutions, like reforestation.

Source: UNEP Climate Action Note (October 2021)

Ocean Temperature

Our oceans are getting warmer and sea levels are rising. Ice sheets and glaciers are melting, pushing sea levels higher and threatening coastal cities and settlements. Rising sea levels mean storm surges will be deadlier. Carbon dioxide emissions also lead to ocean acidification, which harms marine species, including corals. And things could get worse: as the world gets hotter, it is more likely the Arctic will be ice-free in summer, further disrupting ocean circulation and ecosystems. According to the World Meteorological Organization State of the Global Climate in 2022, sea level and ocean heat are at record levels, with the North Atlantic Ocean Surface hitting unprecedented 22.7 degrees Celsius.

Source: UNEP Climate Action Note (October 2021)

Ice Loss and Glaciers Melting

Ice mass covers 10% of the Earth land surface (Antarctic ice sheet 8.3%, Greenland ice sheet 1.2%, glaciers and ice caps 0.5%), and its loss is a primary marker of climate change. The decrease has accelerated in recent decades and is now reaching concerning levels. This glacial melting has potentially dramatic consequences not only from a social and cultural point of view but also because glaciers themselves regulate the climate. As a result, the gradual disappearance of glaciers contributes to rising sea levels and an increased risk of drought in densely populated plains. Glacial melting poses various other natural risks, including falling solid materials or the formation of new bodies of water. Glaciers also serve as accumulators of atmospheric pollution, which is then released when glaciers melt.

Source: European Space Agency (2016)

Fires

Wildfires raise spectre of terrifying new normal in hotter world. Huge wildfires in Australia, the Amazon, California, the Congo basin and even in the Arctic are sobering reminders of the human, economic and environmental costs of climate change. Record temperatures, heatwaves and droughts help spark wildfires. The global average temperature is now around 1.1°C higher than at the beginning of last century, meaning wildfires and megafires could become a new normal in some countries.

Source: UNEP Climate Action Note (October 2021)

Climate Action

Climate Mitigation

The scientific community and international organizations, including the UN Environment Programme, agree that the current climate emergency requires adequate and immediate action. It is one of the most pervasive and threatening crises of our time.  Limiting global warming to +1.5°C is no longer possible without immediate and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Rapid, far-reaching and long-term transitions in energy, land use, infrastructure (including in transportation and buildings), and industrial systems are needed. According to the IPCC, such transitions are unprecedented in terms of scale and imply deep emissions reductions in all sectors, a wide portfolio of mitigation options and a significant upscaling of investments in those options. Global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050. Progress depends on countries and their ability to cover ground on their commitments under the Paris Agreement and, eventually, their collective contributions to keep the global average temperature well below 2°C.

The transition to a net-zero future also bring important opportunities. According to the ILO, if properly managed, climate change action can lead to more and better jobs. Both adaptation to climate change and measures to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions offer opportunities to create new jobs, while securing existing ones. A transition to a low-carbon, greener economy will imply the creation of new jobs in environmentally friendly production processes and outputs, whereas other jobs will be at risk, in particular in those sectors with fewer options for a transition towards a more sustainable ways of production.

UNEP Emission Gap Reports

The UNEP Emissions Gap Report (EGR) series tracks our progress in limiting global warming well below 2°C and pursuing 1.5°C in line with the Paris Agreement. Since 2010, it has provided an annual science-based assessment of the gap between estimated future global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions if countries implement their climate mitigation pledges, and where they should be to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Each year, the report also highlights key opportunities to bridge the emissions gap, tackling a specific issue of interest. With the aim to inform the climate negotiations among UN Member States, the EGR is launched every year ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP). The EGR is co-produced by UNEP, the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre (UNEP-CCC) and partners.

UNEP 2025 Emissions Gap Report: “Off Target” finds that available new climate pledges under the Paris Agreement have only slightly lowered global temperature rise over the course of this century, leaving the world heading for a serious escalation of climate risks and damages. It stresses that this overshoot must be limited through faster and bigger reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to minimize climate risks and damages and keep returning to 1.5°C by 2100 within the realms of possibility – although doing so will be extremely challenging. Every fraction of a degree avoided means lower losses for people and ecosystems, lower costs, and less reliance on uncertain carbon dioxide removal techniques to return to 1.5°C by 2100. → Read UNEP Press Release and the dedicated article on UN News

Previous editions

• Emissions Gap Report 2024: No more hot air … please!
• Emissions Gap Report 2023: Broken Record – Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again)
• Emissions Gap Report 2022: The Closing Window – Climate crisis calls for rapid transformation of societies
• Emissions Gap Report 2021: The Heat Is On
• Emissions Gap Report 2020
• Emissions Gap Report 2019
• Emissions Gap Report 10 year summary
• Emissions Gap Report 2018
• Emissions Gap Report 2017

Limiting Overshoot

As global temperature rise gets set to cross 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels within the next few years, climate risks and impacts will reach dangerous new heights. A UNEP spotlight report, Limiting Overshoot: Navigating exceedance of 1.5°C and pathways towards return, finds that the goal may be achieved by acting now to get on an “overshoot, peak, and decline” pathway. The world must strive to minimize peak temperatures, return to 1.5°C or below as soon as possible, and reduce the vulnerability of societies, communities and economies to those impacts that cannot be avoided. → UNEP Press Release

Messages of the report include:

• Despite some progress on addressing climate change, global temperature rise is set to cross 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, likely within the next few years. There are no good outcomes in remaining above 1.5°C.
• Following an ‘overshoot, peak and decline’ pathway is the best remaining option to bring temperatures to or below 1.5°C by the end of the century, which remains the goal, and adapt to unavoidable impacts.
• Rapid, collective and global action is vital: lower peak warming and shorter exceedance duration will reduce risks and impacts, make efforts to help communities cope less difficult and less expensive, and increase the chances of bringing temperatures back down.
• Equity and justice must form the core of strategies to protect the vulnerable, create a just transition and secure a liveable future for coming generations.
• Mitigation and adaptation are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. They must advance together, while being responsive to emerging risks.
• Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) – the process of removing carbon from the air and storing it through afforestation or other means – will be needed in addition to, not instead of, sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, but these methods come with risks and trade-offs that limit their potential and need to be carefully governed.
• A return to or below 1.5°C is uncertain. Even if a return to below 1.5°C is secured, many nations and communities will face irreversible losses and permanently changed conditions. This raises issues of justice, power and political legitimacy that will require new, inclusive governance arrangements.

Climate Adaptation

The contribution of IPCC Working Group II to AR6 highlights the insufficiency of current adaptation efforts. Despite the progress made since the previous report (AR5) was published in 2014, the solutions currently being implemented are short term. The report attests to instances of adaptation measures that exacerbate risks or create vulnerabilities. However, adaptation solutions exist that can reduce the risks of climate change to ecosystems and people and states. Fostering resilience to the consequences of climate change depends critically on urgent and ambitious greenhouse gas reductions and adaptation measures, as well as intensified cooperation between governing bodies at all spatial scales and planning horizons.

Climate-change-resilient development is possible when governments, civil society and the private sector make inclusive development choices that prioritize risk reduction, equity and justice.
— IPCC Working Group II to AR6

Climate change is increasing the vulnerability of human territories. The global trend of increasing urbanization must be responded to with a resilient consideration of projects, which also requires adapting more rural areas under a resilient global project. Moreover, by 2050, more than one billion people will be living in coastal areas. Consequently, there is a need to implement nature-based, resilient solutions for natural and human systems to avoid climate-aggravated risks, including sea level rise. Nevertheless, even though much progress has been made in adaptation planning and implementation, including growing political and public awareness, a significant gap exists between current levels of adaptation and those required in the face of climate risks.

Protecting and restoring ecosystems for biodiversity is essential for climate resilience. Maintaining resilient biodiversity and ecosystem services will require the preservation of approximately 30%-50% of the world’s surface. Ecosystem services were conceived with the idea that this preservation also has benefits for humans, including in terms of resources, livelihoods, food production, and health. However, biodiversity and ecosystem services have a limited capacity to adapt beyond 1.5°C of warming, making resilience to climate change even more challenging.

UNEP Adaptation Gap Reports

The UNEP Adaptation Gap Report (AGR) series provides an annual science-based assessment of the global progress on adaptation planning, financing, and implementation. It also explores options for enhancing and advancing national and global adaptation efforts and provides in-depth analysis of selected issues of interest. UNEP has produced the AGR since 2014, with the aim to inform the climate negotiations among UN Member States. While it remains an independent assessment, the objective of the AGR is closely aligned with that of the UNFCCC Global Stocktake. The AGR is co-produced by UNEP, the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre (UNEP-CCC) and the World Adaptation Science Programme (WASP).

UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report 2025: Running on Empty finds that the gap in adaptation finance for developing countries is putting lives, livelihoods and entire economies at risk. The report updates the cost of adaptation finance needed in developing countries stressing that, if current finance trends continue, the Glasgow Climate Pact goal of doubling international public adaptation finance from 2019 levels by 2025 will not be achieved, while the New Collective Quantified Goal for climate finance is not ambitious enough to close the finance gap

Previous editions

• Adaptation Gap Report 2024: Come hell and high water
• Adaptation Gap Report 2023: Underfinanced. Underprepared – Inadequate investment and planning on climate adaptation leaves world exposed
• Adaptation Gap Report 2022: Too Little, Too Slow – Climate adaptation failure puts world at risk
• Adaptation Gap Report 2021: The Gathering Storm
• Adaptation Gap Report 2020
• Adaptation Gap Report 2018
• Adaptation Gap Report 2017
• Adaptation Gap Report 2016
• The Adaptation Finance Gap Update 2015

Climate Governance & International Instruments

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The UN family is at the forefront of the effort to save our planet. In 1992, its “Earth Summit” produced the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a first step in addressing the climate change problem. Today, it has near-universal membership. The 197 countries that have ratified the Convention are Parties to the Convention. The ultimate aim of the Convention is to prevent “dangerous” human interference with the climate system.

Kyoto Protocol

By 1995, countries launched negotiations to strengthen the global response to climate change, and, two years later, adopted the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol legally binds developed country Parties to emission reduction targets. The Protocol’s first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. The second commitment period began on 1 January 2013 and will end in 2020. There are now 197 Parties to the Convention and 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

Paris Agreement

At the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris in 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future. The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention and – for the first time – brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.

2019 Climate Action Summit

On 23 September 2019, Secretary-General António Guterres convened a Climate Summit to bring world leaders of governments, the private sector and civil society together to support the multilateral process and to increase and accelerate climate action and ambition.

UN Climate Change Conference (COP30)

The 2025 UN Climate Change Conference – UNFCCC COP30 – took place in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025 under the presidency of Brazil. COP30 will mark 20 years since the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and 10 years of adoption of the Paris Agreement.

The Role of Geneva

International Geneva is mobilized in the fight against climate change. In addition to the secretariat of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the headquarters of the World Meteorological Organization, the numerous international organizations, permanent missions, non-governmental organizations and other institutions based in Geneva place the climate issue at the heart of their work.

Referred to as the world capital for multilateralism, Geneva is at the center of numerous debates and negotiations in the fields of science, health, human rights, development, trade and green finance, employment, peacebuilding and security, disaster risk reduction, humanitarian issues, as well as new technologies and innovation. This interdisciplinarity allows International Geneva to have unique cross-disciplinary expertise on climate, this theme being on the agenda of numerous deliberations.

Organizations are listed in alphabetical order

2050Today

2050Today is the Geneva climate action forum where over 60 institutions of International Geneva, such as permanent missions, international organizations, academia, private and civil society entities, come together to tackle climate change by measurably reducing GHG emissions.
In accordance with the 2050Today Charter, 2050Today mobilizes climate action by helping our members measure their emissions, implement common and customized solutions through working groups and benefit from applied research.

Catalytic Finance Foundation

Catalytic Finance Foundation, formerly known as R20 Regions of Climate Action, is dedicated to developing solutions to enable sustainable infrastructure investments, accelerate the design and deployment of catalytic finance solutions for this purpose. Catalytic Finance Foundation aim is to increase the synergy between the private sector and the public sector, so that “investable” and “sustainable” mean one and the same when it comes to infrastructure.

Center for International Environmental Law | CIEL

CIEL is committed to applying a human rights-based approach as a means to protect the peoples and communities on the frontline of climate change. In doing so, it works to design and integrate policies to safeguard rights and ecosystems and to ensure effective public participation within key climate institutions and mechanisms. CIEL also provide support and build the capacity of peoples and communities adversely affected by climate impacts and climate policies to support their direct participation in those decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods, including working with partners to develop new legal strategies to hold corporations accountable and accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.

Climate Action Accelerator

Climate Action Accelerator is a not-for-profit initiative that aims to mobilise a critical mass of common good organisations to scale-up climate solutions, empowering them to radically transform their practices and contributing to tipping entire sectors of society towards low-carbon, resilient and sustainable models.

Climate Bridges

Climate Bridges is a vibrant movement of practitioners and changemakers, connecting individuals and organizations committed to climate, people, and planet. They create spaces of deep collaboration, facilitating heart-to-heart connection between organizations and people through a sense of common purpose and shared humanity, serving a community of practitioners, an ecosystem of actors dedicated to climate action.

Community of Practice on Environment, Climate, Conflict, and Peace | ECCP

The Community of Practice on Environment, Climate, Conflict, and Peace (ECCP), currently co-hosted by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) and the Centre on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding (CCDP) at the Geneva Graduate Institute, was created in 2020 by the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform (GPP) as part of their mandate to facilitate interaction on peacebuilding between different actors, institutions and sectors and to incubate collective initiatives.

Earthjustice

Earthjustice works with partners to end the use of fossil fuels and bring about a swift and just transition to zero carbon emissions and 100% clean energy.

Environment Management Group | EMG

The United Nations (UN) Environment Management Group (EMG) is a system-wide coordination body on environment and human settlements. EMG aims to enhance UN system coherence in addressing interlinked, intergenerational environmental crises, including climate change.

Forum on Trade, Environment & SDGs | TESS Forum

The Forum on Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development (TESS) is involved in trade policy action to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It seeks to strengthen the promotion and inclusion of international cooperation on trade policies that contribute to advance climate mitigation and adaptation, climate-resilient development, and fair transitions.

Franciscans International

Franciscans International aims to address the root causes of injustices by bringing cases of discrimination and violence committed against individuals and groups living on the margins to the attention of the international community, towards advocating for dignity, peace, and environmental justice. A study by Franciscans International and the Lutheran World Federation examines how these communities can help safeguard human rights during the shift away from a dependency fossil fuel and extractivism, promoting inclusive and sustainable solutions. It also addresses ethical challenges in climate action, such as the risks of embracing “false solutions” like carbon trading and geoengineering that may worsen inequality.

Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutes | GANHRI

Representing more than 110 national human rights institutes (NHRI), their members and staff across all regions, GANHRI is one of the largest human rights networks worldwide. At the 2020 GANHRI Annual Conference, NHRIs from all regions pledged to work individually and collectively to promote human rights-based climate action. The conference statement – Climate Change: The Role of National Human Rights Institutions – sets out the practical ways that NHRIs will work for climate justice.

Geneva Climate Change Consultation Group | GeCCco

GeCCco gathers civil society organizations working in Geneva to bring forward the human rights issues raised by climate change and to introduce these climate change issues in the work of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Bodies. The GeCCco also keeps a close eye on the UNFCCC processes thanks to the NGO Working Group on Human Rights and Climate Change, the oldest and main coalition on this matter, to which a number of the participating organizations are also members.

Geneva Interfaith Forum on Climate Change, Environment and Human Rights | GIF

From its inception in 2008, the Geneva Interfaith Forum on Climate Change, Environment and Human Rights (GIF) has addressed climate change within a holistic perspective, recognizing its environmental, developmental, political, economic, social and cultural implications. Furthermore, from a spiritual and ethical perspective the GIF advocates for climate justice to be central to human rights and climate change discussions.

Geneva Pledge on Human Rights and Climate Action

The Geneva Pledge on Human Rights and Climate Action is a voluntary initiative undertaken by countries to facilitate the sharing of best practice and knowledge between human rights and climate experts at a national level. In recognizing the injustice faced by the poorest and most vulnerable people who are disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change, this diverse group of countries pledge to enable meaningful collaboration between national representatives in UNFCCC and the processes of the Human Rights Council. The practical and constructive initiative will help countries to better design climate action that is good for people as well as the planet.

Group on Earth Observations | GEO

Earth observations relevant to climate action are not limited to weather or climate, but are much broader and include terrestrial and socio-economic variables. GEO makes available Earth observations in support of effective policy responses for climate change adaptation, mitigation and other specific provisions, working with partners to enhance global observation systems for climate action. GEO will be present at COP26 with a series of events to promote the role of Earth observations in providing actionable information for climate adaptation and mitigation.

Impact Initiatives

Impact Initiatives is a leading Geneva-based think-and-do tank that aims to improve the impact of humanitarian, stabilization and development action through data, partnerships and capacity-building programmes. Through its REACH, AGORA, and PANDA initiatives, IMPACT Initiatives supports both humanitarian and development agencies translate data to knowledge to : i) be better prepared before a crisis ii) respond in a climate and environmentally conscious manner iii) design long-term solutions for climate mitigation and adaptation.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change | IPCC

The IPCC was set up to provide an objective source of scientific information. In 2013, the IPCC provided more clarity about the role of human activities in climate change when it released its Fifth Assessment Report. It is categorical in its conclusion: Climate change is real and human activities are the main cause.

International Air Transport Association | IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for the world’s airlines, representing over 360 airlines accounting for some 85% of global air traffic. In 2021, a resolution was passed by IATA member airlines committing them to achieving net-zero carbon emissions from their operations by 2050. The Fly Net Zero pledge aims to bring air transport in line with supporting efforts of the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal.

International Committee of the Red Cross | ICRC

The ICRC works to adapt its response to support populations coping with the dual shocks of climate risks and conflicts. In 2020, the ICRC also released the report « When rain turns to dust » illustrating how countries mired in conflict are disproportionately impacted by climate variability and extremes, due to the limited adaptive capacity of people, systems, and institutions already coping with the consequences of conflicts.

International Emissions Trading Association | IETA

The mission of IETA is to empower business to engage in climate action, advancing the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement as informed by IPCC science and establish effective market-based trading systems for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals that are environmentally robust, fair, open, efficient, accountable and consistent across national boundaries.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies | IFRC

The IFRC held its first-ever virtual climate summit, Climate: Red, on 9-10 September 2020. It brought together members, staff, youth activists, government officials, experts, and indigenous leaders from around the world to discuss how to tackle the climate emergency. Together with the ICRC, the IFRC has also led the development of a Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations to guide the sector as it responds to these crises and to rally collective action.

International Federation for Human Rights | FIDH

Defending all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights since 1992, FIDH has mobilized to fight impunity to hold States and business accountable for environmental degradation, advocating that a just transition away from fossil fuels must be an imperative for all climate action ahead. FIDH, in its submissions to both the Santa Marta and the COP31 roadmap, calls for: meaningful and effective participation of rightsholders and human rights defenders in phaseout action plans; reform of trade and investment agreements to serve human rights and climate objectives instead of corporate interests; tax justice reform to remedy budgetary crunches arising from the phaseout and find new, increased resources to fulfil human rights.

International Institute for Sustainable Development | IISD

IISD is actively involved in the two main responses to climate change: adaptation and mitigation. It partners with countries to help them cope with a changing climate and transition to clean energy as quickly as possible. IISD is engaged to showcase how a just transition approach ensures that the affected people are considered by those making decisions. IISD is also active in its project on Advancing the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, supporting credible roadmaps for a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels.

International Labour Organization | ILO

ILO is the UN Agency leading the work on the just transition. Its members adopted the guidelines for a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all in 2015, becoming a widely recognized point of reference for all work related to the just transition. With the International Labour Conference resolution adopted in 2023 on a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all, the ILO has a newly reinvigorated mandate, as the only tripartite specialized UN agency representing governments, employers and workers, in advancing a just transition in the multilateral system including the United Nations climate processes. Besides mainstreaming green jobs and just transition through the Green Jobs Unit, ILO convenes various initiatives for the mainstreaming of a just transition across the world of work and for the creation of decent and sustainable green jobs, including the ILO’s Action Programme on Just Transition. ILO’s work on just transition aims to maximize opportunities for employment and income growth, advance social justice and labour rights, and minimize the risks of social disruption, including business closure and loss of business assets, jobs and livelihoods, and growing inequalities, in the context of environmental and climate change, and decarbonization. For more information on the ILO’s work on just transition, please see the ILO green jobs page. ILO has also produced a list of just transition-related policy briefs.

In 2017, together with the UN Climate Change secretariat, UNFCCC, ILO organized in Geneva the 1st Global Forum on Just Transition. The Forum situated the ILO as a convener on the issue of Just Transition and address a critical dimension of the global efforts to move towards more environmentally sustainable economies and societies. Spearheaded by the ILO, the Climate Action for Jobs Initiative by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres brings together governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations, international institutions, academia and civil society to place jobs at the heart of ambitious climate action and to promote a just transition.

International Organization for Migration | IOM

Since 2007, IOM  has been working on migration, environment and climate change. Since 2015, it hosts a dedicated Migration, Environment and Climate Change Division (MECC) that addresses the migration, environment and climate nexus.  Through it, IOM oversees, supports and coordinates the development of policy guidance for activities with a migration, environment and climate change dimension. IOM established the Environmental Migration Portal: Knowledge Platform on People on the Move in a Changing Climate in 2015. The Portal provides up-to-date information on key policy processes and developments, capacity building efforts, research and publications, and operational projects addressing the migration, environment and climate change nexus. The Portal highlights IOM’s efforts, including with partners, as we work together towards addressing one of the biggest challenges of our times, migration in the context of environmental and climate change.

International Organization for Standardization | ISO

ISO standards play a pivotal role in accelerating climate action through sustainable practices. These standards empower organizations to decarbonize their business model, improve the greenhouse gas footprint of products and services, and navigate the transition to a green economy. They guide societies and economic actors in mitigating climate impacts and adapting to changing environmental conditions.

International Telecommunication Union | ITU

Through its Radiocommunication sector (ITU-R), Standardization sector (ITU-T) and Development sector (ITU-D), ITU covers the role of digital technologies within climate change, to tackle e-waste and facilitate energy efficiency​. 

International Union for Conservation of Nature | IUCN

The IUCN assesses the impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems. Through its work on ecosystem-based mitigation, adaptation and disaster risk reduction, it also highlights the important role of nature-based solutions to climate change. It also works to ensure that climate policy and action are gender-responsive, socially inclusive and take into account to the needs of the most vulnerable.

Lutheran World Federation

The LWF sees care for creation as a core calling and recognizes climate change as a matter of justice and human rights. LWF’s advocacy for climate justice focuses on the protection of the most vulnerable from the impacts of climate change and holding governments accountable to their climate commitments, intergenerational justice, and interfaith collaboration. A study by Franciscans International and the Lutheran World Federation examines how these communities can help safeguard human rights during the shift away from a dependency fossil fuel and extractivism, promoting inclusive and sustainable solutions. It also addresses ethical challenges in climate action, such as the risks of embracing “false solutions” like carbon trading and geoengineering that may worsen inequality.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights | OHCHR, UN Human Rights

As the leading UN entity on human rights, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR, UN Human Rights) aims to provide guidance that encourages policy coherence and ensures that climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts are adequate, sufficiently ambitious, non-discriminatory and compliant with human rights obligations. Guided by principles and standards derived from international human rights law, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the core universal human rights treaties, as well as the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change, UN Human Rights aim to to help States, businesses and other duty-bearers meet this expectation. OHCHR has published Key Messages on Human Rights and Climate Change outlining key human rights obligations in the context of climate change.

Since 2015, as mandated by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), OHCHR has also organized annual panel discussions on climate change at HRC, covering diverse subjects such as climate change and the rights of the child; human rights, climate change and human mobility; climate change and the effective enjoyment of the right to health; gender-responsive climate action; and the impacts of climate change on the rights of persons with disabilities. The Office has also produced analytical studies on all these subjects.

Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction | PEDRR

PEDRR is a global partnership of 24 organizations that promotes ecosystem management as a key strategy to enable vulnerable communities and countries to reduce disaster risk and build resilience to disasters and climate change.

Platform on Disaster Replacement

Climate refugees are on the increase and the Platform on Disaster Displacement is a State-led initiative that aims to follow up on the work started by the Nansen Initiative and to implement the Nansen Initiative – Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change, endorsed by more than 100 States in October 2015.

Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council

As independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective, the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council make links with their own mandates with issues on climate change and human rights. This includes work achieved when they undertake country visits; act on individual cases and concerns of a broader, structural nature by sending communications to States and others in which they bring alleged violations or abuses to their attention; conduct thematic studies and convene expert consultations, contribute to the development of international human rights standards, engage in advocacy, raise public awareness, and provide advice for technical cooperation. Since 2008, the Special Procedures mechanisms have been actively involved in addressing the human rights impacts of climate change.​ → Consult reports by Special Procedures & other mechanisms addressing human rights and climate change.

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction | UNDRR

UNDRR oversees the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, supporting countries in its implementation, monitoring and sharing what works in reducing existing risk and preventing the creation of new risk. As climate-related risks are increasingly affecting people around the world, UNDRR is also actively promoting climate adaptation to reduce these risks.

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe | UNECE

The UNECE region is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for 34% of the world’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion. The people of the region are increasingly feeling the impacts of climate change – from wildfires to flooding, heatwaves and drought. Through its norms, standards, conventions and policy assistance, UNECE provides key tools supporting countries in their climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

United Nations Environment Programme | UNEP

The work of UNEP on climate action cuts across the fields of science, policy, technology and finance. It empowers countries to pursue low-emission development and boost their capacity to adapt and be resilient to climate heating. UNEP is also working to implement the Paris Agreement and its contributions include bringing science to policymakers, playing a leading role in transformative global partnerships, and helping dozens of countries develop national plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, UNEP equips countries to seize new investment opportunities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and supports the development of new finance models to accelerate the transition to a green economy. Through the Climate Finance Unit, UNEP also focuses on supporting developing countries to access climate finance (directly and through accredited entities) from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the Adaptation Fund (AF) as well as through other bilateral or multilateral public sources.

United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative | UNEP FI

UNEP FI is uniquely positioned to help policy makers and the finance sector deliver the net-zero transition, fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement, and build a low-carbon future. UNEP FI convenes various alliances aiming to improve financial institutions achieve net-zero objectives, including the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, the Forum for Insurance Transition to Net Zero, and the Net-Zero Export Credit Agencies Alliance.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees | UNHCR

Refugees, internally displaced and stateless people are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. UNHCR is working to protect them and strengthen their resilience to its current and future impacts, while also reducing our own environmental footprint.

Building on their Strategic Framework for Climate Action, their Strategic Plan for Climate Action 2024-2030 details a global roadmap for prioritized action in support of governments and in collaboration with a wide range of partners to realize the ambitious goal of protecting increasing numbers of forcibly displaced and stateless people fleeing from climate-fueled crises and/or living in climate-vulnerable countries, helping them find solutions and make resilient to the impacts of climate change, towards the means to live self-sufficient lives.

United Nations Human Rights Council | HRC

The Human Rights Council (HRC) has contributed to raising awareness of the links between human rights and climate change by successive and targeted clarifications of the ways climate change affects human rights, including through the adoption of a series of resolutions related to climate change and human rights, including the yearly resolution on human rights and climate change, and the resolution establishing the mandate of a Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change (A/HRC/RES/48/14) in 2021.

UN-REDD Programme

Since 2008 the UN-REDD Programme  has been supporting 65 partner countries in their nationally led efforts to become “REDD+ ready” and qualify for results-based payments. Within the UN-REDD Programme, UNEP leads on private sector engagement, safeguards, knowledge management and communications. The Paris Climate Agreement also recognizes REDD+ and the central role of forests in Article 5. To date, 118 countries have included forest and land use in their Nationally Determined Contributions pledges.

UN Trade and Development | UNCTAD

UN Trade and Development is engaged to support countries’ efforts to promote sustainability, adapt and build resilience against the climate emergency. It produces important research on the nexus between climate change, trade and development while leading important projects and programs.

United Nations Office for Project Services | UNOPS

UNOPS Water, Environment and Climate (WEC) portfolio supports key climate initiatives and projects, and provides financial, grant and project management services on behalf of global funds and together with partners. WEC supports partners’ global climate commitments as well as regional and country-specific activities, focused on climate action, as well as protection and conservation of the environment. WEC focuses its services on three key thematic areas: water resource management, environmental conservation, and climate action.

World Business Council for Sustainable Development | WBCSD

The Climate Policy Working Group members of WBCSD meet regularly to shape key messages, share insights and plan for events to bring the voice of business. Topical issues today include Paris Agreement implementation and ambition, carbon pricing and Science-Based Targets (SBTs).

World Council of Churches

Care for creation and justice are at the centre of WCC work on climate change. The present world development model is threatening the lives and livelihoods of many, especially among the world’s poorest people, and destroying biodiversity. The ecumenical vision is to overcome this model based on over-consumption and greed. Since the 1970s, the WCC has helped develop the concept of sustainable communities. Since the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted in 1992, the WCC has been present at all UN climate change conferences. Over the years, the WCC helped foster a movement for climate justice touching millions of people around the world. It’s time for climate justice. When creation is threatened, churches and Christians are called to speak out and act as an expression of their commitment to life, justice and love.

World Economic Forum | WEF

The WEF Climate Change Intelligence is a visual representation of climate change and provides an overview and the key trends affecting it, along with summaries and links to the latest research and analysis on each of the trends.

World Health Organization | WHO

The WHO indicates that the world population is encountering unfamiliar human-induced changes in the lower and middle atmospheres and world-wide depletion of various other natural systems. Beyond the early recognition that such changes would affect economic activities, infrastructure and managed ecosystems, there is now recognition that global climate change poses risks to human population health. Climate change is emerging as a major theme in population health research, social policy development, and advocacy. Consideration of global climatic-environmental hazards to human health will become a central role in the sustainability transition debate. To  amplify WHO’s climate and health messaging and addressing the climate crisis as an health crisis, WHO appointed in June 2023 Dr Vanessa Kerry as the first-ever Director-General Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health.

World Intellectual Property Organization | WIPO

WIPO GREEN is an online platform for technology exchange. It supports global efforts to address climate change by connecting providers and seekers of environmentally friendly technologies. Through its database, network and acceleration projects, it brings together key players to catalyze green technology innovation and diffusion. To support climate action, the WIPO GREEN database, a free, solutions oriented, global innovation catalogue connects needs for solving environmental or climate change problems with tangible solutions. The database consists of uploads of needs and solutions, green technology patents from the WIPO Patentscope database, imports from select partner organizations, relevant knowledge material, and expert or company profiles. For instance, it categorizes energy-related technology areas with many potential solutions to climate impacts and conducts WIPO GREEN Acceleration Projects and other activities, actively identifying pertinent needs within specific climate change, food security, and environmental issues in a country or region, along with potential innovative green solutions.

World Meteorological Organization | WMO

The WMO helps its members to monitor the Earth’s climate on a global scale so that reliable information is available to support evidence-based decision-making on how to best adapt to a changing climate and manage risks associated with climate variability and extremes. Climate information is essential for monitoring the success of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, as well as for promoting efforts to increase energy efficiency and to transition to a carbon-neutral economy.

World Trade Organization | WTO

The World Trade Organization is spearheading action on the nexus between climate change and trade, working to showcase how trade and trade policy can and must be a part of the policy « toolbox » to achieve shared climate goals at the depth and speed required by the climate emergency. The WTO provides a framework of disciplines to facilitate global trade and serves as a forum to negotiate further trade openness and to discuss trade concerns. The WTO rules require members to be transparent when adopting new measures impacting trade with legitimate policy objectives, such as combatting climate change. The WTO seeks to ensure that such measures are coherent and fit-for-purpose and do not create unjustifiable discrimination.

The issue of climate change, per se, is not found expressly in the WTO agreements. However, the goals of sustainable development and environmental protection are central to the WTO, as captured in the preamble to its founding charter, the Marrakesh Agreement. The WTO gives members the opportunity to hold open and informed dialogue on trade and climate change, to discuss related measures and to share knowledge and experiences. Trade and climate change policies can contribute towards climate action while at the same time ensuring opportunities for economic growth and diversification.

World Wildlife Fund | WWF

WWF works to tackle the climate crisis in a variety of ways. From encouraging governments to implement more ambitious climate policies, to supporting the shift to renewable energy, to working with cities, businesses and communities to create a climate-resilient, net-zero future. WWF’s goal is to adaptively halve greenhouse gas emissions through a stark reduction in energy demand, an increase of at least 40% of non-hydro renewable energy in electricity mix and the implementation of nature-based solutions at scale which ensure people and nature resilience to climate change. In June 2023, WWF adopted its climate action plan « Climate action right now: Everyone, everywhere, all at once » enshrining its expectations for COP28 and achieving the goals set by the Paris Agreement.

Learning

Climate Classroom | COP30 Edition

27 October – 7 November 2025

Climate Classroom

UNCC:Learn | 30 October – 8 November 2024 | Online

Ecosystem-based Adaptation: Working with nature to adapt to a changing climate

SDNS | 21 June 2023 | Online

Environmental Governance & Policy-Making

IHEID | Maison de la Paix

MOOC | Global Artic

EPFL | Online

Fundamentals on REDD+

UN-REDD | Online

Introductory Course to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

InforMEA | Online

Climate Change International Legal Regime

InforMEA | Online

Introduction to Environmental Governance

InforMEA | Online

Climate Change: From Learning to Action

UN CC:Learn | Online

MA in Migration, Climate Change & Environment

Webster University Geneva

An Introduction to Climate Change and Human Rights

UN CC:Learn | Online

Becoming a Climate Resilient SME

ITC | 3 July 2023 | Online

Gender Equality and Human Rights in Climate Action and Renewable Energy

UN CC:Learn | Online

GEN Events

World Environment Day Celebration 2026 | Multilateral Geneva Driving Collective Climate Action

Geneva Environment Network | 5 June 2026

Two-Speed Multilateralism: Can It Address the Climate & Health Agenda?

Geneva Graduate Institute, World Health Organization, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Geneva Environment Network | 30 March 2026

Just Transition and Human Rights: Key Issues for COP30 | HRC60 Side Event

Franciscans International, Lutheran World Federation, Earthjustice, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Geneva Climate Change Consultation Group, Geneva Environment Network | 18 September 2025

COP30 and Human Rights: Call from Global South Catholic | Geneva Rights and Climate Talks

Congregation of Our Lady of Good Shepherd, Franciscans International, Dominicans for Justice and Peace, VIVAT International, Swiss Catholic Lenten Campaign, Edmund Rice International, Geneva Environment Network | 18 September 2025

2025 Geneva Dialogues on Human Rights and Climate Change: The Role of Geneva in Building on the Historic Advisory Opinions on Climate Change

Republic of the Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, Luxembourg, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Center for International Environmental Law, Earthjustice, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Geneva Environment Network| 3 September 2025

Delivery of ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Justice | Live Diplomatic Screening and Commentary

Center for International Environmental Law and Geneva Environment Network | 23 July 2025

The Right to Break Free from the Carbon Lock-in of Plastics | Geneva Rights and Climate Talks & Beat Plastic Pollution Dialogues

GEN, Earthjustice, GeCCco | 4 July 2024

Climate Defenders’ Right to Participate in Climate Action | Geneva Rights and Climate Talks & Roadmap 40/11

Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, Earthjustice, GEN, GeCCco, Geneva Roadmap 40/11 for Environmental Human Rights Defenders | 3 July 2025

The Human Rights Imperative of Phasing out Fossil Fuels – International Cooperation for Defossilisation | HRC59 Side Event

Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, EU, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Panama | 2 July 2025

Just Transition and Human Rights | Reducing Dependence on New Mineral Resource Extraction | HRC59 Side Event

Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, Earthjustice, GEN, GeCCco | 1 July 2025

Climate Justice Hearings at the International Court of Justice: Unpacking Key Arguments and Drawing Lessons from a Human Rights Perspective

WYCJ, Earthjustice, GEN, GHRP, CIEL | 12 December 2024

Pushing Boundaries Through Collective Action: How Can Citizens Drive Systems Change and Catalyze Climate Action? | Climate Solutions to Keep 1.5° Alive | GEN @ 25

UNDP Geneva and Geneva Environment Network | 2 December 2024

ICJ Oral Hearings on Climate Justice – Diplomatic Screening and Commentary | GEN @ 25

CIEL, GEN, GHRP, Earthjustice, World’s Youth for Climate Justice | 2 December 2024

Conseil pour le climat: 13 recommandations pour le Conseil d’État genevois

GEN, Conseil pour le climat | Genève | 16 September 2024

The Crucial Role of Environmental Defenders in Ensuring a Safe Climate | Geneva Rights and Climate Talks

Earthjustice, GEN, ISHR, GeCCco, Geneva Roadmap 40/11 for Environmental Human Rights Defenders | 3 July 2024

Peoples’ Climate Vote: What does the world want in terms of climate action?

UNDP and Geneva Environment Network | 27 June 2024

2024 Geneva Dialogues on Human Rights and Climate Change

CIEL, Earthjustice, FES, OHCHR, GEN, Luxembourg | 14 May 2024

Climate Impacts of Plastics: Global Actions to Stem Climate Change and End Plastic Pollution

GRID-Arendal and Geneva Environment Network | 20 March 2024

Briefing on the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28)

United Arab Emirates and Geneva Environment Network | 21 November 2023

The Triple Planetary Crisis: Breaking Silos | INTECOL & Alternatiba 2022

Geneva Environment Network, International Association for Ecology | 31 August 2022

The Rights Holders’ Challenges Facing Climate Change | HRC50 Side Event

Geneva Climate Change Consultation Group, Geneva Environment Network | 24 June 2022

Plastics & Refuse-Derived Fuel: Fuel Product or Plastic Waste Export? | Geneva Beat Plastic Pollution Dialogues

International Pollutants Elimination Network, Geneva Environment Network | 9 June 2022

Clean Energy with Clean Conscience: The Importance of Human Rights, Health and Well-Being When Transitioning to Clean Energy for Sustainable Development

United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Health Organization, International Service for Human Rights, 2050Today, Franciscans International, Geneva Environment Network | 1 June 2022

Celebrating the Right to a Healthy Environment: 50 Years of the Stockholm Declaration

Switzerland, Geneva Environment Network | 30 May 2022

Climate Tipping Points, Irreversibility and their Consequences for Society, Environment and Economies | Switzerland’s Proposal for an IPCC Special Report

Switzerland, Geneva Environment Network | 25 May 2022

Subsidizing Fossil Fuels in Times of High Energy Prices | Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform in Trade and Climate Discussions

International Institute for Sustainable Development, Friends of Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform, Geneva Environment Network | 16 May 2022

Briefing on the IPCC Climate Change 2022 Report: Mitigation of Climate Change

Geneva Environment Network | 8 April 2022

Geneva Stockholm+50 Dialogues | The Human Rights Council Contributions to Protecting Human and Natural Environment

France, Costa Rica, Earthjustice, Geneva Environment Network | 30 March 2022

COP26-COP27 Briefing on the IPCC Climate Change 2022 Report: Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability

Geneva Environment Network | 7 March 2022

Cities & COP26 Negotiations | City Diplomacy Series

Geneva Environment Netowork | 16 December 2021

Leveraging Glasgow’s Ambition in Geneva’s Multilateral Processes | Geneva Cryosphere Hub

Geneva Environment Network | 12 November 2021

Update on Preparations for the UN Climate Change Conference | Briefing Ahead of UNFCCC COP26

Geneva Environment Network | 21 October 2021

HRC48 Side Event | Addressing the Adverse Impact of Climate Change on the Full and Effective Enjoyment of Human Rights

Republic of the Marshall Islands | 15 September 2021

Equity Considerations in Nationally Determined Contributions

Geneva Environment Network | 7 December 2020

UN Climate Change Dialogues 2020

UN Climate Change | 23 November 2020 – 04 December 2020

Climat : que fait la Genève internationale | Festival Alternatiba Léman

Geneva Environment Network | 23 September 2020

GENeva Environment Dialogues | The Impact of COVID-19 on Climate Science

Geneva Environment Network | 2 July 2020

GENeva Environment Dialogues | International Governance Issues on Climate Engineering

Geneva Environment Network | 18 June 2020

GENeva Environment Dialogues | UNFCCC COP26

Geneva Environment Network | 14 May 2020

International Women’s Day | Climate Justice / Gender Justice

Geneva Environment Network | 5 March 2020

Outcomes of the UN Climate Change Conference Geneva | Geneva DeBriefing of UNFCCC COP25

Geneva Environment Network | 21 January 2020

Update on Preparations for the UN Climate Change Conference | Briefing Ahead of UNFCCC COP25

Geneva Environment Network | 12 Novemeber 2019

Geneva Dialogues | Human Rights, Climate Change, Land and Human Mobility under the Paris Agreement

Geneva Environment Network | 5 November 2019

Rethinking Climate Change, Security and Migration | From Vicious to Virtuous Cycles

Geneva Environment Network | 30 April 2019

Human Rights & Climate Change | Briefing on UNFCCC COP24

Geneva Environment Network | 26 November 2018

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change: Implications for the World of Work

Geneva Environment Network | 22 April 2016

Launch of UNEP Emissions Gap Report Executive Summary

Geneva Environment Network | 6 November 2015

Climate change, cross-border displacement and human rights | is there a protection gap and will COP21 help close it?

Geneva Environment Network | 26 October 2015

Climate Change COP21 and Beyond: Briefing on SDGs, INDCs and the contribution of the international trade community

Geneva Environment Network | 5 October 2015

Briefing on UNFCCC ADP 2-8

Geneva Environment Network | 6 February 2015

UNFCCC COP 21 Preparations and Challenges

Geneva Environment Network | 10 April  2014

World Water Day Roundtable | “Water for Life”: Expectations for the International Decade for Action 2005 – 2015

Geneva Environment Network | 22 March 2004

Reports

• Hidden assets: The economic and health case for climate and clean air action, | UNEP and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) | 7 September 2026
• WMO Air Quality and Climate Bulletin No. 6 – September 2026 | WMO | 7 September 2026
• El Niño/La Niña Update | WMO | 3 September 2026
• Limiting Overshoot: Navigating exceedance of 1.5°C and pathways towards return | UNEP | 2 September 2026
• Early Warnings: Government Knowledge of Climate Change and Legal Responsibility for Climate Harm | CIEL | 15 July 2026
• Cheaper. Cleaner. Unstoppable. Clean technologies that are delivering for the climate | UNEP | 3 June 2026
• Adaptation of transport infrastructure needed across Europe, Central Asia and North America in view of increasing climate risks | UNECE | 30 June 2026
• Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Knowledge in the Context of the UNFCCC | CIEL | 13 November 2025
• World Energy Outlook 2025 | IEA | 12 November 2025
• The Global Status of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems 2025 report | WMO | 12 November 2025
• Briefing: Accounting for the uncounted: The global climate impact of militaries | CEOBS, Griffith University, Initiative on GHG Accounting of War, University of Warwick | 12 November 2025
• 2025 Action Report “Time to scale up | Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) | 11 November 2025
• Policy Matters: From pledges to delivery – A decade after Paris | Task Force on Net Zero Policy | 11 November 2025
• Global Cooling Watch 2025 | UNEP | 11 November 2025
• Green Technology Book: Solutions for confronting climate disasters | WIPO | 11 November 2025
• Jobs and Skills for the New Economy. An Action Agenda for a People-Centered Climate Transition | Systemiq and World Resources Institute | 11 November 2025
• Urban Content in NDC 3.0 — A global snapshot for COP30 | UN-Habitat | 10 November 2025
• Green Public Procurement Pledge: Annual Progress Report 2025 | UNIDO | November 2025
• The Global Peatland Hotspot Atlas: The State of the World’s Peatlands in Maps | UNEP | 21 November 2024
• Trade Policy Experiences Contributing to Climate Action | WTO | November 2024
• CCAC TEAP Report: Role of Digital (Extension) Services for Livestock on Tackling Methane Emissions | Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Technology & Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) | 20 November 2024
• Global Framework for Action Harnessing sustainable and circular public procurement to drive demand for near-zero emissions and resilient buildings. Common Principles | One Planet Network |  19 November 2024
•  IUCN Pakistan launched the Mangroves Assessment Report at COP29 | IUCN | 19 November 2024
• The Climate Change Performance Index 2025: Results | German Watch | 19 November 2024
• Renewable Energy: How trade policy supports deployment and value addition in developing countries | ITC | 18 November 2024
• An Eye on Methane 2024 | UNEP | 15 November 2024
• Supporting the renewable electricity transition through trade. Unlocking re-globalization opportunities via interconnection | WMO & WTO | 15 November 2024
• World Energy Employment 2024 | IEA | 15 November 2024
• Closing the Gap: The emerging global agenda of transition plans and the need for insurance-specific guidance | UNEP FI | 14 November 2024
• Global status of multi-hazard early warning systems 2024 | WMO – UNDRR | 13 November 2024
• Enabling global trade in renewable hydrogen and derivative commodities | WTO-IRENA | 14 November 2024
• Framework for implementing environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles | ISO | 14 November 2024
• Raising ambition and accelerating delivery of climate finance: Third report of the Independent High-Level Expert Group |  Independent High Level Expert Group (IHLEG) on Climate Finance  | 14 November 2024
• Global Carbon Budget 2024 | Global Carbon Budget, University of Exeter, Future Earth | 13 November 2024
• Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment | FAO & UNEP | 12 November 2024
• No Escape – On the frontlines of climate change, conflict and forced displacement | UNHCR | 12 November 2024
• Common approach to measuring climate results: Update on indicators | Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) | 12 November 2024
• Supporting the renewable electricity transition through trade. Unlocking re-globalization opportunities via interconnection | WMO & WTO | 15 November 2024
• World Energy Employment 2024 | IEA | 15 November 2024
• Closing the Gap: The emerging global agenda of transition plans and the need for insurance-specific guidance | UNEP FI | 14 November 2024
• Global status of multi-hazard early warning systems 2024 | WMO – UNDRR | 13 November 2024
• Global Carbon Budget 2024 | Global Carbon Budget, University of Exeter, Future Earth | 13 November 2024
• State of the Climate 2024 Update for COP29 | WMO | 11 November 2024
• State of the Climate in Africa 2024 | World Meteorological Organization | 12 May 2024
• Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: facing record-breaking threats from delayed action | The Lancet | 29 October 2024
• State of the Climate in Asia 2023 Report | WMO | 23 April 2024
• European State of the Climate 2023 Report  | WMO & Copernicus | 22 April 2024
• Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate | ILO | 22 April 2024

News and Resources

• Hidden assets: The economic and health case for climate and clean air action | UNEP | 7 September 2026
• Climate action and clean air: Two goals, one opportunity | Inger Andersen, UNEP | 7 September 2026
• UN: Every US$1 invested in climate and clean-air action can return US$15 | UNEP | 7 September 2026
• WMO Air Quality and Climate Bulletin No. 6 – September 2026 | WMO | 7 September 2026
• WMO bulletin shows air quality and climate interlinkages | WMO | 7 September 2026
• Coordinated action on clean air and climate change can net $15 for every dollar spent | UN News | 7 September 2026
• Secretary-General’s video message on the launch of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Overshoot Report | UN | 2 September 2026
• UNEP: World set to cross 1.5°C global warming, but can still limit, adapt to and return from higher temperatures | UNEP | 2 September 2026
• Overshoot explained: 5 things to understand about a world beyond 1.5°C | UNEP | 2 September 2026
• ‘Fight for humanity’: Avoiding a climate catastrophe means acting now | UN News | 2 September 2026
• What does “overshoot” mean in climate science? | Robert Vautard, IPCC Working Group I Co-Chair | 2 September 2026
• Stark findings from UNEP’s Overshoot report demand urgent, ambitious climate action | IUCN | 2 September 2026
• UN urges faster action to set world on course for ‘overshoot, peak and decline’ on climate | Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre | 2 September 2026
• WWF: 1.5°C overshoot is a call for urgent action | WWF | 2 September 2026
• ‘Managing’ Overshoot is Not a Strategy Approaching 1.5°C Is a Call to Double-down on Fossil Fuel Phase Out, Justice and Remedy, Not Gamble on Carbon Removal | CIEL | 2 September 2026
• We Mean Business Coalition response to UN Limiting Overshoot report | We Mean Business Coalition | 2 September 2026
• UNEP declaration of expected 1.5°C overshoot must spark urgent political response | Greenpeace International | 2 September 2026
• UNEP Report Warns World is Soon to Exceed 1.5°C ‒ but Return is Possible | World Resources Institute | 2 September 2026
• Keeping to 1.5C of warming is no longer possible – but we must still limit the overshoot | Climate Change News | 2 September 2026
• Pacific leaders demand end to fossil fuels as UNEP report warns 1.5°C overshoot threatens small island survival | Fossil Fuel Treaty | 2 September 2026
• World Has No Realistic Path to Meet 1.5ºC Warming Target, UN Declares | Health Policy Watch | 2 September 2026
• As UN Warns World Will Cross 1.5°C, Conservation International CEO Sebastian Troëng Underscores Nature’s Role as Part of the Solution | Conservation International | 2 September 2026
• How the London Declaration embedded climate action in standards development | WEF | 13 August 2026
• As climate change marches on, African churches keep the momentum | World Council of Churches | 11 August 2026
• Climate Bulletins | Copernicus | 10 August 2026
• How Southeast Asia’s central banks can meet the climate challenge | EastAsiaForum | 5 August 2026
• Secretary-General’s Press Encounter on his recent travels, the Middle East and Climate Change | UN Press Events | 31 July 2026 
  
• As war on Iran drives monster Q2 profits for Big Oil, communities struggle with extreme weather and soaring costs | Greenpeace International | 31 August 2026
• Strong El Niño expected to intensify | WMO | 31 July 2026
• The climate pattern putting millions at risk: El Niño explained | UN News | 30 July 2026
  
• The peculiar case of glacier-transported glass bottles at Piz Murtèl, Swiss Alps | Elisa Götza, Matthias Huss & Lander Van Tricht | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research | 28 July 2026
• Climate alarm ‘blaring from every direction’ | UN News | 28 July 2026
• Climate, disasters and human mobility: What the Global Compact for Migration can advance by 2030 | Sanjula Weerasinghe, Timo Schmidt and Atle Solberg | Climate Mobility Hub | 20 July 2026
• The Aral Sea isn’t just an ecological nightmare – it’s a carbon bomb | GIRST | 16 July 2026
• End of Amazon Soy Moratorium estimated to cause 1.4 million hectares of deforestation over next decade, finds new research | WWF | 16 July 2026
• AI helping UN detect methane emissions and spark real reductions in climate-warming gas | UNEP | 15 July 2026
• Green Climate Fund’s balance sheet efficiency unlocks more than USD 4 billion for new investments | Green Climate Fund | 15 July 2026
• 2025 Joint Summary Report on Multilateral Development Banks Climate Finance | Development Banks | 13 July 2026
• WHO launches climate, health and migration research roadmap for the Western Pacific Region | WHO | 14 July 2026
• La science du climat n’est pas une opinion |  Sonia Seneviratne, Le Temps | July 2026.
• ❝Communities don’t need another decade of climate pledges – they need delivery – Geneva Solutions | Jean-François Laurent | Geneva Solutions | 5 June 2026
• How Might a ‘Super El Niño’ Affect Food, Forests and Water? | WRI | 3 June 2026
• WMO: Prepare for El Niño | WMO | 2 June 2026
• Inside Bonn Climate Change Conference 2026 | IISD
• Bonn climate talks can turn Just Transition promises into real shared prosperity | Climate Action Network | 5 June 2026
• South Centre Informal Note on SB64 | South Centre | 5 June 2026
• Governments heading to Bonn must act on climate commitments to protect human rights | Amnesty International | 5 June 2026
• What to expect from the Bonn climate talks | Climate Home News | 4 June 2026
• Loss and Damage Key messages for SB 64 | Loss and Damage Collaboration | 4 June 2026
• Bonn talks must set the stage for COP31 to deliver climate action and finance | WWF | 1 June 2026
• From Bonn to COP31: Time to end drift and drive action  | WWF | 1 June 2026
• Bonn Climate Talks 2026: What to expect after Santa Marta | IISD | 29 May 2026
• June Climate Meetings (SB64): Education Key Messages | Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies
• Free Slide Deck | Climate Change: Key Facts | Climate Matters | 5 November 2025
• Corporate Capture and the UN International Civil Aviation Organization | Influencemap | 19 September 2025
• New Research Details Hidden Health Risks of Methane Emissions | Human Rights Watch | 18 September 2025
• Why solving plastic pollution is one of the biggest climate wins hiding in plain sight | WEF | 17 September 2025
• How data centre expansion risks derailing climate goals | Ecostandard | 16 September 2025
• UN climate regime responds to civil society pressure to address Big Polluter interference in climate action | Kick Big Polluters Out | 15 September 2025
• COP observers invited to reveal who is bank-rolling their participation at climate talks | Climate Home News | 15 September 2025
• Systematic attribution of heatwaves to the emissions of carbon majors | Yann Quilcaille, Lukas Gudmundsson, Dominik L. Schumacher et al. | Nature | 10 September 2025
• Global sea levels are rising faster and faster. It spells catastrophe for coastal towns and cities | CNN | 9 May 2025
• State of the Global Climate 2024 | WMO | 19 March 2025
• The Global Peatland Hotspot Atlas: The State of the World’s Peatlands in Maps | UNEP | 21 November 2024
• Trade Policy Experiences Contributing to Climate Action | WTO | November 2024
• CCAC TEAP Report: Role of Digital (Extension) Services for Livestock on Tackling Methane Emissions | Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Technology & Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) | 20 November 2024
• Global Framework for Action Harnessing sustainable and circular public procurement to drive demand for near-zero emissions and resilient buildings. Common Principles | One Planet Network |  19 November 2024
•  IUCN Pakistan launched the Mangroves Assessment Report at COP29 | IUCN | 19 November 2024
• The Climate Change Performance Index 2025: Results | German Watch | 19 November 2024
• Renewable Energy: How trade policy supports deployment and value addition in developing countries | ITC | 18 November 2024
• An Eye on Methane 2024 | UNEP | 15 November 2024
• Enabling global trade in renewable hydrogen and derivative commodities | WTO-IRENA | 14 November 2024
• Framework for implementing environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles | ISO | 14 November 2024
• Raising ambition and accelerating delivery of climate finance: Third report of the Independent High-Level Expert Group |  Independent High Level Expert Group (IHLEG) on Climate Finance  | 14 November 2024
• Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment | FAO & UNEP | 12 November 2024
• No Escape – On the frontlines of climate change, conflict and forced displacement | UNHCR | 12 November 2024
• Common approach to measuring climate results: Update on indicators | Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) | 12 November 2024
• State of the Climate 2024 Update for COP29 | WMO | 11 November 2024
• Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2024. Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action | UNFCCC | 10 November 2024
• From Tension to Cooperation on Trade-Related Climate Measures: Six Principles to Bolster International Cooperation | TESS | 10 November 2024
• Estimating countries’ additional carbon accountability for closing the mitigation gap based on past and future emissions | Thomas Hahn, Johannes Morfeldt, Robert Höglund et al. | Nature Communications | 9 November 2024
• 2024 State of Climate Services | WMO | 7 November 2024
• The Adaptation Gap Report 2024: Come hell and high water | UNEP |  7 November 2024
• COP29 Special Report on Climate Change and Health | WHO | 7 November 2024
• Truly Global: A Regional Outlook on the 2030 Climate Solutions | UNFCCC | 5 November 2024
• Ecological Threat Report. COP29 Edition. Where next? | Institute for Economics & Peace | 5 November 2024
• Doing business within planetary boundaries | Stockholm Resilience Center | 5 November 2024
• Clean Energy Market Monitor – November 2024 | IEA | 4 November 2024
• The New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance.Quantitative and qualitative elements | UN Trade and Development | 4 November 2024
• The Least Developed Countries Report 2024.  Leveraging carbon markets for development | UN Trade and Development | 4 November 2024
• Caucasus Environment Outlook – Second edition | UNEP | 1 November 2024
• USD 1 billion of climate investments to be considered at the last GCF Board meeting of the year | GFC | 18 October 2024
• “COP29 Must be a Stand-and-Deliver COP”: Simon Stiell | UNFCCC | 17 October 2024
• New York officials call for big oil to be prosecuted for fueling climate disasters | The Guardian | 17 October 2024
• The Risks of Geoengineering: Accelerating Biodiversity Loss and Compounding Planetary Crises | CIEL | October 2024
• The Twenty-First Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage: A Debrief and Looking Ahead | The Loss and Damage Collaboration | 16 October 2024
• Worst drought in century devastates Southern Africa, millions at risk | Al Jazeera | 15 October 2024
• Potential of urban health systems in climate response is being overlooked | Carlos Dora, Rene Loewenson, Francisco Obando et al. | BMJ | 8 October 2024
• UNECE support for countries’ climate action | 20 September 2024
• A threat to progress | Confronting the effects of climate change on child health and well-being | UNICEF & Karolinska Institutet | 25 July 2024
• Synergy Solutions for Climate and SDG Action: Bridging the Ambition Gap for the Future We Want | UN Expert Group on Climate and SDG Synergy | 16 July 2024