Timeline

Human Impacts of Climate Change

QUNO views climate change as an environmental, political and economic challenge that interconnects with its work on peace and justice issues. We seek to highlight the human impacts of climate change at a time when communities worldwide are experiencing its consequences, yet man made greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) continue to rise at dangerous rates.
March 2023

52nd Session of the Human Rights Council – Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment

On the 9th and 10th of March, an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment was held as part of the 52nd Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva.

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March 2023

Countries adopt landmark treaty to protect the world’s oceans

Late in the evening on 4 March 2023, the United Nations adopted a historic treaty to protect the world’s oceans. The Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, or the BBNJ, reached agreement on what is widely being referred to as the High Seas Treaty. This came after weeks of grueling negotiations that built upon over two decades of talks on the issue.

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February 2023

Intervention at the 29th Human Rights Advisory Committee on New Technologies for Climate Protection

On the 20th February, as part of the 29th meeting of the Human Rights Advisory Committee in Geneva, a discussion was held about the findings of an emerging report on the “Impact of new technologies for climate protection on the enjoyment of human rights” prepared by Patrycja Sasnal, the Rapporteur of the drafting group. QUNO Programme, Assistant Alana M Carlson, speaking under the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) and Amnesty International, delivered an intervention.

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November 2022

Second Week of COP27 (14-20 November 2022)

The Human Impacts of Climate Change representative, Lindsey Fielder Cook, and HICC programme assistant, Alana Marie Carlson, continued in the second week of COP27 to focus on urgent, fair, and transformative climate action, and financial support to loss and damage. Join us on 8 December 2022 at 15h CET for a debrief on COP27. Register here!

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November 2022

First Week of COP27 (6 – 12 November 2022)

QUNO’s team at the COP27 are the Representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change (HICC), Lindsey Fielder Cook, and HICC programme assistant Alana Marie Carlson. Our priorities include urgent, fair, and transformative climate action, and financial support to Loss and Damage. Lindsey attended pre-COP meetings of the Katowice Committee of Experts, which addresses transitions for fossil fuel dependent economies.  Lindsey also joined virtually some 400 children in India to celebrate and encourage their efforts to define “Ecological Rights for Ch

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October 2022

Financing Climate Solutions via Sovereign Debt Reduction: A webinar raising awareness on a key issue for COP27

On 25 October 2022, QUNO and the Catholic Climate Covenant co-hosted a webinar on sovereign debt reduction. COP27 is promising to be heavily focused on concerns about financing climate change mitigation and adaptation. Sovereign debt reduction is increasingly being spoken about as a "solution" to climate financing. Experts spoke on important questions that must be considered when discussing this subject.

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October 2022

Quaker Statement on the Peace Testimony and Ukraine

Quakers are a people who follow after peace, love and unity. Our peace testimony is our witness to the Truth as we experience it. 

Our testimony manifests as a cumulative set of actions, continually tested and added to over centuries.  These actions are diverse in form, but have been broadly united by: 1) Refusal to kill, 2) Relief of suffering, 3) Building the institutions of peace, and 4) Supporting peacebuilding and removing the causes of war. 

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September 2022

QUNO delivers intervention at the 57th session of the IPCC

QUNO attended the 57th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which met from 27-30 September, in Geneva.  Climate scientists and Government Representatives discussed the organization’s budget and work programme, and complications due to the delayed production of the 6th Assessment Synthesis Report and elections of a new IPCC Chair.

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September 2022

Our latest Geneva Reporter newsletter is now available online

QUNO's September 2022 issue of the Geneva Reporter newsletter is available below. This issue includes a welcome letter from our Director Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, reporting on the International Migration Review Forum as well as updates from our programmes Peace and Disarmament (P&D), Human Impacts of Climate Change (HICC) and Sustainable and Just Economic Systems (SJES).

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June 2022

QUNO's presence at the June Climate Meetings in Bonn

The first in-person climate negotiations this year – and the precursor to COP27 in Egypt - took place in Bonn from 6th June to 16th June. QUNO’s Human Impacts of Climate Change programme was present as part of the RINGO constituency, joining the two-week meeting of Member States and representatives of civil society, Indigenous Peoples, business, and youth from around the world.

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May 2022

QUNO joins talk on "How are Quakers supporting climate action at the UN?"

QUNO's Representative for Human Impacts of Climate Change, Lindsey Fielder Cook, gave a presentation on Quaker work at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), hosted by the world Quaker body Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). In her talk, Lindsey explained the work of the IPCC and how Quakers participate in the negotiations.

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April 2022

QUNO delivers interventions at the 56th session of the IPCC

QUNO, speaking as the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), made 35 oral interventions and 11 written submissions at the 56th session of the IPCC, which can be read here.  From 21 March to 4 April, government delegations and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) met virtually to approve the Summary for Policy Makers (SPM) of the Climate Change 2022: Mitigation. The

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March 2022

Quaker Work on International Conciliation

The Quaker United Nations Office was invited to take part in an intergenerational discussion in September 2019, at which experienced conciliators and younger peace activists came together to share learning and consider how to take the work forward with renewed energy. A taster of who was at the event can be found in this video.

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March 2022

75 Years at the UN: The 2022 QUNO Review

The Quaker UN Office is celebrating 75 years of a Quaker Presence at the United Nations. Learn more about the work our office has carried out over this year to represent the concerns of Friends as we seek a UN that implements inclusive policies for peace. The annual review provides a brief introduction to QUNO’s way of working and an overview of the programmes carried out in our New York and Geneva offices, as well as our work ahead in the coming year.

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March 2022

The Crisis in Ukraine: A Brief UN Overview

Dear Friends,

Like us, you have undoubtedly been watching in horror the unfolding events in Ukraine. When we accepted responsibilities as the Directors of the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva and New York this past November, the possibility of such a war was little imagined by us or by the millions of people in Ukraine and Russia. We pray for Friends in Ukraine and Russia, and all impacted by this conflict. We are deeply grateful to hear of the efforts being carried out by Friends in Poland, Estonia and Georgia to provide much needed humanitarian relief.

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March 2022

QUNO Delivers Interventions on Behalf of FWCC at IPCC's 55th Session - Impacts , Adaptation, and Vulnerability

The Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva, under the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), is the only accredited faith-based observer organisation actively engaged at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  From 14-27 February, the IPCC held an intergovernmental meeting to finalise a Summary for Policy Makers (SPM) of its report, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.

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February 2022

QUNO joins submission to the Katowice Committee of Experts on the Impacts of the Implementation of Response Measures

The Human Impacts of Climate Change programme jointly made a submission to the UNFCCC’s Katowice Committee of Experts on the Impacts of the Implementation of Response Measures (KCI), working alongside colleagues from the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA).

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February 2022

'What's missing (and needed) post-COP26?' - QUNO's event at the Second International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding

On February 2nd 2022, over 130 people joined the virtual roundtable event co-hosted by QUNO Geneva and the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) at the International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding. The event addressed three elements at the intersection of challenges and opportunities in the post-COP26 context, namely: addressing the root causes of climate change, the role of human rights and avoiding securitisation. 

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January 2022

QUNO Offices connect with the Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas

Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas (FWCC SOA) recently invited QUNO to a meeting with their Regional Coordinators to talk about our work and how Friends around the world can engage with us. It was a small meeting with vast reach, with Regional Coordinators from across the Americas, including the United States, El Salvador and Mexico in attendance, each connected to a Yearly Meeting.

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