As part of a workshop organised by the New York University Center for Global Affairs on the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), QUNO NY Director Andrew Tomlinson was one of two speakers for the opening plenary session, along with Professor Sakiko Fukuda-Parr from the New School for Public Engagement. Andrew provided a detailed overview of the lengthy process to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with the new SDGs framework, and noted the contrasting experience of civil society engagement in each process. A lively interactive session followed the opening remarks, during which a range of insights were shared highlighting the challenges that remained for the numerous stakeholders engaged in the vast inter-governmental negotiating process at the UN throughout 2015.
														A Call for Climate Action: Protect Human Rights and Decrease Military Expending
HICC at the Human Rights Council QUNO participated in the climate and environmental discussions held in the 60th session Human Rights Council in Geneva. Through its Human Impacts of Climate Change (HICC) programme, QUNO delivered an oral statement on the critical role of human rights in climate action. Additionally, HICC contributed to a discussion on how military activities undermine the right to a healthy environment through their toxic and hazardous impacts. Lindsey Fielder Cook, HICC’s Representative, served as a panelist in the side event The Toxic Impact of Military Activities alongside the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, and representatives from Earthjustice, the Center for Global Nonkilling, and Dejusticia. The event discussed the findings and implications of the Special Rapporteur’s recent report on the human rights impacts of hazardous substances and waste resulting from military operations. Building on the Quakers Peace Testimony, QUNO emphasized that war is an abomination of human rights and highlighted how this report proves that military activities harm human beings and earth far beyond wartimes. Lindsey also underscored that military activities are responsible for nearly 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, countries are not required to report these emissions into their National Determined […]






