Climate justice expertise given major platforms at COP27
Professor Tahseen Jafry will get next week’s COP27 activity under way with two major events.
The Director of Glasgow Caledonian University’s Mary Robinson Centre for Climate Justice will be involved in key discussions at the World Health Organisation Pavilion and also the Africa Pavilion on Monday, November 14.
The United Nations climate summit, being held in Egypt's resort town of Sharm El Sheikh, is already a week into its fortnight of scheduled activities.
At 11.30am local time, the Centre will host, in partnership with the WHO, a discussion based on its recent research exploring the links between climate change, gender-based violence and mental health. Professor Jafry will be joined by the Centre’s patron, Mary Robinson, who will talk about the plight and power of women and girls and their human right to quality of life. Peter Gondwe, Executive Director, Life Concern Organisation, Rumphi, Malawi, will then offer his own reflections from this field; before Runa Khan, founder and Executive Director of Friendship, an international social purpose organisation supporting remote vulnerable communities in Bangladesh, offers her own insight.
Professor Jafry said: “The focus of this event is a far-reaching and deep conversation on justice, equity and the human right to decent quality of life. It will share new breakthroughs in terms of providing new evidence of the increasing incidence of GBV and mental-health struggles for women, and it will encourage potential solutions for the safety, protection and survival of women and girls experiencing the worst personal impacts, as well as giving guidance of types of support services that are required.”
The event will be livestreamed here.
Then, at 4pm local time, Professor Jafry will moderate a discussion between Mary Robinson; Gareth Philips, Manager of the Climate Finance and Environment Division, African Development Bank; and Mary Owusu Ansah, Director Tropenbos, Ghana.
Professor Jafry said: “While climate finance is critical in addressing climate justice, the absence of transparent and accountable systems to track the flow of climate finance is exacerbating climate injustice.
“The development of a just climate finance framework for those countries that contribute less to climate change but disproportionately suffer from its impact, is vital. We need to define a comprehensive set of indicators that can be used to objectively measure progress towards the realisation of climate justice for all.
“A determination on whether the volume of resources and programmes financed by vertical fund such as the Adaptation Fund and the Green Climate Fund is needed in driving transformational change in the lives of the poorest population who are facing dual problem of climate change impacts and existing inequalities.”