Brazil's 'Amazon Dialogues', How Climate Action Can Create Jobs + Savings, and Holding Rishi Sunak to Account
This week I am saying hi from Belém, Gateway to the Amazon Rainforest. I am looking forward to sharing updates of my trip here.
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Hello from Brazil! I’m spending this weekend in Belém for the “Amazon Dialogues”, a set of initiatives organized by civil society and the Government of Brazil with the aim of guiding the formulation of new strategies for the region. This is followed by a special summit convened by President Lula. It follows the satellite verified news this week that deforestation in the Amazon has been reduced by 66% compared to this time last year; a priority of the Lula administration.
I’m looking forward to seeing what comes up in conversations, especially as Brazil gears up to host COP30 in 2025! I just returned from the Dialogue’s Opening Ceremony where Indigenous advocates took the stage with some powerful words, giving a history of the Amazon region and concluding with this call to action (and a reminder we all share in the benefit of this incredible natural asset):
“We’ve had enough of violence…. Everything that happens has a return… The Amazon River Returns Back to the Sea”
Climate Action: Key To Reduce Heat Waves, Create New Jobs And Save Costs
On the topic of COP30 and climate change, this week in Forbes I wrote about the opportunities that can come with taking swift action to rapidly reduce our carbon footprint. I go into detail about my conversation with CEO of Sustain.Life, Annalee Bloomfield, and the work they’re doing to help their clients see the benefits that could be gleaned from cutting their footprint down.
This follows the news from Amazon that it will begin requiring its suppliers to report on their carbon emissions from next year (following similar efforts from other customers, including the US Government).
If you’re curious for more, you can check out the full article here.
Countdown to the Global Citizen Festival
It’s hard to believe it’s already August, and the Global Citizen Festival is in just 50 days! It seems like just yesterday global citizens were gathered on the Champs de Mars in Paris, and at Black Star Square in Accra before that. I’m excited to be back in New York this year, after having been in Ghana last year, and ready for what will certainly be an exciting next few weeks! With that said, I’ll leave you all with a message from Global Citizen’s Impact Director, James Salazar, as the team kicked off the first campaign war room earlier this week.
Upcoming Global Town Hall Ahead of the G20
Next month, the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), in collaboration with Global Citizen, will convene the "Global Town Hall" which is a North-South, East-West marathon virtual dialogues (15-hour) across the globe, taking place on Saturday, 2 September 2023. Registration is free and open HERE! We have some great speakers confirmed.
Stay tuned for more information on this in next week’s newsletter, as well as ways you can get involved, how to tune in, and more.
Forbes 50 OVER 50: IMPACT
In some exciting news Global Citizen President, Liza Henshaw, was featured in Forbes 50 over 50 this week! Liza Henshaw joined Global Citizen as COO in 2016, and six years later, at 57, she became the first president. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this recognition – you can read more about Liza in Forbes here.
Holding the UK Government to Account For Its Promises
In some shocking news as our world continues to overheat, this week analysis on the UK’s latest spending allocations show a reduction of at least £85 million ($108.5 million) of funding from its international climate programs. This comes just days after it was announced that July 2023 is set to be the hottest month on record. At a time when climate leadership is needed more than ever before, countries like the UK need to be stepping up, not down, on climate funding. You can read more about this disappointing news here.
As you know, securing promises is just part of the battle. Making sure Governments deliver on them is another. That is why global citizens are pushing the UK to keep its promises on climate change and publish a full plan of how they will fulfill their pledge to double international climate finance to £11.6bn between 2021 and 2026. Only £1.4bn of that pledge has been publicly accounted for so far. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has formally replied to global citizens saying we can expect the plan in ‘due course’ in response to a joint letter calling for this plan. Development Minister Andrew Mitchell has gone even further to suggest a September publication of this full plan. The world is watching and waiting. The clock is ticking on the urgent need for climate action NOW. You can see more about this effort on this twitter thread.
My Weekend Reading List
Earlier this week I snuck out on a Wednesday evening to New York’s Bryant Park. Every Wednesday over the Summer they hold a reading about a new history book. This week’s featured a new book - The Rough Rider and the Professor - which is about the close relationship between US President Theodore Roosevelt and the powerful Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. The latter is most well known for torpedoing the US entry into the ill-fated League of Nations (predecessor to the UN), but he was by no means an isolationist or nativist. Rather in the words of this week’s historian, they simply wanted the US to be on top. Anyway, it sounds like a great book for those wanting more on the history of US foreign policy (and imperialism!).
There is no legal impediment to Australia’s recognition of Palestine
Ocean surface hits highest ever recorded temperature and set to rise further
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Stay cool,
Mick