R40 | Proposer: Green Party of England and Wales
The Global Greens and its member parties will lobby for or declare (where elected representatives can) a climate emergency in their respective territories; locally, regionally and nationally.
The first declaration of a climate emergency was in December 2016, after the Australian Greens in Melbourne, Australia championed it. Subsequently the Green Party of England and Wales had success in bringing about Bristol City Council’s declaration of a climate emergency. Following these declarations, there was an impressive wave of cities and national parliaments declaring a climate emergency.
A climate emergency declaration can be taken by organisations to acknowledge humanity is in a climate crisis. The benefits of lobbying for and/or declaring a climate emergency at a government level are twofold. First, such a declaration forces a government – local, regional or national – to admit that anthropogenic climate change exists. Second, it pressures said bodies to recognise that the measures taken up to the point of declaration are not enough to limit the changes brought by climate change and it stresses the need for the government to devise measures that try to stop the climate crisis.
As a result of climate emergency declarations at local council level across the UK, regional governments have opened citizen assemblies and accelerated their climate strategies. Related, a United Nations Development Programme survey of public opinion in 50 countries found that sixty-four percent of 1.2 million respondents believe climate change is a global emergency. Finally, in response to COP27, the Global Greens themselves utilised the term ‘climate emergency’:
However, currently the Global Greens have not officially declared a climate emergency. This presents us with an opportunity to make an international statement and commitment. Moreover, the Global Greens can play an important role in facilitating all its member parties to declare a climate emergency. By doing so we can make a concerted effort to lobby governments internationally to address the situation, through much needed work on the energy efficiencies, transitions away from fossil fuels, sustainable and accessible transport, and science-backed education for decision-makers – to name but a few priorities.