Today, on the UN International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and the day before the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Climate Justice Alliance joined the Global March for Climate Justice at COP28 to call for ceasefire. 

The march, organized by the COP28 Coalition, a coalition of more than 350 climate civil society organizations from 75 countries, and allied human rights and climate justice organizations, took place today in the Blue Zone at the UN Climate Conference (COP28). This Global Day of Action for Climate Justice  is supported by over 300 mobilizations and actions across 40 countries.

The ongoing genocide in Palestine requires the immediate attention of U.S. climate justice leaders at the UN Climate Conference, especially as the U.S. just vetoed (being the only country to do so) the Security Council draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Chlo Henson (left), Climate Justice Alliance Political Education Manager, facilitated “Grassroots Feminist Perspectives on Demilitarization for Climate Justice” on December 6. Watch it here.

On December 6, CJA hosted a panel on the relationship between climate justice and demilitarization that can be streamed on the official UNFCCC Youtube channel here. Panelists included Jamal Juma, coordinator of the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall campaign (the Stop the Wall Coalition) and a founding member of the Palestinian BDS National Committee which leads the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions Movement; Tariq Luthun a Palestinian poet and community organizer with Friends of the Earth Palestine; Julia Bernal, executive director of the Pueblo Action Alliance; and Claire Charlo, the Indigenous Feminist Organizer at the Indigenous Environmental Network.

Demilitarization is necessary for addressing the climate crisis.

• We know the U.S. military is the single largest institutional emitter of climate pollution in the world.
• The U.S. military is responsible not only for continued human rights violations and oppression around the world, but for significant contributions to greenhouse gas emissions that by very conservative efforts have cost at least $106 billion in climate damage since 2015.
• In fact, the wealthiest countries in the world have spent $9.4 trillion on militarization between 2013-2021 – and global militaries are responsible for 5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Highlights

• This article on how protesting at COP has become more difficult
• This article on how COP28 officials failed to clarify whether protesters will be safe in Dubai
• Watch out for our video on Palestine, coming soon.

Access all of our Field Notes and our documentation on our participation in COP28 here.

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