International Climate coalition at COP29: priorities for fair and ambitious climate action
This year has underscored the urgency of the escalating climate crisis, with record-breaking temperatures and devastating economic impacts becoming the norm rather than the exception. Severe weather events are no longer just environmental concerns; they pose profound human and economic threats, costing billions in damages while disrupting lives, livelihoods, ecosystems, and markets worldwide. The imperative for immediate and effective action is clearer than ever.
The 2023 KNMI climate scenarios serve as a clear warning for the Netherlands, predicting more severe weather conditions due to climate change, including heat waves and rising sea levels. They also indicate that many impacts
can still be mitigated if decisive action is taken now. With a large part of the country below sea level, it is in our national interest to address climate change head-on.
Climate action must be coupled with climate justice. As the recent AIV report highlights, communities in the Global South – those least responsible for the climate crisis – are disproportionately affected. Women and girls in all their
diversity, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, children, youth, workers, and other vulnerable groups lack the resources to adapt and recover, threatening their livelihoods and economies. As a trade-dependent country, the Netherlands is directly impacted by global disruptions, making it vital to address these injustices in UNFCCC negotiations.
Meanwhile, major fossil fuel companies – Shell, BP, TotalEnergies and Eni alongside ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips – reported a staggering $31.65 billion in combined profits in the second quarter of 2024. Alarmingly,
some of these companies are now backpedaling on their green and renewable energy commitments. This underscores the urgent need for global accountability and reinforces the necessity of a just transition to ensure that
those most responsible for the climate crisis are held accountable, while those on the frontlines of the climate crisis are meaningfully involved and receive the support they need.
As the ‘Internationale Klimaatcoalitie’ (International Climate Coalition) - an informal network of Dutch NGOs - we present this position paper to inform and guide the Dutch government in shaping its position ahead of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024. We believe that it is key for the Netherlands to demonstrate its continued leadership and commitment to addressing the climate crisis. We advocate for an inclusive approach that prioritizes the needs and voices of the most affected communities, ensuring that climate policies are equitable and effective.
Read our recommendations to the Netherlands and the European Union to guide their positions and ensure they lead to an ambitious outcome at COP29 in this position paper.
Read more about this subject
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Publication / 24 September 2024
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Press release / 10 September 2020
Press release: Golden opportunity to stop deforestation caused by EU consumption
100+ NGOs launch #Together4Forests urging EU action
Fires raging in the Amazon are started deliberately to make way for large-scale industrial agriculture – and EU market demand for commodities produced on former-forest land is adding fuel to the fires. Globally, the EU is responsible for over 10% of forest destruction through its consumption of commodities like meat, dairy, soy for animal feed, palm oil, coffee and cacao.
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External link / 1 August 2018
Briefing paper: Gender and Climate Change
This paper by Prakriti Resources Center (Nepal) sheds light on the gender and climate change nexus, gender mainstreaming as a tool to address gender inequality, gender and climate change policy landscape both at international and national level, gaps and way forward.
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Event / 3 December 2019, 15:00 - 16:30
Side event Both ENDS at Climate COP in Madrid
On Wednesday December 4th 2019 Both ENDS together with Heinrich Böll Stiftung from he US organises a side event at the UNFCCC COP in Madrid: Can the GCF Catalyze Inclusive, Gender-Responsive Local Climate Action Globally and in Latin America?
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Publication / 4 November 2022
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External link / 19 June 2020
Nepalese women lead local advocacy on climate change (Annual Report 2019)
In 2019, Karambot Women's Agriculture Group (Nepal) convinced their municipality to fund its proposed irrigation plan, after they followed a planning and budgeting training.
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News / 4 November 2022
Both ENDS to attend climate conference in Egypt
Climate action is urgently needed to slow down global warming. The effects of climate change are already showing themselves. Floods in Pakistan and closer to us, in the Netherlands, are causing loss of life and much emotional and economic damage, while local climate solutions are still largely being ignored. That's why Both ENDS is going to participate in COP27, the climate conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
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News / 29 January 2024
Five climate projects of 2024 in a nutshell
Together with environmental justice groups from the Global South, Both ENDS works towards a sustainable, fair and inclusive world. Both ENDS gathers and shares information about policy and investments that have a direct impact on people and their livelihood, we engage in joint advocacy, we stimulate the dialogue between stakeholders and we promote and support sustainable local alternatives.
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Blog / 19 September 2019
A forgotten opportunity worth 1.5 billion euros
Reward high-risk international business projects investing in a green future and stop support for the international fossil industry
The climate is 'hot'. Everyone is talking about it. 'Everyone needs to do something' calls the government in its recently started public campaign. Good plan. Let's really do something. For a start, we can stop supporting international trade in fossil energy by our own multinationals. That would free up 1.5 billion euros which we could use to combat climate change on an international scale and at the same time give our own innovative businesses a boost. Today's Vergeten Klimaattafel (Forgotten Climate Roundtable) will discuss the opportunities for the Netherlands to have a real impact. And those opportunities are enormous. Because our big money and our influence lie beyond our borders.
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Event / 3 December 2015
COP21: Climate Change Conference Paris
During the COP21 in Paris, Both ENDS will be cooperating and presenting with partners on a number of events. If you plan on going, please consider visiting one or more of these sessions:
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Event / 2 December 2023, 10:15 - 11:45
Gender Just Climate Policy & Finance: From Barriers to Actionable Solutions
Climate conference (UNFCCC) side event
Let's tackle gender equality in climate policy & finance, moving from obstacles to practical solutions at our in-person event on December 3rd in Dubai.
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Publication / 4 November 2022
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News / 27 November 2020
Climate case against Shell is particularly crucial for the Global South
Next week, the climate case brought against Royal Dutch Shell by Dutch environmental organisation Milieudefensie is due to start. Milieudefensie hopes to force the company to stop causing dangerous climate change and adopt a more sustainable course. Six Dutch organisations have decided to become co-plaintiffs in the case. They include ActionAid and Both ENDS, organisations that work outside the Netherlands on human rights, gender equality, environment and sustainable development. Though, at first glance, the case may not seem relevant to them, nothing is farther from the truth, as Nils Mollema of ActionAid and Niels Hazekamp of Both ENDS explain.
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Publication / 4 November 2022
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Event / 6 November 2016
COP22: Marrakech Climate Change Conference
From 7 to 18 november, the Climate Change COP22 will take place in Marrakech, Morrocco. This '22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)' as it is called officially, is the annual meeting of the 195 countries which have signed and ratified the convention.
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News / 1 December 2022
“Connecting people for change”: that is what Both ENDS did at the COP
After a busy week filled with side-events, meetings, negotiations and covid, our colleagues Daan and Niels are back in the office in Utrecht. Together, they look back to their expereiences and results during the climate conference COP27 in Egypt.
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Press release / 23 September 2019
World's 5th largest pension fund ABP increases fossil fuel investments
Amsterdam, 23 September 2019 - The world's 5th largest pension fund, with assets of over €430 billion, Dutch ABP is continuing to invest in companies that are on a collision course with the Paris climate goals, such as coal and oil companies.
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Publication / 23 September 2019
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Event / 7 June 2018, 16:00 - 18:00
The experiences of indigenous leaders in the Philippines
The International Institute of Social Studies, Both ENDS, IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands and Mama Cash invite you for presentations by Joan Carling, indigenous leader and women's rights activist from the Philippines and member of the permanent commission on indigenous peoples of the UN, and Jan van de Venis, Human Rights Lawyer at JustLaw, about the experiences of indigenous leaders in the Philippines, in a world of increasing oppression and human right violations against environmental activists.
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News / 14 March 2021
Vote for the Climate!
A number of our colleagues at Both ENDS made a lot of noise at various locations around the country today, as part of the national Klimaatalarm (Climate Alarm) campaign. Annelieke Douma gave a short speech in Haarlem on the major role played by the Netherlands in climate change and environmental degradation beyond our borders. She made a number of suggestions that would immediately make Dutch foreign policy a lot more climate-friendly. Below is the text of her speech.