UNFCCC COP26

COP26 was the first time Rotary International had an official delegation, which I was privileged to lead in my role as Dean of Rotary Representatives to the UN and International Agencies.

I have more than 10 years experience of representing Rotary at UN and other international events including , WHO Executive Board meetings, Commonwealth Health Ministers Conferences,  Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings; World Health Summit  and World Health Assemblies and High Level Polio Partners Group. I have organized many advocacy events at Houses of Parliament, European Parliament and Chatham House.

Rotary has had Observer status since the formation of the UN in 1947. COP26 was hosted by the UK Government and attended by 190+ country delegations and 1600 IGOs and NGOs. The conference was organised in two areas a Blue Zone and a Green Zone. The Blue Zone held the governments’ plenary sessions and the Delegations Pavilions and individual Government and NGO meetings and was open to registered delegates. The Green Zone was open to the public and included exhibitors from business and NGOs. Rotary’s role was participatory in the events taking place in the Delegations’ Pavilions in the Blue Zone. Partly because of Covid there was little opportunity for Observers to engage in the main plenary discussions or influence them.

Because of the scale of the conference and the small size of the Rotary delegation it was essential to have a clear focus based on existing relationships in order to achieve anything meaningful. My main focus was with the 54 countries of the Commonwealth, building on engagement over the last seven years with the Commonwealth Secretariat and High Commissioners, and maximising the opportunity as our President is from India, the largest Commonwealth country.

I had five priorities:

1. High Level engagement of the Rotary International President with government Ministers and heads of NGOs  – achieved by working with the Commonwealth Blue Charter team on  the High Level Round Table on mangroves attended by the Secretary General of the Commonwealth and seven Environment Ministers or their Ambassadors, as well as experts from NGOs and academia. Outcome – agreement to set up mangrove projects in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Maldives, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Tanzania
2. Strengthening relations with delegates from UN and UN agencies including UNFCC, United Nations Environment Programme and UN Habitat,  key governments, other international Agencies and NGOs – achieved by attending many side events and one to one meetings eg Bangladesh mangroves attended by Ministers and Rotarian Kazi Amdadul Hoque; Kenya President Kenyatta on preserving and restoring habitats, Commonwealth meeting on mangrove restoration with Ministers from Australia, Sri Lanka and Fiji and Rotarian Steve Crooks
3. Creating opportunities for action by developing environment service projects with partners – achieved through the Round Table discussions and commitment to start mangrove projects in seven countries, as well as gender based projects following several bilateral meetings with the President. Outcome – agreement to set up mangrove projects in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Maldives, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. Discussions on potential partnership with the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GUAC) and several Womens’ Organisations
4. Giving young people a voice – achieved by working with the Rotary Club of Helensburgh and Garelochside on the school’s poster competition. The posters were exhibited in 5 locations in Glasgow and the Commonwealth Pavilion at COP26, where I announced the winners. The posters are at Glasgow Airport for three months and a Rotary Day at Glasgow airport is planned for local schools. The Lord Provost’s staff have requested to retain their display for an art exhibition on COP26 planned later this year. Plans are being considered to expand the competition for COP27 in Egypt.
5. To give Rotary in Scotland a platform to create awareness – achieved by working with the Rotary Club of Helensburgh and Garelochside, who helped me organise a reception at The Trades Hall attended by President Shekhar Mehta and Rashi Mehta, Glasgow civic dignitaries, Ministers and NGO representatives and Scottish Rotarians.

I would sum up Rotary’s attendance at COP26 as putting Rotary on the global environment map! I received numerous comments from delegates about how pleased they were to see Rotary participating and many requests to work with Rotary going forward. The importance of partnerships and involving civil society was mentioned in most meetings I attended. We can build on it for COP27 in Egypt by involving our Rotary Representatives to key agencies in Africa, including UNEP, UN Habitat, African Union, African Development Bank, and Unicef.

Judith Diment MBE

Dean of Rotary Representatives to the UN and International Agencies