As scientists warns that global temperature is already 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels, and young people are taking to the streets demanding that politicians take urgent action on this climate emergency, governments of 197 nations gather in Spain for the UN Climate Change Conference COP25. The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) joins efforts with civil society at COP25 as a part of its ongoing work to catalyze communities for a regenerative future.
Kosha Joubert, Executive Director of GEN said: “Fridays for Future and the Extinction Rebellion have been raising awareness for the Climate Emergency and demanding real change. The Global Ecovillage Network is an expression of that real change, born from the hearts of people around the planet who long to be part of the solution, not the problem, and who are willing to get out of their comfort zones in order to step into their integrity.”
This year, GEN is hosting a delegation with 11 community leaders from all of its 5 regions, including representatives from Brazil, Colombia, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.
GEN’s main objectives at COP25 are to lift the voice of community-led initiatives and showcase ecovillage solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation, with examples of these are featured on GEN’s website at ecovillage.org/climate-solutions, as well as to reach out to governments, business representatives, and partners in order to scale up the work and impact of the ecovillages in the world. See Ecovillage’s Impact Assessment at ecovillage.org/impact-assessment.
“Today, GEN reaches out to over 6000 ecovillages and eco-projects in 114 countries, in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and North America. We are present at the COP Conferences in order to influence governments to start supporting community-led responses to the Climate Emergency,” Ms. Joubert said. “And we agree, more political will is needed to instigate the changes demanded – it relies on us, the people of the world to stand up, raise our voices and start believing in our own capacity for transformative action.”
Global Ecovillage Network’s involvement with COP25
Since 2000 GEN has had consultative status at the UN-Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) commission, and is represented at regular briefing sessions at the UN Headquarters in New York. The Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC gives GEN the chance to join in the work of various committees relevant to its concerns to promote sustainable communities and practices worldwide. GEN has been participating at COP since it’s 15th edition in 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has sent delegations to every edition since COP21 in Paris, France.
As part of COP25’s official schedule, GEN will host the exhibit “Communities and Culture: Critical for Transformative Climate Action“, on December 4 and 5 at Booth 19. This space provides a ‘home’ at COP25 for communities, business and government representatives to explore GEN’s efforts to catalyze communities for a regenerative future, supporting poverty reduction and climate resilience in our world’s materially and financially poorest places..
On Friday, December 6th, GEN will also host the side event “The Power of Culture, Nature and Community-led Development in Response to the Climate Emergency“. Learn how ecovillages and heritage trust organizations can and are helping to scale up ambition, achieve the Paris Agreement, preserve natural and cultural heritage, protect the rights of nature, restore degraded ecosystems, sequester carbon, and lead to healthier thriving communities.
Speakers include Kosha Joubert (GEN Executive Director, Scotland); Jennifer Trujillo (GEN President, Colombia); Kenza Isnasni (GEN Advocacy Coordinator, Morocco), Andrew Potts (INTO & Climate Heritage Network), Sarah Sutton (Sustainable Museums), and Queen Quet (Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation), with moderation by Thalea Tane, (GEN Oceania & Asia Council Member, New Zealand).
Find out how the Global Ecovillage Network is having a strong impact on climate change, resiliency and adaptation all around the world, and discover how community-led solutions are helping regions and countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement National Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Global Ecovillage Network at COP25
Communities and culture: critical for transformative climate action
Exhibit at Booth 19
December 4-5, 2019.
The Power of Culture, Nature and Community-led Development in response to the Climate Emergency
Side Event at Room 1
December 6th from 15:00 to 16:30.
About COP
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the annual meeting of the nations signed up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Its purpose is to advance global action to tackle climate change.
At COP21 in 2015, 195 countries signed up to the Paris Agreement, which committed them to keep global temperatures “well below” 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times and “endeavor to limit” them even more, to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In addition, industrialized countries agreed to pay US$100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries to decarbonize their economies.
The 2019 UN Climate Change Conference, COP25, will take place from 2 to 13 December, at IFEMA – Feria de Madrid, Avda. del Partenón, 5, 28042 Madrid, Spain. It will take place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and will be held with logistical support from the Government of Spain.
Following agreement on the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement at COP 24 in Poland last year, a key objective of COP25 is to complete several matters with respect to the full operationalization of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
About the Global Ecovillage Network
The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) catalyzes communities for a regenerative world. GEN is a growing network of regenerative communities and initiatives that bridge cultures, countries, and continents.
GEN (ecovillage.org) builds bridges between policy-makers, governments, NGOs, academics, entrepreneurs, activists, community networks and ecologically-minded individuals across the globe in order to develop strategies for a global transition to resilient communities and cultures.
About Ecovillages
An ecovillage is an intentional or traditional community that is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes in all four areas of regeneration (social, culture, ecology, economy into a whole systems design) to restore and regenerate its social and natural environment.
Ecovillages are living laboratories pioneering beautiful alternatives and innovative solutions. They are rural or urban settlements with vibrant social structures, vastly diverse, yet united in their actions towards low-impact, high-quality lifestyles.
For media enquiries, please contact
Kenza Isnasni
Global Ecovillage Network’s Advocacy Coordinator
(mobile) +32472743055; E-mail: kenza.isnasni(at)ecovillage.org
See also
- Overview of GEN and COP25: https://ecovillage.org/gen-at-cop25
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/GlobalEcovillageNetwork/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/GEN_Ecovillages
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecovillage/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/global-ecovillage-network/
- Hashtags: #GENCOP25 #COP25 #CommunityLed #InnovativeSolutions #ClimateEmergency #ClimateHeritage #TimeForAction #TiempoDeActuar
Examples of GEN in action
Ghana Permaculture Institute has implemented sustainable projects that mitigate carbon buildup in the atmosphere on a large network scale. GPI currently has about 8000 farmers in Ghana who use permaculture and organic farming practices. Through education and training, these farmers gain knowledge and are able to implement farming practices such as tree planting, mulching, mix cropping, mix farming and crop rotation. In addition, they are taught how to recycle their organic matter into compost as a fertilizer and also recycle sawdust into edible mushrooms.
Tamera Ecovillage in Portugal has brought a dry inhospitable region back to life using water retention landscaping, keyline contouring and water retention ponds. This has been achieved despite the community being in a drylands region where the streams would normally go dry within weeks after it rains. As a result, the land has now been transformed biodiversity restored. Now the streams run year round in this verdant ecotopia, with fruit orchards, a vineyard, and an abundance of plants and animal life.
Irish Showcase Ecovillage, Cloughjordan measures its climate impact in four dimensions of sustainability and finds it has a significantly lower climate impact than the national average. Cloughjordan’s low-carbon lifestyle is supported by its Ecological Charter which specifies the ecological standards for building in the ecovillage, ensuring that the homes are low-energy and ecological in the materials used. Its district heating system supplies the water that heats all its homes in a carbon-neutral way, using only renewable energy. In addition, the Community Supported Agriculture farm, composed of members from the ecovillage and the surrounding community, grows food using organic and biodynamic methods, and systematically regenerates the soil.
