GLOBE

GLOBE’s International Commission on Climate & Energy Security was launched in the US Congress in Washington DC on 30 March 2009. This Commission comprises senior legislators from each of the major economies. The Commission met for two days under the Chairmanship of US Congressman Ed Markey and Lord Michael Jay of the UK House of Lords. The Commission was launched with the support of the Danish Prime Minister, the UK Prime Minister and the Italian G8 Presidency. The aim of the Commission was to produce a major report to the GLOBE Copenhagen Forum in October 2009, and to present its conclusions to the Danish Prime Minister and the major economies.[1] GLOBE national chapters advanced these recommendations.

The commission's report was adopted by the GLOBE Copenhagen Legislators Forum and submitted to the UNFCCC and leaders of the major economies ahead of COP15.

GLOBE’s International Commission on Land Use Change and Ecosystems was initially announced in June 2008 by the British Foreign Secretary, Rt. Hon [David Miliband] MP, and the Chief Scientist to the Japanese Cabinet, Dr Kiyoshi Kurokawa, and formally supported by the G8+5 Legislators Forum of one hundred senior legislators. With the support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Commission was launched in November 2008 in the Mexican Congress. The Chairman of the International Commission is Mr Ian Johnson, former Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank, and the political co-chairs are Barry Gardiner MP (UK) and Senator Renato Casagrande (Brazil).

In 2005, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) concluded that human activity is rapidly and extensively degrading ecosystem services in order to meet growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel. Extensive land use change and ecosystem transformation have contributed considerably to economic development. However, these gains have also created barriers to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and significantly depleted the Earth’s natural capital. The International Commission on Land Use Change & Ecosystems was established in order to initiate a step change in the way that policy makers value the ecosystems that are being degraded at a rapid rate.

The International Commission on Land Use Change & Ecosystems has three main work streams: Forest policy, Marine environment policy and Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Policy.

The International Commission met twice during 2009 to develop a policy framework to address tropical deforestation, first in July at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and then in the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, USA, in September. The Commission, consisting of 20 legislators from both developed countries and rain forest nations along with a panel of expert economists and scientists, agreed to a set of “Forestry Policy Proposals” that included recommendations on how to reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) as part of the post-2012 climate change agreement and measures to prevent illegal logging and to address the demand-side drivers of deforestation. These policy proposals were endorsed by the GLOBE Copenhagen Forum in October 2009.

The International Commission aims to coordinate simultaneous parliamentary debates on the marine environment in the major economies of the world on World Oceans Day, 8 June 2010. Prior to this event, the International Commission, consisting of 20 legislators from the major fishing nations and an expert panel of marine scientists and economists, convened in US Congress in April 2010. At this meeting, the International Commission developed a “Marine Ecosystem Recovery Plan”, outlining the policy framework that is necessary to set the oceans on a path to a sustainable future.

GLOBE’s Programme on Ecosystems Services and Biodiversity aims to mainstream biodiversity and ecosystem services within the world’s parliaments by a creating an international leadership group of parliamentarians from the finance or audit committees of a select group of countries. By developing a common framework for economic and environmental information, GLOBE believes that governments will be able to more accurately gauge the contribution of the environment to the economy and the impact of the economy on the environment.