On October 5, the Group of 78 will host a webinar to explore diplomatic approaches to ending the fighting and to addressing the conflicts at the core of the fighting. Guest speaker Ernie Regehr will draw on insights from his decades of work on peacebuilding including his Resolving Conflict: Why peace cannot be won on the battlefield (2015) to explore pathways to a sustainable and just peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Overarching point: the proposed strategic framework is inadequate. – We are delighted the Federal Government has decided to hold consultations in framing a National Climate Adaptation Strategy for Canada. We address the following overarching issues raised by the discussion paper. Overall, our view is that the proposed elements of a draft strategy are inadequate because…
The Group of 78 is proud to announce its annual conference for 2022, Transforming International Finance: toward Economic, Social and Planetary Justice. The global context for this conference is shifting profoundly. The weaknesses of the international financial order have not been resolved since they were exposed in the crisis of 2007-08. Debt distress is afflicting a growing number of countries in the Global South as well as households and businesses everywhere. Such problems will be exacerbated by the post-pandemic wave of stagflation, or more accurately, the evident policy response in the form of sharply higher interest rates. Global trade is being upended as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war. Moreover, failure to address the existential threat posed by the climate crisis make all other international problems, save the threat of nuclear war, seem trivial in comparison. In this larger context, transforming international finance will be necessary, if not sufficient, to secure economic, social and planetary justice.
Last week, the federal government launched a consultation process to help bring together a national climate adaptation strategy for Canada by November, in time for COP-27, the next global climate conference to be held in Egypt. Building resilience against climate disasters will be high on the agenda.
The report emanates from the Group of 78’s 2021 annual policy conference, which brought together experts on infrastructure, health, food and agriculture, municipal planning, and finance. They discussed how communities and households could bolster their adaptation to a world in which temperatures in some regions could rise considerably more than 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Such actions must be taken alongside measures to mitigate, or slow down, rising temperatures. However, the reality is that both in Canada and most of the world, adaptation has been critically neglected in contrast to mitigation.
The G78 Board and members are grateful and honoured to have had Clyde Sanger as colleague, friend and an anchor for our work. While sharing our condolences to his sons and their families, we salute Clyde’s remarkable life and the richness he brought to others in this post; which includes a personal, heartfelt tribute to Clyde by the Honorable Douglas Roche, O.C.
The following letter was sent to the Prime Minister as well as the Ministers of Global Affairs, Finance (& Deputy Prime Minister), Environment & Climate Change, International Development, Trade Agriculture, Health, Infrastructure, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Natural Resources Canada, requesting action with the recommendations from our 2021 Annual Policy Conference.
Overarching Messages: As the climate becomes increasingly destructive of lives, property and biodiversity, it is abundantly clear that human communities must act with urgency—must adapt—to protect themselves from further devastation. Climate change adaptation refers to adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their impacts. In simple terms, countries, communities… Read More »
The Hill TimesMonday October 11, 2021, p.19 Canada needs to demonstrate sincerity in its climate adaptation actions It is not too late. Canada can still pledge to increase its contribution, by doubling it again to $2-billion a year. That would still amount to less than half its fair share, but would reflect much greater sincerity in its commitment… Read More »
The video of our webinar has been posted to our YouTube channel. Seminar Theme Our webinar will address the interrelated issues of short-term pandemic relief, medium-term recovery and, in the long term, reshaping the world economy. There are choices at every stage, with implications for distributional equity among and within countries. There can be no return to the… Read More »