Claudette Buttigieg participated in the GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit, held on 5 and 6 November 2021 in Edinburgh, Scotland, as part of a delegation of the Commonwealth Parliament Association (CPA). The Summit is part of the broader COP26 agenda and has convened legislators from around the world to discuss climate change and parliamentary action. The delegation also consisted of Regina Esparon, Chairperson of Women’s Parliamentary Caucus National Assembly, Seychelles and Juan Watterson, Vice-Chair of the CPA Small Branches Network and Speaker of the Isle of Man.
The GLOBE Legislators Summit has provided an opportunity for learning and knowledge exchange on several fronts. The aim of the summit is for parliamentarians to both impart and gain experience on climate change in respect to their own jurisdictions and parliament. This summit is giving members of parliament the tools to ensure the promises being made by leaders are followed and scrutinized through governance, transparency and assuring the implementation of promises on protecting biodiversity and achieving the targets which will make truly effective change including net-zero emissions. An update from the COP26 negotiations was given by COP26 President Alok Sharma MP.
Buttigieg addressed the plenary during the first session, tackling climate justice and the challenges of inclusion: how to ensure voice and agency for countries and communities in conflict. Buttigieg referred to and thanked Maltese leaders back in 1988, who took the initiative to request the inclusion of climate change on the agenda of the 43rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, proposing that an appropriate high-level mechanism be established to address the cause and effects of this phenomenon on humankind and was since put on the agenda. This was adopted later the same year. She highlighted that this was only the starting point of change and by no means a conclusion.
Buttigieg asked the panel how the lessons of policy and technological innovations from COVID-19 can be used for climate action. She challenged the panel by creating an argument through the immediate global response and change affected. She remarked that politicians are front liners when it came to citizens as they express anger for legislators for not doing enough. She noted that as COVID-19 was a great practical example of rapid change, we can do the same with climate. The panel responded that legislators should definitely take an example from the speed of technology and timeframes of the development and distribution of the vaccine as well as how quickly the world responded to the crisis, whole governments have developed a rapid response in the sense of urgency. The same should be applied in climate change: behaviour change should be drastic and effective in order to be heard and part of the solution can be through regulation and information campaigns.
Source: Office of the Prime Minister