Call for progress on climate justice

A call for bold, sustained action from international partners to deliver on climate pledges and support Global South nations hit hardest by climate change will be First Minister Humza Yousaf’s focus as he arrives in New York today (Sunday 17 September) for Climate Week NYC.

The First Minister will meet with Under2 Coalition Co-Chairs for the first time on Sunday, ahead of giving a keynote speech at the Climate Week NYC Hub on Monday.

He will use the speech to call on other governments and cross-sector organisations to not only pledge, but mobilise loss and damage funding.

First Minister Humza Yousaf said: 

“For communities across the world, new climate shocks often arrive before there is time to recover from the last – and the recent UN stocktake of global climate action emphasises that loss and damage risks are still growing.

“It’s clear that Scotland can play a significant role in calling for greater international action as an outward-looking nation which has already shown global leadership. We have already put people at the heart of our international climate action, and will be calling on others to join us.

“Scotland has demonstrated that we are prepared to walk the walk where many others, to this point, have merely talked the talk. Collective action is needed to tackle the climate emergency and address the devastating effects of climate change, in particular loss and damage.

“Eleven years ago, we launched the world’s first dedicated Climate Justice Fund, which remains the only government-led climate justice fund in the world – something we’d like to help change.”

Background

Climate Justice Fund

For security reasons, the First Minister’s full travel arrangements are not made public in advance, however details about Ministerial travel and engagements are proactively published online.

Any business flights taken by Scottish Government Ministers and employees are offset by a carbon levy. The levy is used to fund carbon reduction projects that compensate for the carbon emissions generated.