DOCSLIB.ORG

Thesis Dombrowski

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

The London School of Economics and Political Science Bridging the democratic gap: Can NGOs link local communities to international environmental institutions? Kathrin Irma Dombrowski A thesis submitted to the Department of International Relations of the London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, January 2013 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 92,850 words. Kathrin Irma Dombrowski 10th January 2013 2 Abstract How can NGOs contribute to strengthening the democratic legitimacy of international intergovernmental institutions? The thesis pursues two lines of enquiry in order to contribute to this discussion in the context of global environmental politics: it looks at the external claims and internal practices of NGOs. With regards to external claims the thesis investigates the democratic demands formulated by the NGO communities interacting with the UNFCCC and the CBD respectively. Demands for equitable representation at the intergovernmental level and for participation by civil society stakeholders are especially prominent among the NGOs engaged with the climate convention. The thesis finds a convergence around very similar democratic demands across the NGO community, most of which draw upon recurrent governance norms and existing instances of good practice within environmental institutions. The thesis then turns to the internal practices of large international environmental NGOs to test the assumption that these organisations have the potential to act as “links” or as “transmission belts” between local communities and global policymaking processes. It proposes the adoption of a representation perspective for analysing the contribution of civil society organisations, and provides case studies of three large international environmental NGOs (WWF, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth) and of the two issue-specific civil society networks that organise NGO activities around the two UN conventions referred to above (the Climate Action Network and the CBD Alliance). The thesis shows that the potential for large NGOs to ‘represent’ local communities is shaped by organisational structures, decision-making processes, the strategy for bringing about change, funding sources, alliances and partnerships, and values. The findings underline the need to adopt a more differentiated understanding of the democratic contribution by civil society organisations to international intergovernmental institutions. 3 Table of Contents List of tables and diagrams....................................................................................................................6 List of abbreviations .................................................................................................................................8 Acknowledgements................................................................................................................................ 10 I. Introduction........................................................................................................ 11 i. Identifying the problem .......................................................................................................... 11 ii. Setting the scene: actors and context................................................................................ 14 iii. Case selection............................................................................................................................... 19 iv. Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 22 v. Thesis outline............................................................................................................................... 26 II. Democratic deficits in global governance and the role of NGOs...... 29 i. Linking citizens to international institutions ................................................................ 30 ii. Democratic deficits in global policy-making.................................................................. 33 iii. Filling the gap? NGOs and global democratic deficits ................................................ 41 iv. Existing accounts of NGOs as links ..................................................................................... 51 v. Conclusion and next steps...................................................................................................... 57 III. Global environmental governance........................................................... 61 i. The institutions of global environmental governance............................................... 62 ii. The ideational underpinnings of modern environmentalism ................................ 71 iii. Strengthening participation in global environmental governance ...................... 77 iv. The role of environmental NGOs......................................................................................... 84 v. Conclusion..................................................................................................................................... 90 IV. The external dimension: NGO democratic demands in the global climate and biodiversity conventions. ............................................................. 92 PART ONE: The United Nations climate and biodiversity conventions and the role of NGOs ............................................................................................................................................................. 93 i. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ......................... 94 ii. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.........................................102 PART TWO: Representation and participation deficits and NGO responses ..............112 iii. Representation inequities and NGO responses ..........................................................113 iv. Participation deficits and NGO responses.....................................................................126 v. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................142 V. The internal dimension: NGOs as democratic links between affected communities and international institutions ................................................150 4 i. What is representation?........................................................................................................152 ii. The challenge of ‘taking representation for a walk’..................................................158 iii. Conceptualising NGOs as representatives in global governance ........................168 iv. Research questions .................................................................................................................183 v. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................185 VI. Responsiveness in centralised NGOs: WWF and Greenpeace .......187 i. WWF: a global conservation organisation ....................................................................189 ii. Exploring forms of responsiveness in WWF ................................................................192 iii. Responsiveness in WWF: motives, challenges and effects ...................................199 iv. Greenpeace: getting the world to take notice..............................................................208 v. Exploring forms of responsiveness in Greenpeace ...................................................211 vi. Responsiveness in Greenpeace: motives, challenges and effects........................220 vii. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................226 VII. Responsiveness in networks: Friends of the Earth International, the Climate Action Network and the CBD Alliance .....................................227 i. Friends of the Earth International: building global solidarity..............................227 ii. Exploring forms of responsiveness within FoEI.........................................................229 iii. Responsiveness in FoEI: motives, challenges and effects.......................................237 iv. The Climate Action Network...............................................................................................243 v. Exploring forms of responsiveness in CAN...................................................................244 vi. Responsiveness in CAN: motives, challenges and effects.......................................250 vii. Comparison with the CBD Alliance ..................................................................................253 viii. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................259
Recommended publications
  • Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International, on How to Make Corporations (Including Google) Do the Right Thing

    Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International, on How to Make Corporations (Including Google) Do the Right Thing

    ISSUE 23 MICHAELMAS TERM 2018 OXFORD UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR CORPORATE REPUTATION The Big Interview Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International, on how to make corporations (including Google) do the right thing Marketplaces on the dark web Country reputations Keeping it real How trust works in the land of the fake How perceptions of a nation’s firms From craft beer to crowdfunding, why are affected by terrorist atrocities, authenticity means such different Viewpoint – does being good pay? what influences the level of impact, things to different people Perspectives from sustainable and the buffering effect of investing and CSR research promotion strategies News and appointments COMMENT WHAT’S THE MOTIVATION? climate change – particularly given the is not going to get any easier, but the cost recent 12-year warning from the United of being seen not to try are getting higher. Nations. That threat is already creating some interesting “bedfellows”. In this AUTHENTICALLY YOURS issue Andrew Parry of Hermes Investment The current focus on authenticity in Management (see p4), explains how business promises much: to enable Hermes is trying to put sustainability and consumers to access goods that reflect Google (“Don’t be evil”) and parent good governance on the agenda of public their values; even to embed pro- company Alphabet (“Do the right thing”) companies, with the added benefit that it social motivations into businesses and are having some difficulty convincing their can pay to do the right thing. economies. Trust academics to spoil it staff of their good intentions. Earlier this all: on p10 the winner of our latest Best year the corporation ditched Maven, an AI Both were attendees at our Activist Published Paper award, Justin Frake, project to aid the targeting of US military Congress in August, which sought to examines the inexact processes behind drones, in the face of an employee revolt.
  • 2009 in Defense of Food: the Omnivore’S Solution 9A M –5P M

    2009 in Defense of Food: the Omnivore’S Solution 9A M –5P M

    TABLE OF CONTENTS 2020 CLIMATE LEADERSHIP CALL TO AcTION Welcome 1 Schedule Overview and Session Locations 2 State of the World Forum 6 Scientists worldwide are making a dire warning: Pre- and Post-Conference Seminars 7 We have ten years at best to avert runaway climate Helpful Information 10 change that threatens human civilization itself. Greening Bioneers 11 Daily Schedule 12 Bioneers is allying with the newly forming Climate Bioneers Store 21 Leadership for Climate Prosperity campaign launched Moving Image Festival 22 Intermezzo 24 by the State of the World Forum in August in Brazil Other Happenings 25 (See p. 6). We need to make an 80% reduction in CO2 Booksignings 26 output by 2020. Radio Series 26 Web Tools 27 As Lester Brown, Amory Lovins, Bioneers and other Food and Farming 28 Youth Unity 30 experts have been showing for years, we can meet Beaming Bioneers Satellite Conferences 32 this ambitious goal with existing technologies. Women’s Leadership 34 Indigenous Tent 35 It is not a technological issue. It is a political issue. Membership 36 Music and Perfomance 37 Educators Network 38 State of the World Forum President Jim Garrison will Presenter Biographies 39 be premiering the US Climate Leadership campaign Carbon Offsets Policy 52 at the Bioneers Conference and holding meetings to Organic Valley Sponsor Feature 53 engage with the bioneers to support and participate Supporters 54 in the campaign, leading toward the historic Forum Sponsors, Media Partners and Partners 56 in Washington DC in February. Exhibitors 58 Exhibitors Booth Locations and Exhibit Hall Map 60 Ad-Style Acknowledgments 62 Please join us.
  • Download the Transcript Here

    Download the Transcript Here

    What Could Possibly Go Right? Hosted by Vicki Robin for Post Carbon Institute Learn more and listen to all episodes: https://bit.ly/pci-wcpgrseries ​ Episode 22 with Kumi Naidoo ​ Kumi Naidoo Human Rights & Environmental Justice Activist kuminaidoo.net Transcript Kumi Naidoo If we don't connect and we don't find the intersections between our different struggles, we are not going to be able to move forward. Vicki Robin Hi, Vicki Robin here, host of "What Could Possibly Go Right?", a project of the Post Carbon Institute. We interview cultural scouts to help us see more clearly so that we can act more courageously in these crazy times. I'm so pleased to introduce you to our guest today, Kumi Naidoo. He is a new friend of mine and I think that he'll be a new friend of yours. His biography starts with anti-apartheid protests in his native South Africa at 15 years old, and runs through many organizations and projects, most recently as International Executive Director of Greenpeace International, and Secretary General of Amnesty International. As of June 2020, Kumi has served as the first Global Ambassador for Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity. So for over forty years, Kumi has been a voice among many for social, economic and environmental justice. From his humble township upbringing in South Africa to his work as an anti-apartheid activist to his leadership of international NGOs, Kumi has remained rooted in Martin Luther King's creative maladjustment principles, refusing to normalize inequality and devoting himself to economic justice.
  • The Society for Pollution and Environmental Control (SPEC), British Columbia

    The Society for Pollution and Environmental Control (SPEC), British Columbia

    University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository University of Calgary Press University of Calgary Press Open Access Books 2019-01 Environmental Activism on the Ground: Small Green and Indigenous Organizing University of Calgary Press Clapperton, J., & Piper, L. (2019). Environmental activism on the ground: small green and indigenous organizing. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary Press. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/109482 book https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM ON THE GROUND: Small Green and Indigenous Organizing Edited by Jonathan Clapperton and Liza Piper ISBN 978-1-77385-005-4 THIS BOOK IS AN OPEN ACCESS E-BOOK. It is an electronic version of a book that can be purchased in physical form through any bookseller or on-line retailer, or from our distributors. Please support this open access publication by requesting that your university purchase a print copy of this book, or by purchasing a copy yourself. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] Cover Art: The artwork on the cover of this book is not open access and falls under traditional copyright provisions; it cannot be reproduced in any way without written permission of the artists and their agents. The cover can be displayed as a complete cover image for the purposes of publicizing this work, but the artwork cannot be extracted from the context of the cover of this specific work without breaching the artist’s copyright. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This open-access work is published under a Creative Commons licence.
  • Global Warming? No, Natural, Predictable Climate Change - Forbes Page 1 of 6

    Global Warming? No, Natural, Predictable Climate Change - Forbes Page 1 of 6

    Global Warming? No, Natural, Predictable Climate Change - Forbes Page 1 of 6 Larry Bell, Contributor I write about climate, energy, environmental and space policy issues. OP/ED | 1/10/2012 @ 4:12PM | 3,332 views Global Warming? No, Natural, Predictable Climate Change An extensively peer-reviewed study published last December in the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics indicates that observed climate changes since 1850 are linked to cyclical, predictable, naturally occurring events in Earth’s solar system with little or no help from us. The research was conducted by Nicola Scafetta, a scientist at Duke University and at the Active Cavity Radiometer Solar Irradiance Monitor Lab (ACRIM), which is associated with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. It takes issue with methodologies applied by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) using “general circulation climate models” (GCMs) that, by ignoring these important influences, are found to fail to reproduce the observed decadal and multi-decadal climatic cycles. As noted in the paper, the IPCC models also fail to incorporate climate modulating effects of solar changes such as cloud-forming influences of cosmic rays throughout periods of reduced sunspot activity. More clouds tend to make conditions cooler, while fewer often cause warming. At least 50-70% of observed 20th century warming might be associated with increased solar activity witnessed since the “Maunder Minimum” of the last 17th century. http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2012/01/10/global-warming-no-natural-predictable-c... 1/13/2012 Global Warming? No, Natural, Predictable Climate Change - Forbes Page 2 of 6 Dr.
  • The Birth of the Great Bear Rainforest: Conservation Science and Environmental Politics on British Columbia's Central and North Coast

    The Birth of the Great Bear Rainforest: Conservation Science and Environmental Politics on British Columbia's Central and North Coast

    THE BIRTH OF THE GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST: CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS ON BRITISH COLUMBIA'S CENTRAL AND NORTH COAST by JESSICA ANNE DEMPSEY B.Sc, The University of Victoria, 2002 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Geography) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA July 2006 © Jessica Anne Dempsey, 2006 11 Abstract This thesis examines the birth of the Great Bear Rainforest, a large tract of temperate rainforest located on British Columbia's central and north coasts. While the Great Bear Rainforest emerges through many intersecting forces, in this study I focus on the contributions of conservation science asking: how did conservation biology and related sciences help constitute a particular of place, a particular kind of forest, and a particular approach to biodiversity politics? In pursuit of these questions, I analyzed several scientific studies of this place completed in the 1990s and conducted interviews with people involved in the environmental politics of the Great Bear Rainforest. My research conclusions show that conservation science played an influential role in shaping the Great Bear Rainforest as a rare, endangered temperate rainforest in desperate need of protection, an identity that counters the entrenched industrial-state geographies found in British Columbia's forests. With the help of science studies theorists like Bruno Latour and Donna Haraway, I argue that these conservation studies are based upon purification epistemologies, where nature - in this case, the temperate rainforest - is separated out as an entity to be explained on its own and ultimately 'saved' through science.
  • Greenpeacemagazine\\ Spring/Summer 2011

    Greenpeacemagazine\\ Spring/Summer 2011

    (June 9, 2011 / 13:33:07) 72194-1_GP Magazine 2011r_p01.pdf .1 Volume 11 Number 08 GreenpeaceMagazine\\ Spring/Summer 2011 Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo addresses protestors at an anti-nuclear demonstra- tion in Dannenberg, Germany just four months before this year's nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan. Inside, Greenpeace visits Chernobyl on the 25th anniversary of the nuclear accident there, and takes action against nuclear projects in Canada. \\ www.greenpeace.ca This is a low resolution PDF proof preflighted by Prinect Workflow. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY! Although we make every effort to avoid errors, we cannot be responsible for errors you fail to correct. Remember, corrections at this stage are inexpensive compared to the cost of reprinting. We appreciate your business. Thank you for choosing Thistle Printing. (June 9, 2011 / 13:46:09) (June 9, 2011 / 13:43:03) 72194-1_GP Magazine 2011r_p02.pdf .1 Inside Spring/Summer GREENPEACE 2011 INSIDE GreenpeaceMagazine\\ Volume 11 Number 08 Spring/Summer 2011 INSIDE 03 GREENPEACE NUCLEAR SCANDALOUS RECORD FOLIO 04 LEGACY 08 ON CLIMATE CHANGE 09 THE NEXT 40 YEARS 12 GREENPEACE 40TH ANNIVERSARY VICTORIES LIFTING THE LID ON GREENPEACE 40TH 13 06 OCEAN DESTRUCTION 10 ANNIVERSARY Cover: GreenpeaceMagazine\\ Volume 11 Number 08 ON THE Kumi Naidoo speaks at an anti-nuclear Spring/Summer 2011 FRONTLINES demonstration in Germany Editor: Anil Kanji Greenpeace: Design: www.typotherapy.com Greenpeace regularly communicates with our Contributors: Natasha Van Bentum, Richard 14 supporters, the general public and the media Brooks, Bruce Cox, Christy Ferguson, Sarah King, through our website as well as regular email Shawn-Patrick Stensil, Keith Stewart, Hilary Tam.
  • Who's Holding Us Back?

    Who's Holding Us Back?

    Who’s holding us back? How carbon-intensive industry is preventing effective climate legislation Executive Summary November 2011 Foreword by Kumi Naidoo © GREENPEACE/MATTHIAS WÜTHRICH © GREENPEACE/MATTHIAS But while their actions may be invisible, their outcomes are anything but. Collectively they spend the equivalent of the GDP of entire nations, to block progress on climate legislation, and ensure that fossil fuel and nuclear subsidies continue to give unfair advantages to dirty energy, above the safe, clean renewable energy future the public demands. This report shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that a handful of carbon-intensive companies who stand to benefit from inaction have been holding us back, and the politicians who choose to act on their behalf. In this report, we document the tricks of the trade that polluting corporations use to pull the strings of our politicians and mislead the public. We expose the web of influence that sees these companies pit our leaders and For two weeks in December, the next climate entire countries against each other to hold back action on the climate. summit (COP17) will converge in my hometown of Durban in South Africa, where negotiators There is however, a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Despite the massive odds against it, renewable energy from 194 countries will meet to grapple with the has doubled in growth each year over the past decade. greatest challenge of our times: climate change. It employs more than 2 million people worldwide, and in the US already provides more jobs than coal. Despite the global economic crisis, investment in renewable In the past year alone, we have seen a dramatic increase in energy hit a record $243 billion in 2010, and is expected extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change.
  • Environmental Activism on the Ground: Small Green and Indigenous Organizing

    Environmental Activism on the Ground: Small Green and Indigenous Organizing

    University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository University of Calgary Press University of Calgary Press Open Access Books 2019-01 Environmental Activism on the Ground: Small Green and Indigenous Organizing University of Calgary Press Clapperton, J., & Piper, L. (2019). Environmental activism on the ground: small green and indigenous organizing. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary Press. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/109482 book https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM ON THE GROUND: Small Green and Indigenous Organizing Edited by Jonathan Clapperton and Liza Piper ISBN 978-1-77385-005-4 THIS BOOK IS AN OPEN ACCESS E-BOOK. It is an electronic version of a book that can be purchased in physical form through any bookseller or on-line retailer, or from our distributors. Please support this open access publication by requesting that your university purchase a print copy of this book, or by purchasing a copy yourself. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] Cover Art: The artwork on the cover of this book is not open access and falls under traditional copyright provisions; it cannot be reproduced in any way without written permission of the artists and their agents. The cover can be displayed as a complete cover image for the purposes of publicizing this work, but the artwork cannot be extracted from the context of the cover of this specific work without breaching the artist’s copyright. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This open-access work is published under a Creative Commons licence.
  • Climate Change and the Many Faces of Denial

    Climate Change and the Many Faces of Denial

    Climate Change And The Many Faces of Denial by Don Shafer Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Don Shafer 2018 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2018 Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation. Approval Name: Don Shafer Degree: Master of Arts Title: Climate Change And The Many Faces of Denial Examining Committee: Chair: Gary McCarron Associate Professor, School of Communication Elenore Stebner Senior Supervisor Professor Department of Humanities Stephen Duguid Supervisor Professor Department of Humanities Jack Martin External Examiner Professor Department of Psychology Date Defended/Approved: July 16, 2018 ii Ethics Statement iii Abstract Despite growing evidence, there seems a general reluctance to accept the seriousness of climate change or that human activities are a prime cause. While there needs to be a substantial change in humanity’s relationship with the Earth, evidence confirms that we have done very little about it. For many, this reluctance manifests itself as a kind of denial. For others, their reluctance is embedded in cultural, religious, or tribal beliefs. This human ability to ignore those things that conflict with one’s values and beliefs, or that are so unimaginable that one can’t deal with them, as they can often increase our anxiety. This project explores the inaction around climate change, as well as the impact of that inaction on people and communities. It explores why some people are in varying degrees of denial about climate change, and how climate change relates to social., political and economic issues.
  • 1. Environmental Update 2014.Vp

    1. Environmental Update 2014.Vp

    Canadian Environmentalists Canadian Environmentalists Environmental Up-Date 2020 Michael Bailey charge of Belleville Green Check, which conducted Currently: Bevan-Baker currently serves as the leader energy audits on area homes. He played a role in op of Prince Edward Island’s Green Party. He is the first Currently: Director of Operations, The Climate Summit - posing a coal-fired power plant at Point Aconi, Cape person to win a seat for the Green Party in the PEI legis (theclimatesummit.org), and Producer/Director at - Breton. Bennett also headed the national Climate Action Planetviews Productions, based in Honolulu, Hawaii. lature, having been elected in May 2015. He previously Network. He served as Communications Director for the ran for election 10 times, federally and provincially. Career: Bailey is a graduate of Al Gore’s The Climate Green Party of Canada and has worked closely with Career: Earned his Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree Project training program and is currently an authorized party leader Elizabeth May. from the University of Glasgow. After an unsuccessful presenter for the program. In addition to his documen- Contact: Friends of the Earth Canada, #200, 251 Bank run for office in the 2001 federal election, Bevan-Baker tary film work, Bailey was an official observer at the In- St., Ottawa, ON K2P 1X3; Phone: (613) 241-0085; Fax: worked with Liberal MP Joe Jordan to write the Canada ternational Whaling Commission and has been involved (613) 566-3449; e-mail: [email protected]; Well-Being Measurement Bill, which sought to establish in anti-whaling and dolphin protection initiatives, as well URL: foecanada.org the Genuine Progress Index, measuring the health of as other environmental and wildlife conservation pro- people, communities & eco-systems.
  • Global Goals Open Letter

    Global Goals Open Letter

    EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01 GMT, 30 January Historic alliance of 2,020 campaigners unite to issue an open letter demanding world leaders tackle the emergency facing people and planet Signatories include world-leading activists and campaigners from Dr. Jane Goodall DBE and Malala Yousafzai, to leaders of movements including Patrisse Cullors, Black Lives Matter; Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, Bring Back Our Girls; Tarana Burke, Me Too and Alexandria Villaseñor, Fridays For Future. LONDON, 30 JANUARY 2020: In a dramatic act of global unity, 2000 campaigners and public figures from over 140 countries are backing an open letter signed by 20 world-leading activists. The letter declares a state of “emergency” for people and planet. It comes one week on from UN Secretary- General António Guterres calling on the international community to make the 2020s the “decade of action” and 2020 the “year of urgency”. Ranging from ages 10-94, the 20 leading gender, climate, environmental, equality, justice and human rights campaigners authoring the letter are Nobel Peace Prize laureates Malala Yousafzai and Nadia Murad; founder of the Me Too movement Tarana Burke; co-founder of Black Lives Matters Patrisse Cullors; anti-apartheid campaigner Andrew Mlangeni; co-founder of Bring Back our Girls Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili; environmental campaigners Dr. Jane Goodall DBE and Yann Arthus-Bertrand; social Justice and human rights campaigners Emi Mahmoud, Kumi Naidoo, Kennedy Odede, Sophie Cruz and Raull Santiago; youth climate activists Melati Wijsen and Alexandria Villaseñor; gender equality campaigners Lydia Cacho, Jaha Dukureh, Dr. Alaa Murabit and Trisha Shetty; and disability rights advocate Edward Ndopu. Campaigners want to see political leadership at key moments this year including COP26, the Gavi replenishment, Generation Equality Forums in Mexico and France, the UN General Assembly, and a landmark biodiversity conference in China.