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Good morning, this is Michelle, reporting live from Glasgow, where I’ll be following climate talks all week.

I’ll be keeping an eye on issues close to international Geneva’s heart – and to kick things off, here's an overview of the demands of those who will be present.

Back in Geneva, we’ll be busy covering Geneva Peace Week, where speakers will explore peacebuilding from all angles. Plus, state members of the Minamata Convention on mercury will be holding their own online COP.

photo journaliste

Michelle Langrand

01.11.2021


On our radar this week


Photo article

Environmental activists stage a protest ahead of the Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, Britain, 30 October 2021. (Keystone/EPA/Robert Perry)

🌍 COP26: International Geneva goes to Glasgow. Around 30,000 participants, from NGOs, businesses, media and governments started landing this weekend in Glasgow for the highly anticipated COP26. Throughout the next two weeks, they will observe, scrutinise and pressure countries to step up their climate commitments – and Geneva-based organisations will not miss the opportunity to bring their demands. Geneva Solutions asked them about their expectations from the key climate talks.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

🕊️ From seeds to systems of peace. The annual Geneva Peace Week kicks off today with a packed schedule of virtual events and speakers addressing all things peacebuilding. With 90 per cent of active conflicts this century occurring in countries that have already experienced civil war, and over 50 active conflicts around the world currently, experts will also explore why it’s high time to reshape outdated peace processes that are no longer fit for purpose.

Geneva Peace Week (EN)

Here's what else is happening


Dispatches from Women in Afghanistan


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Lailuma Nasiri is a well-known figure among Afghan women’s rights activists. (Credit: Lailuma Nasiri)

Afghan women’s rights defenders face an endless fight. Lailuma Nasiri is a well-known figure among Afghanistan’s women’s rights activists, not least for her work as founder of the Afghanistan Justice Organisation (AJO). But since August, her organisation has been forced to close and rights defenders like herself have been prevented from doing their lifesaving work. She tells Geneva Solutions about her fears for the fate of the country’s NGOs.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Where are the women in discussions with the Taliban? In the months that have followed, the world has watched in horror as the hard-won gains of the past 20 years have been rapidly eroded. But as the international community tries to begin negotiations with the Taliban, it seems they too have forgotten about Afghan women, whose presence is sorely lacking in delegation meetings.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Also on the agenda


📌 1-5 November | Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP4). The global treaty, agreed in Geneva in 2013 and adopted by over 140 countries a year later in Japan, was put in place to protect human health and the environment from the negative effects of mercury. The first part of the meeting will take place online this week followed by an in-person meeting in Bali, Indonesia next year.

Mercury Convention (EN)

📌 3 November | COP26 Climate Breakfast with Mayors: A dialogue with Norman Foster and John Kerry. Organised by UNECE, Lord Foster and Secretary Kerry will discuss from Glasgow how Covid will shape cities of the future. The session can be watched live on YouTube.

YouTube/UNECE (EN)

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