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Climate change

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Climate change is killing people and destroying lives, development, peace and security all over the world. That's why climate action has been recognized as the top policy priority for the IPU. 

The ultimate goal of the IPU’s action on climate change is to allow all people to live on a healthier planet with warming limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The IPU helps parliaments make progress on the Paris Agreement as well as other climate treaties, accelerate decarbonization and reduce the carbon footprint within parliaments themselves through its research, tools and meetings. 

All year, the IPU organizes events for parliamentarians to come together and exchange good practice when it comes to legislating, budgeting or scrutinizing government action on climate change. 

The IPU works closely with UN partners on climate change, especially the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

The IPU also endeavours to reduce its own carbon footprint, including its Assemblies. 

Number of climate change laws of the world 5000+ The IPU is a partner of the London School of Economics' database of climate change legislation

Parliaments for the Planet

Discover the IPU's climate campaign designed to mobilize parliament to take action on the climate emergency

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Latest news and stories on climate change
Voices
Water access

Calling on parliaments: Human rights and the potential of Parliamentary Water Caucuses

By John Oldfield The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations in 1948, envisions “a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want”. It is the vision
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Voices
Dr. Somayeh Rafiei

Interview with Dr. Somayeh Rafiei, Chair of the Environmental Committee of the Parliament of Iran

How is climate change affecting your country? Currently, one of the most significant impacts of climate change in the Persian Gulf Region is the increase in sand and dust storms. The region is particularly prone to these storms due to
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Press releases
cop28

COP28: Parliaments take centre stage to accelerate climate action

Parliaments were in the spotlight on 6 December 2023 in Dubai at COP28, the UN Climate Change Conference, at a day of parliamentary meetings organized by the IPU and the Federal National Council (FNC), the Parliament of the United Arab
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Press releases
bolivia

Helping parliaments reach new heights in mountain adaptation

The IPU and Adaptation at Altitude, a programme of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, have published a new Issues Brief for parliamentarians: Responding to climate change in the mountains: Opportunities for parliamentarians to act. The Brief is designed
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Voices
Rapporteurs COP27-28

Passing the baton from COP27 to COP28

What did COP27, the UN Climate Conference which took place in Egypt in 2022, achieve from a parliamentary perspective? And what were the lessons learnt to pass on to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who are hosting COP28 in just
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Climate change
Latest publications on climate change
This Issues brief is designed to help parliamentarians identify policies and actions to adapt to the consequences of climate change in mountain ecoysystems.
10 actions for greener parliaments (and those who work in them)
This brochure presents the highlights from the toolkit Disaster Risk Reduction to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals published by the IPU and UNDRR in 2021. The toolkit is designed to help parliaments and parliamentarians to initiate, strengthen and oversee national
Climate change
Related events
Virtual event
Launch of a new study with evidence from Germany, Ireland and New Zealand
2024-03-19
Virtual event
The meeting will provide a platform for representatives from such committees to have an interactive discussion in order to exchange insights on the challenges and opportunities around advancing climate objectives in their committees.
2024-03-04
Virtual event
Health in climate emergencies #3
2024-02-22
Climate change