H.E. Napat Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vanuatu attends Brussels CSO meeting with WYCJ
On Thursday 16th of February, WYCJ participated in a Civil Society meeting hosted by CAN-Europe (Climate Action Network) in Brussels, Belgium. This CSO meeting was part of a larger series of EU meetings attended by H.E. Napat the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vanuatu and his team.
The meeting commenced with a short introduction by Klaus Röhrig (CAN-Europe) explaining the reason for the CSO-meeting and the timeline of the ICJAO-campaign. Klaus also explained why the presence of the various European NGO’s and CSO’s was so important for the campaign to succeed. After this brief introduction, Minister Napat took the floor and thanked all of the attendees for coming.
His Excellency elaborated further upon the importance of continuous CSO pressure which is needed to convince the European governments that are still on the fence about their support for the ICJAO-campaign. Minister Napat asked the present CSO’s to keep up their good work and explained that a diverse group of states and stakeholders makes for a strong Advisory Opinion.
Under the Chatham House rule, the floor was opened and allowed all attendees to ask direct questions to both Minister Napat and Dr. Christopher Bartlett, advisor for the Govt. of Vanuatu. Since the date of the vote at the UNGA is approaching rapidly, effective campaigning and communication strategies were amongst the topics discussed.
The meeting was attended by key CSO actors that operate all across the European continent. In order to gather as much support as possible for the ICJ Advisory Opinion initiative from all of the European governments, cooperation is crucial. We are excited to hear and see the growing support for the campaign,; but we are very much aware that we are only just getting started. We are honored to work together with so many like minded individuals and organizations. In order to make sure that climate justice is achieved, we need to work together with all of our friends across all continents. Let us collectively bring the world’s biggest problem to the world’s highest court.
AO, let’s go!
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