GLOBE (Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment)

GLOBE is the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment, founded in 1989. GLOBE facilitates high level negotiated policy positions from leading legislators from across the major economies parliaments and from regional dialogues.

GLOBE's objective is to support ambitious political leadership on issues of climate and energy security, land-use change and ecosystems. Internationally, GLOBE is focussed on progressive leadership from G20 leaders and the leaders of the major emerging economies as well as formal negotiations within the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

.

GLOBE shadows the formal G8 negotiations and allows legislators to work together outside the formal international negotiations. Without the burden of formal governmental negotiating positions, legislators have the freedom to push the boundaries of what can be politically achieved.

At an international level GLOBE consists of senior cross-party members of parliament from the 16 major economies - the G8 countries, European Parliament, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. Also, GLOBE facilitates regional policy dialogues amongst legislators.

GLOBE believes that legislators have a critical role to play in holding their own governments to account for the commitments that are made during international negotiations.

History

Since 2005 and following the invitation of the former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, GLOBE has brought together one hundred legislators from all major political parties within the parliaments of the G8, European Parliament, Brazil, China, India, Mexico & South Africa. GLOBE has convened this group twice a year in a series of focussed policy dialogues held in the US Senate, German Bundestag (2007), Brazilian Senate, Japanese Diet, Mexican Congress (2008) UK House of Commons, Italian Chamber of Deputies

Italian Chamber of Deputies

The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...

, and most recently in the Danish Parliament, the Folketing

Folketing

The Folketing , is the national parliament of Denmark. The name literally means "People's thing"—that is, the people's governing assembly. It is located in Christiansborg Palace, on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen....

(2009). The dialogues have included participation by President [Luis Inacio Lula] of Brazil, Chancellor Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel

Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...

of Germany, then Prime Minister Tony Blair

Tony Blair

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...

of the UK, then Prime Ministers Fukuda, and Abe of Japan and the Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen

Lars Løkke Rasmussen

Lars Løkke Rasmussen is a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from April 2009 to October 2011. He is the leader of the centre-right liberal party, Venstre....

. In addition both 2008 US Presidential candidates addressed the GLOBE Forum just months prior to the US election. During COP15 in Copenhagen in December 2009 UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

presented Mexican President Calderon with the GLOBE Award for International Leadership on the Environment.

Between the two annual meetings smaller groups of legislators have been convened in working groups and most recently in two International Commissions on Climate & Energy Security chaired by US Congressman Ed Markey, and on Land Use Change & Ecosystems chaired by former World Bank Vice President, Mr Ian Johnson.

Members

GLOBE has legislative members in all of the 16 major economies that have national GLOBE chapters. At a regional level, they also have members in all European Member states and within several African and Latin American countries.

GLOBE’s International Commissions

GLOBE International supports two International Commissions on Climate and Energy Security; and Land Use Change and Ecosystems.

International Commission on Climate & Energy Security

GLOBE’s International Commission on Climate & Energy Security was launched in the US Congress in Washington DC on Monday 30th March 2009. This Commission comprises senior legislators from each of the major economies. The Commission met for two days under the Chairmanship of US Congressman Ed Markey

Ed Markey

Edward John "Ed" Markey is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1976. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes most of Boston's northern and western suburbs, such as Medford and Framingham. Markey is the Dean of both the Massachusetts and New England House delegations...

and Lord Michael Jay of the UK House of Lords. The Commission was launched with the support of the Danish Prime Minister, the UK Prime Minister and the Italian G8 Presidency. The aim of the Commission was to produce a major report to the GLOBE Copenhagen Forum in October, presenting its conclusions to the Danish Prime Minister and the major economies. GLOBE national chapters are now advancing these recommendations.

The commissions report was adopted by the GLOBE Copenhagen Legislators Forum and submitted to the UNFCCC and leaders of the major economies ahead of COP15.

International Commission on Land Use Change and Ecosystems

GLOBE’s International Commission on Land Use Change and Ecosystems was initially announced in June 2008 by the British Foreign Secretary, Rt. Hon [David Miliband] MP, and the Chief Scientist to the Japanese Cabinet, Dr Kiyoshi Kurokawa, and formally supported by the G8+5 Legislators Forum of one hundred senior legislators. With the support of the Global Environment Facility

Global Environment Facility

The Global Environment Facility unites 182 member governments — in partnership with international institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector — to address global environmental issues....

(GEF) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Commission was launched in November 2008 in the Mexican Congress. The Chairman of the International Commission is Mr Ian Johnson, former Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank, and the political co-chairs are Barry Gardiner MP (UK) and Senator Renato Casagrande (Brazil).

In 2005, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, released in 2005, is an international synthesis by over 1000 of the world's leading biological scientists that analyses the state of the Earth’s ecosystems and provides summaries and guidelines for decision-makers...

(MA) concluded that human activity is rapidly and extensively degrading ecosystem services in order to meet growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel. Extensive land use change and ecosystem transformation have contributed considerably to economic development. However, these gains have also created barriers to achieving the Millennium Development Goals

Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015...

(MDGs) and significantly depleted the Earth’s natural capital. The International Commission on Land Use Change & Ecosystems was established in order to initiate a step change in the way that policy makers value the ecosystems that are being degraded at a rapid rate.

The International Commission on Land Use Change & Ecosystems has three main workstreams; Forest policy, Marine environment policy and Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Policy.

Forestry Policy

The International Commission met twice during 2009 to develop a policy framework to address tropical deforestation, first in July at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and then in the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, USA, in September. The Commission, consisting of 20 legislators from both developed countries and rainforest nations along with a panel of expert economists and scientists, agreed to a set of “Forestry Policy Proposals” that included recommendations on how to reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD

Redd

Redd is a Turkish rock band established in 1996 by tenor opera singer Doğan Duru and guitarist Berke Hatipoğlu under the name Ten. They used to play at bars until they set up their own studio in 2004. Their first album, entitled "50/50", produced by Levent Büyük was published a year later by...

) as part of the post-2012 climate change agreement and measures to prevent illegal logging and to address the demand-side drivers of deforestation. These policy proposals were endorsed by the GLOBE Copenhagen Forum in October 2009.

Marine Environment Policy

The International Commission aims to coordinate simultaneous parliamentary debates on the marine environment in the major economies of the world on World Oceans Day, 8th June 2010. Prior to this event, the International Commission, consisting of 20 legislators from the major fishing nations and an expert panel of marine scientists and economists, will convene in US Congress in April 2010. At this meeting, the International Commission will develop a “Marine Ecosystem Recovery Plan”, which will outline the policy framework that is necessary to set the oceans on a path to a sustainable future.

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Policy

GLOBE’s Programme on Ecosystems Services and Biodiversity aims to mainstream biodiversity and ecosystem services within the world’s parliaments by a creating an international leadership group of parliamentarians from the finance or audit committees of a select group of countries. By developing a common framework for economic and environmental information, GLOBE believes that governments will be able to more accurately gauge the contribution of the environment to the economy and the impact of the economy on the environment.

Statements and Reports

GLOBE International concludes each Forum with a consensus statement agreed by all the legislators attending, which is submitted to leaders of the major economies. GLOBE also produces a number of policy papers and reports to support it’s work. The International Commissions on Climate and Energy Security; and Land Use Change and Ecosystems produce a number of reports and background documents to support their work.