The Hague Climate Agreement: a collaborative commitment
On April 10, 2024, the city of The Hague, together with 115 parties, including The Hague Humanity Hub and several Hub members, launched The Hague Climate Agreement. The Deputy Mayor of The Hague, Arjen Kapteijns, announced the agreement with great pride.
As a follow-up, the Hub is now organising the first The Hague Community Meet-up on Climate, Peace and Justice to explore linkages between climate, peace and justice and identify key areas in which we can strengthen our collective efforts. This first edition aims to provide an open and collaborative environment for discussing ideas, sharing experiences, and generating solutions on “Increasing collective impact related to Climate, Peace and Justice”.
The Hague Climate Agreement was borne out of the goal to make the city of The Hague climate neutral by 2030. The municipality of The Hague realised that to reach this achievement, several parties and stakeholders in The Hague would need to be consulted and participate in its progress, including residents, companies, entrepreneurs, public and international institutions, and civil society organisations.
All 115 participants contributed to the development of the 38 concrete deals that make up The Hague Climate Agreement, through climate “round tables” where residents, companies, and organisations could come together and discuss climate issues with each other. The participatory nature of this project was clearly set out by the municipality from the beginning: this agreement concerns and belongs to everyone in and around the city of The Hague.
The 38 deals that make up the agreement are structured around five main themes:
- Energy transition: The transition from the use of fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy
- Sustainable mobility: Clean transport without CO2 emissions
- Circular economy: More reuse of items and raw materials and less waste
- Climate adaptation: A green city that can withstand extreme weather
- The Hague as the international city of climate, peace, and justice.
The Hague Humanity Hub took significant interest in the fifth theme, given our ambition to build a community that shares expertise and collaborates to achieve greater collective impact towards climate action for a more peaceful and just world. Anne de Koster, Sustainability Advisor to the municipality of The Hague, pointed to the importance of the knowledge provided by the international community of The Hague. For example, she said, international organisations gave significant support to the development of the climate round tables.
This emphasis on collaboration and knowledge sharing is at the core of The Hague Humanity Hub’s efforts within climate justice. The Humanity Hub is collaborating on this initiative with organisations such as International Alert, The Hague Roundtable on Climate & Security, Mercy Corps, Oxfam Novib and the City of The Hague. This initiative seeks to facilitate connections, amplify expertise sharing and cooperation among organisations operating at the intersection of climate, peace, and justice. The first milestone will be a follow-up session, co-created by contributing partners, to explore the feasibility and need for such a community in The Hague. The climate deal by the Humanity Hub and partners can be found here.
Are you working at the intersection of climate, peace and justice and are interested to join this initiative? Do you want to participate in the Community Meet-up on Climate, Peace, and Justice? Please reach out to us via programming@humanityhub.net.
