United Nations
As the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference begins in Dubai, a crew of music artists are putting their support behind a campaign that links climate action and human rights.
As part of the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance, artists including Demi Lovato, Cyndi Lauper, Carole King and Annie Lennox have released statements urging leaders at the climate summit to support climate justice goals. The campaign will benefit from the artists’ combined social media followings of more than 300 million, with the goal to build support for United Nations Human Rights climate justice goals. Rob Thomas will add his voice to the campaign in the coming days.
The Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance addresses climate change through the lens of human rights, coalescing input from human rights experts, scientists, corporate leaders, NGOs, academics, advocates and people around the globe in the fight for rights-based climate action to preserve the future of humanity and the planet. The organization is partnered with the United Nations Human Rights, one of the U.N.’s major divisions.
All four artists released statements supporting the campaign via Instagram.
“By working together and supporting rights-based climate action for people and the planet,” Lovato wrote, “we can realize a better, more sustainable future for all.”
“Climate change is the SINGLE BIGGEST HEALTH THREAT FACING HUMANITY,” Lennox wrote. “The impacts are already harming health through air pollution, disease, extreme weather events, forced displacement, food insecurity, and pressures on mental health. Every year environmental factors take the lives of 13 million people… Climate change is a huge challenge, yet there ARE MANY SOLUTIONS. These solutions can deliver economic benefits while improving our lives and protecting the environment.”
“The impacts of climate change are now being felt in all countries, yet not all people are being impacted the same way,” wrote Lauper. “Climate change is hitting the poorest and most vulnerable women, children and marginalized people of the world most.”
“By working together and supporting inclusive, rights-based climate action for people and the planet,” wrote King, “we can realize a better, more sustainable future for all.”
The social media campaign precedes a press conference from the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance and United Nations Human Rights in Dubai at COP28 on Dec. 8. The press conference will include Recording Academy president Panos A. Panay and Chantel Sausedo, the Recording Academy’s vp of artist relations, who together will discuss the organization’s goals of using music to promote climate justice and rights-based climate action.
The Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit will be held at the University of Oxford from Sept. 11-14, 2024 and end with the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Concert. The lineup for the event will be announced at a later date.
Angélique Kidjo and JP Saxe have thrown their talents behind a special invite-only concert in New York, part of an expanding United Nations initiative to highlight climate justice and rights-based climate action.
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Kidjo, the five-time Grammy Award-winning Beninese-French singer-songwriter, and Saxe, the Grammy nominated Canadian singer and musician, both performed at a private industry event, hosted at the Recording Academy’s office with reps from UN Human Rights watching on.
The Recording Academy is the official music partner of Right Here, Right Now Music, supported by United Nations Human Rights, with both organizations coming together to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights, created in the wake of WWII to outline universal human rights.
Guests at the intimate show also learned “alarming new facts” about the escalating human rights crisis caused by climate change, according to a joint statement.
The music-led project is just getting started. Some of the “most popular arena acts” will be encouraged to use their considerable voice to elevate climate issue for the Right Here, Right Now Mini Global Climate Concert series. As-yet unannounced major artists will be tapped to perform in “small iconic concert venues” around the world, a statement explains, while shining a light on climate issues such as floods, droughts, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, clean water, ocean acidity, deforestation, as well as food insecurity, mental health, and more.
The first international activation is set for Dec. 9 with a show at the Atlantis in Dubai during COP28, the UN’s annual global climate change conference.
Grammy-nominated Lumineers’ frontman Wesley Schultz and British singer-songwriter YOLA performed at the first U.S. event, held April 13 in Boulder, Colorado, at which the performers delivered speeches “addressing the importance of utilizing music as a tool to combat climate change,” read a joint statement issued at the time.
Berlin, London, Kigali, Seoul, and Rio de Janeiro are among the cities being considered for Right Here, Right Now Mini Global Climate Concerts next year.
Through the climate concerts, says David Clark, founder and CEO of Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance, parent organization of Right Here, Right Now Music, “we seek to reframe the climate crisis as the fundamental human rights crisis that it is and thank the Recording Academy and UN Human Rights for being such dedicated partners in this worldwide effort.”
Adds Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, “I look forward to working alongside UN Human Rights to showcase how the power of music can raise awareness and help promote change surrounding human rights issues around the world.”
Proceeds from the concert series will go to United Nations Human Rights climate justice initiatives and music industry charity MusiCares.
The Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance was presented at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland and has earned support from a growing list of artists, including Jack Black, Camila Cabello, Cher, Dead & Company, Celine Dion, Michael Franti, Quincy Jones, Kesha, Cyndi Lauper, Annie Lennox, LL Cool J, Pitbull, Joss Stone, Bob Weir, and more.
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As gang violence increases in Haiti, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a warning to American citizens and residents against traveling to the country.
According to reports, the directive from the FBI comes after a surge in violence enacted by warring gangs in the Caribbean nation, putting stress on the embattled national police force. It issued the warning to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, particularly those living in South Florida. The bureau’s office in Miami cites a major uptick in the report of kidnappings in Haiti it has received since the beginning of the year – an increase of 300 percent in the first three months of this year when compared to the same time period last year.
Haiti still has a State Department Level 4: Do Not Travel Advisory. “While we understand that there are strong ties between Haiti and South Florida, before traveling there one should consider the trauma and financial costs of being kidnapped not only to themselves but to their family and friends as well,” FBI Supervisory Special Agent Liz Santamaria said to the Miami Herald.
While the agency has not disclosed the exact number, it is believed that many of the victims kidnapped for ransom have ties to the U.S. The State Department has advised all citizens still in Haiti to leave immediately.
The violence between warring gangs has been prevalent in the capital city of Port-au-Prince since the beginning of the year. The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 was the event that fractured Haiti’s government infrastructure – the judiciary branch is viewed as inherently corrupt, there are no elected government officials still serving and the National Police Force has shrunk from 15,000 members three years ago to 9,000. Observers estimate that gangs now control between 60 to 90 percent of Port-au-Prince.
The warning also comes as the United Nations Security Council recently received a report that conditions in Haiti are now similar to countries at war. “The people of Haiti continue to suffer one of the worst human rights crises in decades and a major humanitarian emergency,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his report.
“With the high number of fatalities and increasing areas under the control of armed gangs, insecurity in the capital has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.” Guterres is expected to reiterate a demand for the creation and deployment of a special security force when the Security Council meets again today (April 26).
The Recording Academy is using the power of music for good.
On Wednesday (April 5), the organization announced a new partnership with several United Nations Human Rights-supported global initiatives on a campaign that will engage major artists to use their talents and platform to galvanize support for UN human rights goals, including advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, gender equality, women’s empowerment, climate justice and a broad range of other human rights issues.
The first activation under the initiative is the Right Here, Right Now Mini Global Climate Concert Series, which will see popular arena acts performing in small concert venues around the world while highlighting climate issues including floods, droughts, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, food insecurity, clean water, ocean acidity, deforestation, mental health and more. The series is set to kick off April 13 at the Boulder Theater in Colorado with The Lumineers’ Wesley Schultz alongside special guest Yola. The performance, produced by AEG Presents and supported by the University of Colorado Boulder, will be filmed by Citizen Pictures for a later broadcast.
The concert series is a partnership between the Recording Academy and the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance, a public-private partnership developed by David Clark Cause alongside UN Human Rights that seeks to address climate change as a human rights crisis.
“We are honored to be working with several United Nations-supported global music initiatives to bring together artists and create unique music events to promote social justice around the world,” said Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. in a release. “Music has no boundaries so we are excited to partner with the artist community and work with the United Nations to further their human rights goals and ultimately, better the world.”
The Right Here, Right Now initiative plans to hold additional concerts in cities on multiple continents, with discussions already underway for shows in New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, London, Johannesburg, Bogotá and Dubai. Proceeds will go to United Nations Human Rights climate justice initiatives as well as MusiCares, the Recording Academy’s music charity, which is establishing The Right Here, Right Now MusiCares Fund to focus relief efforts on music communities impacted by the climate crisis.
“Music provides a platform for the biggest megaphone in the world,” added Clark Cause in a statement, adding that Boulder was chosen as the kickoff city because it “has become the ‘Davos of Climate Change,’ since the University of Colorado Boulder recently convened world leaders, top climate experts, business leaders, and human rights advocates, along with students from our Education Coalition that includes over 2,300 universities – for the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit co-hosted with United Nations Human Rights last year.”
Celebrities who have previously lent their support to the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance and United Nations Human Rights include Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cher, Camila Cabello, Annie Lennox, LL Cool J, Cyndi Lauper, Pitbull, Jack Black, the Lumineers, Ellen DeGeneres, Jeff Bridges, Edward Norton, Bob Weir, Dead & Company, Kesha, Joss Stone and Michael Franti.
“Throughout history, music has been an important outlet for communication, cultural expression, and expression of dissent. As the Global Partner of the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance, UN Human Rights welcomes the news that the Recording Academy will be joining the alliance as the Global Partner of Right Here, Right Now Music, in order to help promote our mutual goals and objectives to help prevent the worst impacts of the climate catastrophe on persons, groups and peoples in vulnerable situations,” said Benjamin Schachter, UN Human Rights team leader for environment and climate change.
The Right Here, Right Now Mini Global Concert at Boulder Theater is being advised on best sustainability practices by Sound Future Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to accelerate climate innovation for the live event industry.
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A special envoy with the United Nations has stated that the rising level of gang violence in Haiti is threatening the country’s stability, echoing statements by the Secretary-General in a new report.
According to reports, the last three months of violence perpetrated by gangs in Haiti have been some of the worst seen in decades. As a result, according to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, their efforts to combat illegal trafficking and to help the country’s government maintain certain functions including the judiciary have been severely impacted. “The situation is grave,” he remarked in an internal report.
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“Years of hard-fought recovery gains are being undone, and Haitians are grappling with setting the country back on a path to democracy,” United Nations Special Representative Helen La Lime said as she briefed the Security Council on Tuesday (Jan. 24th). She would go on to state that there were 2,100 murders and some 1,300 kidnappings recorded in Haiti last year, with the battle for turf between the G-Pep and G9 coalitions causing havoc in neighborhoods like Petionville and Cité Soleil. This included rampant sexual violence against women, with 40 women being assaulted in one stretch in October in the Croix-des-Bouquets area. “This violence is part of well-defined strategies designed to subjugate populations and expand territorial control,” La Lime related. The international body estimated that gangs controlled 60% of the capital city of Port-au-Prince last December.
Secretary-General Guterres admitted that there is uncertainty concerning the nation’s electoral calendar for the year because of the impact of the violence, in addition to growing difficulties in helping schools to remain open and keeping roads open to facilitate the transport of needed food and fuel to northern districts because of gang blockades. “Amid the ongoing cholera outbreak, the lack of fuel has further undermined access to health services owing to restrictions on movement and to the impact of fluctuations in the supply of water and electricity on the functioning of medical facilities,” the report said.
Despite the gloomy news, Special Representative La Lime lauded the Council’s acceptance of enforcing new sanctions on those supporting criminal violence and activity in Haiti. She also reiterated a call for an international specialized force to assist the Haitian National Police, especially to aid the small progress the country’s made toward a stable electoral process for the next two years. “Haitians overwhelmingly want this assistance so they can go about their daily lives in peace,” she told the members.
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