Open Briefing is dedicated to fostering the safety and resilience of human rights defenders and other civic actors around the world. The climate emergency and ecological breakdown will drastically worsen the situation for our beneficiaries and target populations as well as for ourselves and our families.
We must be a radical part of the solution, and take action at the level of ambition required to:
- Limit global temperature rise to below 1.5°C.
- Reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025.
Open Briefing therefore commits to the following key elements of a response:
- Tell the truth. We will declare a climate emergency.
- Act now. We will decarbonise our service provision and day-to-day operations by eliminating carbon emissions where possible and balancing any remaining emissions through carbon offsetting.
- Stronger together. We will work with our funders, beneficiaries and colleagues to create new solutions together that embrace the principles of ‘just transition’.
Within six months of this policy being adopted, we will publish our Climate Emergency Declaration and finalise a 12-month action plan in line with above principles and commitments. This plan will include concrete steps in five key areas:
- Services, including preferencing remote delivery and sustainable travel options and incorporating carbon levies into our fees for NGOs based in the global north.
- Operations, including improving energy use, water use, recycling systems, purchasing preferences, and commuting options.
- Financial, including setting up pensions with ESG funds and reviewing our banking options.
- Human resources, including encouraging employee sustainable travel and climate activism through progressive annual leave policies.
- Marketing, including integrating our Climate Emergency Declaration into our communications.
