On 10-11 May FORUM-ASIA participated in the yearly regional workshop organised by the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok. This year the focus of the workshop was, ‘URGENCY IN ACTION – Understanding Human Behaviour and Ensuring Human Rights and Gender Equality in the Response to Climate Change’.

Participants came from all over Asia Pacific and beyond, and included representatives from the UN, different Embassies, Universities, the corporate sector and civil society organisations. Over 150 people attended the event on the first day, and around 110 participated the second day.

Topics that were discussed over the course of the two days included: climate change, equity and the Paris Agreement; climate change, human rights and gender: how are they linked?; how to use a human rights-based approach for climate change actions; the role of human behaviour in responses to climate change; voices from the ground: realising inclusive development and social justice; re-wilding Bangkok – new citizenship and emerging paradigm; the case of palm oil; governing trans-boundary challenges; human rights, gender and accountability in climate finance; and influencing behaviour through law and communications: experiences, examples and insights.

The final panel discussion, which focussed on concrete and inspirational examples, was led by Marte Hellema, Programme Manager at FORUM-ASIA.