A/HRC/44/44 indigenous peoples and local communities to voice their experiences on the issue of extractivism and climate change, enabling civic participation regarding this question at the international level, which is a mode of solidarity. 44 Furthermore, countries in this region adopted the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement), which aims to empower all persons to make decisions that affect their lives and the environment, and to access justice when those rights have been infringed. The Agreement specifically guarantees the rights to life, personal integrity and peaceful assembly in solidarity with environmental defenders. 21. Each of the world’s other regions has similarly led important efforts that contribute in some measure to human rights-based international solidarity in the context of climate change. The African region has multiple climate initiatives that connect the African Union, subregions and other political layers within the continent to formulate common positions on climate change for national planning. 45 The region also has a governance structure that coordinates Heads of State, ministers and negotiators to advocate in the international climate regime on matters of importance to the human rights of peoples in the region – in particular, strengthening international support for adaptation guided by common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. 46 The European Union has an ambitious record of legal and financial endeavours to address climate change and has made progress in reducing emissions. Under the European New Green Deal, 47 the region has proposed to devote 25 per cent of its budget to climate action, to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and to assist members vulnerable to these commitments with a just transition. 48 As for providing international support, a European Union flagship fund committed €750 million in climate finance, primarily to the least developed countries and small island developing States.49 Likewise, the Asian Development Bank is committing $80 billion to support action on climate change. 50 Another example of international solidarity in the AsiaPacific region is that, in 2019, the Pacific Islands Forum issued a fervent statement committing to act as one family, with mutual responsibilities and respect, and calling for transformational change, for example by phasing out subsidies for fossil fuels.51 Finally, human rights courts serving Africa, Europe and the Americas are expressing international solidarity across regions, having declared a commitment to dialogue at the intersection of climate change and human rights. 52 D. The laws and practices of cities and other local governments 22. More than 70 per cent of the world’s population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050, making cities crucial sites for reducing emissions and preparing for the negative impacts of climate change. 53 Indeed, global concerns about extreme weather and other 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 8 See www.oas.org/es/cidh/audiencias/TopicsList.aspx?Lang=en&Topic=42. See the press statement of the African Commission and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child issued on the occasion of the 33rd Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, calling on the African Union Assembly to declare 2021 a year for collective action for addressing the threat of climate crisis in Africa to human and peoples’ rights. Available at www.achpr.org/pressrelease/detail?id=476. See https://africangroupofnegotiators.org/about-the-agn. The European Green Deal aims to make the European Union climate-neutral by 2050 by taking several collective measures at the regional level, see: https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities2019-2024/european-green-deal_en. See www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20200109STO69927/europe-s-one-trillionclimate-finance-plan. See www.gcca.eu/about-gcca. Asian Development Bank, “Strategy 2030: achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific” (Manila, 2018), p. vi. Kainaki II Declaration for Urgent Climate Change Action Now (2019). See http://en.african-court.org/index.php/news/press-releases/item/322-kampala-declaration. See Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, “Cities and climate change: national governments enabling local action: policy perspectives” (2014).