BaCCC/Module 7/Lesson 1/Part 1

Module 7, Lesson 1: ACE Is the Base!

Climate change strikes hard, we strike harder (cropped)

Introduction

The focus of Lesson 1 will be on the United Nations Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) programme. It is one of the leading initiatives to bring about awareness and effective actions that reach out to all corners of the globe to be united for climate action.

Keep the motivation high as we start your first lesson – the toughest one – of your final module for this course.

Lesson Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

• educate others about ACE;
• connect the six ACE elements to communicate the climate emergency to others;
• describe the guiding principles for ACE activities; and
• demonstrate an understanding of how ACE can be used to communicate the climate emergency.

Terminology

The following terms are important in understanding the science behind climate change. If you want to remember them, write their meanings in your learning journal as you encounter them in the course content.

• accountability
• Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE)
• ambassador
• communicator
• gender
• inclusion
• intergenerational
• stakeholder participation
• transparency

Action for Climate Empowerment

There are a few reasons for taking this quick look at ACE:

1. To introduce you to some of the language and concepts used to discuss climate change communication (because, rather ironically, ACE is not actually about climate change action and activism; it is about communicating the need for action and, as the name implies, empowering others to take action once they have learnt about the impacts of the climate emergency and possible mitigation and adaptation strategies).

2. To help you see the difference between on-the-ground, grassroots climate change activism (what you have been doing if you posted the social media memes you created during this course, for example) and the more bureaucratic, administrative programmes at government levels and beyond.

3. To give you an entry point in case you can see yourself working in the field of policymaking or programme management (indeed, below is a link to the National ACE Focal Points – the person in charge of ACE initiatives in each country – in case you want to get involved. If your country is not listed, contact your government’s environmental department).

National ACE Focal Points

4. So that you can use the priority elements and guiding principles when planning your own climate change initiative(s).

Activity

ACE WebQuest Part 1

Learning about United Nations or government programmes can be a bit dry. So, let’s turn this into a game. Check the time or set a timer for 20 minutes. Now see how many of the questions below the video you can answer by searching online in that amount of time.

Think

For fun, and if you have the bandwidth, you can play this game show song – originally called Think – in the background while you are doing the research

Think

Activity

ACE WebQuest Part 2

Copy and paste your answers into your learning journal, but be sure to include the website where you found each response as your citation.

To give you a bit of a starting place or head start . . .

The Six Elements of ACE

1. Find the definition of the United Nations Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE).

2. Find what UNFCCC stands for.

3. Find what year and where this framework became the basis of all international action on climate change.

4. Find what Article 6 of the Convention says. (The name “Action for Climate Empowerment” or ACE – “a user-friendly, easily understood term for referring to Article 6” – was not adopted until 2015.)

5. Find what Article 12 of the 2015 Paris Agreement says.

6. Find the overarching goal of ACE.

7. “The implementation of all six areas has been identified in recent years as the pivotal factor for everyone to understand and participate in solving the complex challenges presented by climate change.” — UNESCO and UNFCCC

Find the six priority areas of ACE.

8. Find three main guiding principles of ACE.

9. Find which Sustainable Development Goal ACE is most aligned with.

10. Find an example of an ACE initiative in your or a neighbouring country.

How did you do? Did you answer all ten questions in 20 minutes?

What Is Action for Climate Empowerment? (1:58)

For fun, and if you have the bandwidth, you can play this game show song – originally called Think – in the background while you are doing the research

What Is Action for Climate Empowerment? (1:58)

(You can adjust the playback speed and/or turn on subtitles/captions.)

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Here is the official blurb for ACE:

“	Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) is a term adopted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) [which was adopted in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit in Brazil] to denote work under Article 6 of the Convention (1992) and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement. The over-arching goal of ACE is to empower all members of society to engage in climate action, through the six ACE elements – climate change education, public awareness, training, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation on these issues.	”
—UNESCO and UNFCCC, Action for Climate Empowerment: Guidelines for Accelerating Solutions Through Education, Training and Public Awareness

Action for Climate Empowerment: Guidelines

Here is a pdf version of the 1992 UNFCCC:

1992 UNFCCC

Here is a pdf version of the 2015 Paris Agreement:

2015 Paris Agreement