2021-10-22
You may have heard the words and seen the acronym, but many in the Green movement don’t quite know exactly what the Asia-Pacific Greens Federation (APGF) actually is or does. But they do incredible work you should know about, as APGF’s General secretary Nick Cooper explains.
By Nick Cooper
As Greens, we see the world differently. We know that the problems we face, from climate change and biodiversity destruction to poverty and human rights abuses, are global and interconnected. Coal mined in one country is sent to another to be burned, causing climate change everywhere. Plastics and other waste are shipped to the Global South and burned or buried, polluting water, land, and ruining people’s health and future. Multinational companies exploit workers in one part of the world to enrich their shareholders in another.
The challenges we face are interconnected – but so are the solutions.
Across the Asia-Pacific and the world there are thousands of leaders, activists, and people like you pushing for a fairer and more sustainable future. But often, these activists and movements aren’t connected.
That’s where the Asia-Pacific Greens Federation (APGF) comes in.
APG-what?
APGF is about connecting activists and the movement across our region, raising our shared voices to create a better future. We bring people together, from the Solomon Islands to Lebanon, Mongolia to Australia. We make these connections that give the Green movement global power. We make your voice, and the voices of thousands of people like you, heard on a global scale. APGF is a federation of Global Greens among others, and stands for shared value globally.
The Australian Greens and its International Development Committee (IDC) are proud supporters of APGF and the work it does connecting and strengthening the Green movement across our region. In the past year alone, you’ve heard about how we are supporting a Green vision for the Solomon Islands through its nascent Green party, how we are helping APGF and its women’s network build gender equity in Asia-Pacific Green parties, how IDC is directly empowering our Green parties in the Asia-Pacific, and how APGF is activating the Asia-Pacific’s emerging leaders. The contribution of people like you, through your volunteering and donations, are spreading the Green movement around the world.
The Global Greens is a powerful movement – and you are an important part of it. The Australian Greens, and more than 100 others around the world, have come together to create the future we need. The Asia-Pacific Greens Federation is one of four regional organisations that bring Green parties, leaders, activists, and change-makers together to support each other and increase our impact.
And with 20 member parties across our region (and growing), voices like yours calling for change are growing more powerful. Every time you go to a Green event, volunteer, or give a donation, you are supporting APGF and the Global Greens by building a stronger Green movement.
How?
We mentor emerging women leaders:
Since 2018 the IDC/APGF Women’s Network Mentoring Program has been activating the next generation of women leaders in our region.
Our 23 current and former mentees stretch across the Asia-Pacific, united by their commitment to a just and sustainable future and eager to become agents for change in their countries and communities. Knowing the power and importance of female leaders and role models supporting the next generation of activists, our global network of accomplished women mentors passionately volunteer their wisdom supporting and inspiring our mentees to change the world.
Since the project’s inception, we have seen mentees develop and become active in their political life, as candidates for elections, campaign managers, party leaders, and catalysts for parties’ growing female membership. With support from the Australian Greens International Development Committee, our mentors and mentees benefit from a suite of professional development trainings, resources including the APGFWN Gender Equity Toolkit, webinars from powerful women guests from across the world, and tailored support and development through their mentoring partnership.
The program also helps mentees improve their knowledge and capacity to implement green policies and actions in all aspects of life, guided by the Women’s Network’s platform and the experience of their mentors.
We help emerging parties build their policy platform:
Every political party needs a policy platform, but many emerging Green parties lack the capacity or resourcing to develop a comprehensive suite of policies across issues including climate change, women and gender equality, democracy, environment and the rights of Indigenous and tribal peoples.
So, thanks to the help of the Australian Greens International Development Committee, we were so pleased to develop 20 template policies. Policies that Green parties around the world can adopt and adapt to build a Greener future.
These template policies were developed through the research and expertise of our members and based on best practice Green policies from around the globe.
So far, multiple Green parties including India and Lebanon have reviewed and adopted these templates as their own yet within their unique contexts. These policies will form the basis for their messaging and election campaigns.
We empower women through gender equity trainings:
United by their commitment to gender equity in their parties, organisations and societies, the Asia-Pacific Greens Federation Women’s Network has championed and implemented trainings on gender equity across the Asia-Pacific region.
Patriarchy is an oppression that limits the collective and individual capabilities of us all and we believe that a better future is possible.
Since 2019, the Gender Equity project has empowered the next generation of women leaders to effectively advocate for their rights, as well as create and deploy political strategies to improve women’s representation and leadership in policy and in practice.
The generous support of Australian Greens members and IDC means that the impact you read about in April has only continued to grow. More than 53 emerging women leaders have been trained across our region - and we’re only getting started. With another four trainings planned, 80 more women will participate in this program. We have big plans because we know that gender equity is critical in building a fair and sustainable world.
We connect youth activists across the world:
Young people are at the forefront of global change, creating the future they will inherit. The School Strike for Climate movement has shown the power youth activism can have to shift the conversation, demand change, and build a Greener world.
The Asia-Pacific Young Greens Network (APYGN) brings together passionate Green activists from across our region to learn, plan, and collaborate on campaigns that will shape the future.
More than ever, young people want their voices to be heard and their activism to have impact. The silence and dismissal of young people’s concerns by old self-interested politicians is being matched by the energy and enthusiasm of youth climate and justice champions rewriting the rules for a better world. Young people are tomorrow’s leaders, but they are making their voices heard today.
APGF and the APYGN are supporting and empowering young people with the tools and networks they need to change the world. Building the awareness, empowerment, and action of the next generation of Green leaders from across Asia, the Pacific, and the Middle East multiplies our power and ensures that those inheriting the future are at the center of the conversation.
And that’s just the beginning
We have dozens of projects and programs building our movement and supporting our parties to make change. We are building an integrated member and supporter database for two of our parties. We’ve delivered more than 20 webinars on topics ranging from election campaigning to forests and nature. We’ve delivered project management trainings. Connected parties to funding organisations, think tanks, and foundations. Begun bilateral and multi-lateral campaigns. Sent Green delegates to international conferences that will shape the future. Linked activists around the world to transform their communities and societies.
And we are just getting started.
The Greens are not just a political party – we are a movement. As one of our supporters, you are standing side-by-side with thousands of activists and leaders around the globe creating a better future for people and the planet. The Asia-Pacific Greens Federation is the expression of our shared vision for a Greener future across our region, building and strengthening our growing movement for change.
We might not have the money of the vested interests burning our planet, but we have something more powerful: your support, and that of people like you building the future we need.
If you would like to know more about APGF and our work, you can check out our new website, or contact me at secretary@asiapacificgreens.org. If you are ready to take your support to the next level, you could also consider donating to our growing movement at asiapacificgreens.org/donate.
Thank you for all you do for our movement – we can’t do it without you.
Nick Cooper is the Asia-Pacific Greens Federation’s General Secretary.