 I now give the floor to the representative of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Madam President, Excellencies, Fifty years ago, the UN conference on the Human Environment agreed on the first generation of common principles to inspire and guide the peoples of the world in the preservation and enhancement of the human environment. Later decades witnessed the expansion of such principles through the recognition of a rights-based approach grounded on the need to strengthen public participation, access to information, and access to justice to protect the environment. These are fundamental steps for framing today's Stockholm Plus 50 conversation within the building blocks of environmental democracy. Ensuring the quality and inclusiveness of governance institutions will be essential to successfully deliver on climate action. International IDEA notes that inclusive democratic governance institutions allow the rights and views of indigenous people and local communities to be channeled into the decision-making on environmental policies and actions. International IDEA welcomes the strong emphasis put on justice, inclusion, intergenerational equity and accountability in the leadership dialogues, and underlines that responding to citizens' demands for these rights suggests the need to urgently strengthen democratic governance rights and institutions. Citizen voices and arguments must be heard for societies to collectively debate and agree about what a just transition implies. International IDEA's research on climate change and democracy indicates that democracies can perform this role by allowing free flow of information, policymakers to debate and find solutions, and civil society and citizens to mobilize and create social consensus around the required actions. It also indicates that democracies are more effective against climate change by allowing freedom of expression and active civil society, elections held with integrity, and institutional checks and balances. We propose that in the response to climate crisis, democratic governance agendas should seek out innovative forms of political deliberation and representation. Regulations such as citizen assemblies, lowering the voting age, institutions that are already considering the interests of future generations in today's decision-making. In conclusion, International IDEA emphasizes that functioning democratic institutions are indispensable to deal effectively with the climate crisis. We should all strive together for democratic processes that implement innovative and effective approaches to addressing environmental challenges. The efforts to protect and support democratic institutions will need to be strengthened to ensure that the next decade of action of climate action is inclusive, just and ultimately successful. Thank you. I thank the representative of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.