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ACT and other faith groups present “Call to Action towards COP30” in Panama during 2025 Climate Week

Opinion: The global development community should pay attention to NDCs

This article was originally published on Devex

Later this year, countries are due to submit their plans to limit global warming. Far from being a technical exercise linked to the Paris Agreement on climate change, these plans represent an opportunity to ensure global development achievements are not lost.

As the climate crisis intensifies, the need for urgent, coordinated action has never been clearer. Vulnerable communities worldwide are already experiencing the consequences of inaction. Prolonged droughts, devastating floods, and extreme heat waves across Africa are stark reminders of what’s at stake.

With a midyear U.N. climate meeting taking place next week in Bonn, Germany, and attention building toward the COP30 climate summit in Brazil later this year, countries face a critical deadline: By September, they must submit their new nationally determined contributions, known as NDCs. These are national climate commitments outlining how countries will cut emissions, adapt to climate change, and transition away from fossil fuels. Commitments are expected to set new emission reduction targets extending through to 2035, shaping the world’s climate response for the coming decade.

The ambition and credibility of the upcoming NDCs will determine whether the world can still limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — the most ambitious Paris Agreement target.

Aligning NDCs with the 1.5°C goal is essential. Surpassing it risks catastrophic impacts on ecosystems and communities, potentially undoing decades of development progress. In Kenya, some estimates suggest climate-related impacts result in annual gross domestic product, or GDP, losses of up to 5%. Kenya, like many other countries, depends on economic sectors that are affected by climate.

To safeguard the future, the next round of NDCs must go beyond rhetoric and include concrete policies, ambitious emission reduction targets, and robust adaptation strategies. This is not just an obligation under the Paris Agreement — it’s a responsibility to all: humanity and the Earth.

Our organizations, Christian Aid and the ACT Alliance, faith groups committed to supporting marginalized communities in the global south, are working with partners to ensure that this new round of national climate commitments lead to real progress.

Critically, we are advocating for these to be developed inclusively. NDCs are so much more than technical plans; when done well, NDCs become strategic road maps for sustainable development, aligning climate action with economic, social, and environmental priorities.

Here are three key reasons why the development community must engage with NDCs.

1. 2025 marks a critical turning point, and advanced economies must lead the way

 

Despite the worsening impacts of climate change, current climate commitments put the world on track for 2.4°C to 2.6°C of warming by the end of the century, well above the 1.5°C limit laid out in the Paris Agreement.

This gap matters. Limiting warming to 1.5°C is not just a scientific target; it’s a lifeline for millions. Without stronger action, we risk a future marked by more intense heat waves, crop failures undermining food security, increasingly frequent and destructive storms and wildfires. These climate impacts are already happening and those bearing the brunt of these consequences are often the countries that have contributed the least to the problem.

This next round of climate commitments is a critical opportunity to course-correct. To limit global warming to 1.5°C, global emissions need to be reduced by 43% by 2030 and 60% by 2035. Meeting this challenge requires concrete action such as rapidly scaling up renewable energy, phasing out coal and other fossil fuels, investing in sustainable transport, protecting forests and natural carbon sinks, improving energy efficiency in buildings and industry among other measures. Such efforts require political will, fair cooperation, and sustained public pressure.

While all countries have a role to play, responsibilities are not equal. The world’s top 20 economies account for over 80% of emissions. These nations must lead by rapidly cutting emissions and increasing financial and technological support to vulnerable nations.

At the same time, low-income nations have a critical role to play. They must demonstrate that slashing emissions in their own contexts can also drive stronger development outcomes. From expanding access to clean and affordable energy and creating green jobs, to strengthening food systems and building resilience to climate shocks — climate efforts must show that a just, low-carbon future is both possible and desirable.

 

Joint statement on attack on Port Sudan appeals for immediate cease of hostilities

ACT Alliance MENA Convenes Regional Workshop on Faith-Based Climate Justice

The ACT Alliance Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region convened a successful three-day workshop on climate justice, biodiversity conservation, and creation care from 28 to 30 April 2025 in Amman. Co-organised by the ACT MENA Climate Justice Community of Practice (CJ CoP) and the MENA Faith-Based Actors for Climate Justice (FBC) Group, the workshop brought together twenty faith-based organisations and churches from across the region and beyond, united in their commitment to advancing environmental and climate justice.

The workshop served as a platform for participants to share regional climate and environmental initiatives, exchange best practices, and engage with expert insights. It also helped identify concrete opportunities for collaboration, strengthened coordination among faith-based actors, and reaffirmed the shared vision and structure of the CJ CoP and FBC Group.

Two Years On: Faith-Based Statement on the Devastating Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan

MEDIA RELEASE 

GENEVA / ROME (14 April 2025)

The war in Sudan has triggered the world’s largest and most devastating humanitarian crisis. Over 30 million people, more than half of Sudan’s population, now require urgent assistance. Sudan and its people are left in the shadows – as the crisis continues to escalate and people struggle to survive.

On 11th April 2025, coordinated ground and air attacks on Zamzam and Abu Shouk and Al Fasher, has resulted in catastrophic consequences for civilians. As the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, reports: “Over 100 people, including more than 20 children, are feared dead, and the deaths of at least nine humanitarian personnel — killed while on a mission to support the most vulnerable — have been confirmed.”

To mark the second anniversary of the conflict in Sudan, and ahead of the Ministerial Conference being convened in London, leaders of faith-based networks and religious communities have issued a statement: “The situation in Sudan is dire and without a concerted strong push for peace talks the conflict will only worsen. The international community cannot continue to turn a blind eye to Sudan. We must act decisively to bring the parties to the negotiation table and work towards a sustainable resolution of the conflict.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has also issued a statement to mark the anniversary: “Two years of this brutal and senseless conflict must be a wake-up call to the parties to lay down their weapons and for the international community to act. Sudan must not remain on this destructive path.”

ACT Alliance, Caritas Internationalis, local partners and local Caritas members are working together in Sudan. At the heart of the joint appeal is support to Sudanese civil society and mutual aid actors who are the backbone aiding their communities. At large, both community-based networks and local civil society organisations, who can respond using ground-level analysis, remain critically underfunded and face extreme risks daily.

Despite recognition that local actors have led – often alone – the response for communities affected by famine and multiple humanitarian challenges since April 2023, direct funding and protection remain alarmingly low. Local actors continue to receive less than 1% of international aid.

The joint statement was signed by: ACT Alliance, Caritas Internationalis, World Council of Churches, All Africa Conference of Churches, Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa, and Caritas Africa.

 

Quotes from Leaders

“As the international community responds to the ongoing aid cuts, we must continue to deliver on our commitments to serve communities impacted by famine, poverty and conflict. With no excuses, and no time to spare, over half of Sudan’s population are facing urgent humanitarian needs. We are called upon to act now as an international community to ensure first responders / local actors are resourced and supported in Sudan.”

  • Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT Alliance General Secretary

“Sudan’s crisis demands urgent and unwavering attention from the international community. The path to peace is not simply an aspiration but an essential foundation for the survival and future of millions. Funding for relief efforts is not a gesture of goodwill but an indispensable lifeline to those caught in the crossfire of violence and displacement, who will die in millions otherwise. Humanitarian access must be prioritized and safeguarded, ensuring the delivery of critical aid to the most vulnerable, without barriers or delays. This is a moral imperative, a test of global solidarity, and an opportunity to bring hope and stability to a nation that has endured unspeakable hardships. Together, we must act decisively to transform despair into resilience and suffering into recovery.”

  • Alistair Dutton, Secretary General, Caritas Internationalis

“A needless war, a war rooted in human greed and quest for power. Countless number of lives have been destroyed, displaced and traumatised for no fault of theirs. It takes courageous and compassionate leaders to stop war from happening and to end it, if it happens to occur. As people of faith, we call for an end to this mindless destruction of lives and property and for the international community to be intentional in demanding an enforceable ceasefire and mobilise resources to respond to the dire humanitarian situation in Sudan.”

  • Dr. Fidon R. Mwombeki, All Africa Conference of Churches General Secretary

For media enquiries please contact: 

Daniela Varano, ACT Alliance, daniela.varano@actalliance.org

Susan Amu, Caritas Internationalis, Amu@caritas.va

 

 

 

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