On November 30, 2023, the first day of COP28- the UN climate conference- in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, people of faith gathered at Christ Church, Jebal Ali, to hold a Talanoa dialogue, helping to define the call from people of faith to this COP.
A Talanoa dialogue is a way that people in the Pacific come together to discuss and decide on difficult issues facing their communities. A Talanoa asks, and the people who are present answer, three questions:
- Where are we at?
- Where do we want to go?
- How do we get there?
This Talanoa was hosted by the Interfaith Liaison Committee to the UNFCCC. ILC’s purpose is to bring together people of faith who participate in climate justice work, particularly in UNFCCC spaces, to coordinate and act together, and the Talanoa is a key part of ILC’s work each year. ACT Alliance is part of the ILC, along with the WCC, LWF, and a wide range of other organisations.
On December 8, the ILC shared their Call to COP28 with the UNFCCC Secretariat. The call addresses a range of justice topics within the climate negotiations including intergenerational justice, Indigenous people, gender, climate finance, mitigation and just transition, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), loss & damage, the Global Stocktake (GST), human rights, and international food systems & agriculture.
The full call can be found here.
