By Niko Humalisto

In political speeches, climate change is portrayed as an urgent existential threat, one that leaders are working on. In reality, emissions have rebounded following the end of COVID-19 slowdowns, most of the world’s vulnerable communities have not received any support for adaptation, and the victims of climate-induced loss and damage are still without compensation. 

ACT welcomes the negotiations at COP27 in Egypt that are oriented to ‘practical implementation.’ Limiting climate change below 1.5 Celsius and respecting human rights requires transformational change, and that comes with a price tag. Practical implementation cannot be discussed without touching on the issue of climate finance. 

Finance for whom? 

The first urgent issue concerns financial flows. According to the Paris Agreement, all financial flows should go towards solving the climate crisis. But many countries still have a plethora of subsidies for fossil fuels. Any investment in renewables is still overshadowed by those in fossil fuels. 

Most financial investments in climate action take place in developed countries and the growth hubs of Asia. But creating opportunities for developing countries to access financial flows is important. To do that we must map potential sources of innovative climate action finance. 

Honour existing commitments 

Secondly, along with market-based solutions, parties need to honour existing funding commitments. The pledge by rich countries to mobilise USD 100 billion for climate action in developing countries by 2020 has not been met. Unfortunately, the bulk of this financing comes in the form of loans, not grants.  

Turning climate change into a business opportunity is lucrative for donors but has resulted in an unjust state of affairs. Marginalised communities and those living in poverty bear the brunt of climate change impacts, and they have not received support. Donors also favour mitigation, which leaves the world’s most impoverished communities more vulnerable to climate change. The promise made at Glasgow’s COP26 to double the money for climate change adaptation needs practical implementation, and soon. 

A new collective quantified goal should be negotiated before the USD 100 billion climate finance pledge comes to an end in 2025. This goal should be based on the real needs of the most vulnerable. As well, the foundational flaws of the previous goal, including vague definitions and transparency issues, should be sorted out. 

As pressure grows, should polluters pay? 

Finally, the pressure to provide loss and damage finance has increased tremendously. Science is unequivocal on the matter. Due to sluggish progress in curbing emissions, loss and damage increases as human and natural systems reach their adaptation limits. 

Negotiating loss and damage compensation touches upon the controversial issue of compensatory climate justice. Should polluters pay for the economic and other kinds of losses that climate change brings about? The crux of the matter is that the international community needs to find ways to provide financial support for marginalised and impoverished communities who endure the calamities of the climate crisis.  

A solid starting point for goal-oriented discussions would be that climate change has daily negative consequences for vulnerable communities and that existing financial arrangements cannot tackle the scope and urgency of their needs. New and additional resources are needed to avoid growing inequalities and to respect human rights.   

Niko Humalisto co-chairs the climate advocacy group of ACT Alliance. He is a docent of social geography and leading advocacy specialist at Felm in Finland.The trail of his thoughts on circular economy and climate policy can be found from Research Gate (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Niko-Humalisto-2).

November 8 2022

Climate finance skit at COP27: Join the wedding between climate finance and political will for Loss & Damage

Join ACT Alliance, Christian Aid and members of other faith-based organisations for a skit with visuals that will show the marriage of climate finance and political will for Loss and Damage.  The wedding will be symbolic of the need for strong action on Loss and Damage at this COP, including new and additional finance. It will further show the issues that many developing nations have with: 

•  the current climate finance situation,  
• the need for transparent and accountable financing, and 
• an increased share of existing climate finance for loss and damage. 

When: Wednesday, Nov 9 at 13h30 (Cairo time)

Where: The courtyard just past the COP blue zone entrance

Interviews can be made available with:

• Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, Special Envoy for Climate Justice ACT Alliance 
• Mariana Paoli, Global Advocacy Lead, Christian Aid

MEDIA CONTACT:
Simon Chambers, ACT Alliance, WhatsApp: +1-416-435-0972 or simon.chambers@actalliance.org

7 November 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY

What do faith leaders want from world leaders for climate justice?

As the World Leaders’ Summit concludes, faith leaders are sharing their calls to the world leaders for increased action to achieve climate justice and help keep global temperature rise to under 1.5C.  Faith leaders representing a variety of faiths (Christian, Sikh, Bram Kumaris, and others) bring the experiences of communities on the front lines of the climate emergency, they bring a moral dimension to the debate, and they also bring technical expertise through their engagement in combatting climate change and in climate justice advocacy.

85% of the world’s population ascribe to a faith tradition, and faith communities are part of all communities in the world.  They work as part of these communities together with local leaders and communities to address the impacts of climate change.  The Interfaith Liaison Committee brings together faith constituencies working to achieve climate justice to raise their voices together and share their stories from their traditions and experiences around the world.

What: Calls from faith leaders from around the world for concrete action at COP27 towards achieving climate justice for the most vulnerable, and sharing stories of the impacts of climate change in communities around the world.

Who: Prof. Dr. Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, ACT Alliance Special Envoy for Climate Justice and Lutheran Pastor (Germany)
Archbishop Samy Shehata, Anglican Primate of Alexandria
Mr. Harjeet Singh, Head of Global Political Strategy, Climate Action Network
Mr. Nobuyuki Asai, Executive Director, Soka Gakkai Peace Committee

Ms. Valériane Bernard, Brahma Kumaris representative to the United Nations, Geneva- Moderator

Where: Press conference room (Luxor) and online

When: Tuesday, November 8, 2022 15h00-15h30

Why: Faith communities bring concrete experiences of the impact of climate change on the most vulnerable people, including women and girls in all their diversity and people on the move, who have done the least to cause climate change and are facing the brunt of its impacts. Faith groups are on the front lines, responding to climate change through mitigation, disaster risk reduction, adaptation, and more.

# # # # #

MEDIA CONTACT
Simon Chambers WhatsApp: +1-416-435-0972, simon.chambers@actalliance.org
Director of Communications, ACT Alliance

By Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, ACT Alliance Goodwill Ambassador for Climate Justice

COP27, the UN climate conference, begins November 6 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Known as the “African COP,” it is a chance for negotiators and countries to follow through on the major commitments they have made at past COPs. Those include maintaining global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius and releasing desperately needed financing from developed countries to the most vulnerable populations in the world.  

Members of the ACT Alliance, a global network of churches and agencies who work with vulnerable communities in humanitarian response, development and advocacy work, will be at COP, as they have been for several years. They will follow the negotiations, speak to their own country’s negotiators about climate justice, and host events to draw media attention to urgent climate justice issues.  

Climate justice 

What is climate justice? For ACT members, who belong to grassroots communities around the world through their churches, climate justice is an issue of global equity rooted in faith. “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you. . . .” says Matthew (7:12), and “Love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Matthew 22:37–39). These sentiments are common to many faiths, and indeed, ACT works with other faiths and with civil society organisations to promote climate justice. 

Justice in this case recognises that those most affected by a changing climate are among the most vulnerable countries and peoples – especially women and Indigenous – in the world. They have contributed the least to climate change but have already lost and continue to lose trillions of dollars because of it. They are being pushed ever deeper into poverty. Yet the developed nations of the western world have created most climate change emissions during the previous three centuries of their industrialisation. Climate justice recognises this disparity in cause and effect and works to redress the imbalance. 

Finance 

A major focus of ACT Alliance and its members at COP27 will be to secure adequate climate finance for vulnerable nations and their people. We want the wealthier developed nations to commit to adequate financing for adaptation and especially for loss and damage. We want to ensure that these funds reach the most vulnerable communities in the most affected nations. Women and girls in these communities have seen little of the funding currently available yet they are the ones most affected by the impact of the climate crisis. “Because of deforestation, because the water table is dwindling, the burden on women is much higher,” says Dawit Beza of the ACT Ethiopia Forum. “Where it once took 20 minutes for a woman or girl to fetch water, it might now take an hour.” 

Loss and damage in vulnerable communities includes loss of land, livelihoods and, when communities are uprooted by damage, the loss of intangibles such as culture and community, landmarks, geography and memory. The things of the soul. Developed countries cannot ever fully compensate these losses, but we can ease the transition for those who have lost everything and for those who struggle to adapt to climate-induced change.  

Housing, settlement and legal status in new communities if abroad; the goods needed to earn a livelihood; boats, tools and land — these are the basics of rebuilding. Policies that allow those displaced by climate change to seek safe refuge. All will require funding or financing, and this funding should allow communities to organise and implement the many good ideas they already have.  

Struggle for justice 

Realistically, each COP presents a struggle. There is a range of participants. People of faith and civil society must contend with the interests of the oil and gas industry and of emerging countries that belong to the G20. They are among the biggest emitters but deny their responsibilities. 

Working in solidarity with other faiths and with civil society organisations committed to climate justice, ACT has had an impact. Loss and damage financing is now on the COP27 agenda, although it has taken a huge, concerted effort by civil society organisations, negotiators and ACT members, even over this weekend, to get this far. There has been and still is tremendous resistance from developed and middle-income countries – especially those who are strong polluters – to discuss financing loss and damage to the extent that is necessary. This is what we mean when we talk about “agenda fights” at the COPs.  

As much as it is a struggle, it is a good one, and one our faith has prepared us for; we need only think of David and Goliath. ACT brings the voices, experiences and needs of vulnerable communities in vulnerable countries, primarily in the Global South, to the halls of power where decisions on the future of the world, decisions that will affect us all, are made.  

ACT amplifies the voices and needs of women and girls in rural areas who must travel three times as far for water due to a changing climate; fishers whose catch has diminished due to warming oceans; small scale farmers struggling with a lower water table; people and whole populations like those from the small islands on the move due to climate-induced disasters; Indigenous peoples who struggle to maintain language and culture in the face of colonisation; the disabled, those living in poverty and the marginalised.   

We may be limited in our numbers at each of the COPs, but our commitment to justice, to amplifying the voices of the marginalised, and to challenging unjust power relations is outsized. We make a difference, just as your support for climate justice makes a difference.  

Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel is the ACT Alliance Goodwill Ambassador for Climate Justice. Dr. Füllkrug-Weitzel was President of ACT Alliance member Brot für die Welt from 2000 until February 2021 and active in the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).  She is a member of the German Council for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals Commission of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Development and Peace Foundation (sef:). 

Today, the UN climate summit, COP27, begins on a dull note. Recent reports from IPCC, the OECD, UNFCCC and UNEP indicate that the climate crisis is reaching its tipping point, and that previous COP promises have not been kept. Emissions have not been reduced, and climate finance is inadequate or not mobilised at scale.  

The world faces huge climate challenges. If not addressed they will impact communities around the world, especially the most vulnerable. Governments must implement urgent measures and stop postponing action. There is no more time to waste. 

The food crisis, the energy crisis, inflation, and several armed conflicts are already affecting people and communities around the world. But these crises will be exacerbated by climate impacts if sustainable solutions are not put in place, and soon. While COP27 has a mandate to address the climate crisis, the other emergencies must also be acknowledged, and world leaders must consider the links between them.  

Sostina Takure, ACT Zimbabwe Forum coordinator, says: 

• “This summit must become a success. The world cannot wait anymore. Lives and livelihoods are being destroyed as people and communities continue to face the effects of climate change.”  
• “God’s creation is threatened. It is our responsibility to restore balance, and to find solutions to climate change.”  

COP27 has a heavy agenda. An ambitious result must include an agreement to address loss and damage; commitments that enable adaptation, leaving nobody behind; the provision and mobilisation of climate finance; and real and enhanced commitments to reduce emissions.  

Unfortunately, the debates are polarised, and developed and developing countries remain far apart. To reach agreement, existing differences and disagreements must be abandoned, and the discussions must focus on what matters most: the future of humanity and creation. 

Mattias Söderberg, co-chair of the ACT Alliance climate justice group, says: 

• “World leaders must never forget that their negotiations have a direct effect on vulnerable communities. If ambition is not scaled up people will suffer.”  
• “Loss and damage has been discussed for more than 30 years. It is time for this discussion to deliver concrete results. At this summit we want to see commitments to deliver new loss and damage finance that is in addition to existing financial pledges.”  

Julius Mbatia, ACT Alliance climate justice focal point, adds: 

• “COP 27 sets the stage for a global demonstration of solidarity with all suffering communities and nations. This year’s climate talks must deliver nothing short of an outcome that puts forward multilateral climate decisions and solutions that work for the climate system and people.”  

ACT Alliance is a global faith-based coalition of more than 140 members operating in more than 120 countries and part of a larger ecumenical delegation at COP27.  

Together we will call for climate justice and remind parties that their negotiations should not leave anyone behind.  

For interviews or more information, please contact:  

Simon Chambers, simon.chambers@actalliance.org; +1 416 435-0972 

By Bishop Philip Huggins 

Our Australian diplomats and negotiators recently gave briefings to those of us going to COP27. We have a new federal government now with much better policies and a clear intent to be internationally responsible. Accordingly, these folk who must represent the Australian government policies have a fresh buoyancy and vitality as we prepare for Egypt. 

Our briefings have been on Climate Finance, Loss and Damage as well as Article 6 and Carbon Markets. Listening to these highly intelligent, hardworking folks is a blessing. With generous spirits, they try to share what they know and are patient with our questions. The more I learn of these complex negotiations, the more impressed I am by the human ingenuity that shapes and now seeks to implement the ‘Paris Agreement.’ Just listening to the architecture that is required for a functioning, equitable and transparent carbon market evokes one’s admiration. 

But at the same time, there is the terrifying feeling that the implementation of the Paris Agreement – so as to contain global warming to that 1.5 degree C target – is still proceeding too slowly. 

Extreme climate events in Australia 

Some of our family live in Canberra and we are in southern Victoria. Not long ago, I drove up there in a big mask because of smoke after huge bushfires. This week, I came back from Canberra just ahead of unprecedented floods. One of our sons lives on a hill. Beneath them this week was water where stock normally graze.  

Even though we have not yet reached 1.5 degrees C, the climate appears to be changing rapidly. There are more extreme events more regularly and the impact is heaviest on those who are poorer and those in our Asia Pacific region who, unjustly, have had fewer of the carbon economy’s benefits.  

Rapid and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement is clearly what is needed at COP27. We all know the things that make this difficult. Nation state suspicions and rivalries; the divisive, violent impact of narcissistic dictatorships built on historic resentments and maintained by oppression; the continuing influence of vested interests; and so on. 

Cooperation by faith leaders 

But, as people of faith, we must persist with our prayers and meditations linked to advocacy. 

Here in Australia, more than 100 multi faith leaders signed a joint letter to the Prime Minister insisting on a more rapid transition to renewables. I have not seen such spontaneous and substantial cooperation by faith leaders on any other issue and I have been involved in multi faith dialogue since the 1980s! Moreover, what was requested is very political and very focused!  

At and since the Madrid COP, through the Interfaith Liaison Committee of the UNFCCC, many of us have been involved in daily and weekly silent meditations regarding the issues before this COP. There is an evolving community of contemplative souls with a unified and unifying consciousness. 

We will get there. And we must! 

Bishop Philip Huggins, a COP27 delegate, is Director, Centre for Ecumenical Studies, at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture.  

By Mattias Söderberg

We are approaching a new UN climate summit, COP27, and the stakes are high. Unfortunately, the challenges are also high, maybe higher than ever. The world is facing a

climate crisis. But we are also facing a food crisis, an energy crisis, and an economic crisis. While the challenges are multiplying, it is even more important to find solutions. COP27 must be a success.  

The impact of the climate crisis is becoming more and more apparent. This summer saw massive floods in Nigeria and Pakistan. It is estimated it will cost more than USD 10 billion for these countries to recover from these climate-induced disasters. More importantly, it has already cost the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. In Nigeria it is estimated that more than 2.5 million people have been affected by floods. In Pakistan the number is up to 33 million people. At the same time, India and Somalia have seen more intense heatwaves than ever before. The climate is changing, and it is costing lives, livelihoods, and not least, money.  

This money, which in climate lingo is called “loss and damage finance” is one of the hot topics at COP27. For those affected, the need for support is clear. In the negotiations, however, it is still uncertain if the summit will deliver any agreement about future funding.  

At the last summit, COP26, parties agreed to revisit their climate plans to increase their ambition. Today, only 24 of 193 countries have delivered their plans to the UN. And yes, governments have been busy. The crises mentioned above compete for their attention. But the crises co-exist, and governments need to acknowledge that one crisis will not wait for the last one to end. On the contrary, without attention, they will multiply. To fail to deliver on last year’s climate promises cannot be excused.   

To solve one crisis does not necessarily stand in the way of solving another. The national climate plans are linked to the energy crisis. They could ensure that investments in renewables are scaled up. But they can also address the food crisis by helping the agriculture sector adapt to changes in the climate.    

For many developing countries, national climate plans can only be implemented if the promised finance is available. This is yet another challenge. Developed countries still have not delivered on their commitment to mobilise USD 100 billion annually for climate finance. This is worrying. Not only does it undermine trust in the UN negotiations, but it also means that action in developing countries, including implementation of their national climate plans, will be delayed without the promised support.  

COP27 is an important COP. Because global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced; because parties must agree on how to cooperate on an increased focus on adaptation; because climate finance must be scaled up and delivered; and because climate-induced loss and damage must be addressed. The COP27 agenda is packed with important topics, and I hope parties will use the coming two weeks to find ambitious agreements which can deliver climate justice.  

ACT Alliance will follow the negotiations. We will keep calling for climate justice by reminding governments of their responsibilities and their promises. COP27 must be a summit where no one is left behind.  

Mattias Söderberg of DanChurchAid is co-chair of the ACT Alliance Climate Justice Reference Group.

ACT Alliance will be sending several delegates to COP27, this year’s global UN climate conference.  COP27 will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from Sunday, November 6 to Friday, November 18. ACT has a limited number of badges each year, and most ACT delegates will attend either week one or week two of the event.  

While at COP27, they will represent ACT and their regional forums and present the alliance’s key advocacy points on climate justice to negotiators and government officials. Delegates can liaise with their regional forums both before and after the event.  

“ACT Alliance COP27 delegates can influence the direction of negotiations by engaging with negotiators and reminding them of the urgent need for climate action” says Mattias Söderberg, co-chair of the ACT Climate Justice Reference Group. “This year our focus is on the need for support to vulnerable communities facing climate induced loss and damage.” 

ACT member delegates  

Romario Dohlmann, Coordinator of environmental programs, Hora de Obrar, Argentina, LAC. (Week One). 

Manal Shehade, Chair ACT MENA Gender Justice CoP. DCA/NCA, MENA. (Week Two) 

Lindiwe Ndebele, Chair, ACT Livelihoods CoP. Christian Aid, Zimbabwe, Africa. (Week One) 

Angelious Michael, National Council of Churches India, Asia. (Week Two)  

Joel Kelling, Chair MENA Climate Justice CoP and Anglican Alliance, Jerusalem and the Middle East, MENA. (Week Two) 

Elizabeth White, Anglican Episcopal Church, Environmentalist and Anti-racist activist, Brazil, LAC. (Week One) 

Dr. Ahmed Safi, DKH, MENA. (Week Two). 

Other ACT delegates 

In addition, ACT’s Climate Justice Goodwill Ambassador Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel will participate in the first week. Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT General Secretary, will attend week two. They will be engaged in activities such as media outreach and moderating ACT panel discussions. 

Marianna Leite, ACT Advocacy Manager, will attend week one. Simon Chambers, ACT Director of Communications, will attend both weeks to promote ACT’s climate justice advocacy and media presence. Julius Mbatia, ACT Manager of Climate Justice and Sostina Takure, ACT Alliance Zimbabwe Forum Coordinator will also be there both weeks as members of their respective countries’ delegations, Kenya and Zimbabwe.  

Members, allies and ecumenical network  

Co-chairs of the ACT Climate Reference Group, Mattias Söderberg of DanChurchAid and Elena Cedillo of the Lutheran World Federation, will attend both weeks for their respective organisations

Other alliance members and allies such as the Lutheran World Federation, Christian Aid, Act Church of Sweden, Bread for the World, and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank have their own UNFCCC badges and will send staff and members.  

At COP27, the alliance is part of a larger ecumenical delegation with the World Council of Churches. We work together, united in faith, to draw attention to a wide range of climate justice issues and engage in interfaith work through the Interfaith Liaison Committee.  

Engage with ACT’s COP27 activities 

Sign up for the ACT Climate Justice Communications mail list, which will have frequent notices of our COP27 activities. Send an email to fiona.connelly@actalliance.org giving your permission to be added.  

Virtually: join the daily COP27 strategy sessions through the Fabo learning site.  Learning site: Ecumenical COP27 website (fabo.org) . Contact ACTTrainee@actalliance.org for assistance if needed. 

Follow the ACT Now for Climate Justice Twitter account: https://twitter.com/actclimate  

During COP27, ACT News (https://actalliance.org/news/) on ACT’s website will publish blogs written by delegates about their region’s climate issues and articles on ACT’s advocacy priorities by members of ACT Climate Justice groups.