By Mattias Soderberg

On Monday the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) launched its report on how to mitigate climate change. This report must be followed by urgent action. All parties should deliver on their promise from the climate summit in Glasgow last year and revisit their national climate plans.  

The IPCC report is a rather heavy compilation of recent science, and mitigation possibilities are assessed from a number of perspectives. One important lesson is that it is not enough to focus on one solution. Emissions must be reduced rapidly in the coming years, and all options should therefore be considered.  

That means efforts to switch to renewable energy, to promote nature-based solutions, to make our buildings climate friendly, to make our transport sustainable and to ensure that our production and consumption in the future is green and sustainable.  

IPCC reports are special because they are formally acknowledged by governments. That means that governments have read these reports, and we should expect that they also consider the recommendations.  

Last year, at the climate summit COP26, parties acknowledged that the current global level of climate ambition is not high enough. The 1.5-degree target is the maximum increase in global temperature the world should experience. To meet this target, more mitigation efforts are needed. At COP26 parties therefore agreed to return home and revisit their national climate plans. Every possibility to scale up the ambition should be considered.  

I know mitigation can be difficult to handle. Priorities must be made, and funds must be allocated. Should there be a focus on transport? Or agriculture? The energy sector? Or nature-based solutions? Most governments have limited budgets, and thus it is important to make a wise plan, one which is possible to implement, and which will deliver the biggest cuts in emissions.  

And this is where the new report from IPCC is handy. Governments should read it and use it as a guide when they live up to their promises from Glasgow to revisit their national climate plans.  

The IPCC report also adds a geographic perspective. Emissions, as well as the potential for mitigation, differ between countries. Consumption is, for example, a big challenge in most developed countries, where an unsustainable consumption culture generates emissions that are felt around the world.  
 
The responsibility, both current and historic, for emissions is therefore easy to identify. At the same time, we know that some of the most vulnerable countries have the smallest emissions, and thus the smallest responsibility.  

To find and mobilise, the necessary funding for all these mitigation activities is not easy. Especially not for the most vulnerable countries. This is why the report should be followed by a bill, and an agreement on how to share payments. Rich countries, with a big historic responsibility, should deliver on their promise to mobilise climate finance. This will help developing countries with both adaptation and mitigation. Without money there will be no action. Climate finance makes it possible for developing countries to deal with the drastic effects a changing climate has on their most vulnerable communities, notably women and girls in rural communities. 

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

The ACT Alliance Ethiopia Forum (AEF) has just launched a study on the intersection of gender justice and climate

justice in Ethiopia. Ethiopia: Nuances of the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan explores how the Gender Action Plan (GAP) is being implemented by various levels of government, NGOs, ACT members, and INGOs throughout the country. The study was funded by Act Sweden and Brot fur die Welt and written by PATH Consulting of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A short document of Policy recommendations drawn from the study and intended for local government actors is also available. 

The 48-page study and the policy recommendations were presented to AEF members, CSOs and government representatives at a special meeting on March 31. “Those present were enthusiastic about building a common framework on the gender and climate change nexus,” said Julius Mbatia, ACT Alliance Climate Justice manager. “ACT Alliance hopes this report will catalyse responsive policy and programming in gender and climate change mainstreaming.” Government representatives appreciated the study and welcomed the policy recommendations. 

The study notes that Ethiopia is fertile ground for the implementation of gender justice initiatives, given the country’s signing of related UN agreements, its constitutional commitments and its programmes for women. Yet there has so far been limited uptake and understanding of the UNFCCC GAP at various government levels and within NGOs, including among ACT Forum members. “The understanding of gender mainstreaming in climate programmes is interpreted as adding a ‘women’s component’ to an activity,” the study notes. “This alone does not bring the long-lasting changes that gender and climate justice seek to achieve.”  One of the key challenges identified is a lack of technical knowledge to implement gender-responsive climate change adaptation and mitigation.

In Ethiopia, women and girls in all their diversity are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis. Fetching water, collecting fuel, and feeding the family are “100 percent the responsibility of women and girls,” said AEF coordinator Dawit Beza of Norwegian Church Aid in an ACT video interview. “The effects of climate change on women and girls are triple in the rural communities.” The decline in agricultural yields due to climate change impacts leads to further discrimination. “When household income drops, females are the first to be pulled from school,” said Bikila Abeya of AEF member EECMY-DAASSC. “Education is mainly meant for men. Climate change and gender justice are inseparable.” 

The study puts forward recommendations for all levels of government, ACT members and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). They include such practical steps such as translating the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan into local languages; encouraging more collaboration between government, NGOs, ACT, and academic and research institutions; dedicated gender justice and climate justice staffing in Ethiopian NGOs; and increasing the participation of Ethiopian women in international climate conferences. Immediate AEF plans include increasing the awareness of national and international frameworks on gender and climate justice programmes; conducting sector-specific gender analyses; and designing a mainstreaming strategy.

The report is just a beginning. AEF members are using the policy recommendations to discuss collaboration with government actors. The ACT members that sponsored the study are optimistic. “I hope it inspires collaboration on programming to strengthen gender-inclusive climate justice and helps the UNFCCC’s Gender Action Plan move from global words to national action,” said Margareta Koltai, Act Church of Sweden’s Climate Justice Policy Adviser. “I look forward to hearing how this mapping will inspire joint actions for equality and climate.” 

ACT Alliance and the World Council of Churches undertook a solidarity visit to Ukraine, Hungary and Poland the week of March 14-18, 2022.  On this trip, they met with church leaders and humanitarian actors, visited refugee and internally displaced people support points, and saw first-hand the impact that the ongoing Ukraine war is having on the people fleeing for refuge.  

Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT Alliance’s general secretary, said, “ACT Alliance decided to travel to the border countries of Ukraine with  with the World Council of Churches leadership, as a way to show solidarity to our members and the people who are affected by the war. Through this visit, we confirmed the distinctive role faith-based organizations play in the humanitarian response, where ACT members and churches are working together to alleviate the suffering of the people who have lost everything in the conflict.

“Ours was a concrete way to show the support of the Alliance but it was also important to counter the dissemination of misinformation and news that are used politically on social media.”

From the second day of the war, ACT members and churches have been helping those displaced by the conflict. “The churches have mobilized their constituencies and a great number of volunteers to welcome Ukrainians at border crossings providing psychological and spiritual support and all necessary immediate assistance and shelter,” said Bueno de Faria.  “ACT members have been helping immensely those affected, including providing immediate humanitarian assistance, legal assistance for people looking for asylum, information and support for those looking for safe pathways to reach other destinations.”

Thorsten Göbel, ACT’s director of programmes, was impressed with the response by ACT members. “What impressed me most was the combination of different approaches to respond to the specific needs in the respective situations: from larger quite professionalised response inside Ukraine combined with domestic response in Hungary by Hungarian Interchurch Aid, to a more regional parish-based response by HEKS, the Reformed Diakonia, and the Orthodox church in Northwestern Romanian combined with cross-border cooperation with the churches around 100km across the border on the Ukrainian side, and a well-connected response and a focus on legal assistance by Aidrom with local authorities and other civil society actors in Northeastern Romania.”

 “As the crisis continues and enters a new phase, both the IDPs in Ukraine, and the people who are settling in neighbouring countries and the rest of Europe will most probably need material assistance that is mainly based on cash transfers, especially where there are functioning markets – to allow freedom of choice and to safeguard dignity of people affected.” In addition, they will need information on travel, accommodation options, and spiritual and psychosocial support. 

Bueno de Faria highlighted the risks faced by women and girls displaced by the war, which include human trafficking and forced labour. “This is a concern that many governments and UN agencies are aware of, but I believe that we need to do more to ensure that women and children find safe pathways and to support protection structures.  The approach is not the same in the different countries receiving refugees.  A gendered response is critical in this specific situation, as most of the refugees are women leaving Ukraine with their children, and elderly people. Most men stayed behind, as they cannot leave the country if they are between 18 and 60 years old.”

Churches play a key role in responding to this crisis, Bueno de Faria said. “Church leaders are mobilizing great numbers of volunteers.  They are also aware of the political nuances around this war, which is an important element of the political and prophetic diakonia, where church leaders stand up to denounce injustices and announce the good news. I sincerely believe that after this war, the role of ecumenical diakonia will be more important than ever, where- regardless of their individual Christian confession- they will realize that we need to work together to ensure more inclusiveness, solidarity and justice in human relations.”

Göbel shared concrete actions that ACT members and supporters can take at this time. “Pray for and with the people from Ukraine and Russia for an immediate cessation of the violence, support the ACT members that are directly responding through the ACT appeal for a coordinated response, and maintain your long-term commitment to support this response along with other crisis situations that must not be forgotten.”

ACT Alliance has launched a $21.5 million USD appeal focused in five countries (Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia) to support people displaced by the war in Ukraine.  Since the war began on Feb 24, 2022, over 4.4 million people have been displaced, with over 2.8 million becoming refugees in other countries and close to 2 million displaced within the borders of Ukraine itself.

Larysa is one such person displaced by the war.  Larysa, her husband, daughter and the cat Bella escaped from Kharkov on March 1, 2022. Before fleeing, they spent four nights in the basement of their home due to the bombing of Kharkov.

“Everyone wanted to travel out of Kharkov. There were a lot of people at the train station. The train ride was free of charge, but getting on the train was difficult due to the crowds,” Larysa says. The trip to Berehove took four days.

Larysa and her family stayed in the refugee shelter supported by ACT member Hungarian Interchurch Aid, set up at a school. “We are happy to have a place to sleep and where it is warm. We get food three times a day, we can wash and do our laundry, because there is also a washing machine here.”

Larysa has cancer. She received treatment in Kharkov, but the hospital was destroyed in the bombings. Larysa hopes she could get treatment in Hungary.

As the intensity of the conflict escalates, more and more people have fled, and ACT members are providing shelter, food, water, hygiene kits, psychosocial support, information on resettlement, child safe spaces, and more. 

The ACT appeal is the largest ever issued by the alliance, but ACT’s total response is significantly broader than the 2 year, 21.5 million dollar appeal.  ACT members are working to welcome refugees around the world, from Romania to Canada, from Germany to the UK.

HIA has set up operations in Lviv, with a warehouse there to support the distribution of food, hygiene kits, and other supplies.  HIA has shipped over 278 tons of supplies to Ukraine, as well as 7 million Euros worth of medical supplies.  HIA also operates a 24-hour refugee stop near the Hungarian border, as well as a child-safe space at the Budapest airport to support refugees transiting through Hungary to other destinations.

The Lutheran World Federation is mobilising churches in a number of countries, including in Poland, which has seen over 60% of the refugees crossing its borders, giving Poland one of the largest refugee populations in the world overnight.

Swiss Church Aid, the third member of the ACT appeal, is working with its long-term partners in Romania, Hungary and Ukraine to support displaced people through food, hygiene, cash vouchers, shelter, psychosocial support, and more.

Through the ACT appeal, cash transfers will be used where possible (when local markets are functioning) as one of the best ways to support people.  Cash is quickly transferred, allowing people to purchase what they need to support their families in their current needs. 

ACT members have already pledged over $7 million USD in support of the appeal.  Further support can be indicated through email to Nancy Etté, ACT’s director of operations, and Niall O’Rourke, ACT’s head of humanitarian affairs.

Larysa says she hopes for peace in the future. “We would like to live in Kharkov again, but right now we can’t live there because there are bombings and people are dying. It is safe here (in Berehove). I am glad our children are alive.”

By Mattias Soderberg

Over the last year, climate induced loss and damage has been the source of conflict in UN climate talks. Developing countries are united in their call for support in situations where adaptation measures are inadequate; where people, communities and even countries face loss and damage. Developed countries have been equally united in their reluctance to address loss and damage, fearing that doing so would lead to a rapidly growing bill they may have to pay.  

The new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes it clear that there are limits to adaptation, and that there are situations where loss and damage is the sad reality.  

IPCC differentiates between “hard” and “soft” limits to adaptation. Hard limits refer to situations where adaptation is no longer an option. When sea levels rise, or when farmland becomes desert, land is lost and affected communities must move to new locations.  

Soft limits to adaptation should be handled through scaled up investment. Adaptation solutions exist, and IPCC and many other organizations offer valuable guidance on how to implement them. Yet there is often a lack of finance, technology, or necessary adaptation measures to do so. The need for scaled up adaptation finance was one of the issues discussed last year at Glasgow’s COP26, the UN climate summit.  

Developed countries promised to double their support for adaptation to more than 40 bn USD a year. That sounds good, but UNEP has indicated that the actual need for adaptation finance is around 70 bn USD per year. Until developed countries mobilize far more funding than they have promised, we can expect more loss and damage due to the soft limitations of adaptation.  

Hard limits will be more difficult to handle. When coral reefs die, and when islands disappear under the ocean, we will talk about loss and damage. The final solution will be migration, or relocation due to loss. While many people will have moved before the hard limit of adaptation is reached, the challenges related to the loss remain. Where should people go? What kind of loss have they faced? Loss of property? Loss of cultural and historic locations?  
 
IPCC reports are signed and approved by all governments. This means that both developed and developing countries have now acknowledged scientific research on climate induced loss and damage. Will this be a game changer? Will it affect parties’ positions when they meet again for the annual UN climate negotiations? I hope the IPCC report will contribute to the dialogue, and that those talks can now focus on how to assist those who are most affected.  

We have run out of time for diplomatic fights. The next time the parties meet, we need constructive talks and progress. The IPCC report paints a gloomy picture of our future, but it also lists what we must do. It is time for climate action.  

 Mattias Soderberg is the co-chair of ACT’s Climate Justice Reference Group.

On February 27, 2022, ACT member Hungarian Interchurch Aid set up a 24 hour refugee support point on the Ukrainian side of the border at Beregsurány.

The line of refugees trying to cross into Hungary at this crossing is kilometres long- thousands of Ukrainians forced to flee the war which has enveloped the nation of 44 million people.

The support point was set up at Asztély, near the border crossing, in a heated pavilion, which will be supplemented with additional tents and mobile toilets in the coming days.

HIA is providing hot tea, sandwiches, refreshments, blankets and basic hygiene items for refugees, including many elderly and children, who wait long hours to cross the border. In addition to the tangible help at the support point, HIA also helps those arriving with information in Hungarian and Ukrainian, including how those in need can get temporary accommodation in Hungary.

Local volunteers will also be involved in the operation of the support point. A good example of local co-operation is the baking of fresh bread in a local Serbian bakery from flour donated from Hungary, which HIA will offer to refugees.

The ACT Alliance Asia-Pacific Regional Forum co-convened an Asia-Pacific Workshop on Vaccine Equity and Hesitancy on the 31st of January of 2022, with strategic partners including UNICEF, the WHO, World Vision International, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, Pacific Conference of Churches, YAKKUM and CCDB. The workshop was inspired by fruitful exchanges and deep reflections that drew on the wealth of expertise of speakers, moderators and participants across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond such as those highlighted by the ACT Africa Vaccine Workshop. The Asia-Pacific Workshop participants finalized a Declaration drawing on the main messages and themes discussed at the webinar. The full report and recording of the workshop are available through this link.  A one-pager about ACT’s work on vaccine equity can be downloaded here.
 
Unfortunately, COVID-19 vaccine distribution globally has not been as rapid as the virus’  mutation and spread.  Most doses of the vaccines have been acquired by and administered in developed countries, meaning the most vulnerable people, especially in developing nations, are yet again being left behind. 

If the available vaccine doses had been allocated equitably, all health workers and vulnerable sections of the population could have been covered. And if this system of inequitable access and distribution of vaccines is not addressed now, efforts to control and address the pandemic will become futile.  

Global access and equitable distribution remain the best driver in addressing the pandemic, thereby saving lives, increasing immunity, reducing the possibility of new variants and securing economic recovery globally. We need to support the global cry to untangle COVID-19 treatments and technologies, including vaccines, from patents and monopolies that make these life-altering measures exclusive to only a few and result in the suffering of billions of people worldwide. 

Our Concerted Action 

ACT Alliance is faith-motivated, rights-based, impact focused, and committed to working ecumenically and inter-religiously, with the communities we seek to serve and accompany at the center of our work. This identification of who and what we are is appropriate in addressing the many emerging issues of this pandemic. As further indicated in our Global Strategy and with our current context, we will respond with a holistic and integrated programme guided by the local contexts of the communities we serve through our humanitarian, development and advocacy work.  

The COVAX Facility 

Now more than ever, it is important to use our prophetic voice in amplifying the calls for an accountable and compassionate response during this state of public health emergency. 

We know that COVAX is confronted with many difficulties, particularly the lack of investment, exports constraints, and governments making side deals with the giant pharmaceutical corporations to stake claims on large portions of vaccine supplies. 

The representation of our ACT General Secretary to the COVAX Facility, is commendable. He can bring our advocacy issues to that platform, but his is just one voice among many others. We can make that voice stronger by our collective support to the advancement of its purpose.With this pandemic, no one is truly safe and healthy unless all our communities are safe and healthy. This calls for a genuine global solidarity. 

Faith Actors’ Role in Ending the Pandemic 

Religious leaders and other faith-based actors have an important role to play in addressing the issues of vaccine equity and hesitancy.  As already noted by the Christian Conference of Asia consultation held last in July 2021: 

 “The churches in Asia are placed in better positions to play important roles in building trust towards a healthier world, particularly in crisis situations such as the surge of the pandemic. The myths and misconceptions surrounding the pandemic, especially concerning vaccinations, must be urgently and emphatically addressed with critical priority by Asian churches and other faith communities. The trust that communities have in faith leaders can be instrumental and leveraged to play an important role in restoring health, and ensuring healing and wholeness. Churches must also promote and share correct information with the help of medical professionals about the pandemic. Churches should also engage in facilitating theological reflections on social and moral obligations to each other which will help in eliminating fear, hesitancy, and misinformation regarding vaccines. Church-owned healthcare institutions and services also need to shine a light on, and reach out to, underprivileged populations—the poorest of the poor, the rural communities, the socially marginalised, and those in fragile or conflict-prone areas—striving for their inclusion in vaccination and immunisation campaigns.”  

Three major actions identified were culled from the report of that consultation: education; advocacy and direct service. 

Education – providing the right message and information to dispel fear, correct misconceptions, language appropriate to the specific population; in so doing the art of listening and conversation is important in order to effectively send the message across; it must be able to bring hope and stir collective action among community members through scientific information, critical analysis and collective reflections. Theological questions must be appropriately addressed. 

Advocacy – keeping our firm stand “that there is no lockdown on rights” even during the pandemic. To safeguard the right to health in this public health and economic crisis; emphasize the need for human rights-focused and evidence-based policies to truly solve the problem and that proactive and grounded pandemic response that highlights the respect for basic human rights; and the issue of accountability- that there is an even greater duty from the state to ensure the people’s right to health. 

Direct Service – providing appropriate and timely emergency response, especially to those greatly affected by the pandemic; mobilizing available resources and capacity to help alleviate the deplorable condition of the least and marginalized.  

We, members of the ACT Alliance must harness the gifts that we have. Our rootedness in the communities– especially the most vulnerable and marginalized communities– puts us in a position to make an impact. Building on the opportunities that we have as a faith-based organization, it is important to increase our understanding and visibility of our distinct role especially in countering inequalities and economic injustice.  

 Let us share the healing ministry of Christ who “…went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4: 23, NIV) that the “…healing ministry is the cornerstone of Jesus Christ’s public ministry. The strategy of Jesus Christ in his ministry provides priority to the people in the periphery of society… He provided sick people with his gift of power and presence that brought about the wholeness of life.” (NCCP Statement) 

Minnie Anne Mata-Calub is the ACT Alliance Vice-Moderator and the Deputy General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines 

As the war in Ukraine began on February 24, tens of thousands of Ukrainians became displaced, fleeing for safety in neighbouring countries.  ACT member Hungarian Interchurch Aid, who have been working in Ukraine for more than 25 years in humanitarian and development projects, has already shipped 28 tons of food to support those fleeing to Hungary, and their staff have been working with refugees at the Ukraine/Hungary border.

Here are some stories from three of those seeking refuge from the war about their journeys to the Berehovo border crossing.

Nikolai and friends, Kharkiv

“We are medicine students at Kharkiv University. This month was already very tense, so we knew that we had to be ready to leave any time. Nevertheless, on the morning of the 23^rd when Russian troops crossed the border, we didn’t know what to do. With the sound of shelling coming from not too far, we quickly packed everything we could grab, shoved it in a suitcase and decided to try to leave by train. The train station in Kharkiv was utter chaos. We had to fight to get on the train, we didn’t even know where exactly are we going, all we knew is that we have to get out of the city. By the time we managed to get ourselves on the train we could hear the shelling and sporadic gunfights getting closer and closer. When we finally left the city in our severely overcrowded carriage we felt a moment of perhaps false sense of security. We changed trains in Poltava and again had to fight our way on another train to Lviv. It was the seven of us leaving from Kharkiv, but on the Lviv-bound train it was only 3 of us who made it. The Lviv train station has become a hub for new arrivals and people desperately trying to leave the country. People were waiting for a train to cross into Poland, but that train never came. We then decided to try via Uzhgorod to reach Hungary, but we saw that people are already turning back from the border crossing at Cop, that is why we are now trying to reach Hungary from the Berehovo border checkpoint. Many of our friends will never leave Ukraine, some of them have been arrested because they tried to leave, while some are fighting on the frontline. I wonder if we will ever see them again.”

Vitalij from Hmelnickij

Vitalij brought his wife and son from Hmelnickij to Berehovo. “We managed to arrive here relatively fast because on our way we didn’t take any main routes. The bigger cities are completely inaccessible and the queues can be longer than 10 kilometres.”

Vitalij must remain in Ukraine even though he is no longer able to serve in the military due to health reasons. Vitalij’s wife and son have made contact with friends in Budapest and will find refuge there.

“Leaving my family right now is the most difficult choice I have ever had to take. I can’t leave the country, but they can, and I have to give them the opportunity to live a safer life. At this point I can only hope that our family will be reunited, but we are facing difficult days ahead.”

Yelena, mother of 3

“My husband is on the frontlines. The women of my family have decided to take our children away from danger. We left Kherson, and decided to reunite with my sister in Dnipro. By the time we were leaving Kherson we heard that Dnipro was being bombed so we had to take a different way. We went where the car was taking us, I don’t remember most of the journey. My children were asking where are we going and I couldn’t come up with an answer. We heard that the Polish border is completely jammed, so we decided to cross the mountains and try to make it into Hungary. My sister is still on the way, I have no idea where she or my nieces are.

“We’ve been standing here at this border checkpoint for more than 5 hours, it is cold and my children are freezing. It is amazing to see that people are here to help, and even just talking to you gives us hope for a better future.”