After a week of negotiations at the UN climate summit taking place in Bonn, Germany, the World Council of Churches (WCC), The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and ACT Alliance – together representing more than half a billion Christians worldwide – expressed their concerns at the slow progress governments have made so far.

“Climate justice cannot wait. The most vulnerable must be in the midst of the world focus to overcome the climate challenge,” said WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. “We have already taken many steps together, and it is clear that we strongly believe in efforts to stop climate change. And what is more, we believe strongly in the work for climate justice, and in shared responsibility in addressing these issues. Now is the time to take action.”

The ecumenical family stands together in recognizing that this week has made little progress towards securing the key demands of some of the world’s most vulnerable peoples and communities. So far, no significant steps have been made in financing and strengthening the loss and damage mechanism or clarifying the provision of climate finances.

With just one more week of negotiations remaining it is of paramount importance that COP23 and its Fijian presidency prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable countries for whom climate change is a harsh reality already today.

“We do not want COP23 to be a lost opportunity,” said Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT Alliance general secretary. “The hopes and aspirations of millions of people who are facing the harshest impacts of climate change depend on urgent actions to mitigate climate change and its impacts.” Bueno de Faria continued: “While this is a ‘technical’ COP, negotiators must not forget what climate negotiations are really about – people and communities all across the world, whose lives are in serious jeopardy as a result of climate change.”

“Climate Justice is also a matter of intergenerational justice and about churches acting now,” said LWF general secretary Rev. Dr Martin Junge. “I have been encouraged to hear about churches’ climate action and advocacy, which the young LWF delegates at COP 23 have shared: energy transition, responsible consumption, theological education and local advocacy on climate justice is already on the agenda of several churches. This is good news.”
Referring to the urgency to address climate change, Junge added: “Climate change is not fake news. It is bad news for the human family, particularly for the most vulnerable. The Paris agreement needs to be implemented. Now!”

The COP 23 agenda focuses on working out rules and guidelines for implementation of the Paris agreement, which must create the right environment and dynamics to ensure that countries will collectively ramp up their national plans to cut emissions, embrace renewable energy, and provide adequate support to the poorest and most vulnerable.

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Links:
Watch the Ecumenical Call for Climate Action
COP23 media pack
Photos from COP23 available – photo credit: Sean Hawkey/WCC

It may be easy for parties to agree on the need for climate action, but as soon as the agenda turns to how the bill should be paid conflicts arise. And sadly, parties seem to have difficulties understanding, or even listening to, each other. I hope they will read this blog post. Maybe it will help them to move forward.

When developing countries talk about climate finance, they expect financial support to help them in their efforts to promote green, sustainable and resilient development. They expect the funds to be in line with their own plans for adaptation, mitigation and loss and damage, three themes which constitute the core of the climate debate. And they assume that these funds will constitute new support, meaning that developed countries offer additional funds, which are not taken from existing commitments to support other important development needs such as healthcare, democracy or education.

When developed countries talk about climate finance, they also foresee climate action. However, as donors they want to control, and they have their own strategies for how the funds should be allocated, and what kind of activities they should support. In their minds, whenever possible these funds should also promote the interests of the donor country.  For example, funds could be used for private investments and cooperation with strategic allies and partners. And, as a top priority, the total amount of funds should be kept low, to not interfere with other budget priorities.

The difference in views is not necessarily a problem. In some cases, it may be possible to find relevant activities, which fit the interests and understanding of both developed and developing countries. However, when there is no formal agreement about climate finance the risk of misunderstandings and conflicts is big.

Developed countries argue that they have allocated the funds they have committed. However, when these funds are provided in the form of export credits or loans, or when the support is channelled through private investments or bilateral projects with no formal climate change label, it will be difficult for developing countries to see how the support promotes the development they had expected.

In addition, recent reports (from Denmark, Norway and Finland) about climate finance, show how poor accounting rules and practice in developed countries makes existing climate finance pledges look better and bigger than they are in the reality. Weak accounting will undermine trust, and make it even more difficult to reach agreements.

In the ACT Alliance, we work with poor and vulnerable people, and communities, on the local level. We experience the effects of climate change every day, and we see the urgent need for concrete activities to promote adaptation and mitigation action. From our viewpoint, negotiations about climate finance must advance, and deliver a concrete result, so that funds can be turned into action. A first step must be to agree on a joint definition of climate finance.

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Mattias Söderberg, Senior advocacy advisor in DanChurchAid. Was elected co-chair for the ACT Alliance advisory group on climate change advocacy and was the acting head of the ACT delegations to UN climate talks from 2010 to 2015. Was co-chair of the ACT EU climate change working group from 2007 to 2009, and head of the ecumenical COP15 secretariat in 2009. Mattias is originally from Sweden, but lives in Denmark.

Too often developed countries see climate change as a burden for their industrialised activities because the level of innovation and the systemic change required are of unprecedented scale. Indeed several economic sectors need major shifts in thinking about current methods of production and consumption.

It is a matter of risk perception. If governments wait too long to embrace the low carbon transition, the costs of climate change will be so great that economies will suffer and the survival of mankind will be at stake.

To make our societies climate-compatible and limit global warming to 1.5C all sectors must rely on renewable energy systems which are sustainable and decentralised in order to increase efficiency and allow production of sufficient energy for all. Large-scale renewable energy power plants such as hydroelectric dams can sometimes be necessary but cannot be compared to the greater potential of every household and company becoming energy producers through the use of solar panels or other renewable technology.

The impacts of current global warming are already dangerously affecting biodiversity with vital consequences for human life. The sustainability of energy projects is essential to preserve our environment and can mostly be achieved with the deployment of small-scale power production systems.

Large energy power plants are the model of the past century. A paradigm shift is also necessary to think how energy production and distribution must be shaped. And this is one of the greatest opportunities to allow millions of poor communities to finally get access to energy. A minor increase in energy and energy stability would have exponential positive effects on the life of those who struggle every day. Having this basic need covered will help people living in poverty to cover other basic needs and free more time for their educational and economic development. Sustainable energy for all would benefit everyone.

Later this month, the next round of climate negotiations (COP23) will be hosted by Fiji– a country which committed last year, alongside other climate vulnerable countries, to transform their energy mix into 100% renewable energy as soon as possible. This is true leadership, sending a clear vision to all stakeholders, in particular, the public and private investments sectors. The COP23 Fijian presidency will have the difficult task of preparing the first global round of assessment due to take place next year, called the Facilitative Dialogue. It will be an important step to recognise the gap between what countries committed to in Paris two years ago and the scale of greenhouse gas reduction needed.

It is essential that governments, under the lead of a vulnerable but innovative country, Fiji, agree to make this Facilitative Dialogue a moment of truth and action with as a clear objective: revising all national climate plans to increase mitigation targets before the Paris Agreement starts in 2020. The methodology of such dialogue might not be perfect and lessons will have to feed into the next round of stock-take in 2023. However, it is a question of survival for countries to commit to a real collective assessment process instead of being all talk and no action.

The concept that governmental action will solve all problems is also an idea from the past century. Today– and more importantly with the urgency of tackling climate change– every stakeholder in every county must be involved in this energy transition. A great number of initiatives have been created over the past three years as part of the Global Climate Action Agenda, such as the African Renewable Energy Initiative, the Sustainable Energy For All initiative and the Solar Alliance. These initiatives are key to stimulating action by the private sector, civil society organisations and religious communities. These initiatives must be encouraged and follow strict principles guaranteeing environmental and social sustainability in order to avoid creating further problems.

ACT Alliance will continue advocating for an ecological and just energy transition as well as for an international process which delivers rapid progress. For many years, climate change has brought injustice. Today, bringing more justice by eradicating poverty with this transition is not a burden, but an opportunity for all.

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Bruno Nicostrate works as Policy and Advocacy Officer for ACT Alliance EU. He is a European public policy specialist working on climate change justice, resilience and relief.

From 5^th till 17^th November 2017, all countries will meet for the 23^rd annual Conference of Parties (COP23) of the international climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). While the negotiations will focus mostly on defining the rules of the Paris Agreement and preparing the first global stocktaking of climate actions next year, several discussions will continue in parallel to develop solutions for responding to climate-induced impacts. Land use is one of those issues discussed in ‘side events’ but the challenge is big. The ACT Alliance can contribute by raising the voice and the views of indigenous people, farming communities and female custodians of seeds in this debate, supporting them with facts and evidence on how biodiverse agricultural systems contribute to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change.

Land is our future. Secure livelihoods for poor, rural communities and indigenous peoples depend on secure land rights. Their sense of belonging makes them custodians of natural forests and diverse landscapes. Stolen Land is Stolen Future. Consumption and production patterns of rich countries threaten the land rights and land use of poor communities. Citizens in the developed world claim land for purposes of carbon sinks and for the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions to compensate for their unsustainable lifestyles. In such cases, the land is deprived of its ecosystem functions and is reduced to carbon stocks and carbon sinks.

As a result of climate change, we are likely to continue to witness huge and potentially conflicting challenges over land use and land rights. Global warming has already led to large cuts in agricultural productivity in most parts of the world, and this may have potentially disastrous consequences for global food security. The pressure to produce more food, feed, fuel and fiber, while at the same time reduce GHG emissions and store greater levels of carbon than before, increases the demand placed on land and thus, enhancing conflicts over land use.

Discussions about land use have made it to the center of international climate politics.  An important underlying concept in the UNFCCC negotiations, is carbon or climate neutrality. This means achieving a balance between anthropogenic emissions (from transport, industry, agriculture, digital infrastructure, etc) and emission removals by sinks of GHG (bio-energy, carbon capture and storage in forests and on land, etc). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been taking stock of carbon budgets and makes assumptions on how to attain carbon or climate neutrality.  All of the IPCC reports rely heavily on emitting CO2 that could be removed later (negative emissions). Unfortunately, this simply means allocating all risks to future generations and vulnerable communities.

Many of the solutions put forward in dealing with the issues of land use come in disguise. For example, many agricultural practices that are promoted in fact lock farmers and consumers into unsustainable food systems which are prevalent across the developed world today. In such a system, only a few crop varieties and livestock breeds are intensively produced as single commodities, often for export, using large amounts of fossil-fuel intensive fertilizers and pesticides as well as patented, transgenic and uniform seed. The result is monocropping. Deserted land. Evicted and displaced people. All of which comes in the name of mitigation, of modernising agriculture and of neutralising carbon budgets.

The next IPCC report due in October 2018 will look at solutions of staying within the 1.5 C scenario. This is an opportunity to seize. We must raise the profound ethical questions or moral dilemma over land use. We can uplift marginalized voices and existing solutions of land restoration by the custodians of biodiversity and ecosystems integrity, and the guardians of forests and diverse landscapes. We know that there will be no socially and ecologically acceptable solution without the involvement of people and communities to restore and revive our land and our forests. Because done in the wrong way it will put people, biodiversity and climate at risk.

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Karin Ulmer is Senior Policy Officer with ACT Alliance EU (previously APRODEV), specialising in EU trade policies and global food security. The current focus is on human rights and trade, land and seed issues, agricultural policy and research. Based in Brussels. Educational background in cognitive, social and human science. German nationality.

by Julia Jawtusch, Bread for all

In the first day of the COP23 a group of development, church-based organisations (Caritas France, CIDSE and Bread for the World, Bread for all, both members of ACT Alliance) joined forces with the global peasant movement “La Via Campesina” for two side-events on the topic of agroecology.

We decided to organize these events because we strongly believe that the global food and agriculture system needs to change fundamentally if we want to combat climate change, and at the same time adapt to it. We believe that the industrial food system is a dead-end and that we need to have a deep transformation of the way we produce, process, trade and transport food. Our side-events showed that peasant agroecology offers a promising pathway for the future to achieve this. Peasant agro-ecology is not a one-fits-all solution but refers to locally adapted, knowledge-intense, sophisticated and innovative ways of autonomous peasant farmers to grow food, and bring the food to local consumers.

The panellists of our side-events really contrasted the “usual crowd”, because we invited peasant farmers and a representative of peasant fishermen and fisherwomen from all continents. They all gave their testimonies of agroecology from their different regions and daily realities. It was important for us to give the voice to those who are the primary victims of climate change, and who at the same time provide the solution to reduce greenhouse gases related to the global food system as well as provide healthy soils that can act as a carbon storage.

A lot of issues being discussed at COP23 indirectly address land and agriculture. We organized these side-events to emphasize how important it is to bring the global food system into the centre of attention and debate. At the same time, there is a big fear that big multinational companies that profit from the predominant agroindustrial systems might dominate such debates with their false business solutions. We, therefore, need strong advocates and young leaders, such as our panellists, who oppose this, and who tell their stories about the real solutions on the ground.

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[COP23 Side event] Agro-ecology challenges due to Climate Change by ACT Alliance on Exposure

Growing up, we had happy memories of rain. You dance and sing under it, play games with your friends, and register happy memories in your brain when rainfall hits grass and soil, releasing nature’s scents. It is a bit disturbing when one sees children shiver at the sound heavy rainfall, run for cover at the grumble of thunderstorms while their elders take deep breaths and hide their fears amid rising rivers. Once, I received an SMS at 2am from a community partner who had to deal with a series of floods that engulfed homes in his community.  His message read, “when is this going to stop? I do not think we have enough energy to keep battling these rains and floods”.  We call him Ka Noli and he comes from a community that prides itself of their disaster risk management.

Ka Noli’s story is not unique. We saw the escalating challenge of monsoon rains in South and Souteast Asia this year. These are people from regions who have learned to live with floods across centuries but whose coping and adaptive capacities are no match to the wrath of heavy monsoon rains accompanying the warming of the climate. And we have not yet mentioned how much worse this can get when the rains come with tropical cyclones. Vital assets such as potable water are contaminated while homes, livelihood assets, family members, ecosystem services from vital natural resources, and intangible assets like cultural and intergenerational artifacts like pieces of art, photos, heirlooms can be swept away by torrential rains, flashfloods and debris flow.

Unfortunately, for many of the communities, there is no time to adapt and, thus, losses and damage will be the consequences.  What little time other communities have, they must use to enable resilient households, ecosystems, infrastructure, local economies, and social capital in the most efficient way and with innovations that are calibrated according to the power of projected climate change hazards. Sadly, many of these communities do not have access to scientific information on the hazards that they can understand. Neither do they have access to technology nor finances to enhance the indigenous knowledge they possess so they can better protect themselves — and ensure their right to life, livelihoods, social capital, history and culture and ecosystems and their accompanying services.

It would be the height of inhumanity to allow these people and communities to perish and suffer damages while governments argue about who pays more, who acts first. These communities must be given a fair chance at life by allowing them access to vital climate information and science they can understand, access to climate finance and technology that will enhance their existing capacities at survival.  This is breathing life into the value of compassion.  Action in 2020 or 2030 will be too late for many of these communities.  We must act now.

There is an old saying that goes, “Justice delayed is justice denied.” Let this not be the story of our fight for climate justice.

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Jessica Dator Bercilla works as Senior Advocacy and Policy Officer for Asia and the Middle East for ACT member Christian Aid. She is a Fellow/Science-Policy Research Specialist of Manila Observatory and Fellow/Faculty of the Ateneo School of Government working on resilience, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction with various stakeholders in the region.

Yesterday, thousands gathered at Münsterplatz in Bonn to express their commitment to achieving ambitious climate action. The climate march brought together people from across the globe, with different backgrounds, experiences, climate realities and sets of demands. However, amidst the various organizational and individual priorities and agendas was a clear and unifying demand for climate justice.

The climate march seems to have been strategically placed before the official launch of COP23, perhaps as a way to urge the German government in particular to end its use of coal. Especially interesting was the opportunity of the march to call out the location of this COP. Bonn is located near the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in Europe, known as the Rhineland lignite-mining region[1]. This makes this COP a particularly controversial one for me personally, as it will be presided over by Fiji, a member of the negotiating bloc of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) which is home to some of the world’s most climate vulnerable people.

What struck me most from the march was the energy. Through the chants, posters and conversations with those marching, there was an interesting mix of energy in the atmosphere. Some expressed distress, anger and concern, while others expressed optimism, hope and positivity. This march felt a little different for me, as I think about the stake of these negotiations, not just the COP23 negotiations, but the negotiations from here and onwards. We have a lot at stake as a global community, as we have entire ecosystems, livelihoods and essentially survival at risk. We also have a lot of responsibility. Responsibility to defend and protect our communities from being further locked into worsening climatic conditions. We have a responsibility to ensure that gender equality is respected and promoted, that human rights are not threatened further particularly in climate sensitive communities, and that in the long run equity will prevail. We all have a responsibility to ACT Now for Climate Justice.

While this seems a great task to shoulder, one of the most incredible feelings after the climate march was the reminder that we are surrounded by allies and climate warriors who have dedicated themselves to achieving climate justice.

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Joanna Patouris works for ACT Alliance as a Climate Change Communications Coordinator. Joanna works on the global climate change projects of the Alliance and is assisting with the implementation of the global advocacy strategy in the context of climate change.”

PRESS RELEASE

(Bonn, Germany) It is now one year since the since the Paris Agreement entered into force.  On the eve of COP23, the ACT Alliance urges the full, ambitious, and transparent implementation of the Paris Agreement.

ACT Alliance, a network of 146 faith based organizations and churches based in 125 countries around the world has called for an implementation pathway of the Paris Agreement that adheres to the key principles of human rights, gender justice and equity.

COP23 will be the first COP presided over by the Pacific Island of Fiji, a climate vulnerable country that understands all too well the impacts of climate change. As COP23 kicks off on Monday, ACT Alliance has stressed the importance of its outcome for securing adequate provisions to facilitate climate resilience for the most vulnerable in adapting to and addressing climate change.

“Climate change is a devastating reality for our members who are rooted in communities that have been made vulnerable by climate change. As climate change threatens communities, ecosystems, human rights and essentially survival, it is evident in our work that it places a disproportionate burden on the poor, who have little capacity to adapt. For us as an Alliance, climate change is very much an issue of justice,” said Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, general secretary of the ACT Alliance.

He continued, “This COP presents us with an opportunity to further our solidarity with climate vulnerable people and communities. We call for adequate provisions on climate finance for addressing adaptation and loss and damage, while recognizing the stark reality of non-economic losses and damages”.

COP23, will set the stage for various technical and policy components of the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

“COP23 is essential to building on the progress made since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. COP23 has the potential to enhance climate action through an ambitious foundation of the ‘Paris rulebook’” said Dinesh.

He continued, “A spirit of collaboration, such as that evident in Paris will be important here in Bonn to build the conditions necessary for enhanced 2020 ambition.”

ENDS

For further information, contact: Joanna Patouris: Joanna.patouris@actalliance.org , +1 647-971-5360

PRESS RELEASE

The World Council of Churches, ACT Alliance and Lutheran World Federation – together representing more than half a billion Christians worldwide – are issuing a united call for action on climate justice, the largest call of its kind in history.

In a joint video message released on 5 November, leaders of the three organizations called upon the decision makers at COP23 to follow up on the Paris Agreement to enable accountable and ambitious action.

“We must act together for climate justice”, said Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, general secretary of ACT Alliance. “Experts from many of our members will be advocating at COP to ensure that the outcomes reflect the needs and the rights of the most vulnerable”.

Climate change is a reality that needs to be addressed, agreed Rev. Dr Martin Junge, LWF general secretary. “We hear the stories. We hear the pain, we hear the struggle”, he said.

“Let us take this opportunity again in COP23 to make decisions that lead us in the right way. It is about who is affected today, who is living in livelihoods that are threatened by what is happening”, said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary.

COP23 is the climate change conference which will be held in Bonn, Germany from November 6-17, and will be presided over by the Republic of Fiji.

With special support for the people of Fiji, the three ecumenical leaders expressed their commitment to continue walking together with their churches and people as they address urgent questions and challenges on climate change in that region and to advocate that climate finance is secured to enable developing countries to adapt, mitigate and address loss and damage.

ENDS

For media inquiries, please contact:
Joanna Patouris, ACT Alliance, Climate Change Communications Coordinator
Email: joanna.patouris@actalliance.org

Earlier this year, the Canadian government launched its Feminist International Assistance Policy.  This October, several ACT members, along with staff from other civil society organisations, and university faculty and students, gathered at an event organised by ACT member The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund at Wycliffe College in Toronto, Canada for an event entitled Gender and Poverty: When will we get it right?

Four panelists presented over the course of the afternoon- two from PWRDF implementing partners in Rwanda and Tanzania, one from ACT member World Renew’s Kenya office, and one from York University.  Each had their own focus on the role of gender equality in poverty alleviation.

Jolin Joseph, a PhD candidate from York University, spoke about Engendering Migration Research and Praxis.  “Poverty is more acutely felt by women and women-headed households,” she told the audience as she began to talk about her research into gender and migration in India.  An example of this is that more women are in the work force, but there has been no economic gain for their presence.  The prevalence of deskilled, low-paying, informal work for women has led to more time being spent on paid employment for the same economic gain.

The Rev. Geoffrey Monjesa from the Anglican Diocese of Masasi in Tanzania, one of PWRDF’s implementing partners, talked about systemic sexism.  “Gender inequality is built into the organisation of marriage and families, work and the economy, politics, religions, the arts and other cultural productions, and the language we speak,” he said.  Rev. Monjesa spoke of one woman in their food security programme who, in the span of five years, had gone from being a vulnerable divorced mother to running a farm that employs 20 labourers working on 25 acres of land, and to being elected as a district councillor, reflecting the value that the community places on the skills she has developed through the programme and her willingness to share them with her neighbours and community.

Jenninah Kabiswa from World Renew’s Kenya office spoke about the link between peace, gender and development, drawing on a variety of conflicts in Kenya including border issues, resources, politics and inter- and intra-tribal conflict.  “Women play a key role in peace,” she said.  Their communities place high expectations on women, so World Renew and other agencies keep building their capacity.  “Women are central, to the SDGs, to Canada’s feminist international assistance agenda, and to peace.”

Finally, Dr. Evrard Nahimana of PWRDF partner Partners in Health in Rwanda spoke about the Rwandan experience of gender equality, pointing out that 64% of Rwandan parliamentarians are women, the highest percentage in the world.  He also spoke about how a focus on maternal, newborn and child health had helped to drastically decrease the maternal mortality rate in the country between 1990 and 2015 thanks to improved care at medical facilities and removed barriers of access.  He then talked about the benefits of women moving “from patient to producer” and how food security- the provision of training and livestock and seeds helps women to increase their income and overall health.  “Invest in women and the whole family will benefit,” he said.The conversation at the event helped to contribute to the continuing dialogue in Canada about the new Feminist International Assistance Policy, as well as to how these agencies and programmes contribute to SDG 5: Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.