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Advocates urge transition to low-carbon economy, clean energy

PRESS RELEASE

Delegations from the ACT Alliance, Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and World Council of Churches (WCC) at the United Nations climate conference in Marrakech, Morocco, 7-18 November, are jointly demanding a more rapid transition to a low-carbon economy based on clean energy in order to stem rising global temperatures.

The faith-based organizations are represented at the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Morocco as part of their continuing advocacy and action on climate change.

On the opening day of the conference, the ACT Alliance expressed hope that the 2016 meeting should be an “action COP” in which “the targets set out in the Paris agreement must now be fleshed out to ensure that the headlines are followed by ambitious rules.”

“Governments have shown their commitment to tackling climate change and the agreements made at the Paris summit can now be fulfilled. However, an agreement with only headlines will not make any difference, therefore the agenda at COP 22 is very important to ensure that now the implementation must begin”, said Dinesh Vyas, leader of the ACT Alliance climate change working group.

The LWF, which in 2015 made a policy decision to not invest in fossil fuels, is represented at the UN climate conferences by its all-youth delegation, with members from the African region participating in Marrakech. At the climate negotiations, LWF is advocating for intergenerational justice and solidarity with those who are most vulnerable to the impact of extreme weather events.

LWF general secretary Rev. Dr Martin Junge said: “In the joint Catholic-Lutheran commemoration of the Reformation, we stated that our joint service in this world must extend to God’s creation, which suffers exploitation and the specific effects of insatiable greed. We must work toward a change in hearts and minds that leads to responsible care for God’s creation.”

In recent years, ecumenical groups have been deeply involved in advocacy and action on climate change and have taken part in every conference of parties. The WCC and related groups have taken strong moral positions on the fossil fuel industry that generates emissions that cause climate change. Putting their money where their mouth is, they have divested from fossil fuels, withdrawing a pool of significant investments from the industry.

People of faith should come together and work together on climate justice, and it is needed now more than ever, stated WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. “I have met climate refugees during my recent visit to New Zealand and Australia – we are not talking about tomorrow, this is the current situation, and it’s time to take action now. Climate change and its adverse effects on the whole creation, especially on vulnerable, poor and indigenous communities is an urgent concern for all people of faith around the world. In the current increased risk of social and political tensions, fear, conflict and displacement in a climate-constrained world, our task is to bring justice and peace for the social and ecological wellbeing and sustainable development for all”, said Tveit.

In the run-up to Marrakech, the three general secretaries signed the COP22 Interfaith Climate Statement alongside 220 other faith leaders. The COP22 president, Morocco’s foreign minister Salaheddine Mezouar has been invited to receive the statement at a side event organized by ACT, LWF and WCC on 10 November.

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This is a joint press release of the ACT Alliance, Lutheran World Federation and World Council of Churches.

Farmers on the frontline of climate change

Cecilia Richard, 33, harvests millet in Captain, a village in southern Malawi that has been hard hit by drought in recent years, leading to chronic food insecurity, especially during the "hunger season," when farmers are waiting for the harvest. Photo: Paul Jeffrey

Cecilia Richard, 33, harvests millet in Captain, a village in southern Malawi that has been hard hit by drought in recent years, leading to chronic food insecurity, especially during the “hunger season,” when farmers are waiting for the harvest. Photo: Paul Jeffrey

Global warming is a challenge for us all, but farmers, and especially smallholders with limited capacities to cope with the effects of climate change, are on the frontline. A recent report from the UN Food and Agriculture organization, FAO, rings an alarm bell. They stress the need to have a special focus on the agriculture sector, as business as usual, is not an option.

Farming is a complex. So important for our survival, and yet so vulnerable when it comes to changes in the weather. We all need something to eat, and farmers provide us with a big portion of the food on our tables. Global population, and thus the need for food, is increasing. At the same time climate change challenge farmers, as floods, droughts, and extreme weather events threaten to destroy crops and harvests.

The current UN climate talks, COP22, in Marrakech, Marokko, have agriculture on the agenda. It is a difficult negotiation theme as interests differ a lot. For developing countries, the core concern is the adaptation. Climate change is already happening and there is an urgent need to assist farmers so that they can continue with their important work. This may require irrigation systems, pumps, early warning systems, seawalls, and new crops and cultivating methods.

However, the debate about agriculture is not only relating to adaptation. The agriculture sector is also part of the problem as it is responsible for a big share of global emissions. The temperature targets agreed at the climate summit in Paris last year, are not realistic to reach, unless there also are changes in agriculture, and food consumption. This is the reason why UN climate talks about agriculture become difficult. Different countries have different interests in agriculture. In some countries, it constitutes an important export sector, and in others, smallholder farmers produce for their living.

The FAO report point at the urgent need to take action. Business as usual is not an option. We need to make efforts to improve adaptation related to agriculture, and we need to ensure that emissions from agriculture decrease at the same time as production increase. This may sound like an impossible calculation, but I am optimistic. It is possible to make changes, also in important sectors as agriculture, but it may have broad effects, also on food culture and habits.

To ensure that there is a focus on agriculture and farming, this day is called “farmers day” at COP22. I hope this day also can be a day, where poor and vulnerable farmers are in the centre. UN talks tend to focus on the big picture, where a whole sector produce millons of tons of yield, as well as emissions. Still, the farmer, men and women in poor communities, are the ones standing on the frontline of climate change. Any agreement about agriculture must always remember these people.

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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 live in Denmark.

Climate emergency: COP22 and Civil Society Expectations

Today the world already faces the beginnings of the worst impacts of climate change. A large number of poor and marginalised communities in developing countries face severe consequences due to increasing incidences of extreme weather events, sea level rise and unusual temperature variations.

Among the 13 deadliest floods faced across the globe in last five years, six were recorded in South Asia alone[1]. Small island countries such as Tuvalu are facing a crisis of their very existence due to rising sea levels. Unusual rising temperatures in various regions have not only disrupted the lives of people, but also severely impacted the flora and fauna of our living planet.

A large number of civil society groups are actively engaged across the globe in developing, advocating for, and promoting better adaptation interventions within vulnerable communities and raising climate justice issues within global platforms such as the UN climate talks, COP22, which started this week in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Within the series of COP processes, COP21 in Paris last year was a landmark event during which an ambitious agreement came into existence to address climate change. COP22, therefore, is a crucial COP during which further modalities of operation will need to be decided. We are at such a critical point in time to adequately address climate change that countries must now take immediate actions to raise their pre-and post-2020 ambition levels if we are to remain below the global average temperature 2℃. Therefore, we are expecting a great focus on renewable and energy efficiency measures from this meeting, which may set us on a path towards zero carbon development by 2050.

According to the Paris Agreement progress on adaptation will be tracked with a specific goal as it is linked with the five-year stock take mechanism; and civil society groups expect a clear cut road-map to achieve this goal in the spirit of this agreement. Clear guidance is also expected on the scaling up of finance for adaptation by 2020, as well as a well-defined role of the Adaption Fund referred to in the Paris Agreement. Loss and damage is rightly reflected as a separate focus within the Agreement, and it is expected that within the next year it should be adequately addressed under the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) and its Executive Committee (ExCom).

Of course, finance is the key for effective implementation of the Paris Agreement. It is expected that commitments made towards reaching USD 100 billion for climate finance will be fulfilled by 2020, and same amount annually for the period from 2020-2025. Furthermore, it is expected that climate funds from both public and private sources will be subject to strict social and environmental safeguards, and instruments will be in place that directly channel the funding to women and gender rights groups.

The world needs a successful COP22, in which agreements made in Morocco lead to better safeguards for the most poor and marginalised people across the globe struggling to adapt to the climate change emergency today. We hope world leaders come to this stage with a positive mindset and commitment to resolving each and every hurdle towards an adequate and ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement.

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Dinesh Vyas. Working as a Development Professional with CASA India since 1999 on issues related to Socio-Economic and Political Empowerment of poor and marginalized communities in India. Experienced in integration of Climate Change and DRR issues with regular development interventions. Closely associated with various Indian Networks on Climate Change. Engaged with recent Climate Change Advocacy related issues with UNFCCC processes. Currently, following progress on INDCs, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and various other policies related to Development and Climate Change.

Climate emergency: COP22 and Civil Society Expectations

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Climate emergency: COP22 and Civil Society Expectations

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Make Marrakesh climate talks an ‘action COP’

PRESS RELEASE

07 November 2016 – The historic speed with which countries approved the Paris climate agreement must continue into equally speedy action at the UN climate talks starting today in Morocco, international faith-based humanitarian and development network ACT Alliance has said.

Speaking as the COP22 talks begin today in Marrakesh and the UN Paris climate agreement entered into force on Friday 4 November, ACT Alliance said this meeting should be an “action COP” in which the targets set out in the Paris Agreement must now be fleshed out to ensure that the headlines are followed by ambitious rules.

The progress towards addressing the impacts of climate change truly took a step forward last year with the Paris agreement,” said ACT Alliance’s climate change working group lead Dinesh Vyas. “Governments have shown their commitment to tackling climate change and the agreements made at the Paris summit can now be fulfilled. However, an agreement with only headlines will not make any difference, therefore the agenda at the COP22 is very important to ensure that now the implementation must begin.”

The Paris climate agreement was adopted in December last year at the UN Climate talks, COP21, and is the first global agreement to include national commitments of action for all countries, as well as a mechanism to increase much needed ambition in the coming years.

However Mr Vyas warned: “Action, not just a mechanism for increased ambition, is urgently needed to ensure that ambition to tackle global temperature rises by transitioning to an economy based on clean energy is truly scaled up. We all know that the collective ambition agreed in Paris is still too low and will not keep global warming below 2 degrees celcius, let alone 1.5 degrees celcius. This should be a core concern of all parties in the coming days.”

“I see the struggle people face to adapt to the devastating impact of climate change on a daily basis in my work,” he added, “so I look forward to seeing increased action by governments in both developed and developing countries to ensure people can adapt to these challenges and live full lives with the dignity they deserve.”

The human face of Climate Change

In order to better understand the impact of climate change in people’s lives, a face-to-face meeting can be extremely helpful. The encounter with young Catharin made me realise that Climate Change has an undeniable human face.

Catharin, eight years old, is the youngest moderator on a community radio in Cara Sucia, El Salvador, severely affected by Climate Change. Photo: Valter Hugo Muniz

A couple of months before the COP21 in Paris last year, I had the opportunity to visit the ACT Alliance regional office in El Salvador and some local communities we work with in the country.

El Salvador and its neighbour countries have been strongly impacted by the effects of climate change. Floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and droughts have disrupted the normal production cycles.

In 2002, Cara Sucia, on the southern coast of El Salvador, was severely affected by Hurricane Isidore. Approximately 3,000 vulnerable families that depend on agriculture, fishing, arts and crafts, and small businesses were affected[1]. So far in 2016, over 150,000 people have been affected by two consecutive years of drought in El Salvador, according to the Food World Program[2].

During one of my field visits in El Salvador, I met someone that I will never forget. Catharin, eight years old, was the youngest moderator on a community radio in Cara Sucia, at the border to Guatemala. I was impressed by the work of Catharin and those courageous youth, who despite the enormous adversities, have decided to stay in their community. Together, they started to broadcast educational programs to help the local people in their daily challenges. Catharin, for example, is the host of a musical program made for children by a child, which “gives motivation” and “transmits good values” to the children of Cara Sucia.

My first conclusion after the experience in Central America was that climate change is not an abstract issue. When we have the opportunity to share the pain and the suffering of people who strive to deal with its challenges, we discover that climate change has a human face that can’t be ignored. Secondly, I was amazed to see the power of communication in supporting communities to deal with climate issues. Through these tools, it is possible to bring people together, make communities stronger and more resilient.

As we head towards another Climate Conference, the lack of ambitious action from governments has not made the life of Catharin and the people from Cara Sucia any better. In Central America, but also in many other parts of the world, the right to continue to live in the lands where they belong has been denied to numerous communities.

So what can I do? What can I change if I don’t have any decision-making power? The answer I gave to myself was: “You can be like Catharin”. Through communication, special social media channels, I can contribute my “small, but relevant” part and speak out for the people who have been affected by climate change. The international community has taken major steps towards climate justice. Paris was the first victory, but there is still a long way to go.

If you want to participate in this historical moment, I invite you to join our Act Now for climate justice social media campaign, which aims to demand that world leaders are ambitious in their commitments concerning climate change. Go to our Facebook or Twitter official account (@actclimate) and share the message. More instructions HERE.

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Valter Hugo Muniz, Online Editor of ACT Alliance. Brazilian journalist, videographer, online content manager and strategist who has worked in the private sector, television, publishing houses and NGOs. With humanitarian experience in Indonesia (Tsunami, 2004) and Ivory Coast (Man, 2012) he strongly believes in communication as a platform designed to bring people together and to support vulnerable communities. Photojournalism, books, football and people are his passions.

[1] http://reliefweb.int/report/el-salvador/act-appeal-el-salvador-rehabilitation-hurrican-isidore-flood-affected-lasa22

[2]http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/ep/wfp272160.pdf?_ga=1.231044124.247865913.1475655365

Will the good spirit from the climate summit in Paris deliver concrete results at COP22 in Marrakesh?

SG delivers remarks at the closing ceremony of COP21. UN Photo/Mark Garten

The Paris climate summit, COP21, last year was a success. We are now approaching the next summit, COP22, which will be held in Marrakesh in mid November. Will the positive spirit from Paris reappear in Marrakesh? And can the momentum be turned into increased ambition?

On one hand, there is momentum following COP21, and we can be encouraged by the quick ratification of the agreement, so that implementation can already begin. Experience from other UN agreements shows that ratification processes can take time, and drag out for years. However, this time, governments pushed the process forwards, and the agreement will enter into force on 4^th of November. This will be celebrated in Marrakesh.

On the other hand, the quick process, and the success in Paris, puts pressure on governments. There are high expectations, and journalists look forward to reporting progress. But while the issues on the agenda in Marrakesh are important, they are also rather technical. Paris delivered an agreement full of commitments, goals and visions. Now these words needs to be turned into rules, procedures and concrete work plans. No doubt, these decisions will have an important effect for the implementation of the Paris agreement, but they are difficult to explain, and to present as a new success for the climate talks.

The Paris agreement had three important results, which also have implications for possible success in Marrakesh.

Firstly, the agreement is global, meaning that almost all parties have made commitments. This is an important outcome as it underlines that all countries must take part in a transformation towards a green and sustainable future. It also implies that all countries need to take action. Poor countries will of course depend on the support provided by rich countries, but still, all countries have commitments to fulfill. In Marrakesh this will be reflected in the negotiations, as parties need to agree on how commitments are to be monitored, reported and followed up. All loopholes must be filled, otherwise national commitments will have limited effect.

Secondly, the Paris agreement includes an equal focus on mitigation and resilience, including both adaptation and loss and damage. This is important, as previous agreements have had a bigger focus on mitigation. This means that commitments to reduce emissions must be combined with commitments to increase the resilience of communities and countries. Climate change is already a reality and we must all learn to live with the effects. Two of the expected outputs from Marrakesh are an agreement to promote capacity building, and progress on how to mobilize climate finance. To be credible, these outputs must be directly linked to the full agenda of the Paris agreement, meaning mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage.

Thirdly, one of the most important elements of the Paris agreement is a so called “ambition mechanism” which is developed to help parties to scale up ambition in the coming years and decades. This is crucial, as current commitments are far from sufficient. The ambition mechanism includes regular stock-taking sessions, where implementation of the Paris agreement, and recent scientific results will be assessed, with an aim to revise commitments. In Marrakesh these stock-taking sessions, including a first “facilitative dialogue” which will be held in 2018, will be discussed, so that all parties agree on how to activate the ambition mechanism.

In a few weeks time the summit in Marrakesh will open.

I hope the good spirit from Paris, and ratification process during the year, will be followed by fruitful negotiations, where parties, in cooperation, strive to ensure a high ambition and concrete results.

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Earthquake in Ecuador – Voices from the people we serve

My name is Maria Isabel Gracia, I have four children and I live in Daule community, in central Guayas, Ecuador.

It is very difficult to express what happened that day. It was around seven in the afternoon and I was taking care of the baby when the earthquake started. I could not move and I was terrified because I lost sight of my three children, my baby fell down from my arms and everybody was screaming all around. My mother and father were laid down on the floor and I thought everybody was going to die. When it finished I realized that my house was very affected. Two interior walls fell down and many cracks were visible in the structure.

I felt alone, my husband was in shock and could not react. Finally, we decide to abandon the house and join the community in the front yard. We did not have any food at all, but after some hours many people started bringing relief aid for us.

I am very grateful because all my family is safe and nobody was injured during the earthquake. We would not have overcome without the support provided by all the generous people and organizations. The goods that we have received are very useful for us. The container where we stored the water is dirty and grows worms. If we want to drink safe water, we have to buy it and when we do not money, we need to go to the river but that water is salty.

We are happy to receive the water purificator because it is something we have never had before and will contribute to my family wellbeing.

Interview and picture by Carmiña Guerrero, CLAI

Earthquake in Ecuador – Voices from the people we serve

My name is Maria Isabel Gracia, I have four children and I live in Daule community, in central Guayas, Ecuador.

We are happy to receive the water purificator because it is something we have never had before and will contribute to my family wellbeing.

Interview and picture by Carmiña Guerrero, CLAI