PRESS RELEASE

A new report launched today by ACT Alliance in cooperation with Bread for the World and Germanwatch stresses the need for governments meeting in Paris in December to address loss and damage that occurs as a result of climate change.

The report highlights that a central challenge the world faces is to offer solidarity and coordinated help to those affected by loss and damage. It states that to meet this challenge, it is important to promote climate risk analysis and climate management.

It also states that new approaches such as the G7 Climate Risk Insurance Initiative must be implemented in a way that reaches and involves the poorest, and promotes human rights, with dignified necessary resettlement and international protection for migrants who leave their home because of climate change.

‘We need to keep our global temperature well below two degrees Celsius, or risk more cases of loss and damage,” said John Nduna, ACT Alliance General Secretary. “Any temperature rise of more than two degrees will have more catastrophic impacts on climate change, including the sinking of many islands and making many areas not fit for human habitation.”

ACT Alliance has followed the UN climate negotiation process for many years and has taken lessons from ACT members working on the ground to help communities adapt and build resilience, to influence the alliance’s policy development and engagement with governments at national and international level.

‘We continue to experience increasing incidences where adaptation is becoming impossible,” said ACT Alliance Climate Advisory Co-Chair Mattias Söderberg. “ACT Alliance members continue to experience situations where their efforts to adapt to impacts of climate change are perennially challenged. We have witnessed devastating climate related disasters which have resulted in loss of lives and displacement of the people in Vanuatu, in the Philippines due to Typhoon Haiyan, and in the Sahel region in Africa where desertification is increasing at an alarming rate.’’

As the progress to come up with a new climate regime culminates between now and mid-December, Söderberg said the alliance hopes that loss and damage will be part of the agreement to be adopted on the at the December UN climate meeting (UNFCCC) in Paris.

“In regard to loss and damage, the Paris Agreement should recognise increasing climate risks and related losses as another key challenge in view of achieving the ultimate goal of the Convention,’’ said Söderberg.

Less than one month after the bombing of the Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) Trauma Centre in Kunduz, Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of at least 30 staff and patients, the humanitarian community is again outraged at the aerial attack on another MSF medical facility in Haydan, Yemen. ACT Alliance deplores these attacks, and stands in support of our MSF colleagues expressing our deepest condolences to staff, patients and communities affected.

As a network of churches and faith-based organisations, ACT Alliance members engage in provision of humanitarian assistance around the world. “As humanitarians, we are all affected by attacks on aid workers and humanitarian facilities,” says Reshma Adatia, ACT Alliance Global Humanitarian Coordinator. “The horrific bombing in Kunduz highlights a clear example where violations of the Geneva Conventions have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable. As a result of this attack, thousands of people no longer have access to essential medical services, depriving them of the very assistance they are in desperate need of.”

Access to aid, and conversely aid workers access to populations, is severely compromised when humanitarian action is so blatantly disrespected. ACT Alliance supports MSF’s call for an independent investigation into the attack in Kunduz by the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC). “The entire humanitarian community has come together to insist on the importance of this investigation, not only to establish the facts for MSF, but to support and protect humanitarian workers around the world as they serve people in crisis.”

Access to populations in need and the safety of humanitarian staff are routinely hampered around the world, from Syria and Afghanistan, to South Sudan and Central African Republic. “Humanitarian organisations and their staff take incredible risks every single day to deliver aid to people around the world. Attacks, whether deliberate or accidental, must stop so that vulnerable populations stop paying an even higher price,” concludes Ms. Adatia.

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ACT Alliance member Community World Service Asia has been working in Kunduz, Afghanistan, serving populations in the area since early 2014, and are currently providing food packages and winterization kits to 4,200 people affected by the conflict. The destruction of the MSF facility has a direct impact on the populations ACT Alliance is serving, as it has resulted in a total loss of medical services in the area.

ACT Alliance membership includes over 140 church and faith-based organisations, from over 70 countries around the world. As a global alliance, ACT members are committed to working together in the areas of humanitarian response, development and advocacy.

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While the number of hours left for climate negotiations are rapidly shrinking, the actual draft agreement is making little progress. The UN climate talks are expected to deliver a global climate agreement at the climate summit, COP21, in Paris in December, and the negotiations in Bonn this week were meant to advance the draft agreement.

ACT Alliance is a global network of churches and faith-based NGOs, working with development and relief, in 140 countries around the world. The General Secretary of the ACT Alliance, John Nduna, says:

“The people we meet on the ground are facing daily challenges due to the effects of climate change. We try to support them in their struggle to develop and build resilient livelihoods, but the increasing effects of droughts, floods and other climate related weather events hinder their efforts. Lack of meaningful progress towards the agreement is a big disappointment for the poor and vulnerable people who are disproportionately affected by climate change.”

The UN negotiations in Bonn end today, but after a week of negotiations, there is still a lot yet to be done. The head of the ACT Alliance delegation to the talks, Mattias Söderberg comments:

“Everybody knows that these negotiations are serious; they are not only about our own future, but also about the lives of poor and vulnerable people who are affected by climate change already today. I am deeply concerned about the slow progress and I urge negotiators to make a final effort to change their approach. All parties need to leave their comfort zones and start to look for agreeable solutions, which can foster a fair and ambitious agreement in Paris.”

Söderberg continues:

“There is no agreement about climate finance, the major questions of who should provide the finance, how much, and to who remain unanswered. The poor and vulnerable community remain confident that these questions will be answered in their favour, considering the fact that they are already affected by the impacts of climate change.”

“We know lack of action to reduce emissions will lead to a greater need for adaptation. However, with lack of finance for adaptation we will face even greater loss and damage. The logic is clear, but still developed countries refuse to give loss and damage proper attention.”

“Considering the lack of ambition in climate pledges made by countries during the past months, it is worrying to see the difficulties to reach agreement about mechanism to increase the ambition in the coming years. With no strong review possibilities and no agreed formats or accounting systems, low ambition may be locked in for decades”, adds Söderberg.

Earlier in the week, a statement signed by more than 150 faith leaders from different religions and countries was handed over to the UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres. In the statement, the leaders encouraged governments to seriously consider the moral imperative of protecting the poor and most vulnerable in the climate change negotiations. ACT Alliance, General Secretary, John Nduna, concludes:

“We have faith and believe that world leaders can show leadership and take the necessary bold decisions. The climate summit in Paris is getting closer, and it is now time for ambitious action.”

COP21_Statement_englisch

For further comments, please contact the head of the ACT Alliance delegation, Mattias Söderberg, tel.: +45-29700609, email: msd@dca.dk