Positive start to Paris climate talks spark hope for ambitious agreement
Climate justice activists organized by ACT Alliance stage a protest stunt during the COP21 UN climate summit in Paris, France. Credit: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/LWF
World leaders gave a unanimous thumbs up to signal a positive start of the UN Climate talks on on Monday in Paris. Several leaders expressed commitment and faith in a multilateral process to combat the adverse impacts of climate change.
In a slight change to the climate talks format, world leaders spoke first to launch the negotiations, with 11 governments today pledging nearly US$250m towards support for vulnerable communities to adapt to climate change. International humanitarian and development organisation ACT Alliance said that the move signaled hope for an ambitious agreement that would secure the planet’s future.
Speaking from the ground at the UNFCCC COP21 in Paris, the alliance said that the contributions to the Least Developed Countries Fund showed a new commitment to supporting poor and vulnerable communities and an acknowledgment that action is now needed.
”We welcome these climate finance contributions and we remind the negotiators that there is need to come up with a financial mechanism in the new agreement which shall ensure sustainability and predictability of finance support for resilience of those already suffering the adverse impacts of climate change,” Global Climate Change Ambassador, Archbishop Most Reverend Dr Thabo Makgoba said.
The commitments by several countries to reduce emissions, with some clearly setting the peak years, is critical. It is important to get such commitments, and we want our negotiators to ensure that they come up with an agreement that will help the world decarbonize by the middle of the century. We need to embrace a goal and work towards achieveing it,” said Mattias Soderberg, ACT Alliance Co-Chair of the Advisory Group on Climate Advocacy.
”It is important that all countries take part in climate action,” stated Mattias Söderberg, who is also head of the ACT Alliance delegation attending the talks. “The world is no longer developed and developing. Paris is an opportunity for all to take part in climate action, and those who have capacity to support others, should be encouraged to do so.”
”By no means should any country be left behind,” reiterated Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, stressing that all countries have a role to play from today if the fight against the adverse impacts of climate change is to be won, in accordance with their capabilities and responsibility.
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres speaks at the event. Photo: OurVoices twitter
PRESS RELEASE
A total of 1,780,528 million people worldwide have put their names to a collection of faith-based petitions urging political leaders at the COP21 climate summit to take decisive action to curb global warming and deliver a strong, fair deal that helps poor countries adapt to their changing climate.
The petitions were presented to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres on November 28 at the ‘Faith in Climate Justice’ (‘Les Religions Pour le Climat’) event at Salle de la Légion d’Honneur in Saint-Denis.
The hand-in was witnessed by close to 400 people, including faith leaders, COP21 delegates and climate campaigners from around the world – including individuals from countries such as Germany, the UK, Philippines, Italy and Scandinavia who have walked hundreds of kilometres in a ‘pilgrimage to Paris’.
Several key individuals spoke at the event: from the Philippines, former COP negotiator Yeb Sano; from Brazil, Cardinal Claudio Hummes; from South Africa, Archbishop of Cape Town the Rt Rev Thabo Makgoba; from the US, the Rev Kyoichi Sugino of Religions for Peace International; from Kenya, Mithika Mwenda, Coordinator of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance; and from Bangladesh, Lotifa Begum of Islamic Relief Worldwide.
‘Faith in Climate Justice’ was organized by four international faith-based networks working together for a common cause: ACT Now for Climate Justice (part of ACT Alliance), OurVoices, Religions for Peace and the Global Catholic Climate Movement.
OneVoices climate ambassador Yeb Sano, who has walked 1,500km from Rome to Paris as leader of the People’s Pilgrimage, said: “The pilgrimages represent, in a political way, that the time for talking is long over. Irrespective of what our leaders produce from Paris, across the globe we are working as communities and cities, as faith groups and organisations, and as pilgrims, walking together out of love, faith and hope that we can build a better future together.”
Archbishop Thabo, global climate ambassador for ACT Alliance, said: “People of faith urge all parties to constructively engage and agree on a Paris deal applicable to all. Climate justice is a spiritual and moral issue. To call it ambitious, it must include the long-term goal of climate resilient decarbonisation by mid-century and a periodic review and ratchet up mechanism to increase ambition dynamically. To call it fair, it must provide robust transparency rules, a firm commitment to deliver the $100bn climate finance to the poor, and the anchoring of the Warsaw International Mechanism on loss and damage in the Paris agreement.”
On behalf of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, Archbishop Emeritus of Sao Paulo (Brazil) and former Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, said: “2015 has been a very special year for the Catholic Church and its response to the climate crisis, crystallized in the Pope’s Laudato Si’ encyclical, the Bishops’ ‘Appeal to COP21’, and the grassroots mobilization of the Global Catholic Climate Movement this weekend, which brought hundreds of thousands of petition signatures to Paris and will join the Global Climate March in all continents. I pray for political leaders to ‘hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor’ and respond to the climate justice demand from all faiths.”
Secretary General for Religions for Peace International, Dr William F Vendley, said: “Meeting the challenge of climate change will help transform us into who we are called to be: one human family living in community with the earth and the Divine.”
The 1,780,528 people who signed the petitions include individuals in both the global north and the global south. They were mobilized by, among others: the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (in partnership with Oxfam Africa), the Church of England, Tearfund, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief, National Religious Partnership for the Environment, and Interfaith Power and Light – together with the four organizing networks previously mentioned.
As well as live music and visual presentations, the audience at the ‘Faith in Climate Justice’ event heard speeches from the Bishop of Saint Denis, Pascal Delannoy; the President of French Conference of Faiths in France, François Clavairoly; and the President of Plaine Commune, Patrick Braouzec.
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Notes to editors:
1. For more information contact Mattias Söderberg, Head of the ACT Alliance delegation attending the Paris negotiations, on +45 29700609 or via Twitter at Mattias_S
2. About the organisations behind the petition:
Act Now for Climate Justice is a campaign led by ACT Alliance, a coalition of 137 churches and affiliated organisations working together in over 100 countries to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalized people.
The Global Catholic Climate Movement is a community of thousands of Catholics responding to the Pope’s call to action in the Papal encyclical. It represents lay people, priests, religious, bishops and a global network of partners working together on the climate change crisis.
OurVoices is run under the auspices of The Conservation Foundation in the UK and GreenFaith in the USA. It has a vision to ensure world leaders act on the voices of millions who believe in protecting vulnerable people and our planet from the harmful effects of man-made climate change.
As the world’s largest multi-religious coalition, Religions for Peace was founded in 1970 and has a vision of a world in which religious communities cooperate effectively for peace, by taking concrete common action.
UN Climate summit results vital for world’s future
PRESS RELEASE
International humanitarian and development faith based networks have urged governments preparing for next week’s COP21 United Nations climate summit in Paris to do their outmost to reach a fair, binding, and ambitious agreement as vulnerable people continue their daily struggle to adapt to the increasing adverse effects of climate change.
“Climate change is not something that will happen in the future, it is happening today, and at this very moment people are facing its effects,” said Mattias Söderberg, Head of the ACT Alliance delegation attending the Paris negotiations. “ACT Alliance members are working with communities across the world dealing with adverse climate related issues. In Central America, for example, ongoing drought has significantly reduced harvests pushing hundreds of thousands of families into food insecurity. In Asia increasing weather related disasters have left communities struggling to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. We expect the Paris agreement to be a solid stepping stone to help and encourage governments to step up ambition in the coming years,” he continued. “We also hope this agreement will inspire and encourage private companies to choose green and sustainable investments. If we end up with an agreement that stipulates low ambition, this will be a disaster, both for people now and for future generations. ”
The three organisations are all bringing delegations to the COP21 in Paris to follow the negotiations and raise the voices of the many communities around the world impacted by climate change.
LWF General Secretary Rev Dr Martin Junge said: “I am delighted with the strong ecumenical presence at COP21. The challenge ahead of the human family is about change and conversion into new lifestyles responding to other values and goals in our lives – and faith has a role in that. Climate change poses huge challenges to justice in our world; towards those most vulnerable, and towards youth and children and generations to come. We come to Paris with a commitment to those most vulnerable.”
Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, said: “The leaders of the world now have an historic possibility to make commitments and agreements that we know can change the future life on this planet, for better or for worse. This is their unique privilege and their historic accountability to all life. This generation represented in COP 21 know more about the effects of what we do to our planet than any generation before us. We can either – with open eyes – prepare for crises and catastrophes for us and our children, or we can prepare for climate justice to the world. We hope and pray for the strength and courage to do what is required at this moment.”
In their call to governments to open the doors towards climate justice, the organisations highlighted different ways in which ambitious agreement could be achieved, such as a long term vision for decarbonisation with robust rules for transparency of action and provision for review and ratcheting up every five years. They also urged that the agreement provides climate finance for those already suffering the diverse impacts of climate change.
“The UN climate talks has for many years stressed that global temperature rise must remain well below 2 degrees, and it is now time to operationalize this target,” said Archbishop Most Reverend Dr Thabo Makgoba, The ACT Alliance Global Climate Ambassador. “We need an agreement that will enable renewable energy uptake and sustainable development and resilience. People need help to adapt, and when that is not possible – when people face loss and damage to the extent that no further adaptation is possible, there must be assistance to help them to move on.”
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For more information contact Mattias Söderberg, Head of the ACT Alliance delegation attending the Paris negotiations, on +45 29700609 or via Twitter at Mattias_S
Private sector must adhere to human rights principles
As the fourth UN Business and Human Rights Forum starts today in Geneva, Switzerland, faith based organisations from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America have called for more robust standards to hold businesses accountable to human rights.In a public event held at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva organised by ACT Alliance, the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation, representatives from communities across the world shared real-life cases in which multi-national corporations have violated basic human rights obligations.
“There is increasing evidence that some private sector entities, particularly the extractive industries and multi-national corporations, have violated numerous human rights of people and communities in their business ventures,” said Sarah Kambarami, ACT Alliance Head of Programmes, who gave the opening speech. “Therefore, it is critically important that the UN guiding principles on human rights are implemented at all levels to enable companies to be accountable. The UN guiding principles on business and human rights play an important role in contributing to an increased focus on human rights in relation to businesses.”
ACT Alliance and other faith based organisations particularly in Africa, Europe, Latin America and Asia, have played a significant role in recent years in raising awareness of human rights violations by transnational corporations, particularly in the areas of extraction and land grabbing.
ACT Alliance, the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation have brought together a delegation to this year’s UN Business and Human Rights Forum, who will highlight the real human rights violations from their communities around the world and the specific role that faith leaders and communities are playing in fighting to maintain their human rights.
ACT expresses condolences to victims of attacks in Paris and Beirut
“Following the recent attacks in Paris and Beirut, we at ACT Alliance express our shock and send our sincere condolences to the families and friends of the people who have lost their lives and those who have been injured in these attacks. ACT Alliance believes in a world of justice, peace and human dignity for all. Attacks of this nature, across the world, are a threat to the basic human value of love”
John Nduna, General Secretary, ACT Alliance
Alarming need to address loss and damage in Paris climate agreement
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.
Paris agreement should address weak climate pledges
The climate summit in Paris must agree on an international agreement which will be effective in fighting climate change. The biggest priority for the summit will be to develop such an agreement with the necessary elements to progressively increase ambition in the coming years and decades.The UN aggregate analysis report of the national climate contributions shows that the world is on track for even more dangerous impacts of climate change than estimated up to now. It is imperative that the Paris Agreement puts in place frameworks that will help countries review and increase their climate action and commitments.As a global alliance of faith-based development and humanitarian NGOs, ACT Alliance has quite some experience with communities suffering from challenges related to global warming – and the future is frightening.The analysis shows how governments have made very different plans, hence making comparison difficult and essentially hindering global cooperation to raise ambition.According to the co-chair of the ACT Alliance advisory group on climate change advocacy, Mattias Söderberg, we need an agreement based on transparency and accountability, with clear rules in the implementation. “Countries must agree on how to focus, so that cooperation can be promoted.”Considering the need to scale up ambition, the time frames for national commitments become crucial.“The analysis underlines the need to have a short revision and commitment period. There is a need also to reconsider and scale-up national actions, and therefore the agreement must not lock in low ambition for many years”, Mattias Söderberg continues.It is important to note that the actions of developing countries should be supported and boosted by financial support from developed countries.According to Söderberg climate finance is urgently needed.“It is evident that the full amount of actions needed, will not happen unless concrete support is provided. The Paris agreement must include a strong finance element, ensuring scaled up finance in the coming years.’’__________ For further comments, please contact the head of the ACT Alliance delegation, Mattias Söderberg, tel.: +45-29700609, email: msd@dca.dk
ACT calls for an end to attacks on aid workers
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.
Pakistan & Afghanistan earthquake – death toll rises to over 360
More than 360 people are reported dead, mostly in Pakistan, after the magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit north-eastern Afghanistan on Monday. At least 2,000 people were injured, with casualty figures expected to rise as rescuers begin to reach more remote areas.
According to ACT Alliance members and partners, earthquake-affected communities are in dire need of food support, winter kits, emergency health assistance and non-food items. Many have lost their homes, in addition to personal belongings and food stocks, as freezing temperatures affect the northern parts of both countries. Many areas are still inaccessible due to landslides, road damage and disrupted communication networks.
ACT Alliance Global Humanitarian Coordinator, Reshma Adatia, reinforces the struggle of reaching the hardest hit areas. “Many villages even in regular circumstances are one or two hours from proper roads. Accessing those communities in order to assess the needs and provide humanitarian assistance will be a major challenge.”
According to the US Geological Service, the earthquake was 196 kilometers deep, with the epicenter 82 kilometers southeast of Fayazabad, Afghanistan, in the district of Jurm, in the Hindu Kush mountain range.
“The worst affected areas are in remote areas of the Hindu Kush range and the full extent of the damage and causalities is difficult to estimate accurately at such an early stage,” says Anoop Sukumaran, ACT Alliance Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific. “Some of the affected areas are also affected by ongoing insecurity and conflict, both of which exacerbate the impact of the quake.”
ACT Alliance opens a presence in Latin America and the Caribbean
Several high level events took place in San Salvador, El Salvador on the occasion of the launch of the regional presence of ACT Alliance for Latin America and the Caribbean end of October. As an outcome, it is expected that climate justice will be at the heart of the work of the ACT Alliance in the region.
“The goal of our work on climate justice is to protect lives,” said ACT Alliance General Secretary John Nduna during a public event held at the ministry of foreign affairs of El Salvador. The event was part of the launch of the regional office of the ACT Alliance in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Nduna’s speech at the public event highlighted the need for strong regional cooperation around the two demands that ACT is putting forward to the global leaders that are expected to sign a climate agreement in Paris later this year.
“We want to see ambitious and strong climate actions at national and international levels, adequate to stop climate change and keep global warming well-below 1.5 degrees Celsius, that also delivers and scales up public finance to enable the poorest to adapt to climate change and continue to develop in a low carbon sustainable way,” Nduna said.
ACT Alliance has been engaged in initiatives worldwide around the “Act Now for Climate Justice” campaign, such as the Pan African Cycling Caravan, in which cyclists covered over 6500 kilometers from Mozambique to Kenya raising awareness about climate change. In Sweden, Norway and other European countries, ACT campaigners coordinated advocacy actions towards their respective governments.
In El Salvador and other Latin American countries, an ACT youth network has been working hard to engage communities, churches and other sectors of civil society around the two climate justice demands.
During the event at the Salvadorean chancellery, ACT’s regional representative Mr. Carlos Rauda collected the signatures of the vice-minister for cooperation and other government representatives and congressmen.
The campaign has an additional target of collecting one million signed petitions that will be delivered to leaders that will gather for the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in the French capital between November 30 to December 11.
