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

Today a statement signed by 154 religious leaders from different faith groups has been handed over to the Executive Director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres.

More legal channels for migration are needed to ensure refugees’ protection, and help migrants have access to decent work in destination countries, international humanitarian and development network ACT Alliance has said.

As the Global Forum on Migration and Development came to a close in Istanbul last week, ACT Alliance said that there is a clear need to address the systemic issues underlying the global migrant and refugee crisis debate to ensure a rights-based approach to related policy.

The Global Forum, which met from 14-16 October, brought together governments and civil society to discuss migration issues tied in to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, recruitment reform, migrants in crisis and related xenophobia.

“States have to protect human rights and labour rights, which form the cornerstone of fairer migration policies by ratifying the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families,” said Sophia Wirsching, Chair of the ACT Alliance Community of Practice on Migration and Development. “This provides the means and the guidance to transform rights into effective tools to promote broader prosperity and realize sustainable development and ensure dignity for all, including for migrants.”

While the alliance welcomed the inclusion of migrants and migration in five of the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals, it also stated that there was an urgent need for civil society to be effectively included in the formulation of indicators for the relevant targets, which are due in March 2016.

“The joint civil societies’ position for goals and targets of the global development agenda follows a human-centered, rights-based approach,” said Wirsching. “Migration is not a singled out phenomena but is linked to various dimensions of peoples’ struggles for equality, dignity, decent work and human rights. For these issues to be effectively addressed and resolved it is imperative that we have far more regular dialogue between civil society and governments on issues of migration and development. This is what will lead to more substantive engagement and sustainable results.”

ACT member International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is responding to the urgent needs of the Ukraine conflict’s most vulnerable victims with emergency food assistance for 900 children under age three living in areas directly affected by the violence in Eastern Ukraine.

Nearly two years of armed conflict has driven 1.5 million Ukrainian people from their homes.  UNICEF estimates that nearly 180,000 of those displaced are children.

Among the most severely impacted are infants and toddlers, as well as mothers with special needs children.

As Ukraine’s brief autumn turns into winter, the living conditions these children face will only worsen.

IOCC, working in cooperation with a local relief partner, is distributing kits containing essential baby food and hygiene items such as infant formula, baby cereal, juice, and baby wipes.

The kits are being directed to vulnerable families living in Svyatogirsk, a small town in the Donetsk region sheltering the highest number of displaced families; and to Svetlodarsk in the Donetsk region and Bryanka in the Luhansk region.

Families in these two towns live near the front line of conflict.  They face hunger daily as food prices climb and supplies grow scarcer due to damaged roadways and ongoing fighting restricting the movement of commerce in these volatile regions.

The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine continues to deteriorate as the number of Ukrainians in need of assistance has now reached a total of five million people.

For information on how you can help click here

As the UN General Assembly post-2015 Summit closes today, ACT Alliance calls on governments to take clear responsibility for financing the implementation of the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The global humanitarian and development network said that to ensure synergy between global policy and national realities, governments must fund sustainable development and poverty eradication projects primarily through domestic resource mobilisation, such as building progressive and just tax systems, and realising the commitments to Official Development Assistance (ODA) that wealthy states have made to developing states.

ACT Alliance said that while private sector funding is also essential for the effective implementation of the SDGs, they should not be the primary source and will require safeguards to ensure that investments positively impact those living in poverty and do not exacerbate existing social and economic inequalities.

“While we celebrate the accomplishment of the SDGs as a political decision made by states, in order to move forward effectively, funding for the SDGs should come from states first and foremost,” said John Nduna, ACT Alliance General Secretary. “Private sector funds are an important and welcome contribution to global development, particularly in the areas of job creation and infrastructure development and maintenance; however, essential public services should never be the responsibility of business. This is a duty of the state. While all funds dedicated to social and economic sustainable development are welcome, governments must ensure that people, not profits, are at the heart of any funding scheme.”

“Poverty is a construct of human greed and the existing systems of power,” Nduna continued. “To effectively address the root-causes of poverty, we cannot sustain the current paradigm of an ultra-rich minority and an ultra-poor majority. Our hope in the ambitious SDG agenda is that governments will seek to address global inequalities, promote better governance and universally apply them – meaning that all countries will be held to the same standard, benefitting those in both absolute and relative poverty.”

ACT Alliance has been engaging with the United Nations and its member states on sustainable development policy dialogue since 2012, particularly focusing on issues of environmental sustainability and climate change, inequalities, peace and security and good governance which it sees as essential to eradicate the systems that create and maintain poverty.

The 17 SDGs are global goals that have been adopted by governments and now replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

• restoring right relationships among people
• affirming human dignity, and
• opening the door to the holistic development of all people 

As world leaders acknowledge the links between climate change and poverty at the UNGA Post-2015 Summit, which opened in New York today, ACT Alliance called for increasing urgency to address the impacts of climate change.

Addressing a parallel event focusing on the role of faith-based actors in sustainable development, the international humanitarian and development network said that the SDGs must steer the world onto a sustainable pathway towards poverty eradication.

“Ending extreme poverty starts with addressing climate change, as a key pillar of our moral imperative,” said ACT Alliance General Secretary John Nduna, addressing faith leaders and political dignitaries. “Mother earth weeps for climate justice. As long as we human beings abuse mother earth, ending extreme poverty will be an illusion.”

“Climate change denies people and communities the ability to overcome poverty,” he continued. “Without  rain in sub-Saharan Africa, people cannot grow their food or feed their families. When streets and fields flood in Asia, communities lose their livelihoods and lives. As the sea level rises in the Pacific, people are stripped of their land and risk statelessness. Our leaders must urgently and adequately confront climate change.”

ACT Alliance has engaged in work related to climate justice and sustainable development since 2010, from community mobilisation to high level political engagement.

“While we celebrate the adoption of the  SDGs,” said Nduna, “we must now urgently stand together, ready, excited and motivated begin working in partnership with one another for the effective implementation of these goals.”

The negotiations towards the new global development framework continues to build momentum towards the UN climate change meeting (COP21) which will take place in Paris, France, in December.

“The ambition that we see with the adoption of the SDG framework today must translate to concrete action in Paris at COP21,” said Nduna. “Sustainable Development and poverty eradication is largely dependent on the ambition of the climate agreement to be adopted in Paris. Progress on SDGs should encourage parties to come up with a strong, fair and equitable climate agreement.”

Horgos (Hungary border)

ACT member HEKS-EPER EHO began its activities in providing humanitarian assistance for refugees in early September through its partner EHO. In the previous period, around 3,000 refugees received humanitarian and emergency assistance in fruits, bread and water. Children and mothers with infants received chocolates and biscuits. Upon demand, EHO distributed baby food and second-hand shoes. Also, medical nurses involved in the project EHO – “Diaconia Home Care” provided First Aid on the spot. EHO also provided presence of a doctor.

By the end of the week, EHO will be present every day (10:00 to 18:00) in the camp on “no man’s land” at the border crossing Horgoš – Rözske.

The project is implemented in cooperation and with the financial support of the Swiss partner – HEKS-EPER.

Sid (Croatia border):

On Friday and Saturday, 18 and 19 September 2015, EHO has organized all-day work in the field, on the road Sid – Tovarnik. Employees and volunteers of EHO participated in the distribution of aid. After the closing of Hungarian border, refugees changed their route and went toward Croatia. To enter Croatia, the most used crossing was Sid – Tovarnik.

During two days of work in the vicinity of the border, EHO distributed 800kg apples, 400kg banana, 1,000 loaves of bread, 1200L of water, 1,000 chocolate bars, 600 packages of biscuits, 10 pairs of new shoes for mothers with young children, 400 raincoats, 30 tents, 20 sleeping bags with 20 mats.

On the 22 of September, EHO was working in Bapska, border crossing between Serbia and Croatioa and spoke to a young man Avdulah, 21.

Avdulah, 21, is refugee from Syria who is traveling with his wife, son and younger brother. They left their home town 23 days ago. At the beginning the family was on smuggling boat from Turkey to Greece. After that, they took 3 buses – from Greece to Macedonia, from Macedonia to Serbia and through Serbia. They wanted to cross the border between Serbia and Hungary, but because the fence (Hungarian Government closed the border with Serbia) they chose the route to the border with Croatia. Their final destination is Finland. Avdulah wants to provide better and peaceful future for his family, far from the war in his country.

On Friday 13th March a category 5 Tropical Cyclone Pam lashed the islands of Vanuatu bringing with it destructive winds surpassing 300kph, heavy rainfall, storm surges and flooding. The eye of the cyclone passed close to Efate Island, where the capital Port Vila is located causing extensive and widespread damage.

Six months, ACT Alliance members continue to help the communities in Vanuatu. Click on the image below to see the gallery that we have prepared to remember the emergency relief.

To strengthen the network of volunteers in emergency preparedness and response called Redvolución Climática, on September 21st, 22nd and 23^rd, 2015, 18 young Salvadorans are receiving a workshop to address issues related to Climate Justice.

This is the first national workshop, which will be reproduced in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Colombia.

These activities are conducted under the Program for Promotion of Ecumenical Leadership that the Lutheran World Federation is implementing in partnership with Action by Churches Together for Development – Alliance ACT, with the participation of young leaders of Churches members of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI for its acronym in Spanish) of The Alliance of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches in Latin America – AIPRAL and the Lutheran churches in the region.

“For the LWF it is important to promote and facilitate ecumenical meeting space and in this case prioritize participation of young people from different churches and denominations. It is important to know and get involved in issues such as climate justice, which should be a priority in our advocacy agendas, working with the community and the churches” said Elena Cedillo, Regional Representative of the Lutheran World Federation / Department for World Service, Central America Program.

During these three days, young people will talk about climate change, its background, causes and effects, extreme weather events; the COP and global negotiations; Climate Change Law in El Salvador and the National Climate Change Plan; and Climate Justice focus from the churches, as well as biblical theological reflection.

During the day, young people have shown great interest and enthusiasm for work on the issue. “I am happy because this issue is a very important and it has to generate a greater impact on us, it’s important because maybe we cannot make big changes all at once, but can be gradual, we must begin ourselves in our home, in our community”, said Carmen Martinez, a 23-year-old young woman from the Salvadoran Lutheran Church.

“We have high expectations of what this group will do, because it is a new space with young people who are church leaders, who are appropriating and developing other vision of care of the Creation”, said Carlos Rauda, Regional Representative for the Alliance ACT Latin America and the Caribbean.

“I feel good because I’m here, it’s a new experience, I had never been to a meeting, it’s something new for me and very interesting, I think I’ll learn a lot about climate change, which affects us, its causes, and how can avoid it. My expectations are to learn and put into practice”, said Pablo Quintanilla, a 20-year-old representative of the Emanuel Baptist Church.