Climate Justice - ACT Alliance

MEDIA RELEASE: COP28 Global Stocktake draft offers “small fruits among large thorns”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 11, 2023

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – The text released on the Global Stocktake (GST) on Monday evening, December 11, offers only “small fruits among large thorns,” says Julius Mbatia, ACT Alliance’s global climate justice programme manager.

After nearly two weeks of discussions in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ presidency has presented a text to the plenary that offers very few wins amidst a sea of disappointing, unambitious provisions.

Julius Mbatia, ACT Alliance, comments:

The GST text is weak in ambition. It does not offer needed crucial decisions but typically restates previous agreements while carefully not committing to fully supporting NDCs and NAPs.

The GGA text too carefully steers away from developed country obligations to provide finance to developing countries; only recalls COP26 doubling adaptation finance decision; and is silent on the future need for developed countries to provide finance for adaptation. This is not a reassuring finance package amidst worsening climate impacts.

Elena Cedillo, Lutheran World Federation, co-chair of the ACT Alliance Climate Justice Group comments:

The current text of the GST falls far, far short of what is needed to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Governments must raise their ambition to face the climate emergency. The survival of our planet is at stake.

Rev. Tamsyn Kereopa of the Arawa & Tuwharetoa tribes, Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia comments:

We are at a tipping point and strong commitments are needed now in order to safeguard Mother Earth and the life she supports. This text therefore comes as a devastating blow. It is tragic that politics and the economic interests of the powerful are still the strongest priority for many parties. Such short sightedness will be directly responsible for the coming irreversible damage.

Maro Maua, Lutheran World Federation youth climate activist, comments:

As youth participating in COP28, this is very disappointing. Governments must show commitment to future generations. Raising ambition is a must to provide a future for future generations.

George Devendorf, Senior Director of External Relations, Church World Service, comments:

Tonight’s draft agreements illustrate a remarkable degree of timidity at a time calling for courageous, principled action. As COP28 draws to a close, we implore nations to seize this moment, demonstrate true leadership, and deliver a robust, accountable, and just roadmap to help humanity navigate the daunting challenges that lie before us.

Savanna Sullivan, Lutheran World Federation, comments:

I am angered by the lack of government commitment in the GST. Their actions prioritise the profits of a few over both the survival of the planet and over the voices of millions of young leaders calling for change. Phasing out of fossil fuels quickly is essential for the respect of God’s creation and the survival of future generations.

Mattias Söderberg, DanChurchAid, co-chair of the ACT Alliance Climate Justice Group comments:

The text throws out the target of 1.5. It is a scandal.

Most items are voluntary. If this document is adopted, the effect will depend fully on political will by parties. Text that could be positive is often couched in nebulous terms like “notes” and “could include” without actually requiring anything. In particular, finance – critical to implementation of ambitious mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage actions – is largely lacking from the new text.

The new proposed #COP28 text will not lead us towards the 1.5 degree target. I do hope that parties continue to engage in the negotiations, to increase their ambition.

ACT Alliance joins many parties in the developing world and civil society and other organisations in calling for a phase out of fossil fuels. “This phase out must go hand in hand with a just transition and finance for the phase out to support developing countries as they shift,” notes Simon Chambers, ACT Alliance’s director of communications.

Media contact:

Simon Chambers, Director of Communications, ACT Alliance

WhatsApp: +1-416-435-0972 email: simon.chambers@actalliance.org

COP28 Press release: The final stretch – ambition must go up, and not be watered down

Negotiations at the UN Climate Summit, COP28, are struggling. The usual conflicts over finance and equity are making it difficult for parties to agree. The new text, which builds on consultations with the parties, is a sign of some worrying compromises, as they inadequately acknowledge the seriousness of the climate crisis. Still, countries are far apart and getting ambitious decisions at this COP seems a tall order.

This is despite COP 28 starting on a good note with the adoption of a decision to set up the Loss and Damage fund and funding arrangements.

Nushrat Chowdhury, Climate Justice Policy Advisor, Christian Aid, comments:

This is a landmark moment for communities and people on the frontline of climate induced loss and damage impacts. The fund must be capitalized and continuously replenished to a scale that meets the loss and damage impacts costed at hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

2023 has been full of climate related disasters, in both the global north and the global south, and climate scientists have delivered fresh and concerning research, indicating that we need bold and drastic decisions to manage the climate crisis.

Mattias Söderberg, co-chair of the ACT Alliance Climate Justice Group, comments:

We must remember that the climate crisis is about people, and their lives and livelihoods. For people who are displaced by flooding in South Sudan, or who face landslides in Nepal, the need for mitigation, adaptation and efforts to address loss and damage, is evident.

Controversial elements include the phasing out of fossil fuels. A phase out of all fossil fuels, not just unabated fossil fuels is urgently required in order to keep global temperature rise to 1.5C. However, failure to phase out fossil fuels without appropriate measures to create alternative income and employment and to ensure access to renewable energy for all through a just transition will have devastating impacts on growth and development around the world. Thus, climate finance, and initiatives to promote collaboration to ensure this just transition, is the key to a strong COP28 outcome.

Sara Savva Deputy Director GOPA-DERD/ACT Alliance – Member of ACT MENA CJWG comments:

If we do not act now, consequences will be terrifying for us all, especially for the most vulnerable in the global south, as worldwide temperature increase moves beyond 1,5 degrees.

Julius Mbatia, ACT Alliance global climate justice programme manager, comments:

It is undeniably true that the world must transition from fossil fuel-run development to greener, renewable energy powered development. This transition must be fair, and equitable with rich countries taking the lead and providing sufficient finance to cushion the transition in countries without equal levels of wealth and capacity.

Mattias Söderberg, co-chair of the ACT Alliance Climate Justice Group, comments:

The only option we have is to phase out all fossil fuels. The alternative will be terrifying for us all, and global temperature increase will move beyond the 1,5 degree.
It is sad that this need is not acknowledged and respected by the global north. Finance and commitments about cooperation are a crucial block in these talks, and we will not have an ambitious outcome of fossil fuels unless we also have an ambitious outcome on finance.

Finally, the fact that the climate crisis is so critical, makes the Global Goal on Adaptation even more important. COP28 should adopt a framework for this goal, to ensure that we have a blueprintfor adaptation action. It should present global targets for adaptation action, and guide governments, politicians and organizations, when they invest in adaptation, ensuring that their efforts have impact.

Sara Savva Deputy Director GOPA-DERD/ACT Alliance – Member of ACT MENA CJWG comments,

Without a good blueprintfor adaptation, I am afraid the scarce adaptation funds will not have the desired impact.
A blueprint without targets indicators will be difficult to monitor, and if there are no references to funding, it will be very uncertain if the plans actually will be implemented.
The current text for the Global Goal on Adaptation is far too weak, and it will not become the tool governments, organisations and politicians will need when they plan their adaptation interventions.

Mattias Söderberg, co-chair of the ACT Alliance Climate Justice Group, comments:

As ACT Alliance, we urge all the parties to come to consensus on a final decision at this COP that incorporates strong climate justice, clear indicators on the Global Goal for Adaptation, a full phase out of fossil fuels that includes a just transition, and adequate new and additional climate finance- in the form of grants, not loans- to meet the needs of countries and communities in the global south, who face the brunt of the impacts of climate change already.

Media contact:

Simon Chambers, director of communications, ACT Alliance
WhatsApp: +1-416-324-0972 email: simon.chambers@actalliance.org

COP28 Blog: Accountability is key at negotiations

By National Council of Churches in the Philippines

On average, at least twenty typhoons make landfall in the Philippines every year; five of these are predicted to be destructive. The

devastation caused by these typhoons has unfortunately become a normal occurrence in marginalised Filipino communities. Somewhat ironically, these communities are being praised worldwide for their resilience and optimism in otherwise hopeless scenarios. The experiences of the people of the Philippines are living testimonies that climate change impacts are not just measured by the strength of typhoons, but by their intersectional and lasting effects on vulnerable communities.

According to the 2021 Global Climate Risk Index, the Philippines is the fourth most vulnerable country to the long-term impacts of climate change. To take this risk seriously, the country must address the losses and damage caused by the climate crisis and execute adaptation and mitigation measures toward a people-centered development, low-carbon future.

While the Philippines’ contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is relatively small compared to those of the G20, studies show that the country’s emissions have increased by 114 percent between 1990 and 2017. This is due both to the Philippine energy and industry sectors which continue to build coal-fired powerplants, and to government projects that allow massive degradation of the country’s natural resources through reclamation, land conversions and mega dam construction. The lives of environmental defenders who struggle to protect all life in land and sea are also at stake; as they are deliberately attacked because of their advocacy. It is high time for the country to take genuine steps towards climate crisis mitigation that puts the welfare of people and biodiversity at its core.

There is also an important global aspect that we would have hoped was addressed at COP28. The National Council of Churches in the Philippines believes that the climate crisis must be addressed by holding major greenhouse gas contributors accountable for the impacts of climate change that their emissions have caused.

The Council notes that the climate crisis is “a consequence of the historical impact of the patterns of consumption and industrialisation by what are now the wealthiest so-called ‘developed’ nations in the world.” To demonstrate accountability, they must support those countries most affected by climate change’s adverse impacts through climate finance, technology transfer, and capacity building. They should also comply with the global commitments to keep their own carbon footprint in check.

COP28 has been the ideal occasion in which to demonstrate this accountability. Decisions at COP28 must include doubling adaptation finance and operationalising the loss and damage fund. All interventions should uphold and respect human rights. Vulnerable communities must be first in line to access funds that will help them adapt and rebuild sustainably. Wealthy countries can, and must, demonstrate their accountability through just financing of these funds, and by reducing their own emissions exponentially.

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines is a member of ACT Alliance.

Press conference at COP28: Voices of faith call for justice in COP28 decisions and actions

10 December 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Voices of faith share their calls to world leaders for justice in negotiations on topics such as fossil fuel transition, climate finance, loss and damage, human rights, and GST. Faith members, involved in climate advocacy, bring a unique perspective grounded in the moral call to climate change. This perspective influences their technical experience and their work with communities on the frontlines of the climate emergency.

85% of the world’s population ascribe to a faith tradition. Members of these faith communities work at the local, regional, national, and international levels to pursue climate justice. The Interfaith Liaison Committee brings together faith constituencies working to achieve climate justice to raise their voices together and share their stories from their traditions and experiences around the world..

What: Call for justice in GST, human rights, just transition, climate finance, Loss & Damage, Indigenous justice, and intergenerational justice.

Who:

Lindsey Fielder Cook, Representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change, Quaker United Nations Office, Gernamy
Mattias Søderberg, co-chair ACT Alliance Climate Justice Group, DanChurch Aid, Denmark
Maua Maro, youth climate activist, Lutheran World Federation, Kenya
Shantanu Mandal, youth climate activist, Brahma Kumaris, India
Elena Cedillo, co-chair ACT Alliance Climate Justice Group, Lutheran World Federation, Switzerland
Faith Sebwa, 12 years old, student of class VI, hearing impaired, Kenya
Rev. Henrik Grape, Senior advisor on Care for Creation, Sustainability, and Climate Justice for the World Council of Churches – Moderator

Where: Press Conference Room 2 Zone B6 building 77 and online

When: Monday, December 11, 2023 14:30-15:00 Dubai time

Why: Faith communities bring concrete experiences of the impact of climate change on the most vulnerable people, including women and girls in all their diversity and people on the move, who have done the least to cause climate change and are facing the brunt of its impacts. Faith groups are on the front lines, responding to climate change through mitigation, disaster risk reduction, adaptation, and more.

# # # # #

MEDIA CONTACT
Simon Chambers- WhatsApp: +1-416-435-0972, Email: simon.chambers@actalliance.org
Director of Communications, ACT Alliance

COP28 Blog: Loss and damage in Zambia

By Rev. Chali Mfuta, United Church of Zambia

The climate crisis has had a negative impact on communities in countries in the Global South which do not have the financial capacity

to mitigate the effects. Earlier this year, on January 22, a tropical storm known as Cyclone Anna hit Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia. It caused death, destruction and power outages due to the heavy rains. In the southern part of Zambia, Namwala and Monze districts were very affected by these floods. It really is sad to see the damages, the loss, and the risks that people were exposed to and the mitigation for the same.

There was severe damage to all the crops as they were submerged in flood waters. Livestock and houses were swept away. This led to hunger in the communities which experienced these losses, making it hard for children, pregnant women and the elderly to survive.

In the communities of Nanwala and Monze alone, 32,448 households were displaced, leaving a number of people homeless. Everything was submerged in the water so that the affected people had to be airlifted from higher places or the small islands where they had sought refuge.

The risk of not having shelter, access to clean water and health facilities for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children and the physically challenged led to fear of violation, abuse, and neglect. Permanent structures for shelter and health and safety services were urgently needed, as was nutrition.

Assistance came from different faith-based organizations, the Red Cross, the Zambian police force, the Ministry of Health and the government’s Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit. They provided items such as food, toiletries, clothes, tents and medicine, and even spiritual support.

When reaching out to the community, the priority must be affected households and families. The challenge is the rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged or destroyed facilities including houses, schools, shops, markets, health facilities and police stations. COP28 is an opportunity to increase funding for these kinds of disasters which affect the most vulnerable communities. The type of funding should be grants and not loans.

The funds should be easily accessible in order to mitigate the disasters in good time to avoid losing lives.

As we work towards the climate justice the earth needs, let us also put in place policies and funding that will effectively respond to the damage and loss caused by climate change.

Rev. Chali Mfuta of the United Church of Zambia serves as minister in Livingstone, Zambia. She is attending COP28 virtually as part of The United Church of Canada delegation. Chali witnessed first-hand the devastating impacts of Cyclone Ana and is a strong climate justice advocate.

COP28 Blog: In Syria, adaptation is part of life

Here in Syria, people’s capacity to cope will most likely be significantly reduced in months to come. Syria has been in crisis for the past twelve years. Now, continued inflation and other substantial challenges have made everyday life for Syrians almost impossible to bear.

After being here for seven years, I can see how humanitarian work has in one way or another, and perhaps indirectly, taken a dive into climate adaptation programming. Climate adaptation has become a vital turning point for many. Syrians already opt for eco-friendly solutions when going about their daily routines – without putting a label on it or knowing that it is part of reducing the world’s carbon footprint and adapting to climate change.

Syrians ride bicycles instead of driving cars, they install solar panels and establish home gardens. These are just some of the many activities that are more affordable, support many livelihoods, and use reliable resources.

The humanitarian response to climate change in Syria will soon feel a growing demand. One very successful way for the humanitarian community to engage in climate programming is to access adaptation funding to increase multi-purpose cash and in-kind assistance. This can protect livelihoods, reduce humanitarian needs, and strengthen people’s adaptive capacities and resilience.

We in the humanitarian sector must advocate for funding for disaster preparedness, early recovery and resilience-building activities to be part of climate-related adaptation, and we can do so with a unified voice at COP28. At the moment, we do not have clear information about donors and climate financing streams, let alone how local actors can access such funding.

Sara Savva is Deputy Director of Gopa-Derd, one of ACT’s newest members. She is also an ACT delegate at COP28 from December 7 to 12.

ACT joins Interfaith Liaison Committee call to COP28

On November 30, 2023, the first day of COP28- the UN climate conference- in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, people of faith gathered at Christ Church, Jebal Ali, to hold a Talanoa dialogue, helping to define the call from people of faith to this COP.

A Talanoa dialogue is a way that people in the Pacific come together to discuss and decide on difficult issues facing their communities. A Talanoa asks, and the people who are present answer, three questions:

Where are we at?
Where do we want to go?
How do we get there?

This Talanoa was hosted by the Interfaith Liaison Committee to the UNFCCC. ILC’s purpose is to bring together people of faith who participate in climate justice work, particularly in UNFCCC spaces, to coordinate and act together, and the Talanoa is a key part of ILC’s work each year. ACT Alliance is part of the ILC, along with the WCC, LWF, and a wide range of other organisations.

On December 8, the ILC shared their Call to COP28 with the UNFCCC Secretariat. The call addresses a range of justice topics within the climate negotiations including intergenerational justice, Indigenous people, gender, climate finance, mitigation and just transition, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), loss & damage, the Global Stocktake (GST), human rights, and international food systems & agriculture.

The full call can be found here.

COP28 Press release: media stunt- house of cards collapse to highlight crumbling climate financial architecture

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 8 December 2023 – ACT Alliance will be holding a media action at COP28 highlighting the weakness of the climate financial architecture, which has been failing to deliver for vulnerable countries who urgently need support to deal with the growing impacts of climate change.

The media action will consist of activists with banners, chanting, telling stories of the need for climate finance and climate justice, and building a house of cards, which will then be collapsed representing the dangers of a lack of robust climate financial architecture. Interviews will be available with global faith based climate activists.

Where: Action zone 9, near the main entrance to the Blue Zone

When: December 8, 16:00-16:30

Climate finance is essential to implementing climate action, yet so far rich countries have failed to deliver on their promises. At COP28 this year, the Global Stocktake (GST) is predicted to affirm what we already know: we are completely off track to meet our international climate goals.

Meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement will be impossible without the immediate mobilisation of finance, to support countries to reduce carbon emissions, adapt to the advancing impacts of climate change, or compensate for the loss and damage already happening. At COP28, ACT Alliance will be reiterating its call for rich countries to pay up, by pledging significant levels of climate finance which is new and additional, public, and grants based.

Media contact:

Simon Chambers, Director of Communications, ACT Alliance
WhatsApp: +1-416-435-0972 simon.chambers@actalliance.org

COP28 Blog: loss and damage in the Horn of Africa

By Vincent Ondieki

The World Meteorological Organization reports that increasing temperatures and sea levels, changing precipitation patterns, and more extreme weather are threatening human health and safety, food and water security, and socio-economic development in the Horn of Africa. They further note that climate variability and climate change are major obstacles to resilience in the Horn of Africa, where increasing temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns are already affecting economic growth, livelihoods, food security, health, and ecosystems.

Due to El Nino, devastating flash floods have killed at least 111 people, including 16 children, across the Horn of Africa in recent weeks. More than three-quarters of a million people have been displaced and the rains show no sign of slowing. In Kenya’s northern counties and capital, Nairobi, unrelenting rainfall has led to widespread flooding. An estimated 80,000 people have been displaced or marooned in this area alone, and a further 46 have died since the beginning of the rainy season in September. Fatalities and missing persons are being reported on an almost daily basis.

Save the Children reports that heavy rainfall in Somalia and the Ethiopian highlands has left the central Somalia town of Beledweyne completely submerged. The Shabelle River burst its banks, forcing about a quarter of a million people, a full 90 percent of the population, from their homes. Across Somalia, eight children were amongst 32 people who are known to have died in the floods, with close to half a million displaced across the country. In Ethiopia, at least 33 people, including eight children, have died in the floods. Most drowned while trying to flee the devastation caused by the ongoing rains.

Ironically, the El Nino rains come on the heels of the worst drought in this part of Africa in 40 years, a drought which itself followed five failed rainy seasons. The droughts and lack of rain had already decimated livestock and crops, pushing the region to the brink of famine. These weather events so cruelly following each other illustrate the extreme and irreversible impacts of climate change on already vulnerable communities in the Horn of Africa and the resulting losses and damages that vulnerable communities suffer.

Thankfully, at COP27 parties agreed to establish a funding arrangement for losses and damages such as these. The commitment to a Loss and Damage Fund represents a renewed commitment to supporting local, rural, and vulnerable communities most affected by the climate crisis.

At both the first Africa Climate Summit and the Africa Climate Week this past September there was a resounding call for the operationalization of the Loss & Damage Fund – including setting up a board to guide its directions. The COP28 transition committee has developed proposals for the fund on governance structure, replenishment, and accessibility.

What happens in and beyond COP28 in Dubai must make loss and damage funds accessible to vulnerable communities. This is critical for climate justice and rebuilding trust, so that communities and nations can rebuild sustainably. If not, options exist to double commitments to finance adaptation to avoid occurrences of losses and damages. This is my wish for COP28.

Vincent Ondieki is an Environmental Governance and Climate change specialist who has worked nationally (in Kenya) and continentally (in Africa). He recently started working with ACT Alliance on climate justice issues in Africa.

COP28 Press release: Climate crime scene media action

Climate crime scene media action

Time: 5th December 2023, 11h30

UPDATED Location Action Zone 9 (near the main entrance)

This visual stunt hosted by ACT Alliance and Don’t Gas Africa looks at a climate crime scene, with the outline of a body on the ground. But who is the victim? On energy day at COP28, join us to hear from vulnerable communities facing the brunt of the impacts of climate change, which speaks to the urgency of phasing out fossil fuels forever.

Powerful advocates from around the world will communicate how climate change disproportionately impacts communities across Africa and the Global South, who have done the least to contribute to climate change but are facing the worst of its effects.

Media Contact:
Simon Chambers, Director of Communications, ACT Alliance
WhatsApp: +1-416-435-0972 simon.chambers@actalliance.org