10 June 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY

Bonn, Germany: During the SB60 conference, members of the faith community will renew their call for urgent action to address loss and damage, as climate change continues to wreak havoc on communities around the world. The moral call for justice has never been more urgent. Polluters continue to burn fossil fuels at alarming rates, as those who have contributed the least to the climate crisis continue to bear its worst impact.  

Whilst the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund was announced during COP28 last year to much fanfare, levels of finance remain woefully inadequate. Beyond the headline of financing, it is the hidden losses of climate change which remain untold and unaccounted for. The irreversible impacts to individual health and mobility, cultural heritage and indigenous knowledge, or ecosystems and biodiversity are hard to quantify but equally devastating.

The Interfaith Liaison Committee will bring together voices from across different faiths who are united in their calls for climate justice to discuss the non-economic aspects of loss and damage. We’ll hear from representatives of communities who are experiencing the impact of climate change firsthand, and highlight the blurred line separating economic and non-economic losses and damages. 

Who: 

Nushrat Chowdhury, Policy Advisor (Christian Aid)
Steve Chiu (Tsu Chi)
Sostina Takure, (ACT Alliance)
Jamie Williams (Islamic Relief Worldwide)
Sindra Sharma (PICAN) 

Moderator: Valeriane Bernard (Brahma Kumaris)

Where: Nairobi 4 and online

When: Tuesday 11th June 11.00 am

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 

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 

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

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

Two sides of the same coin: Climate and Gender Justice

Dubai, UAE- Climate justice and gender justice are two sides of the same coin – there can be no climate justice without gender justice.  The climate emergency is not gender neutral. Women and girls in all their diversity are on the frontlines, often first and worst impacted by the climate crisis.  

Research has shown that women and girls are 14 times more likely to die in a disaster than men, and we know that many disasters are a result of the climate emergency.  As these disasters get more frequent and severe as global temperatures continue to rise, there is a risk that gender inequalities are exacerbated, unless gender-transformative action is taken, including in climate finance.

Extractive economic models, human rights and land violations, and structural gender barriers, require transformative and interconnected struggles for justice.  

ACT Alliance has released a new report today Climate finance and gender: Lessons from Nordic efforts to integrate gender equality in climate-related development finance. The report’s recommendations to the Nordic countries include advocacy, tracking of finance with a gender lens, that transformative gender approaches be used and more.  The report can be downloaded here.

ACT Alliance calls on COP28 to:

•   fulfil the human rights-related promises that are a key part of the updated Gender Action Plan adopted at COP25.
•   ensure that COP28 climate finance decisions are gender-responsive and that financing reaches women and girls in all their diversity.
•   that the Gender Action Plan influences all decision-making at COP28.

Quotes 

Gloria Pua Ulloa, SEDI Asociacion Civil, Argentina “There’s no climate justice if women and girls, in all their diversity, are not included in all decision-making processes related to climate change.”

Hanna Soldal, Act Church of Sweden, Sweden: “Gender justice and climate justice are two faces of the same coin. Women and girls are 14 times more likely to die from climate induced disasters than men.  There can be no climate justice without gender justice.”

Christina Cosby, Presbyterian Church of the USA “Youth, Indigenous Women, and local communities, most affected by climate change, offer valuable wisdom for innovative solutions. In climate finance at COP28, their engagement must move beyond ‘involvement’ to meaningful action for a more equitable and fruitful policy. Drawing on our faith traditions, they guide us by understanding our past, have the key to where we need to go, and the wisdom on how to get there. Climate Finance and Gender Justice are two faces of the same coin—you cannot have one without the other.” 

Media contact

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