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.

ACT Alliance, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) have called for governments to ensure the climate agreement enables the scaling up of ambition and details concrete action in the coming years.

« 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

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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

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.

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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.”