A lovely lady, (Gogo) Juliana Praisi, comes from Ntakhala Village in the area of Traditional Authority Kadewere in Chiradzulu District, Malawi.  When her house collapsed during Cyclone Idai, she survived beneath a heap of bricks.  Her niece Lista Dan narrates the story of that one, tearful night.

 It was a normal rainy season day for Gogo Juliana.  The only strange thing was that it had been raining continuously for three days.  The continuous rains were no cause for alarm, as this was a common occurrence in some rainy seasons.  Little did we know that these were the very rains that would lead to the loss of Gogo Juliana’s home but also a threat to her life.

Gogo Juliana, now in her 70’s has two surviving children.  Eight of her children have died, as has her husband.  Her house stood a stone’s throw away from the other houses in the village.  In Malawi, we have an extended type of family; this made one of Gogo Juliana’s grandchildren send her son Pemphero (meaning Prayer) who is two years old to be staying with her. 

Gogo Juliana and Pemphero spent the day indoors because it was raining all day. 

Most grannies like Gogo Juliana tell folk stories to their grandchildren and the stories would have a song which grandchildren sing along.  This routine keeps grandchildren very close to their grannies.  Gogo Juliana and Pemphero have a very strong bond.  They passed the evening telling stories and singing, before going to sleep.

“At around 3 o’clock in the morning, we heard a loud sound of a falling wall. It was a house belonging to one of our relatives. Then another wall fell, then another, then another.  Before we realized it every other house was falling down and the night was filled with screams and cries,” said Lista tearfully.

“Three houses fell down one after another, everyone was rushing around pulling out their children, trying to save baskets of flour and utensils. It was still raining heavily.  There was chaos!” she lamented.

 “… then the air was filled with sounds of sobs.  No one could save their neighbor or relative, everyone was affected. There was one family we totally forgot about, Gogo Juliana and little boy Pemphero. No one remembered to check on them. We could not easily see each other because it was still dark. It was also a cold because of the rain, so every mother hugged her children tight and tried to keep them warm and comfort them. 

The worst was saved for last. We heard a sharp but faint scream from afar; everyone wondered who that could be. It sounded like a baby’s cry. I listened carefully, letting go of my children and following the direction of the cry. Gogo Juliana! I screamed, while running towards her house.  Everyone followed…When we got there, we could not see her.  We found little Pemphero standing on a corner of the remaining pieces of broken walls surrounded by broken bricks and mud.  I cannot remember everything I saw, but I was sure Gogo Juliana could be dead somewhere underneath the heap of broken bricks.

This village is typical of most villages in Chiradzulu District.  One can hardly find men; because most women are divorced, abandoned, unmarried or widowed.  Being a District neighboring the big city of Blantyre, some men from the city prefer to marry in the village.  They usually come to Chiradzulu, promise the women marriage, but end up abandoning or divorcing them.  The women are left with several children to look after without any support from the fathers. Women have to struggle alone in raising the children. 

The women of the village dug Gogo Juliana out of the heap of broken bricks.   The villagers say she was wounded, bleeding and covered in dirt. In her weakened state she could not utter a word but groaned in pain.  Gogo Juliana was taken to the hospital and stayed there for two weeks.  The doctors told her daughter that the x-ray results showed that she did not sustain any fractures. The family was relieved to hear that.

Gogo Juliana returned home; but is still very sick.  Due to limited supplies at Chiradzulu District Hospital which is run by the government, some patients are discharged before they have fully recovered. Gogo Juliana is one of them.  She still complains about chest pains and looked pale and frail.  She could have suffered other internal injuries rather than the fractures which the doctors concentrated on. 

Gogo Juliana needs urgent medical care.  She needs to be thoroughly checked and be given dignity.  At the moment she is staying in her son’s house which is still under construction, but was also destroyed on one side. The house has no doors, no windows and the floor is not cemented.  Gogo Juliana does not have a bed; she is sleeping on a hard floor with a reed mat which can make her painful chest worse. The roofing is not complete, which lets mosquitos infest the house; putting Gogo Juliana at risk of catching malaria.  Her family provided a mosquito net but the reed mat cannot hold the net.

As Gogo Juliana is being cared for at home, she needs a mattress, beddings, vitamins, food supplements, and post-trauma counselling. Her guardians need protective wear, detergents and psychosocial support.

There are many other families who have suffered different types of losses as the effect of Cyclone Idai.  Food is their immediate need as the heavy rains destroyed their gardens. Some families need utensils while school-going children need exercise books and writing materials to replace their lost ones.  36  affected families out of the 48 families in this village alone need help to reconstruct their houses, kitchens, and toilets.

The affected families need to be supported with seed and fertilizers for winter cropping. According to Village Head Woman Ntakhala, the community need to establish village forests which can help in curbing the effects of climate change. The trees can also serve as timber in future. Economic empowerment programmes for women would have long lasting results to the affected families.

Blantyre Synod Health and Development Commission (BSHDC) would like to thank Partners and friends for standing in prayer which curbed the extent of the effects of Cyclone Idai.  BSHDC appreciates the pledged financial support from Partners and Friends as it shall help us to reach out to the suffering and the needy brothers and sisters. All we can say is, ZIKOMO KWAMBIRI (Thank you very much!) BSHDC has chosen to support Chiradzulu District as the target area because it has been neglected by most development partners in humanitarian response following the effects of Cyclone Idai.

Written by Lindirabe Gareta-Mazinyane, Director, Blantyre Synod Health and Development Commission (BSHDC)

December 11, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY

TEXT: ACT Alliance, the Lutheran World Federation, and the World Council of Churches, who between them represent over 500 million Christians around the world, will be holding a stunt from 13h00-13h30 at the entrance to COP25. Piles of golden chocolate coins representing finance for mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage will show the discrepancy between financing of these different aspects of climate change. Stories and audience participation will demonstrate the need for enhanced funding for loss and damage for the most vulnerable communities, who have done the least to contribute to climate change but are facing the brunt of its impact.

Who:  Faith leaders, youth from churches, Christian climate justice activists

Where: Just past the badge scan at the entrance, between buildings 2 and 4.

When: Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at 13h00.

#####

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

Arni Svanur Danielsson +41 78 929 9686 , arni.danielsson@lutheranworld.org
Head of Communication, Lutheran World Federation

Marcelo Schneider +55 51 99 998 55 15, Marcelo.Schneider@wcc-coe.org
Communications Officer, World Council of Churches

ACT Alliance calls for a strong mechanism on loss and damage at COP25

December 10, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MADRID- As the negotiations at the UN climate change conference, COP25, continue to slowly move forward, ACT Alliance continues to focus on the needs of the most vulnerable developing countries who are already facing losses and damages from the effects of climate change.  Discussions on the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM), a mechanism created to help countries avert, address and minimise losses and damages from climate change, took an alarming turn yesterday when some countries began to invoke Paragraph 51.

Paragraph 51 of the COP21 Decision accompanying the Paris Agreement states “51. Agrees that Article 8 of the Agreement does not involve or provide a basis for any liability or compensation.” This essentially ensures that developed countries cannot be held responsible or accountable for the losses and damages that developing countries have, are, and will experience, either by way of compensation or by legal means. 

Currently some developed countries are pushing to have Paragraph 51 referenced in the COP Decision text on the WIM Review, which would make it easier for them to deny their commitment to provide finance to address climate change and extremely difficult for the WIM’s governing instruments to be strengthened to reflect the link between inaction on climate change by developed countries and evermore frequent losses and damages faced by developing countries.

“This year alone, communities in vulnerable, developing countries have faced catastrophic and unprecedented disasters that have been caused by a lack of action on climate change, yet have created losses of lives, ecosystems, livelihoods and more,” says Isaiah Toroitich, ACT Alliance’s head of advocacy and development policy.  “Including a rule in the text on loss and damage that prohibits the ability of countries to seek financial support from developed countries negates the spirit, will and trust of the Paris Agreement.”

ACT offers four arguments as to why invoking Paragraph 51 is inappropriate in the negotiations in Madrid:

• Paragraph 51 is already inconsistent with the UNFCCC’s equity principles: The UNFCCC’s equity principles demonstrate that wealthier countries must urgently and dramatically deepen their own emissions reduction efforts, and must contribute to mitigation, adaptation and addressing loss and damage initiatives in developing countries; and support additional sustainable actions outside their own borders that enable climate-compatible sustainable development in developing countries.
• Including paragraph 51 in a COP Decision on the WIM Review would be inconsistent with the purpose of the Review: The purpose of the Review of the WIM in 2019 was to review its progress toward achieving its objectives and to identify ways to strengthen the WIM. Including paragraph 51 in a COP Decision might provide the opportunity to reopen discussions on the WIM, particularly on the WIM’s mandate, functions, and country divide, which could lead to the WIM being weakened.
• An inclusion of paragraph 51 in a COP Decision referring to the WIM violates human rights: When countries fail to act domestically and abroad to reduce emissions and enhance climate action, including to support vulnerable, marginalised and disadvantaged countries, they are violating human rights.
• The generality of paragraph 51 is too complex to include in a COP Decision: Applying a general position from a COP Decision to another COP Decision on a mechanism that explicitly includes a country divide would be complex. It would lead to questions such as, who would determine which countries it is applied to? And what basis would this application be on?

ACT calls on the negotiators at COP25 to ensure that Paragraph 51 language to not be referenced in any COP25 Decisions or future Decisions, mechanisms, agreements etc., and that Paragraph 51 not become the framing in which the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss & Damage (WIM)  Review is done.

“The objective of the 2019 Review of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss & Damage (WIM) was to strengthen and enhance its ability to respond to losses and damages. Taking away the means to access financial support, not only contradicts this objective, but nullifies the cries of the most vulnerable and marginalised countries,” concludes Toroitich.

More information on Paragraph 51, the WIM Review, and ACT’s position can be found here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u7nqwpaol3emvph/Advisory%20on%20Paragraph%2051%20being%20invoked%20under%20the%20WIM.pdf?dl=0

For more information, contact:
Isaiah Toroitich +41 79 825 78 99, Isaiah.toroitich@actalliance.org
Head of advocacy and development policy, ACT Alliance

Simon Chambers +1 416 435 0972, simon.chambers@actalliance.org
Director of communications, ACT Alliance

The ACT Alliance is a global network of churches and church-based agencies that does humanitarian response, sustainable development, and advocacy work.  ACT is made up of 156 members working in over 125 countries.

XXX

A blog of Elaine Neuenfeldt, Gender Programme Manager

This year the ICPD summit was held in Nairobi, under the theme of “Accelerating the promise”. The Nairobi statement[1], formulated after six months of global consultations, is a framework for both governments and partners’ commitments and it focuses on the so called three zeros: 1) zero unmet needs for family planning information and services; 2) zero preventable maternal and infant deaths; 3) zero sexual and gender based violence, including early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

One of the focus of the Nairobi summit was a demand for transparency, accountability and monitoring processes. More than 1200 commitments pledged by governments, civil society, International Organisations and the private sector, need strong and principled mechanisms of accountability to ensure that the promise to achieve gender equality and justice moves forward at a faster pace.  The 25 years of the Plan of Action have shown we have made progress, but this is not enough. Sexual and Gender Based Violence is growing –one in three women will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, and the numbers of girls that are married or in an union before even reaching 18 years old is alarming. There is still much work to be done.

Faith-based actors have been strongly engaged in the summit and have proposed recommendations, uniting forces to ensure the realization of the three zeros.

For instance, the interfaith standing committee on economic justice and integrity of creation of Tanzania[2] expressed its commitment to create awareness on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights at the congregation level, incorporating sexual and reproductive health messages in sermons. They also committed themselves to ensure that women, girls, men and boys have access to age-appropriate information and services to adequately protect them from unwanted pregnancies, early and forced marriage, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS.

Another statement,[3] by All African Council of Churches committed “to provide information and services on family planning/child spacing, to all persons, as is consistent with our faith values; to inform and educate our constituencies to eradicate all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, including child, early and forced marriage, as well as female genital mutilation; to inform and educate our constituencies to eradicate all forms of discrimination against any gender, especially women and girls.”

ACT Alliance engaged with the ICPD 25 process issuing a number of statements from the Latino American Gender Community of practice and endorsed by a considerable number of forums. We have also produced a briefing paper which included ACT’s commitments towards ICPD +25.[4] In line with the General Assembly statement on gender justice, ACT affirmed its commitment to “engage in a continuous dialogue to strive towards a change in societal norms, harmful attitudes about gender roles, including masculinities, reproductive choices, human sexuality, child marriage, and stigmatisation of HIV and AIDS for mutual learning and a better realisation of gender justice and sexual reproductive health rights.”

The statement also affirmed:

“We denounce the trends of fundamentalisms (religious, political and economic) which promote messages that are incompatible with human rights and enable the maintenance of power structures that only serve a few privileged individuals and groups. The Gospel according to Luke urges us to be humble and not to regard others with contempt (Luke 18:9-14). For this reason, we also reprehend all speech and practice perpetrated or condoned by those reinforcing sexist stereotypes that go against women’s rights, sexual diversity, tolerance and love.”

The role we have played in ICPD +25 proves that as a faith-based organization we can act as a prophetic voice, able to ground our policies in our practice. We can provide a a faith perspective that affirms life while recognizing and protecting the dignity to all human beings. As global platform ACT will continue working towards promoting awareness and developing strategies to overcome internal resistance towards sexual and reproductive health and rights. This work entails to reflect and open a dialogue able to provoke change in societal norms and attitudes towards traditional gender roles.

Participating in the summit and in the Commission of Population and Development requires opening a process among ACT Members which is based on dialogue, trust, transparency and shared knowledge.

There are loud voices that use faith to push back on human rights, especially women’s human rights. Other voices use theologies and faith to promote hate and segregating, using biblical texts to suit their fundamentalist strategies.

In that context it is imperative for the alliance to commit promoting women’s rights, bodily integrity and agency and contribute to just and equal relationships.

[1] http://www.nairobisummiticpd.org/content/icpd25-commitments

[2] https://actalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ICPD-revised-statement-Final.pdf

[3]file:///P:/Downloads/ICPD%20Statement%20and%20commitments%20of%20FBAs-.pdf

[4] https://actalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ACT-statement-of-commitment-towards-ICPD-Nairobi-1.pdf

Never before have the impacts of climate change been better understood. Two reports recently released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlight the tremendous risks to livelihoods, biodiversity, human and ecosystem health, infrastructure, water resources and food systems due to additional stresses caused by climate change[1]. In 2018, world hunger and malnutrition rose for the third year in a row, largely due to the increasing impacts of climate change[2]. In the poorest and most marginalized communities, these impacts are already making life more precarious for millions of people.

The impacts of climate change are not experienced equally. Women in developing countries, whose livelihoods are dependent on the land, are among the most vulnerable. When I met Veronica Bukwimba, a small-scale farmer in Tanzania, she could explain this to me all too well. “The rains are increasingly erratic and unpredictable” she said, “making it extremely difficult to know when to plant.” She also spoke of new pests that she had never before seen in her area.

As a female farmer and a mother of ten, Veronica is no stranger to hard work. She knows that as a woman, she spends more time on farm labour and caring for the family and household than her male counterparts. She also lacks the resources, access to information, and decision-making ability that would enable her to flourish. Now, with increasingly unreliable rains, Veronica’s load is magnified, as she must carry water to irrigate her fields. Veronica is just one of the millions of people in developing countries who are already struggling to deal with significant changes in rainfall, storms and temperatures. 

With access to sufficient resources, women like Veronica can not only adapt but thrive in the face of climate change. A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization[3] stated that if women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world could decrease by 150 million, highlighting the transformative potential that support for women’s adaptation could have. In Veronica’s case, ACT member World Renew, as a member of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, worked with local organizations in Tanzania to train her in conservation agriculture—a low input farming method that improves soil conditions and allows crops to thrive in variable conditions.  The United Nations Environment Program estimates that US$140 to US$300 billion will be needed annually by 2030 for adaptation alone, highlighting a growing gap in funding for climate adaptation.

COP25, the United Nations climate change conference happening in Madrid, is a crucial opportunity to increase support for adaptation, which prioritizes women and those most vulnerable to climate change. As developed countries deliver on their 100 billion USD promise to developing countries by 2020 and plan for a new 2020 finance goal, it is imperative they commit to contributing their fair share.[4] This includes at least 50% of finance dedicated to helping people adapt to the impacts of climate change, and additional funds allocated toward loss and damage in situations where it is too late to adapt.

To ensure climate finance supports the most vulnerable, it should be additional to existing Official Development Assistance (ODA), so as not to divert funds from other aid priorities. It should also be grant-based, rather than loans. Providing adequate support to the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund, and the Gender Action Plan is crucial to addressing these issues.

Those who have had the least responsibility for causing climate change are bearing the brunt of the impacts. Through climate financing that prioritizes gender equality, adaptation and support for the most vulnerable, we can begin to address the growing issue of global inequality and enable women like Veronica to flourish.

[1] IPCC, Special Report on Climate Change and Land. 2019. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/srccl/ And IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. 2019. https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/home/

[2] FAO, The State of Food Security in the World. 2019. http://www.fao.org/3/ca5249en/ca5249en.pdf

[3] FAO, 2011. The State of Food and Agriculture. http://www.fao.org/3/i2330e/i2330e00.htm

[4] Based on relative Gross National Income (comparing DAC providers’ GNI) of the US$100 billion

Blog is written by Naomi Johnson,  Policy Advisor at Canadian Foodgrains Bank

December 9 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MADRID- Today finance ministers meet at the climate summit, COP25, in Madrid. Ministers will discuss how to mobilize and ensure climate finance, to enable implementation of new and enhanced national climate plans. The head of delegation for the ACT Alliance, Mattias Söderberg says, “All countries must scale up their climate ambition. There is no alternative as the world is facing a climate emergency. However, developing countries will only be able to do their part, if they receive adequate financial support.”

It is already agreed, that developed countries should mobilize climate finance as support to developing countries. This support should reach 100 bn USD annually by 2020, and should be balanced between mitigation and adaptation. However, so far developed countries have prioritized mitigation and the promise of balance has not been achieved. “There is an urgent need to scale up the support to adaptation projects,”  Söderberg continues. “Poor and vulnerable communities are already suffering the effects of climate change, and without assistance they will suffer from a growing threat from droughts, flooding and devastating storms.   The rich states must deliver on their promise to balance climate finance between mitigation and adaptation.”

Science has shown how greenhouse gas emissions lead to global warming, and to climate change. However, most developing countries create limited emissions, and thus limited bear responsibility for the climate crisis. At the same time, many of these countries lack adaptation capacity, which makes them more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Söderberg comments, “There is a need for climate justice, where polluters pay for the costs climate change is causing. Developed countries have a big historic responsibility, due to years and years of fossil fuel-based development. Therefore, they have also a moral obligation to mobilize support, to help poor countries both to adapt to the realities of climate change in their context, and to ensure a low carbon development.”

The finance ministers are meeting now, as COP25 enters its second week. One of the difficult topics in the negotiations relates to climate finance. The Paris Agreement identified the need for action related to situations where people and communities face “loss and damage” due to climate change. However, there is so far no agreement about how to support actions related to loss and damage. Mattias Söderberg comments, “When developed countries refuse to talk about loss and damage finance, they are sending a negative signal to those countries who are most effected by climate change. How can the countries with big, historic responsibility for global warming refuse to support those most in need for assistance?

“It is time for these countries to do the right thing, to support loss and damage with new and additional, finance, and to pay for the irreparable harm done by their actions in the past,” Söderberg concludes.

For further information or comment, please contact:

Mattias Söderberg +45 29 70 06 09, msd@dca.dk
Head of Delegation, ACT Alliance

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

9 de diciembre de 2019

PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA

MADRID- Los ministros de Finanzas se reúnen hoy en la Cumbre del Clima, COP25, en Madrid. Los ministros debatirán la forma de movilizar y garantizar la financiación para el clima, con el fin de permitir la aplicación de planes nacionales sobre el clima, nuevos y mejorados. El jefe de la delegación de la Alianza ACT, Mattias Söderberg, señala que: “Todos los países deben aumentar su ambición climática. No hay alternativa ya que el mundo se enfrenta a una emergencia climática. Sin embargo, los países en desarrollo sólo podrán hacer lo que les corresponde si reciben el apoyo financiero adecuado”.

Ya se ha acordado que los países desarrollados deben movilizar el financiamiento para la lucha contra el cambio climático en apoyo a los países en desarrollo. Este apoyo debería alcanzar los 100.000 millones de dólares anuales en el año 2020, y debería equilibrarse entre mitigación y adaptación. Sin embargo, hasta ahora los países desarrollados han dado prioridad a la mitigación y no se ha cumplido la promesa de equilibrio con adaptación. “Existe una necesidad urgente de aumentar el apoyo a los proyectos de adaptación”, continúa Söderberg. “Las comunidades pobres y vulnerables ya están sufriendo los efectos del cambio climático, y sin ayuda sufrirán una creciente amenaza de sequías, inundaciones y tormentas devastadoras. Los estados ricos deben cumplir su promesa de equilibrar el financiamiento climático entre mitigación y adaptación”.

La ciencia ha demostrado cómo las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero conducen al calentamiento global y al cambio climático. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los países en desarrollo generan emisiones limitadas y, por lo tanto, tienen una responsabilidad limitada en la crisis climática. Al mismo tiempo, muchos de estos países carecen de capacidad de adaptación, lo que los hace más vulnerables a los efectos del cambio climático. Söderberg señala que: “Hay una necesidad de justicia climática, donde los contaminadores paguen por los costes que el cambio climático está causando. Los países desarrollados tienen una gran responsabilidad histórica, debido a los años y años de desarrollo basado en los combustibles fósiles. Por lo tanto, también tienen la obligación moral de movilizar apoyo, de ayudar a los países pobres a adaptarse a las realidades del cambio climático en su contexto y de asegurar un desarrollo con bajas emisiones de carbono”.

Los ministros de finanzas se reúnen ahora, cuando la COP25 entra en su segunda semana. Uno de los temas difíciles de las negociaciones se refiere al financiamiento de la lucha contra el cambio climático. El Acuerdo de París identificó la necesidad de actuar en situaciones en las que las personas y las comunidades se enfrentan ya a “pérdidas y daños” causados por el cambio climático. Sin embargo, hasta ahora no hay acuerdo sobre cómo apoyar las acciones relacionadas con las pérdidas y los daños. Mattias Söderberg señala que: “Cuando los países desarrollados se niegan a hablar del financiamiento de pérdidas y daños, están enviando una señal negativa a los países más afectados por el cambio climático. ¿Cómo pueden los países con una gran responsabilidad histórica en el calentamiento global negarse a apoyar a los más necesitados de ayuda?

“Es hora de que estos países hagan lo correcto, de que apoyen la pérdida y el daño con financiamiento nuevo y adicional, y de que paguen por el daño irreparable que han causado con sus acciones del pasado”, concluye Söderberg.

Para más información o comentarios, por favor, póngase en contacto con nosotros:

Mattias Söderberg +45 29 70 06 09, msd@dca.dk
Jefe de Delegación, ACT Alliance

Simon Chambers +1-416-435-0972, simon.chambers@actalliance.org
Director de Comunicaciones, ACT Alliance

December 8, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MADRID- The climate summit, COP25, taking place in Madrid, Spain, has completed a first week and it is time to take stock on the negotiations. Isaiah Toroitich, head of advocacy and development policy at the ACT Alliance, says, “As observers, it is frustrating and frightening to see how slowly talks are evolving. We have a climate emergency, and still parties hesitate to take bold and ambitious decisions. There is no more time for delay. This summit must deliver results!”

The first week focused on technical matters, including rules for carbon markets, and a review of the work on loss and damage for people and communities who are losing their homes, land and livelihoods to climate change, including those living on islands that will be lost to rising seas, and those in regions of increasing desertification.

Toroitich comments, “Poor and vulnerable developing countries are facing growing challenges to manage climate related disasters. When people and communities experience loss and damage due to cyclones, droughts and flooding, they need effective support. While developed countries seem to acknowledge that this is a problem, they fail to commit to any reasonable steps towards addressing it. We need new and additional sources of finance for vulnerable communities facing loss and damage.”

Mattias Söderberg, head of the ACT delegation at COP25, says, “Weak rules for carbon trading may undermine the Paris agreement. All countries must reduce their emissions and there should be no loop holes, or possibilities to avoid climate action back home.”

However, even if negotiations are technical, the underlying topic is how parties can scale up their ambition in the coming years, and how they can present revised and ambitious national plans (NDCs) in 2020. 

The recent report from UNEP – The Gap report – concluded the global ambition should increase five times the coming ten years to keep the world on track towards the goal not to increase global temperature with more than 1.5C.

“The UNEP report makes the missions clear,” states Söderberg. “All governments must become climate champions, and they must take bold decision to transform their countries. The time for action is now and we expect parties to present new, revised and ambitious national climate plans.”

While the level of ambition for many parties still is uncertain, the parliament in Denmark just adopted a new climate law on December 6. The new law includes a 70% reduction target for 2030, a clear commitment to reach the 1.5 degree goal, and a commitment to engage in international climate cooperation. “It is good news to see Denmark stepping up,” says Toroitich. “We need climate champions, showing the way towards a green and resilience transition. Other countries must follow this example and increase their own ambition.  Developed countries in particular must step up with increased domestic ambition and support for global efforts including finance for loss and damage.” 

For further information and additional comments contact:

Isaiah Toroitich +41 79 825 78 99, Isaiah.toroitich@actalliance.org
Head of advocacy and development policy, ACT Alliance

Mattias Söderberg +45 29 70 06 09, msd@dca.dk
Senior advocacy advisor, DanChurch Aid

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

[Comunicado de Prensa] Se necesitan campeones climáticos ahora!
 
 
PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA

MADRID- La cumbre sobre el clima, COP25, que se está desarrollando en Madrid, España, ha completado su primera semana ya, y es hora de hacer un balance sobre las negociaciones. Isaiah Toroitich, jefe de promoción y política de desarrollo de ACT Alliance, dice: “Como observadores, es frustrante y aterrador ver cuán lentamente evolucionan las conversaciones. Tenemos una emergencia climática y las partes aún dudan en tomar decisiones audaces y ambiciosas. No hay más tiempo para demoras. ¡Esta cumbre debe dar resultados! ”

La primera semana se centró en asuntos técnicos, incluidas las reglas para los mercados de carbono, y una revisión del trabajo sobre pérdidas y daños para las personas y comunidades que están perdiendo sus hogares, tierras y medios de subsistencia debido al cambio climático, incluidos aquellos que viven en islas que se perderán a causa del crecimiento de los mares y aquellos que viven en regiones de creciente desertificación.

Toroitich comenta: “Los países pobres y aquellos que están en desarrollo son los mas vulnerables y se enfrentan a desafíos cada vez mayores para gestionar los desastres relacionados con el clima. Cuando las personas y las comunidades experimentan pérdidas y daños debido a ciclones, sequías e inundaciones, necesitan un apoyo efectivo. Si bien los países desarrollados parecen reconocer que este es un problema, no se comprometen a tomar medidas razonables para abordarlo. Necesitamos fuentes de financiamiento nuevas y adicionales para las comunidades vulnerables que enfrentan pérdidas y daños”.

Mattias Söderberg, jefe de la delegación de ACT en la COP25, dice: “Las reglas débiles para el comercio del carbon pueden socavar el Acuerdo de París. Todos los países deben reducir sus emisiones y no debe haber agujeros de circuito o posibilidades de evitar la acción climática en casa”.

Sin embargo, incluso si las negociaciones son técnicas, el tema subyacente es cómo las partes pueden aumentar su ambición en los próximos años y cómo pueden presentar planes de contribuciones nacionales determinadas (NDC) revisados y ambiciosos en 2020. 

El reciente informe del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA), The Gap, concluyó que la ambición global debería aumentar cinco veces en los próximos diez años para mantener al mundo encaminado hacia el objetivo de no aumentar la temperatura global con más de 1.5 ° C.

“El informe del PNUMA aclara las misiones”, afirma Söderberg. “Todos los gobiernos deben convertirse en defensores del clima y deben tomar una decisión audaz para transformar sus países. Ha llegado el momento de actuar y esperamos que las partes presenten planes climáticos nacionales nuevos, revisados y ambiciosos”.

Si bien el nivel de ambición para muchas de las partes aún es incierto, el parlamento en Dinamarca acaba de adoptar una nueva ley climática el 6 de diciembre pasado. La nueva ley incluye un objetivo de reducción del 70% para 2030, un compromiso claro para alcanzar la meta de 1.5 grados y un compromiso de participar en la cooperación internacional sobre el clima. “Es una buena noticia ver a Dinamarca intensificando”, dice Toroitich. “Necesitamos campeones climáticos, que muestren el camino hacia una transición verde y resiliente. Otros países deben seguir este ejemplo y aumentar su propia ambición. Los países desarrollados, en particular, deben intensificar la ambición interna y el apoyo a los esfuerzos mundiales, incluida la financiación de pérdidas y daños”. 

Para más información y comentarios adicionales contacte a:

Isaiah Toroitich +41 79 825 78 99, Isaiah.toroitich@actalliance.org
Jefe de incidencia y política de desarrollo, ACT Alliance

Mattias Söderberg +45 29 70 06 09, msd@dca.dk
Asesor Principal de Incidencia, Dan Church Aid

Simon Chambers + 1-416-435-0972, simon.chambers@actalliance.org
Director de Comunicaciones, ACT Alliance

A farmer from Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra, India cried in full public view uncontrollably on November 24, 2019.  He said crying helplessly “I had to employ laborers and pay them to pick up onions from the field in the midst of rain.  Sharing his ordeal, he said how will I meet my own family’s need if I get the ridiculous price of 8 Rupees per kilo after all the investment of time, energy and money?  I invested all that I had in the crop and now I am left with nothing”.

After facing three consecutive droughts in Maharashtra, the farmers were ready to harvest a reasonably good winter crop. But an unexpected rain dashed all their hopes.

India, particularly Central India, is facing the havoc of an unexpected cycle of drought and flood at unexpected times and degrees.  Small and subsistence farmers at the bottom of the pyramid of the social system are the most heavily affected by this.

Climate change is proving to be a huge factor adding misery to the farmers, on top of the systems and structures in Indian society that are oppressive to them, and the apathy of officials to change policies to improve their situation.

The farmer who cried is not alone.  He is one of thousands of farmers who strive to produce the crops that feed’s the country’s population and who are in severe stress due to climate change.  According to the data released by NCHRC, 11,379 farmers committed suicide in India in 2016. That is 31 suicides every day. 948 every month.  Over 15,000 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra from 2013 to 2018 according to RTI and a further 392 in just the first two months of 2019.  Do the lives of these farmers, who are the backbone of agriculture, not matter?

Every year we meet for the COP to discuss and deliberate in detail the cause and effect, the methods and systems to stop climate change. But between each COP thousands of lives are lost due to climate change.

More and more reports and more and more evidence prove that climate change is causing loss of life on our planet.  If we conquer the whole world with our knowledge, wealth, and technology but if we do not have food, how can we survive? Agriculture and food production is the basic pillar of society and if it is destroyed how we would take forward human life?

Once the male farmers commit suicide, their wives are forced to fend for themselves– including paying any debt and having full responsibility for the family passed on to her.

For all the global citizens and farmers around the world, climate change is real and a critical catastrophe. 

Let’s work on ways to quickly, justly, and effectively fix this.  Spain’s taking on the hosting of COP can be an inspiration to solve the climate crisis as it sprung up as a quick solution and an alternative to Chile.  This proves if we want to do something to protect our planet we can do so.

So let’s not wait for COP after COP, but stop all climate deaths here and now and save the agriculture sector and the farmers and lives affected by climate change.

Blog written by Dr Joycia Thorat, Co-chair of Advisory Group on Advocacy, ACT Alliance and Project Officer & policy desk in charge, Church’s  Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), India

There is no silent story. As much as they burn it, no matter how much they break it, no matter how much they lie to it, human history refuses to shut up. – Eduardo Galeano

Parece que la COP25 Chile en Madrid, la única reminiscencia que tiene del país andino, son los nombres de los salones de conferencias o de pabellones, que evocan ríos, regiones y ciudades chilenas. 

Llegamos a Madrid, ya con pesadumbre por la cancelación y cambio de lugar, con todo lo que esto significa políticamente; tanto para los gobiernos, tanto para la sociedad civil y los movimientos sociales.  Ya antes se había cambiado de lugar, Brasil era el país donde la COP25 iba a tener lugar, pero la aplanadora de bolsonaro, que no sólo derriba los bosques en la amazonía sino integración y acuerdos internacionales pasó por arriba de cualquier intento organizativo, abriendo lugar a la proposición de Chile.

En Madrid, la COP de presidencia chilena todo parece ir bien, según el Presidente Piñera. Chile está en un proceso de descarbonización; un país moderno que se adapta al cambio Climático y respeta los Derechos Humanos. Pareciera, que es válido decir cualquier cosa que se desee frente al micrófono de la plenaria mientras sea eco amigable y use los términos adecuados.  Mientras tanto en Chile, no sólo no existe un proceso real de descarbonización sino que las personas continúan en las calles resistiendo la opresión de las fuerzas armadas. Los informes son escalofriantes sobre la violación de los Derechos humanos; muertos, torturados y un pueblo que dice basta a 30 años a las inequidades sociales. 

¿Pero qué tiene que ver la justicia climática con el conflicto político y social que sucede en chile? Básicamente mucho. Sería difícil entender la justicia climática separada de la justicia social y económica. El cambio climático no es más que la consecuencias de un sistema desigual que ha depredado la naturaleza y los bienes compartidos con el fin del crecimiento económico ilimitado, en donde finalmente unos pocos se benefician de aquello que es de todos y todas. Sin embargo, los impactos siempre afectan de mayor manera a los más vulnerados de nuestras sociedades. También las acciones para mitigación de los efectos de cambio climático, si no son pensadas en relación con las desigualdades sociales y las transiciones justas económicas y sociales no significarán cambios reales para las poblaciones más afectadas.

En esos días, cuando los líderes mundiales están discutiendo acuerdos para el clima por tercera vez consecutiva en Europa (la cuarta será el año que viene, el Glasgow, Escocia), estamos conscientes de los desafíos para una participación global equilibrada. Al mismo tiempo, denunciamos el hecho de que América Latina vive un contexto de profundización de las desigualdades y de la pobreza, en el que crece la vulnerabilidad de la población a los efectos de los cambios climáticos. En Amazonia, la deforestación ha aumentado 30% entre agosto de 2018 y julio de 2019, y con eso también crece la violencia y criminalización a líderes indígenas, quilombolas y otros protectores del bosque. La falta de medidas de protección a los pueblos de Amazonia son parte de una política anunciada de explotación comercial del mayor bosque tropical del mundo. La mineración, el agronegocio y las industrias forestales avanzan en ese territorio en disputa. 

En un acto de solidaridad con lo que está pasando en Amazonia estaremos en el espacio de la sociedad civil, la Cumbre Social por el Clima, que sumará diálogos más allá de los espacios formales de la COP. El sábado 7 de diciembre haremos una celebración interreligiosa por la Amazonía, para orar y exigir justicia por los pueblos de la región, en conjunto con comunidades de fe de Madrid. 

Estamos juntos y juntas como miembros de la Alianza ACT y distintas redes de organizaciones basadas en la Fe de América Latina trabajando en acciones para exigir que se cumplan los compromisos del Acuerdo de París; que se instalen mecanismos reales de financiamiento para abordar las pérdidas y daños;  modelos territoriales de mitigación, la promoción de las contribuciones determinadas a nivel nacional con planes de adaptación con enfoque en la justicia social, en los derechos humanos, en el género, incluyendo las formas de conocimiento tradicional de los pueblos indígenas. 

Ese texto fue escrito por Sheila Tanaka de Christian Aid Brasil y Marcelo Leites de FUMEC LAC

December 5, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY

TEXT: ACT Alliance, the Lutheran World Federation, and the World Council of Churches, who between them represent over 500 million Christians around the world, will be holding a stunt on Friday 6 December from 9h30-10h00 at the entrance to COP just past the location where you scan your badge to enter the venue, between buildings 2 and 4.

A giant clock will sound the alarm, along with people sharing stories representing the urgent need for climate action around the world, through an action involving singing, stories, and the call that it’s time for action.

Who: Delegates from the ACT Alliance, Lutheran World Federation, and World Council of Churches

Where: Just past the badge scan at the entrance, between buildings 2 and 4.

When: Friday, December 6, 2019 at 09h30.

#####

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

Arni Svanur Danielsson +41 78 929 9686 , arni.danielsson@lutheranworld.org

Head of Communication, Lutheran World Federation

Marcelo Schneider +55 51 99 998 55 15, Marcelo.Schneider@wcc-coe.org
Communications Officer, World Council of Churches