Climate Justice
Activists display a banner at the COP25 climate conference in December 2019. (Photo by Albin Hillert/WCC)
In the ten months leading to the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26), faith-based organisations, including Christian Aid, ACT Alliance, and Lutheran World Federation are inviting people to a period of intense prayer for the climate.
The COP 26 summit is scheduled for Glasgow in November. During Lent, a time in which ecumenical organizations intensify prayer, Christian Aid and the other organizations are encouraging all to include prayers for the climate and to influence policymakers at any level accessible to them to increase political will.
In the face of devastating loss and suffering by those who mostly had very little to do with causing climate change, the organizations are calling on all to pray and reflect on the diversity of creation.
Abena Afari of Christian Aid said: “Let’s think about impoverished communities, women, children, indigenous people, migrants, refugees who historically have generated a low carbon footprint, yet bear the fury of the rich and powerful as well as the anger of the climate, when it’s displayed in full force. If we truly care about bridging the inequality gap between the rich and the poor, one of the best ways to do this is through climate negotiations which will yield consensus and reflect the highest ambitions.”
During the Earth Summit in 1992, the United Nations, together with governments and civil society, agreed to a framework to battle the emission of greenhouse gases which cause climate change. The UN Convention on Climate Change provides a framework through which discussions are held with all global players with respect to humanity’s current challenge of tackling the climate crisis.