Scholars, Indigneous People Share Values on Earth Keeping

COP25 - Day 2

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MADRID, Spain, Dec. 3, 2019 – Day 2 at COP25 began with a plenary session giving an overview of the theme of the day – EarthDay. This was a session heavily influenced by scientific data. The first part was a presentation of the State of the Earth from the World Meteorological Organization. We were reminded that the past five years have been the five warmest years on record. Ocean heat is at new highs, sea level rise has accelerated over the past 27 years, acidification of the oceans is up, and sea ice is in rapid decline.

The impact of all this is the displacement of 10 million people. And, in the first six months of 2019, there were 7,000 catastrophic weather events, including floods, storms, droughts, etc. There have been increased episodes of extreme heat, and over 820 million persons suffered from hunger in 2018. These and many other weather phenomena have been documented, but a problem continues to exist because the scientific community does not have the professional ability to communicate the crisis to the public.

One way to address these communications shortcomings is by sending teams to local regions to listen to the people most affected. There are problems even with this approach. In the South Pacific, both communications and travel are time consuming and expensive. In East Africa, funding is not leading to sustainable networks and there is a lower understanding of the needs and benefits of data exchange. In the Caribbean, there is a need for better knowledge and information exchange. One plus in this region is that due to proximity to the USA, upper air observation is good.

But even so, according to the Global Basic Observing Network, a total assessment schedule won’t be completed until 2023. Climate monitoring is taking place from space and in the oceans. On the oceans, in addition to large agencies, observers are taking advantage of volunteer groups such as racing yachts to monitor large expanses such as the southern oceans. Despite this, there remain large gaps in areas of observation. In areas closer to large populations such as the USA’s east and gulf coasts, data is more complete and shows a massive amount of deoxygenation.

A highlight of the day was Bee Moorhead’s meeting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others in the Congretional delegation. The groundwork was laid for future cooperation.

This afternoon we attended a session titled “What if We Miss the Target? This session focused on three case studies on how differing strategies are needed if nations are going to meet the goals for reducing climate warming.  Each nation must respond based on their own context. Investment in overcoming climate change will vary with each locale’s cost of living.

  • In Brazil there needs to be a bridge between science and policy-making. The models project increased warming and less rainfall, and the question remains how to respond to these changing conditions.
  • In Banglasesh, with a temperature rise of 2% we can expect increased flooding, drought, salinity, landslides, lightning storms, river flow, and cyclones. There will be a permanent loss of land and significantly reduced crop yields.
  • In Uganda, there is the question of how to afford mitigation. There was an acknowledgement that they must first meet short-term needs.

Financers to implement change are motivated by risk, and each must adapt to local contingencies and needs. The first step is to de-risk the people affected.  It was agreed that the overall approach focuses on capacity building, solutions including reducing greenhouse emissions, education and infrastructure investment, and climate literacy for policy makers.

A second session was on “Inspiring Courage to Act and Adapt in a Climate Emergency.” This was sponsored in part by the World Council of Churches. Anglican Bishop Philip Huggins of Australia stated that they have shown courage in the midst of their recent wildfires. He said they have been able to do this since they are one human family and family is what brings healing. Also from Australia, Sister Kerpalani spoke of the need for awareness and a hope for a better world.

Professor Mark Lawrence spoke of the connection between sustainability and spirituality. He said that the courage to act proactively enabled us to be agents of change. He stressed that we need to use our heads to become informed, our hearts to become sensitized now and in the future, and our hands and feet to take action. We must change the socio-cultural understanding of climate, Professor Lawrence said.

Andre Carmen of Latin America and the Rev. Chebon Kernell, a member of the Seminole Nation and a UMC pastor from Oklahoma, spoke of the needs of indigenous peoples. They both emphasized the need to respect indigenous peoples and their understanding of the Earth Mother as steward of us and we as stewards of the Earth. The two indigenous leaders agreed that we must end the criminalization of dissent that happened at the Standing Rock protests in South Dakota and is being repeated by state legislatures now. In the indigenous view, they said that all elements of creation have rights also.  We must always think about the future inhabitants of the world, at least seven generations forward.

The Rev. Mel Caraway, a retired clergy member of the North Texas Annual Conference, is a United Methodist EarthKeeper, an environmental mission program affiliated with the General Board of Global Ministries. His reports are adapted with permission from his blog on the Texas Impact website. United Methodist Insight participates in Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration founded by the Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation magazine to strengthen coverage of the climate story.