(OSV News): “The impact of climate change policies on the poor and vulnerable must be placed foremost in the minds and hearts of the leaders and influencers gathering at next week’s conference,” Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, chairperson of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; Bishop Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, chairperson of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace; and Sean Callahan, president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, said in a joint statement on November 8 ahead of the United Nations’ annual Conference of the Parties [COP] gathering on climate concerns.
COP 29 will takes place from November 11 to 22 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan
“Pope Francis has underscored the care for our earth in his encyclical, Laudato Si’, and also emphasised care for the poor and outcast,” they said. “It is our prayer that this be a priority at the centre of deliberations on climate change.”
Key priorities for COP 29 include “securing a new goal on climate finance, ensuring every country has the means to take much stronger climate action, slashing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilient communities,” according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC] website.
In addition, the meeting will assess countries’ national climate plans to ensure they are “economy-wide,” focus on phasing out fossil fuels, and ensure the world stays on track to limit global warming—the longterm heating of Earth’s surface due to human activities causing climate change—to 1.5 degrees Celsius [2.7 degrees Fahrenheit] above pre-industrial levels, in compliance with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Pope Francis has underscored the care for our earth in his encyclical, Laudato Si’, and also emphasised care for the poor and outcast
Simon Stiell, UNFCCC executive secretary, said in an October 8 video posted to the UN Climate Change YouTube channel that COP 29 “is a vital moment for the world,” adding that “this transition must leave no one behind.”
COP 29’s work towards a new finance goal—formally known as the “new collective quantified goal on climate finance,” or NCQG—must be shaped by “the needs of poor people and countries,” said the statement by Archbishop Gudziak, Bishop Zaidan and Callahan.
“Sadly, loans to address climate policy have accounted for too much of climate finance,” they said. “This needs to be avoided moving forward.”
Their statement emphasised, “Because of the blessings God has bestowed, the United States bears a special responsibility to shape these discussions to serve the entire human family.”
At the same time, they said that hammering out such financing should balance ambition with standards of accountability and transparency to prioritise the most vulnerable, while also affording the greatest impact.
“The poor and vulnerable suffer the brunt of intensifying disasters, which is why adopting effective adaptation investment strategies is a matter of justice,” their statement continued. “While resources and proven technologies to withstand many natural and man-made disasters already exist, sadly these are often a privilege for the wealthy.”
The adaptation required to address these climate challenges “benefits developed and developing nations alike,” saving lives and protecting ecosystems, said Archbishop Gudziak, Bishop Zaidan and Callahan’s statement. Failing to do so, they emphasised, has in many instances proven more costly than “the costs of building resilience.”
They said, “May COP29 contribute to the health and healing of our common future.”
