Governments must take “meaningful action” on climate change at COP29, following projections that 2024 will be the first calendar year where global temperatures will be more than 1.5C hotter than pre-industrial levels.
That’s the view of Jesuit Missions, which is taking part in a collaborative campaign with other Jesuit organisations in the run-up to and throughout the UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, which starts on Monday (11 November).
The campaign calls for an effective loss and damage fund for developing countries, the cancellation of climate debt and a just energy transition.
It comes after analysis by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service suggested this year will be the hottest on record, with temperatures expected to reach 1.55C above the pre-industrial average.
This development has far-reaching impacts across the world, with countries in the Global South often disproportionately affected.
‘Extreme weather events – heatwaves, droughts and floods – are becoming more frequent and more damaging’
Richard Solly, Advocacy and Campaigns Officer at Jesuit Missions, said: “This level of heating is already causing very serious problems.
“Extreme weather events – heatwaves, droughts and floods – are becoming more frequent and more damaging. They are happening on every continent. They are causing death and economic loss on a huge scale, as seen in the recent floods in Spain.
“But it is the world’s poorest communities, who have done least to cause the problem, who are suffering most severely – among them our partners in Madagascar, Rwanda and South Sudan.”
He added that countries in the Global North, including the United Kingdom, need to take greater responsibility for their role in global warming and do more to support nations that have been affected as a result.
This includes making significant commitments at COP29, which runs from 11 November to 22 November.
“The climate talks over the next two weeks are going to focus on providing the necessary money to enable the world’s poorer countries to cut their own carbon emissions, adapt to the changing climate and make good the loss and damage that they have already suffered,” Mr Solly explained.
“So far, the governments of the wealthiest countries have pledged nothing like the amount needed.”
As well as calling for decisive action in Baku, the COP29 ‘Jesuits for Climate Justice’ campaign, is asking people to pray for the success of the talks and to write to their national representatives urging them to back its demands.
For more information on the campaign, click here.
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