Jesuit Missions has joined dozens of others in writing to the Prime Minister, urging him to announce an “ambitious” international climate finance package and to fairly tax the biggest polluters and wealthiest in our society.
An open letter, devised by the Climate Action Network UK and signed by 82 organisations, asks Keir Starmer to set a “high quality” round of international climate finance (ICF4) in June’s Spending Review.
It also calls for higher taxes for the country’s biggest polluters and richest individuals, which could be used to fund climate action in the UK and abroad.
The letter states: “As the fifth largest historical emitter and sixth largest economy, the UK has both the responsibility and the capability to take far greater action on climate change – at home and overseas.”
It also refers to the “unbearable injustice” of “communities and countries that are the least responsible for the climate emergency… paying the cost with their lives, livelihoods, health, homes, lands, ecosystems, infrastructure, and futures.”
Jesuit Missions supports projects in several countries that are particularly at risk of the effects of climate change, including Madagascar and South Sudan.
Richard Solly, Advocacy and Campaigns Officer at Jesuit Missions, said: “In his encyclical Laudato Si, whose tenth anniversary we are about to celebrate, Pope Francis pointed out the need for richer countries to provide the necessary finance for poorer countries to deal with climate change.
“He also pointed out that it was not happening, and why: ‘The failure of global summits on the environment make it plain that our politics are subject to technology and finance. There are too many special interests, and economic interests easily end up trumping the common good…’.
“It is good that Jesuit Missions is just one of 82 organisations calling on the UK Government to play its part in providing what is needed. Let’s hope they listen.”
The letter notes the strain on public finances, and the challenges this will create when it comes to putting together the Comprehensive Spending Review.
However, it points out that there are fair ways to generate £115bn over the next five years, namely through additional taxes on fossil fuel emitters and the super-wealthy.
According to polling findings, some 82% of UK adults agree it is wrong for oil and gas companies to make record profits without taking responsibility for the damage caused by their activities.
Another poll that found 64% of the UK public support increasing taxes on the wealthiest individuals to fund climate action, and three quarters support increasing taxes on businesses that produce the most emissions.
Paul Chitnis, Director of Jesuit Missions, said: “The UK has a moral obligation and an historic opportunity to show leadership on the international stage with a strong commitment to ending poverty and reducing global warming.
“Both are major drivers of migration and it is in all our interests that our action is commensurate with the need.
“Jesuit Missions sees the damaging impact of climate change on the communities we accompany across the global south and the need for action is urgent and growing. The UK has led before and must do so again.”
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