PREAMBLE
On 16 October 2023 on the occasion of the online seminar in view of the Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (30 November - 12 December 2023, Dubai - United Arab Emirates) entitled 'The message of the new generations towards COP28' the promoting organisations Commission on Globalisation and Environment of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy and the ecumenical network Climate YES launch an appeal that from young people is extended to their own communities
DECLARATION
As brothers and sisters belonging to different secular and Christian faiths and traditions, we stand together to express our deep concern about the consequences of climate change on Earth that affect its inhabitants.
Climate change (along with pollution and the destruction of biodiversity) is indeed a threat to life, a precious gift we have received and must care for.We recognise that today climate change is a major obstacle to poverty eradication for our species and exacerbates inequalities.
Severe weather events exacerbate hunger, cause economic insecurity, force entire populations to migrate, and prevent sustainable development for all.
We call on political, economic, and religious leaders in Italy to address the climate crisis as a matter of urgency, and on the government to bring the following demands to this Conference of Parties.
We urge them to:
- Ensure that the Loss and Damage Fund established at COP27 can provide new, additional, predictable, accessible, adequate and fast-start funding to address the needs of countries least affected by this crisis, using the 'polluter pays' principle.
- Keep alive the '1.5 degrees' global average temperature target.
- Work with all possible commitment and speed to reach fair, ambitious, responsible and binding climate change agreements at the national and international level.
- Develop policies that genuinely assist climate refugees and promote intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms that guarantee their human rights, safety and security.
- Set up a humanitarian protection framework for climate refugees, who are currently unrecognised.
- Analysing and implementing systems to monitor greenhouse gas emissions and ensure greater transparency and clarity.
- Putting human rights concretely at the centre of climate action, with the help of the global stocktake to measure countries' ambitions in terms of mitigation as well as adaptation and their plans to limit their emissions.
In particular, we call on affluent nations and oil-producing states to
- Phase out fossil fuels s soon as possible, as part of a just transition
- Lead the way in phasing out their greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible by 2030 at the lat
- Provide generous financial and technical support to less affluent nations to compensate for the damage caused by their activities
- Redirect their concerns from unethical profit on the environment to its conservation by keeping biodiversity intact.
For communications
Commissioneglam
gmail [dot] com