Tearfund urges climate change action ahead of Nairobi meeting
-22/08/06
The UK evangel
Tearfund urges climate change action ahead of Nairobi meeting
-22/08/06
The UK evangelical relief and development agency Tearfund is urging its supporters to ask the British Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to take a lead in tackling the growing impact of climate change on the developing world.
Climate change is already affecting the worldís poorest people much more than those in the West, the NGO points out. Global temperatures rose by 0.6?C during the 20th Century and as a direct result, those who are least able to cope are experiencing changing rainfall patterns and ever more extreme weather events such as floods and droughts.
According to the World Health Organisation, 150,000 people die every year as a direct result of climate change and the vast majority of these are in the developing world.
Tearfundís Advocacy Director, Andy Atkins, has now written to the minister, David Miliband MP, asking him to take urgent action. Tearfund is inviting Christians across the country to join this initiative by writing themselves.
Specifically, the agency wants people to lobby the government in the lead up to the meeting in November of the United Nationsí Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Partners (COP) in Nairobi.
Tearfund is making three key demands in the lead up to the COP:
First, that the Kyoto Protocol agreement on reducing carbon emissions, which ends in 2012, should be renewed and improved.
Second, that the government should use its influence to help poor communities adapt to climate change.
Third, that adaptation to climate change should be central to all future development work.
The European has already recognised that the average global temperature increase must be kept below 2?C to avoid catastrophic climate change, requiring a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 50-55 percent. However the EU has recently been advocating reductions of only 15 to 50 per cent.
The Least Developed Country Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund need more finance, says Tearfund. In addition, they want a specific programme of work to help countries adapt to climate change to get more funding.
Paul Cook, Tearfundís Head of Policy, said this week: ìClimate change is already damaging the fight against poverty and if urgent action is not taken at the COP in Nairobi, then precious advances will be lost.î
He continued: ìThe UK government must take a lead in helping poor communities adapt to climate change as well as doing all we can to limit the future devastation that will be unleashed if we donít rapidly reduce our carbon emissions.î
Cook concluded: ìTearfund has written to David Miliband and I would urge all Christians concerned for their neighbours to do the same.î
[Also on Ekklesia: Church agencies to join major climate change coalition; US says no in Montreal as churches warn Blair on climate; MPs go speed dating over climate chaos; UK Christian agencies act to stop climate chaos; Global warming threatens targets for world’s poor; Agencies say G8 has missed the mark on energy issues; Christians to join climate protests; UK Evangelicals welcome move by US colleagues to act on global warming; Christian radio station drives home false gospel say campaigners; Methodist church signs climate covenant]
Tearfund urges climate change action ahead of Nairobi meeting
-22/08/06
The UK evangelical relief and development agency Tearfund is urging its supporters to ask the British Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to take a lead in tackling the growing impact of climate change on the developing world.
Climate change is already affecting the worldís poorest people much more than those in the West, the NGO points out. Global temperatures rose by 0.6?C during the 20th Century and as a direct result, those who are least able to cope are experiencing changing rainfall patterns and ever more extreme weather events such as floods and droughts.
According to the World Health Organisation, 150,000 people die every year as a direct result of climate change and the vast majority of these are in the developing world.
Tearfundís Advocacy Director, Andy Atkins, has now written to the minister, David Miliband MP, asking him to take urgent action. Tearfund is inviting Christians across the country to join this initiative by writing themselves.
Specifically, the agency wants people to lobby the government in the lead up to the meeting in November of the United Nationsí Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Partners (COP) in Nairobi.
Tearfund is making three key demands in the lead up to the COP:
First, that the Kyoto Protocol agreement on reducing carbon emissions, which ends in 2012, should be renewed and improved.
Second, that the government should use its influence to help poor communities adapt to climate change.
Third, that adaptation to climate change should be central to all future development work.
The European has already recognised that the average global temperature increase must be kept below 2?C to avoid catastrophic climate change, requiring a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 50-55 percent. However the EU has recently been advocating reductions of only 15 to 50 per cent.
The Least Developed Country Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund need more finance, says Tearfund. In addition, they want a specific programme of work to help countries adapt to climate change to get more funding.
Paul Cook, Tearfundís Head of Policy, said this week: ìClimate change is already damaging the fight against poverty and if urgent action is not taken at the COP in Nairobi, then precious advances will be lost.î
He continued: ìThe UK government must take a lead in helping poor communities adapt to climate change as well as doing all we can to limit the future devastation that will be unleashed if we donít rapidly reduce our carbon emissions.î
Cook concluded: ìTearfund has written to David Miliband and I would urge all Christians concerned for their neighbours to do the same.î
[Also on Ekklesia: Church agencies to join major climate change coalition; US says no in Montreal as churches warn Blair on climate; MPs go speed dating over climate chaos; UK Christian agencies act to stop climate chaos; Global warming threatens targets for world’s poor; Agencies say G8 has missed the mark on energy issues; Christians to join climate protests; UK Evangelicals welcome move by US colleagues to act on global warming; Christian radio station drives home false gospel say campaigners; Methodist church signs climate covenant]