We invite all people of faith and goodwill to sign the COP22 Interfaith Climate Statement 

We all desire for a safer future, free from climate change.  Confronting this crisis is the great moral imperative of our time. It requires urgent, transformative action to slow (and hopefully reverse) the acceleration of global warming that is now underway. People of faith and goodwill have an important role to play in showing the way forward on this moral imperative. Faiths also play an important role in as we grieve our losses and practice hope. Together, we can make a difference!

Please join in:

• adding your name to the COP22 Interfaith Climate Statement that will be presented to the international climate change talks in Marrakech in November. 
• spreading the word about the Statement and asking others to sign it.

Your name will be shown on the Statement website and the total number will be mentioned in the official handover event on 10 November 2016 at COP22, along with high-level religious and spiritual leaders and recognised faith-based environmental leaders who are signing under the official Statement. 

Click here to show your support.

At this historic moment, as the Paris Agreement enters into force, an unprecedented global consensus has produced a universal framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to build greater resilience to climate impacts. We are profoundly grateful for the leadership that produced this agreement. We are also mindful of the challenges and complexity that lie ahead.

The COP22 Interfaith Climate Statement also emphasises that, across all faiths we share a moral obligation to not harm others, to be fair and to care for the vulnerable. The drafting and dissemination of the Statement and the related handover event is a joint collaboration with representatives from more than 30 faith-based organisations from across the world, including ARRCC.

Key Policy Points - COP22 Statement:

• Urgently ask States to rapidly increase pledges to reduce emissions, in line with the 1.5°C goal;
• Call for a collective shift by sovereign wealth funds and public sector pension funds away from fossil fuels into renewables and other climate solutions;
• Strongly request an increase in global financial flows to end energy poverty with renewable energy and to provide for greater human and ecological adaptation, particularly to compensate for loss and damage, technology transfer and capacity building;
• Appeal to all States, when taking action to address climate change, to ensure the commitments contained in the preamble of the Agreement related to human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples, gender equality, a just transition, food security, intergenerational equity and the integrity of all ecosystems are effectively reflected in any decision adopted at the COP22;
• Request stricter controls on the dispute mechanisms within trade agreements that utilize extrajudicial tribunals to challenge government policies;
• Ask, including within our own faith communities, for more commitments to divest -invest from fossil fuels into renewable energy and targeted engagement with companies on climate change. We need to ground this work in pursuing a just transition to renewable energy.

Please join faith leaders & all people of goodwill to join the call for urgent action on climate change by signing the Statement.

Please help spread the word through your networks and on social media.

• Resources and guidance to help with using social media are here.
• Sign up to support the COP22 Interfaith Climate Statement with a Thunderclapon 4 November. This day celebrates the Paris Agreement entering into force and joins with all thunderclaps happening on the same day in celebration. http://bit.ly/2eZ2Y4M

Together we can light the way!

Gill King

ARRCC