The following is a message from Lisa Sullivan, reporting from Dubai at the midpoint of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28.) Scroll down to the bottom to sign a statement "Faith on Climate: A Call to Action."
December 6, 2023
Greetings from Dubai at the midway point of COP 28! The glitzy venue of Expo Center 2020 has been an efficient, albeit odd, venue for the 70,000+ participants hoping to save the planet. Nature itself is the missing participant, unless you count the smoggy skies covering flashy skyscrapers and sprawling freeways. Here in the world’s fourth-largest fossil fuel exporter country, we have come together to find a way to reverse course on global warming, whose cause is – of course – fossil fuels. To add to the irony of the venue, the president-designate of COP 28 is none other than the head of the UAE’s oil company, Sultan Al Jaber.
In an effort to deflect these concerns, the Sultan presided over an unprecedented victory on its opening day: the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund. While much work remains to make sure enough funds reach the right communities, it did launch the event with a buzz of optimism. Only a few years ago this financial assistance to climate-devastated communities would have been unimaginable.
Though the Sultan accepted the applause, the victory goes to those who labored for over a decade, in far corners of the world and in the margins of previous iterations of this conference, to bring make this fund a reality. Maryknoll joined these efforts, helping to promote a letter calling for a just Loss and Damage Fund signed by hundreds of world faith leaders and presented to the Transitional Committee that met throughout this past year to draft the final approved charter.
The persistence of committed people was palpable as we walked the sprawling venue, passing participants in kanduras, feathered headdresses, kitenge, sarees, hijabs, ties, and tennis shoes, hailing from all corners of the globe. We sat side together sharing ideas at side events, meetings, assemblies, press conferences, and a new faith pavilion. This later venue is testimony to the increasing involvement of a wide variety faith groups in the defense of God’s creation and in solidarity with those suffering from a crisis they did little to create.
Although there was great expectation over the announced participation of Pope Francis, his illness led to his cancellation. His powerful words, however, were brought to the gathering of world leaders by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Pope Francis wasted no time to state his argument and did not beat around the bush. “May this COP prove to be a turning point, calling upon efficient, obligatory and readily monitored requirements including the elimination of fossil fuels.”
Images from Lisa Sullivan from COP 28
Pope Francis clearly addressed the elephant in the room. In spite of all logic, the issue of fossil fuels – the cause of over 80% of greenhouse gas emissions – has never been directly addressed in any previous COP, with the exception of a passing reference to coal at COP 26.
But at this COP, the call for a phase out of fossil fuels is reverberating in every corner of the venue. While some victories may already be claimed, unless a final agreement includes some call for a phase out of fossil fuels, this COP will be considered a failure. Though there are more than 2,000 lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry present here at COP, there are also tens of thousands of others who insist that the world cannot wait. Indeed, experts give us six short years to reverse course on this ship.
As I write these words, the first round of formal negotiations are concluding. After a day of rest tomorrow, ministers will take up the drafted proposals to votes and we will learn of their final decisions on the core issues of this conference: climate finance, adaptation, and mitigation.
This COP takes place in tandem with the historic first Global Stocktake (GST)– a painstaking inventory of just where the world stands on its collective goal to keep to a 1.5 temperature rise (The Paris Agreement, COP21, 2015) . New commitments made by the world’s nations must be ambitious enough to fill the gap elaborated by the GST, otherwise the collective decision to stall will bring dire consequences.
Over these past few days, I have been able to participate in negotiating halls as an observer, witnessing the extreme challenge of having 198 very different people sit around a table and try to come up with a decision acceptable to all.
This is no easy task. We need prayers and leaders need to be pushed to take the right steps.
Lisa Sullivan is the senior program officer for Integral Ecology for the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.
Take action
Sign the Faith for Climate: A Call to Action statement circulated by the members of the Faith Pavilion. Read the full statement here.