We are in a season of three strange-sounding UN gatherings that are really important for us to know about and be engaged with. Based respectively in Columbia, Azerbaijan and South Korea they may feel remote and irrelevant, but big decisions will (or won’t) be made at these gatherings about things that many of us feel very strongly about.
So what are they?
- COP16 is the UN’s biodiversity conference, which met in Cali from October 21 – November 1. Its theme was ‘Peace With Nature’ and it saw 119 countries submit national biodiversity targets as part of the attempt to address the world’s biodiversity crisis. This is a useful summary of the outcomes.
- COP29 is the UN’s climate change conference, which is meeting in Baku from November 11 – 22. The focus for this year’s round of climate talks is on finance with the aim of setting a new climate finance target to release billions of dollars to help poorer countries cope with the costs of the climate emergency.
- INC-5 is the UK’s final round of negotiations to finalise a treaty to end plastic pollution. It meets in Busan from November 25 – December 1. Its focus is on agreeing the wording for a legally-binding treaty that will be strong enough to tackle the plastic crisis and prevent it continuing and worsening.
Three hugely important global gatherings that will determine what governments and businesses do over the coming years; that will filter down to what we as individuals are able to do in our own lives, and will ultimately determine how liveable our planet is for us now and for future generations and for the other creatures with whom we share this earth home.
How Can I Engage?
It is easy to feel powerless: most of us reading this won’t be at these conferences, and for those of us who are, we’re not likely to be at the decision-making tables. But that doesn’t mean we ignore them. They’re too important and we care too deeply to do that! From my faith perspective too, I see engaging with them as one way by which I live out my worship of the God of all creation, who calls us to care actively for the natural world and for people living in poverty. So here are some ideas of what you can do:
1. Join in with others who are campaigning for strong agreements.
The biodiversity conference has already taken place, but organisations like the RSPB and Greenpeace are continuing to push for strong action in the UK and you can add your voice to theirs.
Join with Christian Aid in signing an Open Letter to David Lammy, calling on the UK Government to back a strong global agreement on climate finance.
Speak up with WWF-UK and support the work that Tearfund is doing as it attends the plastic negotiations to campaign for a strong treaty.
And remember, you can always contact your MP simply to tell them how important these issues are to you and to ask them to push the Government to take bold action.
2. Be the change you want to see.
What does it mean for you to live out ‘peace with nature’ in your own life? Love what’s around you, get involved in local nature campaigns, get outside and talk with the trees and sing with the birds (yes really!), let the autumn and winter colours soak into you, tend your garden or house plants lovingly, live thoughtfully and gently on this earth…
Do those things you keep hearing about that will reduce your own carbon emissions: eat a predominantly veg and grain-based diet, organic where feasible; fly and drive as little as possible; insulate your home and turn down the thermostat. We know these are tiny steps but together they will add up to a big difference if we do them – so do them!
And while our governments are debating the wording of the plastic treaty (and certain businesses are doing their best to derail it), we can make a plastic treaty with ourselves, to do all we can to avoid plastic, changing to re-usable things in our homes, always taking a water bottle and coffee cup when we go out – and contacting any companies we see using stupidly unnecessary plastic.
3. Pray.
Coming from my faith perspective, I believe God can change hearts and situations when we pray. Prayer is an act of hope in the midst of our human hopelessness, and I encourage you to reflect on Psalm 146 as we go through these weeks of UN negotiations.
May God have mercy on us.
8 Comments
Thanks Ruth for your message – we say Hear hear to all you have written.
We are still involved with the project in Cambridge to power the world with non-polluting liquid air – it has been endorsed by Sir David King and the Climate Repair group in Cambridge and work at Cranfield university and Imperial College, but funding is holding things up. We even have a video of a model engine running around the garden track fuelled by liquid air.
Keep up your good work – Janet and Colin
Great to hear from you – that sounds fascinating!
Hi Ruth! Thank you for circulating this on the eve of COP29. I spent a fair while in prayer about it this morning (and then was nearly late for church!). As you say, Prayer is an act of hope, but the prospects for climate finance agreement don’t look good in human terms, and not helped by Trump’s election. But keep praying!
I didn’t know about INC-5, so I’ll pursue that.
I’ve just read the summary of COP16 from The Nature Conservancy. There’s an awful lot of jargon (which I don’t understand) so it’s difficult to message my MP with anything very specific. The TNC summary needs translating into succinct paragraphs to make much progress with busy MP’s .
On a different note, were you going to move to High Wycombe, where I live?
Hi Mike, thanks for being in touch. Yes to all that! You’re right about the TNC summary too, which is why I recommend joining the RSPB and/or Greenpeace in order to access more simple messages to your MP.
With High Wycombe, no I can stay living down in the south. These new days of flexible remote working make it possible. I come up regularly though to be in the office.
All the best to you, Ruth
Thank you for this and all that you are doing. These are tough times that need change from governments. Thank you for keeping us informed and give us ways to take action. Blessings Neil Biles
Hi Neil, thanks so much for your encouraging words, I appreciate you being in touch.
All the best, Ruth
Thank you for your talk in Northampton yesterday. I was particularly challenged by the Sabbath rest part. I shared your five points with the XR Media & Messaging team this morning as part of our regenerative culture reminder. They were most appreciative and two requested a copy of my notes. My biggest frustration with the churches’ response to the climate and ecological crises is the focus on a lighter carbon footprint as individual consumers to the almost exclusion of advocacy for government policy change. My own church thinks that “politics” is somehow unspiritual. I think they’re so heavenly-minded they’re no earthly use. Keep up the good work!
Hi Dave, thank you so much, that’s ever so encouraging to hear – I’m really glad you found it helpful.
We have got to break the ‘politics isn’t spiritual’ rubbish that we get sometimes! We have a responsibility to be speaking out to governments and businesses as well as doing the personal lifestyle stuff too (they’re not mutually exclusive).
All the best to you – keep going!
Ruth