THE Anglican Communion delegation to the COP30 climate talks in Belem, Brazil, “are here to bring a little bit of soul, a little bit of spirituality, a little bit of heart”, considered one of the group, the Revd Ray Minniecon, an aboriginal pastor with roots within the Kabi Kabi and Gurang-Gurang tribes of Queensland, Australia, has said.
As the talks enter their second and final week, there stays a tension between the slow progress throughout the formal negotiating halls, and the calls for urgency from communities experiencing the results of climate change first-hand. Church leaders and Indigenous groups are pressing developed countries to agree on the funding needed to speed up the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables.
“The COP is all a bit too academic,” Mr Minniecon said. “As Indigenous, and as Christians, we all know what the soul is, and that’s what’s missing here.”
In contrast to the more technocratic elements of COP30, on Saturday, 50,000 people — including many Indigenous people from the Amazon — took part in an enormous “people’s climate march” on the streets of Belém.
Among them was Mariana Menezes, the co-founder of Parents For Future Brazil, whose family was caught up within the devastating floods within the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul last 12 months (News, 10 May 2024).
Albin HillertIndigenous individuals are pictured amongst tens of hundreds gathered in downtown Belém, Brazil, for a People’s March for Climate Justice, held in reference to the UN climate summit COP30
“My children, just entering adolescence, have already experienced a devastating flood that left us stranded for days and away from home for months,” she said. “How many other climate tragedies will they should face throughout their lives?
“While we must always be preparing for this, we see world leaders denying reality and planning to expand fossil fuels. These people, who once enjoyed full lives with unforgettable summers and long walks outdoors of their youth, are condemning future generations to lives of pollution and disasters.
“We must come together to talk on behalf of those that don’t have any voice — not only our youngsters, but additionally those yet to be born, essentially the most vulnerable, the animals, and all types of life on earth.”
One of the divides on the COP is between some wealthier countries, who’re demanding that poorer nations speed up carbon emission reductions, and poorer countries who say that they should not have the funding to do that.
Under the terms of the Paris Agreement, signed ten years ago, developed nations have been given the responsibility of delivering that finance due to their disproportionate contribution to carbon emissions. So far, nonetheless, the wealthier nations have largely offered only loans.
Evans Njewa, from Malawi, who chairs the Least Developed Countries Group on the summit, said: “Last 12 months, wealthy countries told us a recent era of climate finance was starting. Yet after a 12 months of devastating climate impacts which have destroyed livelihoods, deepened food insecurity, and left Least Developed Countries with staggering bills, we at the moment are told the wallets are empty. We didn’t start this fireplace, but we’re being handed the bill. The wealthy countries’ bill. It’s time to pay it.”
Albin HillertMembers of the Laudato Sí movement unfurl a “Blue River of Hope” as tens of hundreds gather in downtown Belém, Brazil, for a People’s March for Climate Justice, held in reference to the UN climate summit COP30
Observers of the talks suggest that finance — each to fund the energy transition but additionally to support vulnerable countries to adapt to the results of climate change — is the important thing to unlock progress.
Among them is a Tearfund ambassador, Laura Anderson, who said: “As COP30 enters its final days, the pressure is on wealthy governments to pledge and deliver the financial support so desperately needed by communities to adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis. These communities have to be at the center of any agreements because the conference reaches its conclusion.”
Mr Minniecon, who was given the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in 2022, said that the words of John 3.16 summed up why he continued to advocate for motion to stop the climate crisis. “For God so loved the world. That means all of creation — the people, the cosmos, the lands, the oceans,” he said. “This is what Jesus gave his life for. That’s why that is so essential.”
Joe Ware is senior climate journalist at Christian Aid.
