Faced with a deeply troubling outcome of COP28, what should faith groups who care deeply about climate change and care for God’s earth do next? That's the question posed in her blog for our partner Interfaith Power & Light by Dr Lorna Gold. Her answer? Where governments have failed, faiths must lead the way.
The blog, one of several that she was asked to write after COP28 (including on in French), is posted on IPL's website. Here's a short extract:
After COP28 – Where governments have failed, faiths must now lead
By Dr Lorna Gold, Chief Executive at FaithInvest
Faced with a deeply troubling outcome of COP28, what should faith groups who care deeply about climate change and care for God’s earth do next?
Some may herald the outcome of COP28 in Dubai as a success. The fact that there was an outcome that mentions fossil fuels at all in this oil-rich exporting country, which is part of a block that still intends to ramp up oil and gas exploration, may seem almost miraculous.
It is very important to look below the media headlines – so desperate to hail it a success – to understand that the only success here is for those who wish to delay tackling the root causes of the climate crisis. The greatest losers here, right now, are those whose small islands may not be in existence for much longer due to rising seas in the Pacific.
In a dramatic turn of events, they were even denied their opportunity to object in the final discussions. The chair abruptly closed the talks by banging his gavel before they were even in the room. It has left many shocked and deeply saddened at what lies ahead.
In many ways there is no surprise at the outcome of this COP. With 2000+ oil lobbyists having access, a chair of an oil company at the helm, and deep pre-existing conflicts within the global community feeding into negotiations, the fate of the negotiations was almost sealed from the beginning.
The structure of the negotiations themselves, moreover, almost precludes direct discussion of key sectors that are at the root cause of rising emissions. It means that negotiations can focus on the outcomes (rising emissions, rising temperatures) but not galvanise action on causes (energy systems, food production, etc.).
Read more on IPL's website by clicking below.