Please ask your M.P. to commit to deliver vital funding to communities hit hardest by climate change here and around the world.
Debt relief and innovative financing mechanisms are essential for climate justice
Countries that have done the least to contribute to the climate crisis are also the countries suffering the most. This is particularly the case for Africa, the Caribbean, India and in some parts of South Asia and South America.
Billions are being raised to support the Green Climate Fund to enable countries in these regions to invest in clean power and adapt to protect people from the increasing frequency of droughts and floods. The reality is that this external finance, as vital as it is, will never be enough. Countries must have sufficient financial resources, including domestic resources, to transform their infrastructure to address the growing climate crisis. Unfortunately crippling national debt diverts finance away from transition to low carbon economies and instead keeps countries locked into oil and gas for energy.
Zambia
The United Church of Zambia is a partner church of the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church, through the Wessex Synod. Earlier this year Revd Richard Andrew, President Designate of the Methodist Church in Britain, was able to celebrate the 60 year anniversary of the United Church Zambia. He came away full of admiration for a church that is alive in the Spirit and faithfully serving communities with health, education and community development programmes. He also reported that issues around climate change feature in many conversations. As rain fell during the visit, church members hoped for more rain this year. The last two years have seen droughts plunging many farmers into poverty. This has required aid from the Government and external agencies. Yet, incredibly, this decade Zambia is set to spend four times as much money on debt repayment as it does on climate change.
Christian Aid’s Restore campaign is asking people to speak to their MP to ask the government to force lenders to cancel or renegotiate the debts of low-income countries such as Zambia.
Fund ‘Loss and Damage’ using the ‘polluter pays’ principle
Christian Aid’s campaign also calls on the government to make polluters pay for the climate crisis they have caused. In 2020, churches and church members across the globe called for an international Loss and Damage fund to enable debt burdened countries such as Zambia to repair damage from flooding and other climate disasters. Our efforts worked. The Loss and Damage Fund has been established but so far the funding is a fraction of what is needed.
Innovative financing mechanisms are desperately needed to help people build back and to protect from future extreme weather events. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has called “on all developed economies to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies” and to direct the funds “to countries suffering loss and damage caused by the climate crisis”.
In a briefing on innovating financing mechanisms for Loss and Damage, the Quakers report that the top twenty-five oil and gas companies earned a staggering $205 billion in profits. A portion of such profits could provide an ongoing source of finance to address Loss and Damage.
On 9 July, a mass lobby will ensure that MPs get the message that the climate crisis is a matter of justice. The COP30 climate summit that takes place in Brazil in November will provide governments with a further opportunity to take action. Please join with us and with Christian Aid and write to or visit your MP, and consider Christian Aid’s petition here – https://www.christianaid.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/restore-campaign.