Archive: 2021 - Page 2 of 7 - Operation Noah

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland and UK faith groups representing nearly 2,000 local churches announce divestment before UN Climate Conference

Tuesday 26 October 2021: Today, five days before the UN climate conference, COP26, in Glasgow, and four days before the G20 Summit in Rome, 72 faith institutions, including 37 from the UK, announce their divestment from fossil fuels in the largest-ever joint divestment announcement by religious organisations.

The global divestment announcement comes from faith institutions with more than $4.2 billion of combined assets under management in Australia, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, Ukraine, the UK, the United States and Zambia.

Participating institutions include the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland; the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church; the Presbyterian Church of Wales; the Presbyterian Church in Ireland; 15 Catholic dioceses in the UK and Ireland, including the Archdioceses of Glasgow, St Andrews & Edinburgh, Birmingham and Southwark; the Church of England Dioceses of Truro and Sodor & Man; and the Buddhist religious movement Soka Gakkai International – UK. The UK Churches and dioceses involved in this announcement represent nearly 2,000 local churches.

It follows the recent call from Pope Francis and other faith leaders to global governments to address the ‘unprecedented ecological crisis’ ahead of COP26 and calls from an international alliance of grassroots multi-faith activists who have called for an immediate end to all fossil fuel finance. Today’s announcement shows an increasing number of Catholic institutions are responding to the recent Vatican recommendation to divest from fossil fuel companies and invest in climate solutions.

Bishop Bill Nolan, Bishop of Galloway and Lead Bishop on the Environment for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said: ‘The bishops decided that disinvestment would show that the status quo is not acceptable and further, that given the harm that the production and consumption of fossil fuels is causing to the environment and to populations in low income countries, it was not right to profit from investment in these companies. Disinvestment is a sign that justice demands that we must move away from fossil fuels.’

Many UK Churches have fully divested from fossil fuel companies this year, including the Church of Scotland, the Church in Wales and the Baptist Union.

The fossil fuel divestment movement has grown exponentially in recent years. According to a new report published today, more than 1,485 institutions with combined assets of over $39 trillion have made some form of divestment commitment, up from a starting point of $50 billion in 2014. Faith institutions have been at the forefront of the global divestment movement, representing more than 35% of total commitments. Glasgow, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Seattle and Auckland are also announcing their divestment commitments today, joining the C40 Divest / Invest Forum supporting the advancement of divestment of their city and pension funds. 

The International Energy Agency (IEA) stated in its recent Net Zero by 2050 Roadmap that there can be no new coal, oil and gas developments if the world is to limit global warming to below 1.5°C and prevent catastrophic climate impacts. As world leaders prepare to meet at COP26, the UK Government is coming under increasing pressure over plans for the Cambo oil field off the coast of Scotland, supported by oil giant Shell, which would release emissions equivalent to the annual carbon pollution from 18 coal-fired power stations.

Last month, more than 20 Southern African Anglican bishops including the Archbishop of Cape Town, the three bishops of Mozambique and the Bishop of Namibia called for an immediate halt to gas and oil exploration in Africa. They said that ‘a new era of economic colonialism by fossil fuel companies is well underway’ and that ‘Africa’s natural habitats are being destroyed at an alarming rate through the extraction of oil and gas’.

James Buchanan, Bright Now Campaign Manager at Operation Noah, said: ‘As the UK prepares to host COP26, we are delighted that 37 UK faith institutions have decided to divest from fossil fuel companies and join this record global divestment announcement. We call on the UK and global governments to end fossil fuel subsidies and bring an immediate halt to new oil and gas exploration, including the Cambo oil field.’

A full list of the 72 institutions divesting from fossil fuels and quotes from leaders can be found here.

Statements from leaders:

Archbishop Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, said: ‘Our commitment to divestment in fossil fuels is a response both to the cry of the earth and of the poor, taking us one step further towards its consolation. We join many other faith organisations who are making the ethical choice to ‘take care not to support companies that harm human or social ecology… or environmental ecology’, as Pope Francis calls us to do in the Vatican’s manual Journeying Towards Care For Our Common Home. To see so many united in this aim gives me great hope for the future.’

David Palmer, Chief Executive Officer of the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church, said: ‘The pace of change across the oil and gas sector has been inadequate and falls well below the targets set at COP21 in Paris. We hope that COP26 will refresh these targets and we look forward to joining other faith groups in Glasgow next month in calling for immediate action to address the climate emergency.’

Revd Evan Morgan, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Wales, said: ‘Our General Assembly passed a resolution to divest from fossil fuels this year as part of our new green environmental policy as a denomination. We realise time is running out and to safeguard the planet and fulfil our role as stewards of God’s creation, the Church amongst other organisations must act. The time for words, however well meaning, is over and actions now are the order of the day and to be proactive in our response to the challenges of the climate crisis.’

Rt Revd Dr David Bruce, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, said: ‘At its General Assembly on 5 October 2021, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland directed its trustees to employ a new strategy in relation to companies producing fossil fuels or deriving part of their turnover from their use. Specifically this will mean divesting from those companies that derive more than 10% of their turnover from oil and gas extraction and engaging with other companies which are major users of fossil fuels. We believe that our investment policies should be informed by the biblical understanding of creation that leads to a commitment to God’s world and to our global neighbours.’

Robert Harrap, General Director of Soka Gakkai International – UK, said: ‘As a Buddhist organisation based on a philosophy of respect for the dignity of life and the non-duality of the individual and the environment, it is important to us that we invest sustainably and responsibly. Our trustees have decided to divest from fossil fuels because this is a key way to protect our precious planet and the people most at risk from the climate crisis.’

Bishop Luke Pato of Namibia said: ‘We are guardians of the land for the generations to come. Namibia is the driest country south of the Sahara and our ground water is the heritage we leave for our children and grandchildren. We cannot risk drilling operations that pollute precious water sources, abuse indigneous rights and threaten the heritage site of the Okavango Delta.’

Lorna Gold, Chair of Laudato Si’ Movement, said: ‘People of faith are divesting at scale from coal, oil and gas, calling on the G20 in Rome and world leaders at COP26 to finally conclude that there is no future for fossil fuel finance. Fossil fuel divestment is a key part of ensuring a just transition for all, especially communities around the world who have done least to cause the climate crisis.’

Revd Dr Rachel Mash, Environmental Coordinator of Green Anglicans, said: ‘Faced with environmental devastation, pollution of precious water sources and abuse of land rights caused by fossil fuel companies, it is easy for those on the frontline of climate change to feel overwhelmed by the power of these corporations. When we hear that faith communities are taking their money out of these companies, it rekindles hope that we are not alone.’

Revd Fletcher Harper, Executive Director of GreenFaith, said: ‘In the midst of a climate emergency, fossil fuel divestment is a moral imperative. More and more religious groups – Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish as well as Christian – must continue to add their names to the growing list of divestment commitments, and must also lead the way by investing in ensuring access to clean energy for absolutely everyone – particularly the 800 million people who lack electricity.’

ENDS

Contact: Cameron Conant, Operation Noah: communications@operationnoah.org

James Buchanan, Operation Noah: james.buchanan@operationnoah.org

Notes for editors:

1. Operation Noah is a Christian charity working with the Church to inspire action on climate change. It works with all Christian denominations. operationnoah.org

2. Operation Noah’s Bright Now campaign encourages UK Churches to divest from fossil fuels and invest in climate solutions. brightnow.org.uk3. The Vatican recommended divestment from fossil fuel companies in June 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vatican-environment-idUSKBN23P1HI

3. The Vatican recommended divestment from fossil fuel companies in June 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vatican-environment-idUSKBN23P1HI

4. In September, more than 20 Southern African Anglican bishops called for an immediate halt to gas and oil exploration in Africa. https://www.greenanglicans.org/anglican-bishops-call-for-an-immediate-halt-to-gas-and-oil-exploration-in-africa/

5. The International Energy Agency (IEA) stated in its Net Zero by 2050 Roadmap that there can be no new coal, oil and gas developments if the world is to limit global warming to below 1.5°C. https://www.iea.org/news/pathway-to-critical-and-formidable-goal-of-net-zero-emissions-by-2050-is-narrow-but-brings-huge-benefits

6. The Global Divestment Announcement Statement can be found at the bottom of this blog: https://brightnow.org.uk/news/global-divestment-announcement-divest-your-church-cop26/

Shilpita Mathews, an Operation Noah trustee, environmental economist and member of Young Christian Climate Network, will produce daily videos from COP26 in Glasgow that we will share via Operation Noah’s social media channels. Here, Shilpita reflects on being an official UN observer at COP26 and what she hopes to achieve.

I will be going to the United Nations’ climate change conference, COP26, in Glasgow. As an official UNFCCC observer (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), I will be in the blue zone of the conference where key negotiations will take place and where delegates from 197 parties and observer NGOs will also be, including observers from Christian NGOs.

This is a chance to make faith-based voices heard at an historic conference that could ultimately determine whether or not we limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, a goal that will require global emissions to be effectively halved by 2030 and for ‘net-zero’ emissions to be achieved by 2050.

Countries will be making important decisions around adaptation and resilience, loss and damage, and climate financing for developing countries. And numerous organisations, such as YCCN, Tearfund and Christian Aid, are calling on leaders to be much more ambitious in their commitments.

What is the Christian Climate Observers Program?

I have been selected as an observer as part of the Christian Climate Observers Program (CCOP). This programme trains the next generation of climate leaders from a Christian and missional perspective. CCOP is organised by a consortium of organisations, such as the Lausanne Network and A Rocha. At the conference itself, I will be representing the World Evangelical Alliance.

My goals for COP26

Ensuring social and racial justice is at the heart of climate action

I will use this opportunity to call on UK Christian leaders to link climate action with racial and social justice. Most importantly, I want to diversify the conversation on climate justice by calling youth from minority communities to make connections globally and to take climate action locally.

As a trustee for Operation Noah and a member of the Young Christian Climate Network, I am eager to build on the momentum of COP26 as Christian NGOs respond to the call for climate justice. Following CCOP, I hope to speak at churches, write about my experiences for Christian charities and use my learnings from CCOP to drive climate action amongst Christians.

In the words of John Stott, former rector of my home church in London:

“It seems quite inexplicable to me that there are some Christians who claim to love and worship God, to be disciples of Jesus, and yet have no concern for the earth that bears his stamp of ownership. They do not care about the abuse of the earth, and indeed, by their wasteful and over-consumptive lifestyles, they contribute to it.”

Bringing faith leaders and the private sector together

As someone working in the private sector as an economist, I believe that we can work #TogetherForOurPlanet. Business and industry play a key role in financing climate solutions, with private finance accounting for the majority of climate finance in 2018-2019.  Similarly, faith groups represent 80% of the world’s population and play a powerful role in advocating for change, as demonstrated in the leadership of Pope Francis. COP26 is an opportunity to build bridges at a time of crisis.

Business and industry are at the forefront of climate risks, as we found in the Third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, of which I was a contributing author. Similarly, a majority of Christians today live in developing countries, and represent the communities most vulnerable to climate change. I want to understand synergies between the two groups to help enhance climate resilience.

How can you support me

COP26 is bound to be a rewarding but overwhelming experience and I would appreciate your prayers, support and encouragement.

You can follow my COP26 journey in three ways:

CCOP21 newsletter: Please fill out this form to receive daily prayer newsletters from COP26 by the CCOP21 team.

60-second Twitter reflections: While at COP26, I will be posting a 60-second reflection every day. You can follow me on Twitter (@ShilpitaMathews) or via the @OperationNoah handle.

Join ongoing events: There are many ways to support COP26 events in Glasgow, but I would specifically like to invite you to join Young Christian Climate Network in celebrating our 4 month-long Relay to COP26. Join us online or in-person as we give thanks and look ahead.

Thank you!

Finally, thank you for your incredible support in helping me reach 125% of my crowdfunding target to attend COP26! I am so thankful for your generosity and for your encouragement in this journey. 

Shilpita Mathews holds degrees from Cambridge University and the London School of Economics. She is an environmental economist and was a co-author of the Third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment.

Canon Dr Rachel Mash co-authored this powerful resolution, which this month is being put before the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa for endorsement. Rachel is the environmental coordinator for the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and was recently awarded the Cross of St Augustine by the Archbishop of Canterbury for her environmental work across the Anglican Communion.

Africa, our home, is a continent of spectacular beauty and abundance. It still has remnants of its unique and priceless wildlife in areas of great variety, biodiversity, and wonder. The land has deep rooted cultural and traditional significance and 80% of the Continent’s people depend on small scale farmers for their food.

A new era of economic colonialism by fossil fuel companies is well underway. This is supported by self-serving governments. They are enticed by the promise of job creation and finance for ‘development’ while ignoring the harsh reality of the climate crisis, the ravages of which are being felt across the Continent. Biodiversity loss, exacerbated by catastrophic climate change will have dire consequences for all life on this planet and Africa will be severely affected.

Africa’s natural habitats are being destroyed at an alarming rate through the extraction of oil and gas, with many new projects in the pipeline. Known in Nigeria as the curse of “black gold”, fossil fuel extraction is polluting the water and the land. Oil companies are abusing the rights of indigenous and rural people and forcing them off their land. Oil and gas exploration and exploitation are leading to political destabilisation and increased violence.

The choices we make now will determine the future of Africa. We face species extinction, widespread disease, life-threatening temperature extremes, droughts, ecosystem collapse, and rising sea levels, floods, storms, and wildfires, unless there is transformational change by individuals, communities, businesses, institutions, and governments.

Africa is a continent richly blessed with sun and wind. Investment in renewable energy, now the cheapest form of energy worldwide, will create far more jobs and long-term savings. Renewable energy will be generated without the health-damaging pollutants of fossil fuels or global warming that will push the world past a catastrophic 1.5°C increase in temperature. The declining worldwide demand for fossil fuels will also leave Africa with a legacy of stranded assets.

Yet rather than halting fossil fuel extraction, many governments are actively encouraging exploration for oil and gas reserves by foreign companies. This, despite each country’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and their promise to formulate nationally determined contributions (NDC) of climate changing emissions.

Across the continent, foreign companies, supported by African governments, are putting profit before planet:

ReconAfrica, a Canadian oil and gas company, is drilling for oil and gas in the Kavango Basin in north-east Namibia. The company’s 25-year production licence covers over 34,000 square kilometres. Major oil extraction threatens scarce water supplies and is likely to cause widespread ecological destruction to the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It would also disrupt traditional livelihoods and displace indigenous communities.

The Virunga National Park in the DRC is a ‘protected’ UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has a wealth of biodiversity but is threatened with oil exploration. UNESCO has appealed to the DRC government to cancel all oil exploration permits and focus rather on longer term sustainable development opportunities.

The plan to build a heated pipeline that will carry crude oil from western Uganda through Tanzania to the Indian Ocean, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), will damage fragile ecosystems and displace families from their land. The Ugandan and Tanzanian Governments, the French oil company Total, and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) have partnered in this agreement.

Multiple foreign corporations (including Total) have invested in the offshore gas reserves of northern Mozambique. In spite of promises, the vast development has not benefitted local communities. People are losing their ancestral land and culture. Many young men have joined the Al-Shabab insurgency group making brutal attacks. Nearly 900,000 people have been internally displaced due to the violence. The Quirimbas National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, will also be exposed to the impacts of dredging, waste disposal and construction.

As people of faith, we believe we have been given responsibility to care for, protect and preserve Africa’s magnificent creation.

The Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa call for:

• The immediate cessation of fossil fuel exploration across Africa.

• The application of effective climate justice so that countries of Africa, disproportionately affected by climate change, may be enabled to leapfrog the polluting fossil fuel era into the clean renewable energy era.

• An end to bribery and corruption by foreigners and multi-national companies to secure contracts from political leaders, with disastrous consequences for local communities.

• A decisive and determined shift by governments to embrace a transition to a renewable energy future with its enormous job creation potential so that people and planet may breathe and thrive.

• The recognition of Ecocide as a crime in national and international law. Ecocide is causing irreparable damage and destruction to ecosystems and harming the health and wellbeing of species, including humans.

This autumn, Operation Noah are launching a national listening campaign around the Church of England’s fossil fuel investments, and we’re inviting you to join us for one of two online training sessions in October to learn how to lead a discussion in your church, parish or local community with people who might be interested in this issue.

Join us for a free, 1-hour training session on Zoom on either Tuesday 12 October 2021 at 7pm, or on Thursday 14 October 2021 at 7pm, by registering here.

A listening campaign is a series of listening meetings or gatherings where people discuss an issue of mutual concern and ultimately decide what they want to do about it. In this campaign, we’re training leaders to lead discussions with groups of 6-12 people (either in-person or on Zoom) about the Church of England’s fossil fuel investments – not only the national Church’s investments, which total £55 million, but also fossil fuel investments that individual Church of England dioceses still hold.

The purpose of any listening meeting is to hear how people feel about the issue, to share stories about how the issue impacts people’s lives, and to explore what, if anything, people want to do to change the situation.  

Listening meetings help campaigns identify new leaders, empower people to take action on the things that matter to them, and help bring to the surface compelling stories that can be used to speak truth to power.

If you would like to take a look at the resources we’ve developed for this campaign, including a meeting script and PowerPoint presentation on the Church of England’s fossil fuel investments, you can download them below.

Resister now for one of our October training sessions and get involved!

By Bill McGuire

This summer our world has been battered like never before by extreme weather. North America has sweltered in temperatures that peaked at a staggering 54.4C, while an area the size of Lebanon, along with thousands of homes, has been incinerated by wildfires that continue to rage across many states. Temperature records were smashed in Europe, with 48.8°C registered in Sicily and 47.2C in southern Spain as, further north, devastating flash floods took more than 220 lives in Germany and Belgium.

Wildfires have rampaged out of control across Greece and Turkey, while unprecedented rainfall and flooding has left a trail of destruction and loss of life across Turkey, China, Japan, India and parts of the United States. In Siberia, the tundra is in flames, pumping out huge volumes of carbon dioxide. Probably most disturbingly – for the first time ever recorded – rain has fallen on the highest point of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

The truth is that our climate is broken, and this is what it looks like. As the world continues to heat up in response to the 40 billion or so tonnes of carbon dioxide pumped out by human activities every year, things can only get worse.

So far, the average global temperature has climbed around  1.1°C since pre-industrial times, but we are on track to more than double this in the decades to come, unless we take urgent action now. Should the worst-case forecasts come to pass, temperatures could be 4 – 5°C higher by the century’s end, bringing an existential threat to our civilisation.

There is now nowhere to hide from our plight. Well-timed to coincide with the increasingly extreme weather we can see all around us, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has just published its scariest report yet. While the previous five climate assessment reports have been conservative and consensus-based, this latest pulls few punches. In a nutshell, it concludes that the global average temperature rise will breach both the 1.5C and 2C ‘guardrails’, unless there are deep cuts to emissions in coming decades. As this is extremely unlikely, we have to face the fact that we are now committed to dangerous, all-pervasive climate change.

The bottom line, then, is that we are in dire straits. We know that, whatever we do, the world our children will grow old in, and our grandchildren grow up in, will be hotter, increasingly unpredictable, and more dangerous than the one we have become used to. We have a duty, therefore, to do everything in our power to stop the situation getting even worse. This means, more than anything else, stopping the extraction and use of fossil fuels as soon as possible. 

Lloyd’s of London, the world’s biggest insurance market, has announced that it will set a market-wide policy to stop new insurance cover for coal, oil sands and Arctic energy projects in just 16 months time. It will also phase out existing policies for all fossil-fuel related projects by 2030, pulling out of the sector entirely by this date.

This is a major and most welcome decision. No investor is going to risk large amounts of dosh in a project with no insurance cover. But, in terms of climate breakdown, 2030 is a lifetime away. On the basis of current trends, we will have pumped into the atmosphere a further 360 or more billion tonnes by this date, likely pushing the global average temperature rise beyond the 1.5C guardrail.

So, we need to do more now, in particular to cut another fossil fuel corporation lifeline – investment. Without money to develop and exploit further reserves, the industry will wither on the branch and die. In recent years, the movement to disinvest – to starve fossil fuel companies of the oxygen of money – has grown hugely, and institutions controlling more than USD14 trillion have wholly or partly withdrawn funds. But there remain many more institutions with investments in the sector who have failed to do so. One of these is the Church of England. This is wrong.

More than any other institution, the Church should be setting an example for others – Christian or not – to follow. Unfortunately, it still has a long way to go. Currently, the Church of England has committed to disinvesting from fossil fuel companies by the end of 2023, but only if companies are not prepared to align their plans with the 2015 Paris Climate Accord and a zero carbon future. This, however, is simply not good enough. There is absolutely no way a corporation whose product is burnt to produce carbon can ever meet these goals, whatever words they may utter in public.

The height of a climate emergency is not the time for provisos and conditions. The Church of England must act to disinvest from all fossil fuel companies. And it must do so now. Furthermore, individual churches also need to urgently evaluate any links they might have with the fossil fuel sector, and cut them as soon as they can. You can find out more about how to do this by joining Operation Noah’s BrightNow: towards fossil-free churches campaign, and I urge you to do so immediately.

There is simply no time to waste.

Our world stands on the edge of climate catastrophe. We know now that things will be bad, but that doesn’t mean we have to give up. There is still time to limit the consequences of global heating and climate breakdown, but we need to act immediately. Any  failure to do so now will commit our children and their children to life on a deadly hothouse planet sweltering beneath carbon-soaked skies.

Bill McGuire is Professor Emeritus of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at UCL, and was a contributor to the 2012 IPCC SREX report on climate change and extreme events. His novel, SKYSEED – an eco-thriller about climate engineering gone wrong – is published by The Book Guild. 

By Hannah Eves

Just over a week ago, I stepped away from the home working desk, put my walking boots on and with a stomach-churning mixture of trepidation and excitement set off, with the relay flag in hand, to begin walking on the Young Christian Climate Network’s relay pilgrimage to the UN Climate Summit COP26. 

I led the London to Oxford section, walking for seven days, covering just under 80 miles, rambling across the countryside with people from different church traditions and creeds, in the name of climate justice. We stopped in sacred places along the way for hospitality, prayer and encouragement; we slept on church floors, shared a meal at a Quaker meeting house, and were hosted at the traditional pilgrim’s stop of St Alban’s Cathedral.

Our walking kept us grounded, the rhythm of putting a foot in front of another for hours, but we were also grounded in prayer, in fellowship, and in our belief in the urgency of the climate crisis. As I walked out of London, the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was published. The findings which hit the headlines that day were clear and harrowing: with every year of inaction, the hope of staying under 1.5 degrees (over pre-industrial levels) is slipping away and the effects will have a catastrophic impact globally, especially on the most climate-vulnerable countries, which also have the lowest emissions.

This is why we’re walking, because the climate crisis is at its core a justice issue. Our sisters and brothers overseas in climate-vulnerable countries are losing their homes and livelihoods, and we walk in solidarity with them. No country should be forced to go into debt because of climate change, and having COP26 on our doorstep is a unique opportunity for the church to challenge the UK government to take the lead on addressing this injustice.

We believe that fair climate financing is absolutely essential to this, and this is embedded in our four asks to the UK government ahead of COP26. We are asking leaders to, first of all, reinstate the aid budget to pre-Covid levels so that climate-vulnerable countries can tackle the effects of global heating, such as food insecurity, disease burden and displacement of peoples.

Second, to honour, and also double, the commitment made over ten years ago by rich countries to provide $100 billion in climate financing to help vulnerable countries to build resilience to climate change effects, protect their natural spaces, reduce greenhouse gases and move towards Net Zero.

Third, to lead on developing an international mechanism for addressing climate-induced loss and damage. This refers to the effects of climate change, which are inevitable and will continue to cause devastating damage to communities and livelihoods globally. There is currently no agreement on how to help the countries who have done the least to cause these effects.

Finally, we are asking the government to push for debt cancellation so that climate-vulnerable countries have the resources to confront the climate crisis. When climate disasters hit the poorest and most vulnerable countries, the cost of loss, damage and rebuilding often ends up pushing these countries further into debt, which is profoundly unjust. 

This is why we’re walking, in the name of climate justice, and to tell the government that we will not sit by while this injustice goes on. 

Following in the steps of our foremothers and forefathers in the tradition of pilgrimage, we also walk in faith. Pilgrims often end at sacred places, such as on the Camino de Santiago when pilgrims traditionally crawl, in reverence, into the cathedral at Santiago to complete their journey.

Is COP26 a sacred place? There is something that feels powerful and sacred in turning with prayer and hope towards that place, to Glasgow, and to our leaders, with our global sisters and brothers in our hearts.

We have many miles to go before we get to Glasgow and we’re still looking for walkers and volunteers of all ages to support the relay, so go to YCCN’s website to get involved. You can also make a difference by writing to your MP about climate justice; visit yccn.uk/political-engagement to find out more.