Quakers highlight loss and damage at COP27
'The issue of loss and damage made it on the agenda for the COP 27 climate talks at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt after sustained campaigning.'
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) has been working with the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) on a paper on loss and damage for the COP27 climate talks, which started on Sunday. The paper outlines several possible sources of funding for countries affected by climate breakdown. According to Olivia Hanks, climate justice lead for BYM, the paper is intended for negotiators and politicians who are not experts on loss and damage. It will be available in draft form at COP27, with a final version to follow next year.
The issue of loss and damage made it on the agenda for the COP 27 climate talks at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt after sustained campaigning. Ahead of the summit, the Loss and Damage Collaboration published a paper on the costs of delay which highlights the proposals put forward by climate-vulnerable countries over the last thirty years, and the justifications made by wealthy countries for delaying action. The paper was endorsed by twenty-four organisations, including Quakers in Britain, and also notes that ‘in the first six months of 2022 alone, just six major fossil fuel companies made enough in profits to cover the costs of economic losses from extreme weather events in developing countries three times over’.
Outlining the situation as the summit unfolds, Olivia Hanks writes on the BYM website: ‘COP26 ended with drama and then disappointment. The G77 + China group – representing around 85% of the world’s population – put forward a late proposal for a loss and damage finance facility, which was then rejected by the US, the EU and Australia. Instead, we ended up with the “Glasgow Dialogue” on loss and damage finance, a three-year process with no clear promise of an end result.’
As the world moves towards consensus that the issue cannot be ignored, she says, ‘we will increasingly see questions about where the money can be found’.
BYM held an online Meeting for Worship as the summit began on 6 November to hold in the Light people affected by climate breakdown. Quakers will also take part in the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice on 12 November.
Hampshire and Islands Area Meeting has put forward to Meeting for Sufferings a concern that ecocide should become law. Contact David George at utilityfilms@gmail.com for more details.
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