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Martin Kapenda with Ravi Shankar Prasad, Joint Secretary, Ministry of
Environment, Forest & Climate Change of India at COP24.
I am a church leader who came from Zambia to attend the annual UN Climate
Talks - COP24 - in Katowice, Poland as part of the Renew Our World team. Renew
Our World is a global movement of Christians acting and praying for a fair and
sustainable world for all, with a current focus on climate change. Back home
farmers are constantly faced with challenges of either prolonged dry spells
during the raining season or perennial floods. This is a concerning pattern I
have seen over the past decade. This is not good for farmers and household
food security is under threat. Many farmers in Zambia are living in poverty,
and this is made worse by the impacts of climate change, especially the change
in the predictability of rain patterns which threaten farming. Zambian farmers
are looking for pathways to a future free from the worst impacts of climate
change which threaten their livelihoods. And as a church leader, who takes
God’s concern for the poor and stewardship of His creation very seriously, I
must respond and speak out.
My dream at COP24
I attended this year’s climate talks full of hope that something good would
emerge from the negotiations. I was anxious to see our leaders agree on the
rules for turning the landmark Paris Agreement into a reality and then set
stronger action in motion. Climate change will not wait and leaders need to
take action immediately. Some of the people who live under constant threats of
climate change are not even aware of the international negotiations. However,
they are interested in solutions that will help reduce emissions to limit the
worst impacts, and also help adaptation efforts to lead to improvements in
their wellbeing.
Back in Zambia, I want to be the bearer of good news and assure farmers
experiencing poverty and food insecurity that more help is on the way. With
COP24 we have the opportunity to realise the three main commitments of the
Paris Agreement which will be part of good news to the farmers in Zambia:
-
Holding the increase in the global average temperature to 1.5°C;
-
Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change
and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions
development, in a manner that does not threaten food production; and
-
Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas
emissions and climate-resilient development. We need to see delivery on
the $100bn committed each year by developed countries.
Handover to the head of the delegation from Mozambique and their Ambassador
to the US, Carlos Dos Santos
What farmers in poverty need
This COP will make sense to farmers in Zambia if the world leaders actually
deliver outcomes on climate finance. Zambia and other nations in the majority
South need assurance that developed countries are willing and sincere to
provide detailed quantitative and qualitative public finance in order to
enhance predictability and accountability. When climate finance is predictable
and accountable this will enhance trust and confidence in the post-Paris
Agreements and I am sure this will help the Zambian Government to plan
interventions with certainty and implement plans.
Our generation is at a tipping point of an environmental disaster. Unless new
policies and interventions emerge, which address the current environmental
concerns the next generation will be inheriting a world full of environmental
challenges. Climate change is the most crucial issue facing us today. If world
leaders decide to increase resilience to climate change this will make farmers
in poverty in Zambia feel supported in their quest to grow food sustainably.
Climate actions need to benefit the poor who are hard hit by climate change.
Wise stewards and loving neighbours
In Genesis, we are given a picture of God’s delight in all he had created. We
read of the special role he gave humanity: to work in partnership with
creation and take care of it. God has given us all the glorious abundance of
this earth to nourish and enrich our lives. As we go about our work, as we
love and raise our families – serving the church and our communities in the
work of God’s renewal – we need to reflect the biblical call to be wise
stewards and loving neighbours. We must consider our impact upon the earth
through the lens of our love for God and for people. This flows through to how
we as individuals live and pray, but also how our Governments act.
Our God, creator and sustainer of our lives and the entire creation, we
need your
intervention as we plead on behalf of people living in poverty. Heal our
land so that the people living in poverty and work the land, can reap
plenty.
We do realise that creation is groaning due to our sinful actions and wrong
choices and for that reason we ask for your forgiveness.
We are grateful that you have promised to heal our land once we humble
ourselves, seek your face and turn away from our wicked ways (2 Chron
7:14)
Concluding thoughts
The stakes of moving the Paris Agreement forward are much higher than in the
past. COP 24 took place in the wake of continued droughts in Zambia and/or
floods whenever it rains - making it essential that just climate action is
needed now. There is a need for dramatic policy changes that limit global
temperature rise to the threshold laid out in the Paris Agreement. Back
sliding on the Paris Agreement is not an option and inaction will trap
millions of people into intergenerational poverty.
