The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. It is being held in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, between 31 October and 12 November 2021, under the co-presidency of the United Kingdom and Italy. The president of the Conference is Alok Sharma and Minister of State at the Cabinet Office since 2021. COP26 is seen as the most important international climate meeting since 2015, when the world adopted the Paris Agreement to hold global warming to below 1.5°C at best and well below 2°C at the worst. Veronica Brand, a Sister of the Sacred Heart of Mary at the UN is quoted as saying “COP 26 needs to be an inflection point in terms of care of our common home” Read more “Catholic groups outline priorities ahead of Glasgow COP26 climate change summit: from NCR October 22, 2021. See also 5 reasons why Catholics should care about the COP26 climate summit from October 15, 2021. Reason #3 Catholic social teaching is on the table, especially for people living in poverty. Veronica continues “name a principle of Catholic social teaching — from the dignity of every person, to solidarity and workers’ rights — and you will find it relates to the discussions at COP26. With the impact of climate change, we are talking about action on behalf of justice. … We are talking about lives being threatened. We’re talking about livelihoods and the dignity of those who are most marginalized.”

Our position paper on Intergal Ecology calls to be be activety engaged in processess like COP 26. How are you engaging at a personal, community, country level. Have you supported statements calling for action? Are you engaging in social media – Twitter, Facebook or Instgram? Do you plan to find updates from the conference on a daily basis? Every point listed below is applicable to COP 26.

This is the link to the Conference Website which has lots of information.

Earlier in October of this year the Vatican had a meeting entitles ‘Religion and Science towards COP 26. The video contains a reading the agreed document and you can read more HERE

So much of what is put forth echoes deeply with our position paper and I include the action point from the paper on Economic Justice for your consideration also.

Leading on from this I want to bring your attention to a ‘Feminist Agenda for People and Planet.’ The Feminist Economic Justice for People & Planet Action Nexus is led by four key partners—who also serve as co-leads for two of the Action Coalitions on economic justice and on climate justice:. The document brings together Economic Justice and Climate Jusitice, focusing on two of the action coalitions coming from Beijing+25 and Generation Equality Forum. The Agenda lays out 6 principles

(i) An economy that shifts from the disproportionate emphasis on being productive economy into a feminist decolonial green new economy
(ii) An economy that puts the primacy of human rights and well-being of the planet over the primacy of growth and GDP
(iii) An economy that promotes an equitable and just global trade order
(iv) An economy that redistributes wealth and resources
(v) An economy that promotes debt justice and a new structure of sovereign debt
(vi) A global economic governance architecture that is democratic

The document can be accessed HERE I invite you to comment in the Comments Box linking what you are reading here with what you are hearing about COP 26 from your country perspctive, in social media and other outlets. When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report was launched in August 2021, the Secretary General of the United Nations said it was a ‘code red for humanity. The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable:  greenhouse‑gas emissions from fossil-fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk.  Global warming is affecting every region on Earth, with many of the changes becoming irreversible. … If we combine forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe.  But, as today’s report makes clear, there is no time for delay and no room for excuses.  I count on Government leaders and all stakeholders to ensure COP26 is a success.’ READ MORE Will your Government work to ensure that COP26 is a success? Reporting from the BBC may give you insights into why Conferences might not be as effective as we would want – indicating that contrary forces are at work!