Report for 4 Dec 2012

Inter-religious Coordination Meeting

This meeting focussed on the need to start preparing now for COP 19 meeting in Warsaw, especially building an inter-religious presence based on partnerships with Polish faith and inter-faith organisations and networks as hosts. It was agreed that faiths are diverse and yet there is a clear common purpose to do what is noble and right, to protect nature, to reduce harm, and to act wisely and in line with faith-based scriptures and values. It was agreed a lot of material has already been developed, some of which needs updating (particularly in terms of science input). Examples include the Marrakech COP7 Islamic-Christian Dialogue, the Uppsala Manifesto, and UNEP Earth & Faith publication.

Urgency

It was noted that the situation has moved into a crisis threat to the planet and that faithful people and leaders, institutions and agencies need to think careful about strategy, prepare in advance, work for a common purpose, and have substantive presence and impact in Warsaw.

Get organised early

It was agreed that we are building relationships and trust between us, that this inter-religious coordination has been beneficial. COPs are not the place to start lobbying, they are a time when advocacy and messaging culminates in a cycle - therefore there needs to be a meeting/regional meetings to strengthen faith preparation and contributions to the Warsaw process.

Valeriane Bernard then met with her colleagues from Geneva to design the next steps of their work related to Human Rights and Climate Change. For more information follow this link

Youth activities

A working group on strengthening cooperation between global north and global south youth was formed within YOUNGO. The BK youth representative is Teresa Mungazi. The main role that Teresa is playing is to encourage a value based approach in the functioning of the youth constituency. She has contributed to the formation of the group and has shared some ideas on how to create a more inclusive youth constituency and build a sense of family and togetherness amongst youth from different parts of the world. In the mean time she is working with the African and other global south youth to strategize in on how to make their participation more meaningful and worthwhile at COP.

Momentum for Change 2012

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres and Kelly Rigg, Executive Director of the Global Campaign for Climate Action (GCCA) introduced the Programme of the Lighthouse Activities. In this context, some examples were illustrated, of transformative and scalable public-private partnerships focusing on the urban poor.

Senegal: to protect the coastal areas against further erosion brought on by sea level rise and storm surges
Ahmedabad, India: bus rapid transportation system
Uganda: solar energy
Kenya: clean drinking water system
China: efficient bus and bicycle transportation
Nepal: organic waste compost

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon stressed the need for encouraging these kind of initiatives, as through them, real action is taken into the ground.

The event concluded with a special performance by Ragheb Alama, UNEP Goodwill Ambassador for Climate Change in the Arab Region.