| |  | E-Newsletter No. 89
December 2021
On COP26 | | Five Takeaways from Glasgow by Alberto Parise, MCCJ My COP26 Experience by Liam Dunne, SVD Being Fully Committed by Ida Josefine Haurand, SSpS Keeping 1.5°C Goal Alive by Paul Rahmat, SVD Climate Justice by Alberto Parise, MCCJ Success or Failure? by Alberto Parise, MCCJ Keeping Hope Alive by Alberto Parise, MCCJ Philippines: One Billion Bamboo for Climate Change by Benigno Beltran, SVD Indonesia: Organic Farming and Renewable Energy by Simon Suban Tukan SVD Brazil: Sowing Hope in a Wounded Land by Dario Bossi, MCCJ Ghana: Women and Climate Change by Comfort Arthur CSC
| | | | Five Takeaways from GlasgowFor the first time, VIVAT International participated in the event of a Conference of Parties to the climate agreements (Rio, Kyoto, Paris). It has been a terrific learning experience for the team that represented VIVAT at COP26. The following are five takeaways from this experience in Glasgow.
1. Multilateralism and the need to belong
The dynamics of participation at COP are based on multilateralism. Both Parties and CSOs are called to operate through groupings for obvious reasons (time, elaboration of common positions, practicability of negotiations). read more… |
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| | | My COP26 ExperienceI have to express my gratitude and appreciation to VIVAT International, New York, for the opportunity to represent VI at the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in Oct. & November 2021.
I was pleased to link up with my fellow teammates for the occasion, Bro Alberto Parise (Comboni) and Sr. Ida Haurand SSpS. We were a good team with different levels of expertise. Alberto was experienced in social concerns; Ida was experienced in media productions, and I was there supporting them and learning about everything. read more… |
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| | | Being Fully Committed"May I just say to all delegates I apologize for the way this process has unfolded, and I am deeply sorry." The President of the 26th Climate Change Conference, Alok Sharma, said this sentence at the beginning of his closing statement after the negotiations closed one day after the official end of the COP. If the climate conference President apologizes to the delegates almost in tears, something did not go as he wished as host and co-organizer. At the last minute, agreements were watered down. In particular, efforts to phase out coal worldwide and make payments to countries most affected by climate change were significantly weakened. read more… |
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| | | Keeping 1.5°C Goal AliveThe 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) was held in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31 – November 13, 2021. The UK government hosted the climate conference in partnership with Italy. The climate conference aims to secure global net-zero by mid-century, keep 1.5 degrees within reach, and adapt to protect communities and natural habitats affected by climate change. It also proposes to mobilize at least $100 billion in climate finance per year by 2020 and accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis through collaboration between governments, businesses, and civil society. read more… |
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| | | | Climate JusticeThe big issue that emerged from COP26 in Glasgow is climate justice. It was not explicitly on the table at the start of the work. Still, it was smoldering under the embers of the demands of the states of the geopolitical South for a rebalancing of the funds allocated for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions-priority for the global North-and those for adaptation to the impacts of the climate crisis, the most urgent problem for the countries of the South. For example, Africa risks losing 15% of its GDP by 2030, causing 100 million Africans to fall below the poverty line. read more… |
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| | | Success or Failure?The final agreement of the UN Climate Change Conference left all parties in Glasgow uneasy. The US negotiator, John Kerry, commented that this discomfort is a sign of good negotiation, in which everyone's voice was heard and partially accommodated. In the wake of the conclusions, many questions whether or not COP26 was a failure. There is a consensus that there is still a long way to go. However, some believe there were important breakthroughs: The agreement to review emissions reduction ambitions every year (rather than every five) to accelerate climate action; read more… |
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| | | Keeping Hope AliveThe COP26 in Glasgow begins in an atmosphere of great expectations. Two years have passed since the failure of the Madrid summit that preceded it, characterized by extreme climate phenomena in all parts of the world: unprecedented temperature peaks, devastating droughts and fires, melting ice and permafrost, catastrophic floods, and small island states increasingly threatened by erosion as sea levels rise. There is a deep awareness in the public opinion and pressure on the political class to act immediately and radically to contain the climate crisis. read more… |
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| | | Philippines: One Billion Bamboo for Climate ChangeIn response to Pope Francis' call on Care for our Common Home and aligning with Sustainable Development Goals, the SVD congregation in the Philippines Central Province is committing to plan 100,000 seedlings of Bamboo by 2022. We are looking forward to setting an ambitious goal for planting 1 billion bamboos by 2030, collaborating with the local churches of parishes and dioceses in the Philippines.
Why Bamboo? The first reason is climate change. Bamboo absorbs 35% more carbon dioxide than an ordinary tree. read more… |
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| | | Indonesia: Organic Farming and Renewable EnergyClimate change refers to significant changes in global temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and other measures of climate that occur over several decades or longer. The potential effects of global climate change include more frequent wildfires, longer periods of drought in some regions, and an increase in the number, duration, and intensity of tropical storms. Local effect of Climate Change: In three consecutive years, the East Nusa Tenggara Province in Indonesia and the Manggarai Regency, in particular, experienced natural disasters that caused damage to the earth and all creatures, including humans. read more… |
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| | | Brazil: Sowing Hope in a Wounded LandMining activities have huge impacts on the lives of the local communities and indigenous people in Brazil. I come from a country where mining has caused immeasurable disasters from colonial times to today. We have to take a particular note of the crimes committed by the mining company in 2015 in Mariana. We lost 11 lives and a whole river basin. And in 2019, in Romagino, we lost lives and an entire river basin and its biodiversity.
The largest open-pit iron mine operates in the land where I worked for ten years in the Amazon Region. It is located in the heart of the Amazon Forest. read more… |
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| | | Ghana: Women and Climate Change"By empowering women in our work and partnering with parishes, schools, and the community to live the change we all want to see, we know that our future is bright" (Sr. Comfort Arthur)
In 2009, the Sisters of the Holy Cross co-signed the Family of Holy Cross Statement on Climate Change. In this congregational statement, we state that we aim to foster models of development that care for our environment. And so, years later, when Laudato Si' was released, our passion for addressing climate change was reignited in myself and my other sisters on the Ghana Justice Committee. read more… |
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| | |  |  | | VIVAT Board of Directors
Paulus Budi Kleden SVD, Maria Theresia Hörnemann SSpS, Carlos Ferrada Montero SVD, Guy Mazola SVD, Antonio Neves CSSp, Joseph Shio CSSp, and Gretta Maria Fernandes SSpS Executive Secretary
Gretta Maria Fernandes, SSpS VIVAT Offices
New York: Paul Rahmat SVD, Marides Santos SSpS, and Daniel LeBlanc OMI
Geneva: Andrzej Owca CSSpVIVAT E-Newsletter Editorial Team
Editing: Marides Santos SSpS and Paul Rahmat SVD
English proofreading: Priscilla Burke SSpS
Spanish proofreading: Carlos Ferrada Montero SVD |
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