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The leaders, who drafted a statement last month whileattending the Micah Network Global Consultation on Climate Change in Limuru, Kenya,are urging world leaders to take decisive action to secure an ambitious andfair climate deal this year in Copenhagen,.wherethey will seek to agree on a post-2012 climate agreement that will replace thecurrent Kyotoprotocol.
“Although climate change is affecting us all, it ishaving the hardest impact in the most vulnerable communities around the world,who have done the least to cause it. It is already responsible for 300,000deaths a year and affects 300 million people, mainly in the developing world,”the Christian leaders stated.
“We see the impacts of this in extreme weather eventssuch as floods, droughts, storms and unpredictable rainfall within thecommunities we work with and the effects this is having on food security,access to water, livelihoods and biodiversity. All the indicators point toincreasing frequency and severity of these events and their impacts,” theyadded.
“We cannot ignore their plight – our God calls us tospeak out.”
According to the United Nations Framework Conventionon Climate Change, 2009 is a crucial year in the international effort toaddress climate change.
In December, national government delegations whoagreed to shape an ambitious international response to climate change in 2007will be meeting for the end-of-the-year summit in Copenhagen after several rounds ofnegotiations – the most recent of which, in June, concluded with the completionof the first rough sketch of a new global warming agreement.
U.N. climate delegates will be gathering for the nextround of talks later this month, when the roughly 200-page second draft isexpected to be whittled down to a more manageable size following decisions bypolitical leaders.
According to some scientists, industrialized nationsmust cut emissions by 25 to 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 to preventclimate disasters, such as coastal flooding from rising sea levels, severeweather events, and variations in rainfall and temperatures that will affectagriculture and wipe out species of plants and animals.
Under the current Kyoto Protocol, 37 industrialcountries are required to cut emissions a total 5 percent from 1990 by 2012.The World Wildlife Fund for Nature calculated that the current declarationsfrom wealthy countries amount to a total emissions cut of just 10 percent by2020.
In their recent statement, the Christian leaders whomet in Kenya last month said they especially call on developed countries toagree to cut their emissions by at least 40 percent by 2020 and to urgentlycommit to providing at least $150 billion a year of additional funding to helpdeveloping countries adapt, reduce their emissions, protect their forests anddevelop sustainably.
“As Christian leaders we believe there is a moral,spiritual and economic imperative to tackle climate change,” they explained.
“We accept that we must all take responsibility butcall on you to show leadership to ensure an agreement is reached which cansustain the earth for many generations to come,” they intend to tell worldleaders after gathering more signers by Sept. 15.
The leaders plan to release the statement to the mediain late September ahead of the UN General Assembly on Climate and circulatecopies to key governments involved in the negotiations.
According to the group, the end-of-the-year summitwill be when world leaders face “the true test of global leadership.”
“We call on leaders to work for a strong climate dealthat will keep global temperature increase as far below two degrees as possible– the threshold over which climate change impacts will become overwhelming, andreduce emissions by at least 80% (on 1990 levels) by 2050,” they state.
Leading the effort is the Micah Network, anevangelical group of over 330 Christian relief, development and justice organizationsfrom 81 countries.
