COP 26 is on-going as I write this. Leaders from across the world are taking the microphone to address the Opening Plenary, including Prince Charles, Boris Johnson, Emanuel Macron, Antonio Guterres and Sir David Attenborough. However the person who has made the biggest impression on me so far is the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley.
Her speech called out the lack of leadership in the world and highlighted the fact that with a relatively small amount of money, the Climate Crisis could be addressed in time – what is lacking is the will, the resolve and the ambition.
She noted that when they wish to, the central banks of the wealthiest countries can find the money – 25 trillion dollars of quantitative easing in the past 13 years (9 trillion alone in the last 18 months to address the pandemic), yet the leaders cannot come up with the 500 billion dollars a year for the next 20 years to address the Climate Crisis. They haven’t even managed to meet last year’s pledges to developing countries – of 100 Billion dollars to address climate adaptation.
The cameras panned to the faces of the powerful during her speech – to Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, Justin Trudeau and other European leaders. What I saw on those faces in that split second was shame. They know full well that 80% of carbon emissions come from the activities of the G-20 countries.
She also called out the leaders that were missing – not mentioning any names – but we know who she meant – Where was China? Where was Russia?
The broad message coming from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in their report of August 2021 is that in order to save our planet – we need to keep the increase in temperature below 1.5 degrees Centigrade above pre-industrial levels. 2 degrees Centigrade is a death sentence.
It means: “…stop using coal as soon as possible, stop deforestation and start reforestation and move to a more plant-based diet and definitely cut down the amount of beef we produce. Not only will this reduce our carbon emissions but it will also save millions of lives due to massively improved air quality and diet.”
Churches and congregations (people in general) must take action to spread the word and move the needle if we are to avoid the most serious and irreversible damage to the planet.
We must act now. Code Red! Code Red! There is a clear and present danger. There is no time to lose. For more information go to:
- www.montrealcathedral.ca/social-justice-outreach
- www.anglican.ca/publicwitness/season-of-creation
- www.montreal.anglican.ca/stewardshipoftheenvironment
