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CAFOD says rich countries must keep promises on climate change


image: Caritas

image: Caritas

As the latest round of United Nations climate talks reach their conclusion, CAFOD says countries have made progress on some aspects of a plan to tackle climate change, but still have significant work to do when they meet again in a year's time.

Nearly 200 countries met in Bonn, Germany, for two weeks of talks on how to implement the Paris climate agreement, which was agreed in 2015 and aims to limit global temperature increases and help countries to deal with the impact of climate change. CAFOD campaigns for action on climate change because it is affecting the poor communities it works with overseas, and pushing people back into poverty in many areas.

CAFOD says progress was made on defining a 'rulebook' for how the agreement will work when it comes into force in 2020, although there are still a lot of decisions to be made at the next round of talks, scheduled to take place in Poland in December 2018. There was dismay at attempts to promote the use of coal by the United States, which President Donald Trump has said will withdraw from the Paris agreement - leaving it the only country in the world outside the accord. Other countries rallied to fill the leadership vacuum left by America, with several countries joining an alliance led by the UK and Canada agreeing to phase out the use of coal for power generation by 2030.

However, CAFOD says despite the positive steps taken in many areas, money remains the real sticking point for achieving the goals of the Paris agreement.

Sally Tyldesley, Climate Analyst at CAFOD, said: "Ultimately, to build the trust needed now to deliver the Paris agreement, developing countries need to feel assured that richer nations that have caused the problem are going to deliver on what they've promised to help poorer countries cope with climate change. There's been a sense this year of developed countries hiding behind negotiations on other issues, such as agricultural policy, to avoid reaching the point where money has to be talked about, but developing countries need to see that richer nations are doing more than just expressing sympathy and empathy and instead are stepping up to their responsibilities on climate action."

The Catholic Church and 18 Catholic development agencies from around the world joined forces at the climate talks to launch a new paper, Climate Action for the Common Good, to encourage governments to respond to the climate challenge in a way that reflects the spirit of Pope Francis's landmark encyclical Laudato Si', which was credited as having a significant impact on the world successfully agreeing the Paris climate deal. The Church wants to remind governments that to tackle climate change massive transformational change is needed in the cultural, economic, social and spiritual aspects of how we live.

Fr. Bruno Marie Duffé, Secretary for the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said of the paper's launch: "We should not underestimate the importance of the moment we are in now. We are in the middle of the river, and we cannot go back. We have to be together, and we have to be strong, even if one state decides to go back. We have had the Paris agreement and now we have to move from the ethical intentions to making the political happen, and to do that we will need a new model of development that is rooted in dialogue and mutual solidarity, and that recognises the talents that each party has to contribute."

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