EarthBeat Weekly: Catholic calls, including from pope, for climate finance at COP29

At COP29, Catholic calls—including from pope—for climate finance   EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change November 15, 2024   The main gate of the United Nations climate change conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Catholic officials have expressed hope for change in climate solutions after Cardinal Pietro Parolin read Pope Francis' message to other heads of state. (NCR photo/Doreen Ajiambo)   The United Nations climate change conference, known as COP29, opened this week in Baku, Azerbaijan — a country at the edges of Europe and Asia and where the first oil well was drilled in 1848. For the two weeks of climate negotiations inside the Baku Stadium athletic complex, the name of the game is climate finance. Countries are working to establish a new funding target from developed nations to developing ones to assist the latter's efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate impacts and aid recovery from losses and damages already suffered. It's the first time in 15 years nations will set a new finance target, replacing the prior goal of mobilizing $100 billion annually by 2020, as Doreen Ajiambo, Africa-Middle East correspondent for Global Sisters Report, chronicles from Baku. That goal was reportedly reached in 2022. Some estimates put the money needed to fully fund climate solutions to meet the Paris Agreement temperature limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) between $500 billion and $1 trillion per year. Catholic officials and activists present in Baku are urging wealthy nations, whose economies surged from the use of fossil fuels, to meet their funding obligations. "Our greatest expectation is that a just climate finance commitment will be made by the world's nations to enable this global transition from fossil fuels in a fast and fair way," Lisa Sullivan, senior program officer for integral ecology at the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, told Ajiambo. Read more: Catholics head to COP29 climate summit seeking new finance, end of fossil fuels For Catholics, one of the main priorities is that financing comes as grants and not debt-creating loans. That call also comes from Pope Francis, as Ajiambo reports. In a message delivered  to world leaders at COP29 by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin to world leaders, the pope repeated an appeal from earlier this year that wealthy nations use the upcoming  2025 Jubilee Year "to forgive the debts of countries that will never be able to repay them. "More than a question of generosity, this is a matter of justice," Parolin quoted the pope saying. Read more: Forgive nations' debts in Jubilee Year, Pope Francis urges COP29 climate summit Another priority for Catholics is the finalization of the loss and damage fund, a new financing source to assist countries most vulnerable to climate change in recovery from destruction and cultural losses that have already occurred. Before heading to Baku, Ajiambo was in Chibombo, a town in southern Zambia where she spoke with farmers facing massive crop loss and hunger due to an extreme drought worsened by climate change. Zambia and other African countries see the loss and damage fund as vital. "We still lack clear information on when the money will arrive. We pray that it is released quickly to save the lives of those suffering from the drought," Belvin Mukwanya told Ajiambo. Read more: Reeling from climate disasters, African nations await loss and damage fund Financing of the loss and damage fund should be a subgoal within the new overall climate finance target under negotiation at COP29, argues John Leo Algo, deputy executive director for programs and campaigns of Living Laudato Si' Philippines, in a commentary today. And he says developed nations need to stop employing obstruction and delay tactics and instead support the fund so many vulnerable countries see as vital. In past negotiations, developed countries have pointed out that loss and damage financing was not specifically mentioned in the Paris Agreement nor in its umbrella treaty, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. But the world is not the same as it was when the UNFCCC was created in 1992, Algo says.  "For developed nations to continue these tactics is not only disrespectful to the billions worldwide that are vulnerable to the climate crisis, it also undermines the significance of providing and mobilizing sufficient funding for the fund still at its nascent stage." Read more: Developed countries can't bypass loss and damage in COP29 climate finance goal     What else is new on EarthBeat:   US bishops discuss Laudato Si' for first time in nearly a decade by Brian Roewe Sundays spent in nature and a return of year-round meatless Fridays were a few of the ideas floated Nov. 13 at the U.S. bishops' meeting as ways to mark the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical on ecology. Read more here »   As COP29 begins, some voice concerns over religious freedom in host country Azerbaijan by Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Religion News Service The host country for the annual summit has come under international scrutiny for human rights and religious freedom violations, leading some activists to question why there has not been more pushback from the global climate advocates, including faith organizations. Read more here »   Keep the poor, vulnerable at center of COP 29 climate gathering, say US Catholic leaders by Gina Christian, OSV News The poor and vulnerable must be front and center when it comes to climate change policies, said two leading bishops of the Catholic Church in the U.S. and the head of the U.S. church's international humanitarian agency, in a statement issued ahead of the United Nations' annual gathering on climate concerns.Read more here »   After hurricanes comes the hard part for displaced Floridians by Tom Tracy, OSV News The 2024 hurricane season is nearly over. But many displaced families will continue to bounce from place to place as they grapple with rebuilding their lives after a busy storm season. Read more here »   Eco-theologian Norman Wirzba on finding hope in the midst of crisis by Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service Norman Wirzba was not expecting that his book of essays about hope would land the week before Donald Trump scored a decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. But the Duke theologian who writes about the environment is no stranger to contemplating upheavals, whether climate disasters, war, genocide or the excesses of finance capitalism. Read more here »   Protect fishing from predatory practices, lethal economy, cardinal says by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service Predatory practices and technology for the benefit of the powerful few have disrupted the relationship between human labor and the natural environment, said Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Read more here »   Local group protests cutting tree for Vatican's Christmas by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service A local Italian group launched an online petition urging Pope Francis, the Vatican and others to stop the "fir tree-icide" of cutting down a 200-year-old red pine to decorate St. Peter's Square for Christmas. Read more here » What's happening in other climate news:   Trump taps former New York congressman Lee Zeldin as EPA chief —Maxine Joselow and Mariana Alfaro for the Washington Post Trump picks North Dakota governor to lead Interior —Ben Lefebvre for Politico With ready orders and an energy czar, Trump plots pivot to fossil fuels —Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman for The New York Times Climate advocacy groups say they're ready for Trump 2.0 —Georgina Gustin for Inside Climate News Exxon's chief has a warning for Republicans —Zack Colman for Politico Biden administration throws support behind King Cove road through Izembek wildlife refuge —Alex DeMarban for the Anchorage Daily News A Q&A with Indigenous leader Nemonte Nenquimo, who fought oil drilling in the Amazon — and won —Anita Hofschneider for Grist Final Beat: As mentioned at the top of this week's newsletter, Doreen Ajiambo of Global Sisters Report is in Baku reporting on the COP29 climate conference. She may well be the lone journalist in Baku focused exclusively on covering the conference from the perspective of Catholic officials and activists engaging in the U.N. process. It's a level of coverage you can only find at EarthBeat and National Catholic Reporter. If you value this kind of reporting, consider supporting it by becoming a NCR Forward member. And of course, you can follow all of Ajiambo's on-the-ground reporting on COP29, alongside other articles and commentaries, at the COP29 Azerbaijan feature series page. Thanks for reading EarthBeat.    Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org Instagram: @broewe_ncr     Featured Advertisers   Looking to Hire? Offering Retreats? Selling Books? Place an Ad in NCR's Online Classified Section for Only $75 per Month!   Advertisement