Page 7 - Presbyterian Connection

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SUMMER 2024
Connection 7
PRESBYTERIAN
Global Loss and Damage Fund and the Climate Crisis
Continued from page 6
true whether in a neighbourhood, a city, a continent or in how coun- tries interact on a global scale. The PCC’s Living Faith: A State- ment of Christian Belief reminds us that “justice stands with our neighbours in their struggle for dignity and respect and demands the exercise of power for the com- mon good.” In the PCC’s Confes- sion to God and LGBTQI People, we confess that the church has often perpetuated harmful lies
about LGBTQI+ people, resulting in stigma, prejudice and hatred against them. In this time of rising interpersonal and state-enacted violence, Christians are called to repent and go a new way; to use our power to demonstrate God’s love and desire for all creation to experience healing, wholeness, forgiveness and the fullness of life. May God’s love, Christ’s ex- ample and the Holy Spirit’s move- ment guide us.
By Katharine Sisk, Justice Ministries
The year 2023 was the hottest year on record, with a global tem- perature increase of 1.48 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. This is getting dangerously close to the 1.5 degrees considered by many to be a breaking point for climate damage on a scale we have not yet seen—and already, what we are seeing is significant. The changing climate is impact- ing everyone: humans, other ani- mals, plants, waterways and the Earth itself. When climate-related emergencies—such as increased or more severe droughts, floods, storms and forest fires—strike, how is the cost of the damage and loss covered?
A report by the Canadian Cli- mate Institute projects that the scale of climate-related loss in Canada alone in 2025 will be $25 billion. These are estimates, but they are an important reference to keep in mind as we consider the global costs of loss and damage, especially in countries that have fewer financial resources than Canada. Many of the worst and most deadly impacts of climate change, for example, fall within the Global South.
Over the past several dec- ades, various international cli- mate agreements have commit- ted funds to assist countries in the Global South with what are called mitigation efforts (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation initiatives (intended to build resiliency to the impacts of climate change). What has been missing from these pledges is a recognition that countries are also already facing climate im- pacts that cannot be adequately mitigated or adapted to. Once a certain level of flooding and sea- level rise is reached, for example, the adaptation of building a sea- wall no longer goes far enough; at some point, some communi- ties are likely to be under water or will be so frequently flooded that staying there is no longer possible. How do countries—or regions, or municipalities—deal with those types of situations? At the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) last year, a global loss and damage fund was introduced to help address some of these im- pacts, alongside ongoing much- needed funding efforts for mitiga- tion and adaptation.
Countries in the Global South
The following organizations received funding for their work with LGBTQI+ refugees:
Rainbow Railroad, a global organization based in Canada and the United States that helps at-risk LGBTQI+ people get to safety worldwide through emergency relocation, crisis response, cash assistance and other forms of assistance. rainbowrailroad.org
The Rainbow Refugee Association of Nova Scotia, a grassroots organization based in Halifax, N.S., which has sponsored 32 LGBTQI+ refugees from regions including Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
rainbowrefugeens.com
Capital Rainbow Refuge, an Ottawa-based organization founded in 2010 to support and sponsor LGBTQI+ refugees, helping them to arrive and thrive in Eastern Ontario. capitalrainbow.ca
Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention, which operates a refugee settlement program to assist HIV+ and LGBTQ refugee claimants from Africa and the Caribbean to settle in Canada. blackcap.ca/programs-services/refugee-settlement-program
SPECTRUM: Waterloo Region’s Rainbow Community Space, which provides support and community opportunities for LGBTQI+ newcomers, refugees and immigrants in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., through its monthly Rainbow Newcomers Connect group. ourspectrum.com/services/newcomers
Reaching Out Winnipeg (ROW), a grassroots organization in Winnipeg, Man., that helps refugees who face persecution based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. ROW assists newly sponsored refugees with mental and physical health-care needs and finding suitable accommodation and employment.
reachingoutwinnipeg.org
Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers (EMCN), whose Rainbow Refuge program offers LGBTQI+ refugees culturally relevant, affirming supports in immigration, settlement, employment, mental health, community connection, education and advocacy. newcomercentre.com/program/rainbow-refuge-program
Rainbow Refugee, a Vancouver-based organization that provides support, information and systems navigation in British Columbia for people fleeing persecution based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or HIV status. rainbowrefugee.com
have advocated for years for a loss and damage fund, so the creation of this fund is an im- portant success. But, like past pledges, the fund’s effectiveness is tied to the voluntary participa- tion of countries contributing to it. Countries in the Global North (in- cluding in Western Europe, Can- ada and the United States) have benefitted economically from over a century of unchecked in- dustrial development responsible for a majority of the greenhouse gas emissions driving the climate crisis. These countries, including Canada, have a responsibility to assist lower-income countries in the Global South. To put it another way, countries that have histori- cally contributed the most to the climate crisis have a duty to help, at a level that reflects their re- sponsibility, those that have con- tributed the least to the problem.
Canada’s current pledge of $16 million falls far short of what is needed. The scale of losses in the Global South is estimated to be more than $400 billion (U.S.) per year. Global pledges are ap- proximately only $700 million (U.S.) to date—wildly less than what is needed.
Some people may say “we can’t afford to give more, we have our own issues to take care of.” But this type of thinking doesn’t acknowledge the interconnected- ness of the world. Even “localized” climate impacts can have deeply significant ripple impacts across the globe. Drought can increase the likelihood of armed conflict and all its effects, as groups fight over control of resources; people in
communities devastated by floods or fires may be forced to leave their homes for somewhere safer, increasing human migration; a regional heatwave can impact crops that provide food not just for that region but for elsewhere too, driving the price of food up in areas around the globe. These are only a few examples of our global interconnectedness: even if the worst impacts of climate change aren’t in someone’s spe- cific “backyard,” inevitably it will affect us all. Helping to increase other people’s safety and well- being, and their means to recover from losses, benefits not just the people directly impacted but all the people connected to them in our global web. It is also a way of loving our neighbours.
The choices we make today matter, and we can make a dif- ference. Caring for creation— which God loved and called “very good”—and pursuing justice, in- cluding economic justice, are re- sponsibilities to which Christians are called. Here are some things you can do:
• Learn more about the glob- al loss and damage fund. PWS&D has a webinar on their website at presbyterian. ca/pwsd/about-pwsd/what- we-do/climatejustice.
• Advocate that Canada live up to its responsibilities and increase its commitment to the global loss and damage fund. Template letters can be found on the church’s Social Action Hub advocacy page at presbyterian.ca/resources/ advocacy.