Displaying items by tag: Climate change

Last week we prayed for Africa Climate Week and the first global stocktake that demanded the Global North takes responsibility for its contribution to damage in Africa. There is a need for action that makes climate projects stronger and more effective, from design to implementation. However, what is missing is the importance of ensuring transparency and accountability by non-governmental groups, especially civil society and indigenous communities. Governments and private investors have committed billions of dollars to green initiatives, but up to 35% of climate action funds have been lost to corruption as many countries that receive climate finance have high levels of corruption. With the climate crisis worsening, there is immense pressure to disperse climate funds as quickly as possible, which can lead to decision-makers bypassing rules. Climate projects are often technical, resulting in a lack of accountability. Pray for climate-related investments around the world to reach their intended destination and be used effectively and inclusively. Pray for climate initiatives to have increased transparency. See also

A climate summit in Nairobi has seen dozens of world leaders discuss climate solutions for Africa’s 1.3 billion people affected by climate change. Africa is the fastest-growing continent, and the most vulnerable to climate change. 85% of the worst-hit countries in the climate crisis are African. The Daily Nation newspaper proclaimed this gathering ‘Africa's moment.’ Kenya’s president Ruto came to power with climate change relief and accountability cornerstones of his foreign policy. Addressing the conference, he claimed, ‘Climate change is crimping Africa’s economic growth annually by 5 to 15%, despite Africa accounting for less than 4% of global emissions.’ The intention was for delegates to come to see resource-rich African states as crucial stakeholders in the green economy. Africa’s abundance of natural resources only receives 3% of global energy investments. The summit’s outcome sees nations promising financial solutions to climate-induced food insecurity, finding technical resolutions to food scarcity and storage, and making African markets attractive to investors.

Every year countries pledge to cut their greenhouse gas emissions to curb the impacts of climate change. But still temperatures keep rising. Last month scientists announced that the average rise in global temperatures would likely pass the 1.5C threshold in the next five years. With temperatures rising we will see more heatwaves, wildfires and floods. From 5 to 15 June countries’ leaders are meeting at the Bonn climate conference to discuss, among other things, local communities and indigenous peoples, pre-2020 ambition and implementation, science, and oceans. They will review their pledges as they look ahead to November’s COP28. Even a small increase in average temperatures makes a big difference as the whole distribution of daily temperatures shifts to warmer levels, making hotter days more likely and more extreme. See

The former Archbishop of York, Lord Sentamu, hit out at 'arrogant' Shell after he was prevented from delivering a Christian climate letter to the headquarters of the oil giant on behalf of Christian charities. When Sentamu, now chair of Christian Aid, knocked on the building entrance in central London, he was refused entry. The letter, addressed to Shell’s chief executive, was signed by Green Christian, Christian Climate Action, Tearfund, A Rocha UK, Christian Aid, Cafod, and Operation Noah. It calls on Shell to stop all new fossil fuel exploration and extraction and asks for a meeting to discuss the issue. Lord Sentamu said, ‘Climate change is the greatest insidious, brutal and indiscriminate force of our time. Those suffering the most have done the least to cause it. Continuing to search for new sources of fossil fuels, despite explicit warnings from the International Energy Agency, is an offence against humanity.’

Antarctica’s melting ice sheet could retreat much faster than previously thought. Withdrawing glaciers in Antarctica currently retreat by up to 30 metres a day. But if they sped up, the extra melt water would have big implications for sea-level rises globally. Ice losses from Antarctica caused by climate change have already pushed up the surface of the world's oceans by nearly 1 cm since the 1990s. Researchers have been looking at a great swathe of seafloor which twenty thousand years ago was witness to a massive ice sheet in the process of withdrawal and break-up: the maximum retreat was 600+ metres a day. Their research is recorded in this week's edition of the journal Nature. Scientists look into the geological past to tell us what is possible. Satellite records only cover forty years or so. This geological record has actually happened in the real world, not in a computer model world.

Researchers, including those from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, say that lightning-ignited wildfires produce large emissions of carbon, nitrogen oxides and other gases, playing a key role in the climate crisis. Previous studies already found that the global occurrence of lightning flashes may increase due to global heating over land and in the oceanic region of south-eastern Asia. A warming planet could lead to more ‘hot lightning’ strikes in many parts of the world. Hot lightning bolts are much more likely to spark wildfires and the climate crisis could lead to more wildfire-inducing ‘hot lightning’. Lightning strikes of all kinds could increase by 30% by 2100, researchers say,and a new model suggests major ice sheet collapse will happen before the Paris Climate Agreement temperatures are reached.

Antarctic glaciers may be more sensitive to sea temperature changes than was thought. A  programme put sensors and an underwater robot beneath the Thwaites glacier, one of the worlds fastest-changing glaciers, the size of Britain. If it melted completely, it would raise global sea levels half a metre. The joint survey, part of the largest investigations ever undertaken anywhere on the White Continent , suggests even low amounts of melting can push a glacier further towards vanishing. Thwaites has been nicknamed Doomsday Glacier. From 6 to 20 November 2022, COP27 held high-level and side events, key negotiations, and press conferences, hosting more than a hundred heads of state, over 35,000 participants and numerous pavilions showcasing climate action around the world and across different sectors. Pray that new discoveries around earth science will be a strong wake-up call to all those participants.

Young people across the UK have the opportunity to win funding to help tackle climate change, as part of a ground-breaking initiative from the Woodland Trust. The youth innovation competition offers young people the chance to secure part of a £20,000 prize to support their environmental projects. The competition comes against the backdrop of an alarming Met Office announcement that 2022 was the warmest year in the UK on record, highlighting the desperate need for climate change action. Nine individuals or small groups (aged between 16-25) will win up to £5,000 project funding each, along with mentorship from leading industry experts to deliver projects which directly fight the climate crisis. The projects must fit into three categories: inspire, protect and create.

The United Arab Emirates has appointed Sultan al-Jaber to preside over the next round of climate talks in Dubai. He is CEO of Abu Dhabi’s state-run oil company and oversees its renewable energy efforts. His firm pumps four million barrels of crude daily and hopes to expand to five million, generating more heat-trapping carbon dioxide that the climate negotiations aim to limit. The Emirates’ state-run news agency said this will be a critical year in a critical decade for climate action. It quoted al-Jaber saying that the UAE is approaching COP28 with a strong sense of responsibility and the highest possible level of ambition. ‘We will bring a pragmatic, realistic and solutions-oriented approach that delivers transformative progress for climate and for low-carbon economic growth.’ Al-Jaber said the Emirates had invested over $50bn in renewable energy projects across seventy countries. His nomination drew immediate criticism.

Ailish Campbell, Canada's ambassador to the EU,said its proposed rules to curb deforestation add ‘burdensome’ requirements and will hurt trade between Canada and the EU. The rules aim to limit the trade of products linked to deforestation worldwide. Climate campaigners have called Canada's resistance to the rules shocking. In a letter to the EU, Ms Campbell says Canada supports the objectives of the proposed deforestation regulation, but is greatly concerned that some elements will cause trade barriers for Canadian exporters. She asks for several revisions to the regulation, including providing a delay and a clearer definition for what falls under forest ‘degradation’ - a practice that climate advocates say is widely seen in Canada. In March, over 90 scientists penned an open letter to prime minister Trudeau outlining concerns about the rate of industrial logging in old-growth forests, which they said had ‘unique and irreplaceable ecological values’.