COP 29 is the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11 to 22 November 2024. UN Climate Change Conferences (or COPs) take place every year, and are the world’s only multilateral decision-making forum on climate change that brings together almost every country on Earth.
Now it is the time to show that global cooperation is not down for the count. So I urge you all, let us rise together.
UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell
You can read the full opening speech here: Time to Show Global Cooperation Rising to This Moment: UN Climate Change Executive Secretary at COP29 Opening | UNFCCC
You can follow live updates from Christian Aid HERE. or via their website COP – UN Climate Change Conference – Christian Aid
Christian Aid is calling on the UK to back a bold new global deal on climate finance, to commit to contributing our share of the money and to help cancel the debt of low-income countries.
This year the hope is that the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance is due to be agreed. You can find out 
more about this from CAFOD HERE
If you are looking for ways to engage your Church, think about becoming an Eco Church, a scheme run by ARocha. 
Operation Noah who are celebrating their 20th anniversary are calling us all on to ask our MPs to support the Climate and Nature Bill. You can get involved HERE. This would be the first piece of UK legislation to fully address the climate and nature crises in line with the most up-to-date science.
The Joint Public Issues Team (a partnership between the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church) have issued the following statement from 
Revd Philip Brooks, Deputy General Secretary (Mission), United Reformed Church
Revd Helen Cameron, President of the Conference of the Methodist Church
Carolyn Godfrey, Vice-President of the Conference of the Methodist Church
Revd Lynn Green, General Secretary, The Baptist Union of Great Britain
Our Churches are committed to caring for creation and to tackling climate change. We lament the increasing frequency and severity of devastating hurricanes, flooding and droughts, and the impact they are having on people.
Record temperatures and low rainfall have impaired food security, livelihoods, and energy production in many regions of the world. In July 2024, global temperatures reached unprecedented levels.[1]
COP29 is an opportunity for governments to coordinate action to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. They must make pledges with purpose and integrity to avert climate-related suffering for this and future generations.
Developing nations will need resources for adaptation and to gain equitable access to the technology for low-carbon development. This will require new sources of finance. We support the call for debt relief for low-income countries being made by Christian Aid and other agencies.[2]
We join with faith communities across the world in calling for substantial additional funding for the Loss and Damage fund. We support the principle that polluters should pay for loss and damage. We want to see progress at Baku on new taxes and other sources of revenue to resource global action.
In all this, UK leadership is vital. In 2021, COP26 in Glasgow was a significant moment even though the summit failed to gain consensus in some important respects. We urge our government to show leadership again through a renewed commitment to the framework established in Paris in 2015 on reducing emissions.
As church communities in the UK and across the globe we are committed to prayerful action. We need COP29 to deliver concrete actions to support the pledges that have been made already and to secure new commitments for the good of all people and the planet.
Church Leaders’ Statement before COP29 – Joint Public Issues Team
Climate Justice was one of the key themes in the West Midlands Church Leaders statement made earlier this year. This can be found HERE.
Photo by Li-An Lim on Unsplash
