African faith leaders call for action on climate change

Photo Credit: ARC - The Alliance of Religions and Conservation

World leaders must set binding targets for phasing out fossil fuels and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to less than one degree centigrade as a measure of slowing down global warming, African faith leaders have said.

The leaders, meeting under the auspices of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) and the Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA), gathered June 7-8 at the United Nations complex in Nairobi, Kenya. They discussed how climate change will be addressed at the 17th Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting in Durban, South Africa, in November.

“We call on you to refute the myth that action to cut emissions is too expensive, when it is cheaper than the long term costs on inaction,” said the leaders in a statement on June 8, which also issued a wide range of recommendations.

Scientific reports suggest climate change is the greatest threat to humanity ever, according to the leaders, with the world agreed that global warming of 2.5 degrees centigrade to 4 degrees centigrade by 2100 would be catastrophic.

“Progress in negotiations has not matched the scale of the crisis. There appears to be a deadlock between competing political and economic interests. We believe that to break this deadlock, new perspectives are required,” said the leaders, who also called for moral vision for the future of humanity and all life.

Read more at EpiscopalChurch.org.

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