Letters: Praying for COP27 to deliver justice on climate crisis

When I first committed my life to Christ as a young teenager – loving God and loving your neighbour – seemed a straightforward way of living – very much a matter of personal faith, personal morality and personal relationship.

Now as I approach my 70th birthday I realise more than ever that following Jesus is a radical call to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God in every aspect of our social, political and economic lives.

I believe that creation care and climate justice are gospel imperatives - the outworking of our love for our Creator God in Christ alongside our love for our global neighbour. How can I sing Psalm 24 on a Sunday in Church –

“This earth belongs to God,

the world, its wealth, and all its people” –

and not care about how climate change is impacting God’s creation.

COP27 – the UN’s annual climate conference that has been taking place this week in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt – is a chance to ensure that climate justice is finally delivered for those who are living on the frontline of the climate crisis.

Extreme weather made more severe and more frequent by rising global temperatures is putting millions of lives at risk; from this summer’s catastrophic floods in Pakistan, which forced more than 30 million people from their homes, to the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in 40 years.

Right now more than 20 million people across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are not getting enough food to eat because the region is currently experiencing it’s fifth failed rainy season in a row.

Hundreds of thousands are already facing famine-like conditions in Somalia alone.

The severe drought has already killed around 9 million livestock – goats, cattle and camels, that not only provide a vital source of food and income to farming and herding families but also supply infants with the milk they need to stave off malnutrition.

Christian Aid Ireland and other international development agencies are doing all they can to help those struggling with the drought – but it’s an uphill battle with no end to the drought in sight.

Despite bearing the brunt of the worst effects of the climate crisis, the continent of Africa is only responsible for less than 4% of historic global emissions.

I believe that wealthy high emitting countries have a moral duty to not only reduce their own emissions to help keep global temperatures in check but to also provide the funding necessary to compensate developing countries for the loss and damage they are experiencing, from the death of their herds to the wipe out of harvests and the destruction of homes.

So that’s what I am praying for during COP27 – I believe it can only be judged a success if true justice is done – God’s justice – with funding for loss and damage given to those countries who need it most.

May we all hear God’s call to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly on this earth that ultimately belongs to him.

Rev Liz Hughes

Retired minster of Whitehouse Presbyterian Church and currently chair of Christian Aid Ireland