Quakers have made a number of interventions calling for urgent, fair and transformative climate action to transform root causes driving climate change at the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) negotiations.
Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), represented by the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva (QUNO) is the only accredited faith-based observer organisation actively engaged in the negotiations to agree the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, which will be presented this year.
The Sixth Assessment Report has taken over seven years to develop and involves hundreds of scientists and experts worldwide. It collates the most up-to-date climate science to inform governments on what is happening and what they can do about it. The reports have a legal status, and they have been used by citizens across the globe to hold governments to account for insufficient action on climate change.
During the IPCC meeting held 14 – 27 February 2022 the IPCC finalised the second part of the Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Lindsey Fielder Cook, Representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change at QUNO Geneva made 27 interventions on behalf of FWCC before hundreds of country delegates and scientists.
From 21 March – 4 April 2022, government delegations and the IPCC met again virtually to approve the third section of the Sixth Assessment Report Climate Change 2022: Mitigation. Lindsey Fielder Cook, speaking as Friends World Committee for Consultation made 35 oral interventions and 11 written submissions, more than ever before in an IPCC meeting.
The final part of the Sixth Assessment Report is due in October and will summarise these findings for governments meeting for the UN COP27 climate summit in Egypt.
Lindsey Fielder Cook, Representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change at QUNO Geneva commented:
“In our work as the only active and accredited faith-based organisation in the IPCC, Quakers press for sufficient research on, and attention to, urgent, fair and transformative climate action to address root causes driving climate change. These root causes are often very lucrative activities and include the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, industrial and meat-based agriculture, deforestation, and unsustainable economic growth and consumption levels driven by unsustainable and unjust economic systems.”
“As observers, we support the climate scientists in their efforts to maintain the integrity of their scientific findings in the face of political pressure. We prioritise climate justice findings, and aim to protect the inclusion of language on human rights, Indigenous Peoples rights, equity, justice, ecosystem restoration and rights-based approaches to climate action. Our interventions seek to ensure communication of the science findings in the Summary for Policymakers is not weakened; we are there to speak out when we see this happening and to use the influence we can.”
Susanna Mattingly, Sustainability and Communications Manager at Friends World Committee for Consultation said:
“The work which QUNO does on behalf of Friends worldwide at the IPCC highlights the unique access and influence Quakers have in these multilateral negotiations, with interventions leading directly to the strengthening of the messages in the report.”
“Friends worldwide are urgently concerned with the human impacts of the climate crisis. This concern is rooted in the lived experience of our global community, many of whom are living through increasingly frequent extreme weather events, as well as worsening violent conflict.”
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Join FWCC for a webinar conversation with QUNO’s Lindsey Fielder Cook on Friday 29 April 2022 to learn more about the unique access and influence Quakers have in these multilateral negotiations. Register here.