Policy and research: Climate and environment

CAFOD's policy and research papers on climate and the environment.

Community solar pump

Communities all over the planet are already experiencing the effects of climate change, from unpredictable and changing weather patterns to extreme weather events. These changes are pushing individuals over the poverty line, destroying ecosystems and livelihoods, forcing migration, and threatening the survival of families and communities.

Those who contributed the least to the problem have been hit the hardest.

Key areas of work

Specifically, CAFOD is calling for:

  • ambitious action to keep warming below 1.5°C, including fully funded policies to ensure the UK is on track for net carbon zero and diplomatic action as COP 26 President to ensure other countries deliver on their climate promises
  • support for the poorest and most climate-vulnerable communities, ensuring that the $100 billion/year climate finance goal for low-income countries is delivered in the forms of grants, not loans
  • an end all support of fossil fuels, at home and overseas, including gas.

Current predictions place the planet on a pathway to around 4°C of warming by the end of the century - well over the 1.5°C limit that the world needs to keep within to prevent climate and planetary catastrophe.

The simple cause of climate change is the historic and current emission of greenhouse gases, primarily from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. This is exacerbated by contributions from sectors such as agriculture, which is a key driver in deforestation and land use change. 

We must end carbon emissions from fossil fuels and other sectors, and countries in the global north must lead the way. Wealthy countries must also support communities to respond to the effects of climate change, through financial and technical support, and face up to our historic responsibilities as the main polluters.

Key documents

  • A parched landscape in Zimbabwe's Binga district.

    Assessing UK international climate finance actions

    This report focuses on the UK’s International Climate Finance (ICF) and examines whether ICF actions are supporting the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) of the Paris Agreement.

  • Solar panels in Africa

    UK support for energy overseas 2010-18

    Since 2016, CAFOD - in collaboration with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) - has analysed UK public support for energy overseas to see if it is aligned with the UK’s climate change and development goals.

  • Solar panels

    CDC support for energy overseas

    Research showing that CDC is investing hundreds of millions of pounds in fossil fuels overseas, undermining its new Climate Change Strategy and the UK’s international leadership on tackling climate change.

  • Cooling towers

    Beyond coal

    The evidence is clear: a lasting solution to poverty requires the world’s wealthiest economies to renounce coal, and we can and must end extreme poverty without the precipitous expansion of new coal power in developing ones.

  • A water pumping station using solar power in Sudan

    Powering past oil and gas

    This paper examines the relationship between oil, gas and poverty, as well as key considerations in supporting energy pathways to transition to low-carbon development.

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