COP28 position paper: As the climate crisis worsens, COP28 must be a turning point
We outline five key areas in which governments need to deliver at COP28 in Dubai for communities suffering devastating climate impacts.
CAFOD's policy and research papers on climate and the environment.
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.
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.
We outline five key areas in which governments need to deliver at COP28 in Dubai for communities suffering devastating climate impacts.
Ahead of COP28, Pope Francis has written a new message, named Laudate Deum, imploring political leaders to act with greater urgency to tackle the climate crisis.
We outline four priority areas on which governments need to deliver at COP27, and the role that the UK government can play both unilaterally and in the remaining weeks of its COP presidency.
Eradicating global poverty is within reach, but under threat from a changing climate. Left unchecked, climate change will put at risk our ability to lift people out of extreme poverty permanently by 2030, the first target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Climate change is already pushing poor and marginalised communities further into poverty, and continued production and consumption of oil and gas will intensify these impacts, putting the Sustainable Development Goals at risk.
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.
Burning polluting fossil fuels is the main cause of the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, which is hitting the poorest communities hardest. Phasing out investment in fossil fuels and scaling up support for renewable and efficient energy systems to reach 100 per cent by 2050 will be critical for remaining under 1.5°C of global warming.
Our latest research shows 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.
In his message at the summit in the United Arab Emirates, the Pope called on governments to put the global common good ahead of national interests.
The COP28 climate talks have begun with countries agreeing on the first day of the UN summit how a loss and damage fund will operate.
Add your voice to Pope Francis' call for leaders at the UN climate summit to take the action we need to tackle the climate crisis.
The new apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum follows eight years after Laudato Si’, in which Pope Francis called for all people to care for our common home.
Speaking on BBC World News, CAFOD’s Head of Advocacy, Neil Thorns, said “the UK is leaving its international reputation in tatters”.
Shell and BP were presented with mock 'blue plaques' to remind the fossil fuel companies how history will judge their contribution to the climate crisis.
Whether it's people losing crops to cyclones in Bangladesh or homes to floods in Pakistan, we need to stand in solidarity with our global family and tackle the climate crisis.
Poverty and the threat of violence cast a shadow over childhood in Colombia but one woman is training young people to advocate for their communities, work for peace and safeguard the Amazon.
COP27 ended two days later than planned as negotiations continued late into the night.
Cardinal Parolin, the Holy See's Secretary of State, delivered a message on behalf of Pope Francis to COP27 in Egypt.
CAFOD's policy team provides briefings, reports and research on our advocacy and lobbying work, plus materials to support our campaigns.