They also make known their appreciation for COP26 Parties’ call to accelerate the phasing-down of coal.
“Although there was no clear date line set, it must be noted that this was the first time such a commitment has been made since the Paris Agreement," Caritas Zambia officials say, referencing the call to stop the use of coal.
They also express concern about COP26 failure to “deliver climate finance to guarantee justice for the most vulnerable people in the world.”
"The lack of focus on finance for loss and damage of the environment leaves people living in poverty even more vulnerable and without hope. Climate finance needed a much more ambitious push to move the world and countries beyond the commitments that have already been made and to help meet the goal of capping global temperature rise at 1.5C," they say in the statement dated November 18.
They add that the final outcome of the recently concluded COP26 meeting "saw relatively weak language on fossil fuels, calling for ‘efforts towards’ phase-down of unabated coal power, with no mention of oil or gas."
(Story continues below)
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Though COP26 failed to achieve some goals, Caritas Zambia officials say they "draw hope from the fact that COP26 was far more than just the negotiations: it was about movements of people coming together to create change."
"We saw more people speaking up for climate justice than ever before, within and beyond the churches," they say, and pledge to continue the fight for climate justice.
"Our focus is now on enhancing national efforts and COP27 in Africa. We hope that this will be an important opportunity to bring about the real transformation that is deeply needed in Zambia," they say.
COP27 has been scheduled to take place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022.
This story was first published by ACI Africa on 22 November 2021
Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.