On Tuesday 24 October we held a live Skype conversation Lindsey Fielder Cook, Representative on Climate Change at the Quaker United Nations Office. Lindsey will be attending the COP 23 United Nations climate conference in November 2017.
Lindsey provided us with an update on the issues that will be on the table; the role that the she and the Quaker United Nations Office will be playing; and gave us guidance on what we can do from here in Birmingham.
The key points from the conversation were:
- Governments made ambitious plans to tackle climate change in the 2015 Paris Agreement: COP23 will be about putting this into practice, and we need to make sure governments deliver what they promised.
- Wealthy countries (who have contributed most to climate change in the past need) now need to make an extra effort to cut their own emissions and support developing countries to do the same, in a way that is fair.
- The Quaker United Nations Office will be helping by providing off-the-record dinners where delegates can be honest and find common ground.
- We can help by holding our own government to account; as individuals we can show our credibility by making changes in our personal lives.
This was a join event with Footsteps (Faiths for a Low Carbon Future). There is a more detailed summary of the conversation on the Footsteps site.