It’s been great to support the Relay to COP26 as it passes through Birmingham this week.
This November, world leaders are meeting in Glasgow for important climate negotiations called COP26. On Friday 11th June, a group led by Young Christian Climate Network (YCCN) began walking from the G7 summit of wealthy nations hosted in Cornwall, in a relay arriving at Glasgow in time for COP26. They want to send a message that it’s time to make decisions which protect people not bank balances, and to decide that no country will go into debt tackling climate change.
The relay highlights the intersection between climate change (an issue we regularly campaign on at the Hub) and our current theme on economic inequality. The walkers have been bringing a boat with them (pictured above) to symbolise that we are all in the same storm, but in different boats.
The four key asks of the relay (aimed at UK leaders at COP26) are:
- Reinstate the aid budget to 0.7% GDP;
- Secure agreement from rich countries to meet and exceed the decade-old commitment of $100bn a year for climate finance;
- Provide finance for climate-induced loss and damage; the costs incurred by climate impacts which cannot be adapted to;
- Push for the debts of the world’s poorest countries to be cancelled so they can better confront the climate crisis and other urgent priorities.
If you’d like to find out more and lobby your MP, there are resources and template letters from Young Christian Climate Network. And to follow & support the relay as it continues to Glasgow, head over to the YCCN website, or follow @YCCNetwork on social media.
And as always, you can pop into the Hub for a chat about these issues, and how to get involved.