10th October 2021
To: Rt Hon Boris Johnson, Prime Minister; Alok Sharma, President of COP26 Summit; Kwasi Kwarteng, Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Cc: Rt Hon Craig Whittaker, MP for Calderdale
COP26 Summit – making change happen
Dear Ministers,
We are a group of Christians who take to heart what we believe to be God’s command to care for Creation. We have in common that we all worship at St John’s Church, Rastrick, in West Yorkshire.
We have watched as, year by year, fresh evidence emerges of our destructive patterns of consumption. Our church is linked with a diocese in Tanzania and have become keenly aware of how it is the poorest who are being hit the hardest by Climate Change. Hence, we are anxious to ensure that the COP26 summit delivers on its objectives, and we urge you to take actions as we outline below.
- The world needs a clear road map to achieve carbon neutrality. Politicians, business and we, the General Public throughout the world, need to know the targets so we can play our part.
- It is crucial that the $100 billion target to enable developing countries to transition towards carbon-neutral energy, is fully funded. We urge that the UK now sets the best possible lead with a generous contribution to the fund.
- We are aware that many businesses, so-called ‘corporate citizens’ right across the economy, are calling for policies to be agreed that remove the so-called ‘green premium’ that makes decarbonisation uneconomic. We call on the COP26 conference to agree clear policies that make this mandatory. For example, many of the shipping companies are ready to adopt a raft of carbon-reduction measures but needs to know that this won’t ruin their business.
Finally, we shall be praying for you throughout this historic summit. We believe you need the grace of God to achieve agreement between nations. The negotiators will have very different perspectives. Strong national interests will in some cases conflict with those of the world community, and you will need the very best of diplomacy to persuade them.
Our prayer is that the summit will be characterised by a previously unknown spirit of hope and of cooperation and enthusiasm to tackle the monster of Climate Change. Our belief as Christians is that God treasures his creation and has not abandoned humankind in addressing its greatest challenge yet.
We send this with our sincere wishes, in confidence that you will act.
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