Pope Francis has announced he will be in Scotland for the COP gathering. COP stands for Conference of the Parties. The United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCCC) has over 200 countries which are Parties to the Convention. The Parties to the Convention meet once a year. This year’s meeting is COP26, and will be in Glasgow.
The UNFCCC, which takes scientific guidance from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has established agreements between the Parties to act on climate change.
The COP meetings assess the effects of the measures taken by the Parties and the progress made in dealing with climate change.
The Parties have made various pledges:
· to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
· to respond to the impacts of climate change through ways of adapting and through helping in climate catastrophes
· for wealthier nations to provide finance and technology to help poor and vulnerable countries to take action.
Many organisations are running campaigns to address COP26. Here are a few. Click on the name to visit the website. Faith Based Organisations (FBO) are recognised by UNFCCC as informal Non-Governmental Organisations, so joining with a FBO will strengthen your demands.
The Climate Coalition ‘Great Big Green Week’
There are several COP26 petitions available to sign, which is an easy way to make your voice heard. Click on them to view and sign: