Looking with hope towards COP27

The African Climate Dialogues were a series of discussions hosted by African Catholic Church actors ahead of COP27, which takes place in Egypt next month. These high-level dialogues included inputs from people of all faiths and none, including policy makers, experts, church leaders, practitioners and people with lived experience of climate change.

The Dialogues focused on the issues of false solutions, food systems, climate finance, loss & damage and migration.

Today marks the publication of a communique from the Dialogues which summarises the key recommendations from the sessions on each of the five areas discussed. The communique is intended to serve as a list of recommendations and demands for action at COP27 in Egypt. Crucially, these demands have been informed by dialogue between multiple actors from different backgrounds, inspired by Pope Francis’ call for synodality and “journeying together”.

The Dialogues follow a similar process held in Scotland ahead of COP26, the Glasgow Climate Dialogues, which set out the priorities of the Global South for that conference, and which helped secure the Scottish Government’s ground-breaking commitment to Loss & Damage Finance in Glasgow last year.

Ben Wilson, Partner Advocacy Officer at SCIAF, said: “COP27 is just a few weeks away, and whilst the action we need to see at the conference is clear, the precise steps that need to be taken to deliver climate justice are complex.

“The African Climate Dialogues helped lay down a road-map for success at COP27 by looking to the experts, people on the frontlines of climate change, and church teaching to inform what action needs to be taken.“

SCIAF looks forward to working with partners from across the world in securing action on the demands set out in the communique at COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh in November.”

Read and find out more about the Communiqué of the African Climate dialogues.