News - CIDSE & Caritas Climate Justice Delegation

Church leaders and climate experts urge for leadership and focus on the poor

1 September 2009

CIDSE & Caritas Internationalis, together the largest humanitarian and development alliance in the world fighting poverty in over 200 countries, announce a delegation to the UN High-level Event on Climate Change in New York on 22 September 2009.

Alongside CIDSE and Caritas, Church leaders and climate experts from the developed and developing world will personally ask world leaders to give a new climate deal the highest political priority. We urge them to think about the world’s poorest people, as bold action is needed to protect them from the devastating impacts of climate change.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien from the UK and Head of the delegation to New York said: “Wealthy countries have an unequivocal moral duty to reduce their own emissions and help developing countries who are already suffering the consequences of our profligate use of fossil fuels for economic gain.”

Pope Benedict has frequently urged people to respect their duty to nature. In his recent encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, the Pope urged industrial countries to lower energy consumption and highlighted the need for solidarity and inter-generational justice when facing environmental challenges. He has called for more to be done for the protection of the Creation, encouraging industrialised countries to work together so that the poorest populations are not the ones to bear the heaviest burden for climate change.

YOUR TURN TO ASK 

Schedule an interview with a member of the delegation, or send us your questions to Catholic bishops and climate experts from North and South now. They will answer your questions about the current state of the climate negotiations, the devastating impacts of climate change in developing countries and their experience on the frontline in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Kenya and Nigeria.

For a full list of delegation members including Cardinal Keith O’Brien see online the press pack

PROGRAMME (20-24 September 2009)

• Sunday 20 September, 17.00 - Holy Mass for Climate Justice at the Church of the Holy Family (also known as the United Nations parish) in presence of celebrities. Led by the Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan and concelebrated by the Bishops of our delegation.
• Monday 21 September - CIDSE & Caritas panel discussion 'Reducing vulnerability, Enhancing Resilience'
• Tuesday 22 September, 15.00 - UN Press conference (UN Headquarters, room S226
• CIDSE and Caritas will meet Heads of State and negotiating parties around the High-level event on Climate Change taking place on Tuesday 22 September.

Further details regarding the delegation’s schedule will soon be available. 

CONTACT

Roeland Scholtalbers - scholtalbers@cidse.org – T: +32 (0) 2 282 40 73) (until 18 September 2009) – M: +32 (0) 478962013 (during stay in US, 19-25 September 2009)

More information

• World leaders meet for a High-level Event on Climate Change in New York on the 22nd of September to mobilize the political will needed to "Seal a Deal" at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on 7-18 December 2009
• CIDSE is an international alliance of Catholic development agencies working together for global justice. (www.cidse.org).
• Caritas Internationalis is the biggest network of Catholic charities in the world. It works through its 164 national members to combat poverty and injustice. (www.caritas.org)