CAFOD calls for Doha summit to build foundations for fair and effective climate deal

As the UN climate change talks in Doha, Qatar, get underway, aid agency CAFOD is calling on all nations to work towards a global climate deal that puts the needs of the most vulnerable nations first.

As part of the CIDSE and Caritas Internationalis networks, CAFOD is pressing for greater cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, money on the table to support vulnerable communities most affected by climate change, and clear progress on a global climate deal in 2015.

CAFOD director and president of CIDSE, Chris Bain, said:

"In the poorest countries where we work, communities are living with the impact of climate change on a daily basis, and we need urgent action to stop and reverse the damage. The main problem at present is a lack of ambition.

"The new World Bank report shows we are on our way to a temperature rise of four degrees Celsius or more. This is only the latest of a series of alarm bells that all countries must react to.“We need deeper emission cuts and sustainable low-carbon economies to safeguard future generations and to protect the most vulnerable people already suffering increasingly extreme weather.

”In order to pave the way towards a fair, effective and binding deal, CAFOD, CIDSE and Caritas Internationalis are asking all countries to take responsibility for addressing climate change. The world’s developed countries must lead by reducing their emissions significantly, so that global warming can be limited to 1.5 degrees, as vulnerable countries are demanding."

The Kyoto Protocol is currently the only legally-binding global tool to reduce emissions, but many of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters are not part of the treaty or have not signed up to a second commitment period, due to start in January 2013.

Sarah Wykes, CAFOD's lead analyst on climate change, said:

"Superstorm Sandy reminds us of the huge human and financial costs of extreme weather. Poor people are the most affected by climate-related disasters such as droughts, floods, and hurricanes, which have caused over a million deaths since 1980, the majority in the least developed countries. These countries are bearing the brunt of climate change but account for less than 1 per cent of the emissions causing it.

"Governments meeting at Doha must fulfil their promise to put sufficient and reliable money on the table so poor countries can cope with climate change."

In 2009, and again at the climate talks in Durban last year, developed countries committed to provide US$100 billion a year by 2020 for climate action in developing countries. In Durban they also set up a new Green Climate Fund, which CAFOD supported as part of our Don’t Drop the Ball campaign. However, there has been little progress on getting the Fund up and running. While governments, including the UK, have provided finance up to the end of 2012, poor countries are increasingly worried that the funds are drying up.

There are no clear figures from the developed countries on finance for climate action in 2013, or plans for how they will reach the US$100 billion promised by 2020.

Notes to editors

For more information: ppalmer@cafod.org.uk +44 7785 950 585