Climate change and CAFOD – your questions answered

Why does climate change matter? What have we achieved? What next? Here are the answers to your top climate change questions.

Why is climate change an issue for CAFOD - what does it have to do with poverty?

We’re campaigning on climate change because of its impact on the world’s poorest people.

Our partners in Africa , Asia and Latin America tell us they are experiencing extreme weather and unexpected changes in climate. People face increased poverty: losing crops and homes in floods or droughts, or experiencing conflict over scarce water and resources.

Governments have agreed that a rise in global temperature of more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (currently we are at 0.8 degrees) could have impacts that are impossible to manage. At present we are on track for a rise of around 4 degrees, which is likely to lead to more frequent and intense extreme weather.

We can already see the effects of global warming. Permafrost thaws, glacier melt, increased drought and rising sea levels are putting pressure on people’s ability to make a living and feed themselves. People have always had to adapt to variations in climate, but these rapid changes will stretch their ability to cope to the limit.

The people who will suffer most and who have the fewest resources to cope, are the ones who have done least to cause the problem. It’s simply not fair.

Climate change could undo decades of progress in tackling poverty. We cannot stand by and let this happen.

But is climate change really caused by human beings?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the world’s most authoritative body on climate science. Along with 98 per cent of climate scientists, the IPCC is clear that dangerous climate change is occurring due to high levels of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, in particular from burning fossil fuels.

The planet's climate has always been in flux thanks to "natural" factors such as changes in volcanic activity, or cycles relating to the Earth's orbit around the sun. But research shows that the warming recorded so far is much greater than that previously experienced and matches a pattern expected from increasing levels of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, not from natural forces.

More detailed answers and information >>

climate fact

Man-made climate change results in two million premature deaths worldwide every year and threatens water and food security - especially among the ‘bottom three billion’.

(Pontifical Academy of Sciences, May 2011).

So what does CAFOD want to do about this? Isn’t it too late to make a difference?

It’s not too late if we act now, and act together. We’re not alone. We’re part of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition in the UK and a huge global movement calling for climate justice.

We have all benefited as countries like our own have used fossil fuels to industrialise. So we want the UK to provide its fair share of funding to help poorer countries - not only to protect people from the impacts of climate change impacts, but also to develop in a greener, more sustainable way.

We’re making progress. Industrialised countries have already promised $100 billion each year by 2020 for climate action in poorer countries. Ways of finding this money, such as a levy on international transportation (which will encourage further emissions cuts) and a small tax on financial transactions, are being discussed. Now it's time for governments to take action.

This year, over 13,000 of us added our names to the Don’t drop the ball campaign in the lead-up to climate talks in Durban, calling for our government to champion the setting up of a new Green Climate Fund. Find out more here>>

It’s not just about money to help the most vulnerable people adapt to a changing climate. According to the science, we in the industralised world must cut emissions by at least 40 per cent above 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 80 per cent by 2050 if we are to stop dangerous global warming. While all countries need to play their part, countries like our own must lead the way.

I think I’ve heard that before – isn’t that what you were calling for at Copenhagen in 2009, Cancun in 2010 and Durban in 2011?

Every year, governments meet under the framework of the UN to agree action on climate change. This is our opportunity to show decision-makers the strength of public feeling for action and the real impact of climate change on the world’s poorest people.

Governments missed an opportunity to forge a global deal on climate change at Copenhagen in 2009.

At Cancun in 2010, leaders agreed that global temperature rise must be kept below 2 degrees, and promised extra money to help vulnerable communities cope with climate change. In Durban, steps were made towards a legally binding deal bringing in all countries and to setting up a Green Climate Fund. Find out more>>

This is not nearly enough to deal with the scale of the problem. We need to hold our leaders to their promises and urge them to go further, faster to cut emissions.

We must continue to call on our government to take a lead at international meetings and to carry out the emissions cuts promised at home.

climate fact

Up to 30 million people in [Asia] have been displaced by environmental and weather-related disasters and tens of millions are likely to be displaced in future by the effects of climate change.

(Asian Development Bank)

What makes you think the government will listen to us?

Well, they have before. Thanks to people power, the UK has some of the strongest targets in the world on cutting carbon emissions. In 2008, as part of Stop Climate Chaos, you spoke out and we succeeded in strengthening the Climate Change Act to make it a legal duty for the UK to cut our emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

Through writing to MPs , sending postcards and demonstrating, we help keep climate change on the political agenda. And this helps our policy staff as they lobby decision-makers out of the media spotlight.

Okay, so this is important, but can we afford this scale of action during a recession?

To tackle climate change we need to radically reduce demand for fossil fuel for power and transport by using energy more efficiently and significantly investing in renewable energy. Yes, it will cost money. But what are the costs of inaction?

The Stern review on the economics of climate change argues that it could cost 1 per cent of global GDP to stabilise the climate over coming decades. Sounds a lot? Even putting aside the human cost, compare that to a loss of 5-20 per cent of global output if we fail to tackle climate change.

If we cut our consumption of dirty energy, we could bring about a society that values and respects the natural world and helps develop new green technology and green jobs.

For the sake of our children, and our neighbours around the world, we can’t afford not to act.

But what about all the other things that cause poverty? HIV and AIDS, lack of clean water, conflict, I could go on....

Just because we’re campaigning on climate change doesn’t mean ignoring everything else. We are working on the ground on the issues that matter to some of the world’s poorest communities . We also campaign on aid, business and on issues that affect specific countries.

Tackling climate change is an essential part of the work that CAFOD does. Climate change is becoming the greatest threat to poor communities who already juggle a range of threats, including famine, drought and natural disasters. Coping with the impact of a changing climate throws another ball into the mix – one which threatens to overwhelm them completely.

What does campaigning on climate change have to do with being Catholic?

You support CAFOD because you care about people living in poverty. You want everyone to have the opportunity to live life to full and to provide for themselves and their families. Right?

Climate change risks pushing people deeper into poverty, the people who are least able to cope. Doing what we can to stop climate change is all part of caring for our neighbours. It’s an expression of faith.

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences in May 2011 reminds us that “failure to mitigate climate change will violate our duty to the vulnerable of the Earth ... [which] includes the duty to help vulnerable communities adapt to changes that cannot be mitigated”.

Want to join the campaign?

Find new campaign actions and updates here .