Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) joins interfaith groups urging U.S. to fulfill its ‘moral responsibility’
by Darla Carter | Presbyterian News Service
The Rev. Christina Cosby of the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness participated in a recent COP29 prayer vigil in front of the U.S. Department of State. She is helping to hold the sign and wearing green. (Contributed photo)
LOUISVILLE — Ahead of an international climate conference later this month in Azerbaijan, the Washington Interfaith Staff Community (WISC) has delivered a letter to the White House asking for the United States to throw its weight behind efforts to curtail global warming.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a member of the group appealing to President Joe Biden in preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference Nov. 11-22 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event, also known as COP29, the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, brings together world powers at a critical juncture in the climate crisis.
“With global temperatures hitting record highs, and extreme weather events affecting people around the globe, COP29 will bring together leaders from governments, business and civil society to advance concrete solutions to the defining issue of our time,” the UN says here.
With that in mind, WISC is asking the U.S. to fulfill its “moral responsibility” to help solve the crisis and “to commit to our fair share of funding to address it,” since the U.S. has great wealth and is one of the top emitters of greenhouse gases.
“As people of faith and conscience from across the United States, we urge you to bring the full power and persuasion of the U.S. government to achieve agreement at COP29 in Azerbaijan to rapidly cut emissions, to keep global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees, and to help broker an ambitious new global goal for international climate finance,” the Oct. 22 letter to the White House states. “We ask you to ensure that the U.S. does our fair share to support developing nations and people on the front lines of extreme climate impacts by scaling up funding, mobilizing investments, and supporting clean technology transfers.”
The letter states that any proposal that fast tracks or expands fossil fuel infrastructure, such as oil pipelines, “moves us further away from reaching our climate goals and harms our beloved communities on the front lines.” It also emphasizes the importance of protecting the vulnerable.
“This year’s Conference of Parties (COP) comes at a critical moment. We are witnessing the tragic effects of climate change play out around the world as climate disasters intensify. It is affecting every community on Earth, but it is the poor and historically disenfranchised who are least responsible for the problem who suffer the most,” the letter states. “These are the very people our faith traditions call us to care for; their lives are of utmost moral concern.”
The Dominican Republic experienced widespread flooding and structural damage from Tropical Storm Laura. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance worked with partner organizations to respond. (Photo by Saturnino Pérez | Christian Reformed Church in the Dominican Republic)
WISC, a network of more than 70 Washington offices of national religious bodies and faith-based organizations encompassing Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Humanist faiths, held a COP29-focused prayer vigil last week in front of the U.S. Department of State. In addition to offering a blessing for U.S. negotiators heading to COP, organizers announced the White House letter as well as a petition embraced by 2,000 supporters calling for bold climate action at COP 29.
“I’m here with all of these religious people, because once again, we’ve got to affirm that this is an emergency, that we know our climate is in a state that only faith and prayer can lead us through,” and that there is wisdom in science, said the Rev. Melanie Mullen, who’s with the Episcopal Church. “We’re going to share a vision of what all of our faith communities hope for — saving this Earth, saving our home, saving the tradition and the life of this planet we love.”
Also in attendance was the Rev. Christina Cosby, representative for domestic issues and environmental justice for the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness and a member of WISC’s Energy and Ecology Working Group that organized the vigil.
“Source of all life, from the tiniest seed to the vastest oceans, we come together from many faith traditions, calling upon our shared hope for justice, peace, and the healing of creation,” Cosby prayed. “We lift up our voices today for the policymakers, those who implement policy, and negotiators from the United States as they prepare to attend the Conference of Parties in Azerbaijan. May they arrive with open hearts and minds, ready to act with courage and integrity.”
Read a blog post on the climate crisis and biodiversity here.
The Office of Public Witness is one of the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
You may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.