Climate finance: Quakers speak out
Quakers are stepping up calls for fair action on the climate crisis, both at the United Nations and in the UK ahead of the Budget.
Last month, the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) urged governments to provide more climate finance and rethink spending priorities during discussions at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Climate finance helps countries respond to the effects of climate change, from extreme weather and crop failure to rising sea levels.
Many poorer countries are facing the worst impacts despite contributing least to the problem.
QUNO helped organise an official side event at the council and later addressed member states directly.
Lindsey Fielder Cook, QUNO representative for the human impacts of climate change programme, said: “In our multilateral work, we continually witness how support for sufficient climate finance is key to progress.
“Political will to deliver sufficient climate finance in turn builds the political trust so deeply needed to move beyond divisive superpower politics."
QUNO Programme Assistant Sarah Demicoli told the Human Rights Council that growing military spending should be part of the climate finance debate.
She said: “Forests burn, crops die, glaciers collapse, people die in extreme heat, thousands die in war, and military emissions intensify existential global heating."
The intervention reflected long-held Quaker concerns about both climate breakdown and rising levels of military spending.
Make Polluters Pay
Meanwhile, Quakers in Britain joined trade unionists, health workers, faith leaders and campaigners in Parliament Square on 14 October as part of the Make Polluters Pay coalition, calling on the government to keep the windfall tax on oil and gas giants.
The demonstration comes ahead of the Budget, which campaigners say is a chance for ministers to ensure that oil and gas companies contribute more in tax towards the costs of climate damage, adaptation and recovery.
Paul Parker, recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, who addressed the action, said: “This action reflects the message Quakers have been taking to international forums.
“Responding to the climate crisis is not only an environmental challenge but a moral one, raising questions about responsibility, fairness and how resources are shared."