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WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the lead up to the COP-17 climate change summit Nov. 28 – Dec. 9 in Durban, South Africa, the head of international humanitarian agency Church World Service has urged President Barack Obama and State Department negotiators to make good on previous U.S. promises on funding environmental defenses.
In a letter to Obama delivered to the President Nov. 17, the Rev. John McCullough, Church World Service Executive Director and CEO, said COP-17 poses “a tremendous opportunity for the U.S. to play a pro-active, positive role” in gaining world agreement for at least one concrete source of climate finance. McCullough also urged that a vehicle for handling those funds, the Green Climate Fund, is “transparent, accountable and environmentally sound” and ensures the participation of affected communities.
McCullough's agency assists communities in regions like the Horn of Africa already struggling with unprecedented droughts, increasingly severe and unpredictable weather patterns.
“Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a bold, welcome move in Copenhagen and promised that developed countries would mobilize $100 billion by 2020 for international climate finance. Developing countries desperately need that money now and in years to come,” McCullough said in the statement.
“America leads, it does not follow,” McCullough said.
Other Agencies Agree Funding Feasible
The relief and development agency head underscored the urgency and feasibility of nailing down a source of revenue, saying, “The Gates Foundation, the UN High Level Advisory Panel on Climate Finance, as well as various respected NGOs have all produced reports detailing the feasibility of specific forms of funding.”
Although to many climate advocates the topic of dealing with greenhouse gas emissions has rolled under the sofa, McCullough said it remains “critical for countries like the U.S. to contribute positively to climate solutions,” despite troubled domestic and global economies.
He urged the Obama Administration not to continue the U.S. strategy of withholding support for a Global Climate Fund until or “unless the U.S. sees action on mitigation commitments by developing nations. This violates the spirit of what was agreed to [at another climate change summit] in Cancun.”
The director said he believed that for the U.S. to “promote and support ways to operationalize the Green Climate Fund” would “demonstrate democratic responsiveness to the needs of those most affected by climate change.”
McCullough told the president, “It is particularly painful to know that the U.S. stood outside the international community in terms of not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and that recent U.S. Administrations – including your own – have made various political calculations that are making it difficult to reach a sufficiently strong, binding agreement on emissions reductions.”
In the current national and international political context, McCullough said the U.S. team could still play a constructive role in Durban by encouraging other developed nations to move forward in finalizing a second Kyoto Protocol commitment period and by encouraging key U.S. allies such as Canada, Japan and Russia to make significant binding commitments.
Not letting the United States off the hook with its own emissions behaviors and lack of commitments, McCullough also told the President, “Another very important way the U.S. can contribute to a successful outcome in Durban is for you personally to commit to meaningful signals around emissions reductions at home.”
Keystone Pipeline Approval: ‘Wrong signal’
McCullough thanked the President for delaying approval of the Keystone XL pipeline “until a more robust environmental review is conducted.
“Approving the expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline sends the wrong message to the world about our national priorities and trajectory of U.S. energy policy. Such a decision would make it even more difficult for the U.S. to do our part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It will make the job of Church World Service as a humanitarian and development organization even more challenging in years to come,” he said.
From the standpoint of a faith-based organization, McCullough, also a United Methodist clergyman, encouraged the President to bold action, saying, “The Book of Esther reminds us that the opportunity to speak prophetically carries personal risk, and that it must be timely for greatest affect. We are in the midst of a defining historical moment that brings together profound issues of economic and environmental justice that will shape the future of the U.S. and the fate of our planet.
“The instructions you give to the U.S. COP-17 negotiating team and how you handle the Keystone XL pipeline permit will be instrumental for the future of our planet.”
Church World Service is a member NGO (non-governmental organization) of the international ACT Alliance of relief and development organizations. ACT Alliance members will attend COP17, host exhibits and present the event, “Can we achieve food security in a world challenged by climate change?”
Church World Service and fellow members of the ACT Alliance are also now rallying signers to a petition aimed at Durban negotiators that is being spearheaded by the African We Have Faith - Act Now for climate justice campaign
Details on Church World Service work in climate-affected regions
Update: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Church World Service was the humanitarian arm of the National Council of Churches. Although previously linked, the two agencies are now separate.
