United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26) – Posts
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COP26 Advent Reflection
By Dr. Delia Heck Watching the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (known as COP26) meetings unfold it was hard not to become frustrated and disillusioned with world leaders as the final Glasgow Accord emerged. Early promises, statements and positions gave way to the reality of global climate change politics. Efforts to phase out coal
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Only Accountability Can Save Us: Reflections on COP26
By Lola Brown As a young person in the climate movement, I’ve gotten used to pressure. My generation understands that we are the final defense against catastrophic climate disaster, not because the timeline snuck up on the world, but because of the inaction of our elders. This pressure compelled me to participate in COP26 as
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How is COP26 going? Reflection by The Rt. Rev. Dr. Marc Andrus
How is COP26 going? Two answers to this question are readily available (in our dualistic world, is this a surprise?): One: It’s great! Right off the bat, in Week One, big surprises of multi-national pledges were made on forests and on finance, prominently. Countries registered new, more ambitious Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs) and quick models
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At A Breaking Point: A Youth Perspective on Crisis and Hope at COP26
My name is Solveigh Barney (she/her) and I am from the Diocese of North Dakota. I am writing this blog from the position of an official delegate of the Episcopal Presiding Bishop for COP26. I would like to take this time to write about my call to this ministry, what the climate crisis entails from
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Loss and Damage: Why these two words hold the key to a just transition in a warming world
By Dr. Lisa Graumlich Last month I learned that I was assigned to the “loss and damage workstream” as a delegate representing The Episcopal Church at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow. As a scientist who has spent her career studying the impacts of climate change, I thought, “Great
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A Heart for Concerted Action: Reflections Midway through COP26
By the Rev. Canon Martha Kirkpatrick, Canon to the Ordinary, Episcopal Church in Delaware When events converge, I figure the cosmos is speaking to me and I try to listen harder. Something is “going on.” It is Sunday morning, November 7. COP26 began a week ago. As a member of the Presiding Bishop’s Delegation to
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The Crisis of Climate and Racism
By Gabrie’l Atchinson On a snowy morning in 2019, I drove to the southern campus of Erie Community College to teach the environment segment for my section of Introduction to Sociology. We discussed the activism of young environmentalists Greta Thunberg, Autumn Peltier, and Leah Thomas. During my lecture, I pointed out that in a place
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Empty Chairs – Missing Voices at COP26
By the Rev. Melanie Mullen, Director of Reconciliation, Justice, and Creation Care, Episcopal Presiding Bishop’s Office There’s an empty chair in the room at the UN COP Scotland – and it’s not for Elijah. Due to the pandemic, the two-week worldwide gathering for international negotiations crafting global responses to climate change convened in hybrid form.
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COP26 — What to watch for? What to pray for?
By Lisa Graumlich I’m counting the days until November 1st. On that date, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) will convene global leaders to negotiate commitments to address the climate emergency. The sense of urgency is palpable, fueled by the recent scientific assessment revealing the planet’s steep trajectory of global warming. The UN Secretary-General
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Climate Change: Real Consequences for Real People
By Rob Hogg Climate change is not an abstraction. It has real consequences for real people. Over the last two decades, Iowa has suffered multiple unprecedented extreme weather events. On June 13, 2008, an unprecedented flood on the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids pushed river levels more than 10 feet higher than any previous flood,
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Presiding Bishop announces Episcopal Church delegation to United Nations COP26 conference
Following a churchwide call for applications, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has named 24 delegates—selected from among 70 applicants—to represent the presiding bishop’s office at the United Nations 26th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as “COP26.”