Paris, Paris- COP21, a personal reflection and review

Paris, Paris- COP 21, a personal reflection and review A Special JRI Briefing (13 December 2015) By Dr. Martin J. Hodson (JRI Operations Manager) Introduction The COP211 climate change meeting in Paris has now ended. It ended in a historic agreement, but there is so much information out there that it is difficult to assess it all. What follows is a personal view, and it cannot hope to be comprehensive. I have watched during the long run up to the event, and over the last couple of weeks as things unfolded. In this briefing I will cover the process leading up to the agreement and give an assessment of the final text. Writing for The John Ray Initiative (JRI), I also wanted to report on what Christians have been doing in the last few weeks, and we will look at that in the later sections of this paper. But let us begin with some science. The Scientific Background COP21 took place against a background of increasing scientific certainty that we have a serious problem with climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th assessment reports of 2013 and 20142 had set much of the context, but even since then things have become more definite. We are now moving steadily past an atmospheric concentration of 400 ppm.3 That is largely a psychological barrier, but it is an important milestone. We are currently seeing increases of about 2 ppm every year and we cannot keep doing that. Most authorities suggest that 2014 was the warmest year in the instrumental record.4 It is extremely likely that 2015 will be warmer still.5 We are now about 1oC above the pre-industrial temperature, halfway to the 2oC by 2100 target which was agreed at the Copenhagen climate change meeting (COP15) in 2009. Two degrees is often seen as the safe level of warming above which we have real problems, but many scientists would prefer a 1.5oC target, although whether that is feasible is open to discussion.6 We only have to think a little about what a 1oC rise is already meaning for many poor people in the world- what will happen at double that?? In the middle of the Paris negotiations, Storm Desmond hit the United Kingdom bringing with it record rainfall, much flooding and damage to property. Campaigners were quick to associate the storm with climate change, and to suggest that we might see more such 1 events in the future.7 Of course it is always difficult to associate single events with climate change, but Desmond fits with a pattern of events from around the world. Certainly Storm Desmond gave some context to the Paris negotiations for those in the UK. The Sceptics It follo s fro the a o e that the pause or hiatus in warming, much loved by climate sceptics in the last few years, seems increasingly unlikely to hold.8 In fact, at least in Europe, li ate s epti is see s o the retreat. There has ee o repeat of the Cli ategate episode that we saw at the time of COP15 in Copenhagen.9 Most sceptics now seem to have admitted that there has been warming in the last century and that this is likely to continue. They now appear to be less concerned with science of climate change, and they concentrate more on economic arguments: it is too expensive to do anything about climate change; and it is not fair on the poor that they should be denied the benefits of fossil fuels. We also see quite a lot on the benefits of higher atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and higher temperatures for plant growth. All these arguments can fairly easily be refuted. Just how much trouble the sceptic lobby is in was well illustrated by a report by Adam Ramsay on their fringe meeting in Paris.10 The one very serious issue we still have with climate scepticism concerns the United States. Sadly, many climate scientists in the States still have to put up with all sorts of harassment.11 Moreover the Republican Party, and particularly their presidential candidates for e t ear s election, are a considerable worry. There is not one that accepts the scientific consensus.12 But the election is still a year off, and for now Obama is in control, despite some attempts by Republicans in Senate and Congress to derail his climate change policy.13 The Process and the Politics To some extent the process leading up to COP21 can be dated back to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. We covered the history of the process up to 2012 in a previous publication, and we will not repeat that material here.14 Rather we will concentrate on the last year. The major emphasis of the COP21 process has been on producing a global, binding agreement to cut carbon emissions. For months ahead of COP21 nations submitted their individual climate action plans, including how much they were intending to cut emissions. These were the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), and they were supposed to be submitted by 1st October 2015.15 In the end 186 nations submitted their plans and their INDCs. All this work was martialled by the tireless Christiana Figueres, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.16 Surely she must be a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize?? But the snag was that when the INDCs from individual countries were added up the figures did not look that good. Using different methodologies scientists came up with different results, but the overall picture was something between a rise of 2.7 and 3.7oC above the pre-industrial temperature by 2100.17 “o that is etter tha usi ess as usual , hi h ight lead to a . oC rise, but the 2 emissions cuts promised before Paris were nowhere near enough to reach the 2 oC target. So COP21 in Paris began with everyone knowing that there would be work to do to reach even 2oC. First up in Paris were the political leaders. President Obama of the United States produced an impassioned speech: "For I believe, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that there is such a thing as being too late. And when it comes to climate change, that hour is almost upon us. But if we act here, if we act now, if we place our own short-term interests behind the air that our young people will breathe, and the food that they will eat, and the water that they will drink, and the hopes and dreams that sustain their lives, then we won't be too late for them."18 Other world leaders also gave positive speeches, setting the tone before the negotiations began.19 President Hollande of the host nation, France, noted that "never have the stakes been so high because this is about the future of the planet, the future of life." Prime Minister Modi of India wanted a "comprehensive, equitable and durable agreement that leads us to restore balance between humanity and nature." What were the main issues at COP21? Obviously we cannot cover everything, but there were a few topics that stood out. The first of these was whether the 2oC target was the right one? Low lying countries saw this as too high, and felt that sea level rise at 2oC might totally wipe them out. They pushed for a 1.5oC target instead. Other states began to rally around this position. The EU formed an alliance with Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific looking for an ambitious deal.20 The U ited “tates later joi ed the High A itio Coalitio . Surprisingly, Canada also backed a 1.5oC target only a few weeks after an election brought in a much more climate-friendly government.21 Some nations, including India, were less enthusiastic about a 1.5oC target. Whether the revised target would even get a mention in the final agreement was in doubt. The e ha e hat is k o as the differe tiatio pro le .22 Back in the days of the K oto Proto ol it as u h learer hat o stituted a de eloped ou tr a d hat as a de elopi g ou tr . But si e the some countries, including Brazil, China and India, have shown rapid development. So which category do they fit now? This is important as it is widely recognised that the more advanced countries should be the ones who rapidly cut emissions and give money to the developing countries for climate adaptation. China and India often argue that the developed West achieved its wealth through burning fossil fuels, and that they should be allowed to do the same. This is all connected with the money problem which we will cover below. By midway through COP21 it was clear that two issues were crucial, trust and money. Coral Davenport, writing in the New York Times, explained this in some detail.23 Essentially the major concern of the developed nations was transparency. They needed to be able to verify that nations were sticking to their agreed targets. As Davenport pointed out China had recently been discovered to be burning 17% more coal than previously thought. So the United States and other developed countries were pushing for some sort of international verification body to check that nations were doing what they said in their climate action plans. Some developing countries stated that they simply did not have the necessary technical ability to do this monitoring, and would need help. Others were concerned that 3 monitoring could be intrusive. The real problem was that if some sort of monitoring system could not be agreed then the deal would be considerably weakened. But money remained perhaps the biggest obstacle. The argument is fairly simple. The developed nations have caused most of the climate change problem, and they should be the ones making the major cuts in emissions. Moreover they should be funding the developing countries to help them adapt to the climate change that has already happened, and that will occur in the future. In addition developing countries want help with renewable sources if they are not to use fossil fuels. Late in COP21, India gave a very firm indication that it would decrease its coal use if finance could be provided to develop renewable sources.24 So there is my take on the COP21 process and some of the politics. The next three sections will look at what has happened around COP21: from a personal viewpoint; within the church; and involving JRI. We will then return to consider the outcome of COP21 and conclude. Our COP21 Our own personal build-up to COP21 took rather a long time! My wife, Margot, and I see our role in education and in producing resources, particularly for Christians. So we spent a lot of 2014 (including a three month sabbatical) working on two publications, both timed to come out i i the ru up to COP . “o our Gro e ooklet The Ethi s of Cli ati 25 “ epti is appeared in February 2015. We had anticipated some opposition, but in the event we only had nice comments. Another sign of the waning of climate scepticism? But I guess for us the real run up to COP21 began at the ‘e o ili g a Wou ded Pla et conference in Coventry in September 2015.26 Margot gave the opening homily, I gave a talk at o e of the strea s, a d e lau hed our ook A Christia Guide to E iro e tal Issues .27 This book only has one chapter devoted to climate change, but the topic spreads into almost all of the other chapters. Climate change affects almost everything. Then from September to November I had a complete whirl of book launches and talks on climate change- some secular and some for Christian audiences. We also had quite a few radio interviews and invitations to write short articles, including (somewhat different) ones on climate scepticism for EthicsDaily.com28 and three pages in the A Rocha UK magazine (November 2015).29 And there were two more which we will cover shortly. As COP21 approached we spent increasing amounts of our our time monitoring the Paris meeting, trying to gather together very diverse sources, and to make sense of it all. The Church Church involvement in environmental issues has been growing in many countries and denominations for some time. It was given a huge boost earlier in 2015 with the publication of Laudato Si by Pope Francis.30 That gave a theological rationale for the care of creation. In the lead up to COP21 pilgrims from around the world converged on the city. Yeb Saño, the 4 Philippi es li ate ha ge egotiator tur ed a ti ist led The People s Pilgri age , hi h culminated in a 930 mile walk from Rome to Paris.31 We particularly followed Pilgrimage2Paris, which was organised by Christian Aid, CAFOD, The Church of England and Tearfund.32 This involved walking 200 miles from London to Paris. About 40 people did the England section and 33 stayed the whole route. Margot s sister-in-law, Elizabeth Perry, was one of those who completed the 200 miles. Pilgrimage2Paris produced a booklet of reflections and prayers which was used daily by the pilgrims and others as we approached COP21.33 I was asked by Tearfund to write a reflection on the theme of water. My reflection (Saturday 21st November) was entitled ‘ai i its “easo , ased o Deuteronomy 11:14 (I also wrote a prayer for the day which is in the picture). It gave Elizabeth quite a surprise when it was read out and reflected on in a huge cathedral-like church at Neufchâtel (France) in the morning before setting off for another day of walking. She wrote to thank me and said the reflection about rain was spookil rele a t ; it rai ed ost da s o the pilgri age! The pilgrims were a hardy bunch, and they made it on time into Paris on Friday 27th November. I se t the a t eet o ehalf of J‘I Well do e @pilgri s paris o rea hi g Paris. You ha e ee a i spiratio to us all. A d the ere. The Pilgrimage2Paris reflections led on nicely to the A Rocha UK Advent Calendar with podcasts from well-known Christians behind each virtual door.34 Margot was invited to do the podcast on Sunday December 13th, the third Sunday of Advent, just after COP21 finished. Christians descended on Paris for a number of fringe meetings. A Rocha International and the Lausanne Movement collaborated on one with Rev. Dave Bookless, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Bishop Efraim Tendero, and Caroline Pomeroy speaking.35 Bishop Efraim is the Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance, and he posted a reflection on his time at COP21 on the Tearfund Just Policy blog.36 Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Southern Africa was also in Paris for part of the talks and he wrote several blog posts detailing his experiences starting on Friday 27th November.37 Pope Francis was not in Paris, but appealed to COP21 in very stark terms: "We are on the brink. We are on the brink of a suicide, to use a strong word, and I am sure that most of those at the COP have this conscience, and want to do something."38 Around the world prayers were said, vigils held, people fasted, and many Christians joined marches and demonstrations. Probably never before had the issue of climate change had such a high profile in the church. 5 JRI JRI is a small organisation, and we could not take on too much even in the run up to COP21. We saw our role in education, and in the sharing of information. Nowadays much of this is done on the web, and particularly through the social media. Twitter is excellent for the rapid communication of news and ideas and was pretty indispensable during COP21. Many people think of Twitter as something to play with, but used properly it is a very powerful research tool. To give you a flavour of JRI activity on Twitter I have used Storify to aggregate the relevant tweets between 22nd October and 13th December.39 You do not need to be on Twitter to be able to use this page. We also had several pertinent blog posts.40 As already mentioned, I was often speaking somewhere in the weeks before Paris, and my wife, Margot, did a little as well. John Weaver was also active, and this included a BBC Radio Wales broadcast.41 Finally, Paul and Fran Houghton represented JRI at a climate change meeting in Reading on 5th December. But the or al ork of J‘I has o ti ued e e ith COP21 going on. During this period we have also been very busy setti g up e t ear s o fere e: A “ustai a le Future? A serious look at the e “ustai a le De elop e t Goals “aturda th March 2016).42 This year we are pleased to collaborate on this with ForMission College, A Rocha UK and Micah Global. DETAILS That will remind us that there are other issues, besides climate change, that we need to consider if we are going to live sustainably. The Outcome Well it was a day late, but there was a positive outcome from COP21.43 How did those tricky issues we mentioned earlier work out in the final text of the Paris Agreement ? Many sources have already come up with lists of the outcomes to avoid people having to trawl through the dense text of the agreement, but perhaps the clearest I have found so far is that in the New York Times by Sewell Chan.44 It is quite remarkable that when we went into COP15 most people were talking about a 2 oC above pre-industrial levels target, but now we have a 1.5oC target. Or at least 1.5oC is in the mix. The final text suggests that the target should e ell elo oC a d that we should "pursue efforts to limit" the rise even more to meet a target of 1.5oC. This should be regarded as a major victory for the small island states and their supporters. Many would argue that 1.5oC is not a realistic goal, but psychologically it is hugely important. As this idea was being put forward during the negotiations Carbon Brief asked Myles Allen, professor of geosystem science at University of Oxford, for his view.45 Allen's conclusion was that it was "not out of the question." On differentiation it seems that those wishing to reassess the developing / developed nature of countries have had some success. Whilst it is recognised that the developed countries (sensu 1992) will bear most of the responsibility for emissions cuts and finance, the statement also indicates that over time all countries will be involved. 6 One problem that we knew about before COP21 was that the best that was on the table from the individual country action plans and INDCs was something like a 2.7 oC global rise by 2100. The hope is that as renewable technologies gain ground, governments will see that it is possible to cut emissions faster in the near future. So the agree e t has a ratcheting mechanism uilt i to it. Countries will be invited to submit revised INDCs for 2020, and then every five years. So many more meetings ahead! The United States seems to have won the battle over verification, and it looks likely that there will be a single accounting system and an outside verifying body. The details of this have yet to be worked out. It does seem that the much talked-about figure of $100 billion in climate-related financing by 2020 is still on the table, and that more would be made available after that. Predictably there are already many people saying that COP21 is a weak agreement or too little, too late . But maybe this misses the point. Geoffrey Lean, the veteran environmental journalist, was in Paris as Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister who was President of COP21, brought the gavel down to complete the deal. Lean reported: The signs of agreement were visible on the floor in an hour long wait before Fabius reached the podium. The US Secretary of State and Xie Zhenhua, the lead Chinese negotiator, greeted each other warmly and Xie gave a thumbs up to the EU climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete. Once the agreement was made, the hall erupted with emotion, with people weeping freely, hugging and exchanging kisses. 46 Could it be that the spirit of the agreement was more important than what was written in it? Certainly there were many there in the negotiating teams for whom COP21 was more than just a job. It was their life s work, and they will not stop there when they get home. So maybe we should put aside pessimism and cynicism for a while, and join with these good people in their pursuit of a better world. The Future COP21 has had a cast of many characters: scientists, politicians, civil servants, business people, members of NGOs, journalists, protestors, pilgrims, pastors, members of all faiths and none. It was always going to be a staging post along the way to a sustainable future. All of the agreements made at COP21 still have to be implemented on the ground. Christiana Figueres has always argued that governments can only do so much to tackle climate change, and that big business will also need to be involved. There are already encouraging signs that this is happening.47 Keith Weed, chief marketing and communications officer of Unilever, said: "Some people ask me, how can you have a business case for low carbon? I say how can you have a business plan for wrecking the planet." Meanwhile mayors from towns and cities are also rising to the challenge.48 As we sa a o e e eed a rat heti g e ha is to get us do elo a .7oC rise. We can ALL be part of that mechanism. We have seen that the church has had a major presence at COP21. Now is the time for our churches to step up their activities. January 2016 sees the launch of Eco Church by A Rocha UK.49 If you are in England or Wales and have read this far I 7 encourage you to seriously consider getting your church onto this scheme. It is time to move forward! Now the not such good news. The COP21 document has been drafted in such a way that it will not have to be reviewed by the United States Senate which is dominated by Republicans who would undoubtedly reject it. The biggest danger, to my mind, is the possibility that a Republican president might be elected next year in the United States. If that happens they will almost ertai l egi to u ra el O a a s li ate ha ge poli ies, and then the whole COP21 agreement could be endangered. I a ot a er politi al perso , or ge erall a o e issue perso , or so e od ho likes to eddle i the politi s of other ou tries, ut the election next year is very important for us all. Prayer is needed on this issue. But for now let us rejoice in what has been achieved at COP21. I will end with Pope Francis from Laudato Si: Let us si g as e go. Ma our struggles a d our o er for this planet never take away the joy of our hope. 50 Biography Dr Martin J. Hodson is Operations Manager for The John Ray Initiative (JRI). He is a plant scientist and environmental biologist who speaks and writes widely on environmental issues. Martin teaches at both universities in Oxford. His recent publications include: Cherishing the Earth (2008, with Margot Hodson); Climate Change, Faith and Rural Communities (2011, with Margot Hodson); Functional Biology of Plants (2012, with John Bryant); The Ethics of Climatic Scepticism (2015, with Margot Hodson); and A Christian Guide to Environmental Issues (2015, with Margot Hodson). 1 COP21 is short for the 21st meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 2 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th assessment https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/ (accessed 7 December 2015) 3 The website http://co2now.org/ (accessed 7 December 2015) gives the October 2015 concentration as 398.29ppm. 4 NASA, NOAA Find 2014 Warmest Year in Modern Record. NASA 16 January 2015. https://www.nasa.gov/press/2015/january/nasa-determines-2014-warmest-year-in-modern-record (accessed 7 December 2015) 5 ScienceDaily: 2015 likely to be warmest on record, 2011-2015 warmest five year period. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151125233741.htm (accessed 7 December 2015) 6 Carbon Brief (2015) Scientists discuss the 1.5C limit to global temperature rise. (10 December 2015) http://www.carbonbrief.org/scientists-discuss-the-1-5c-limit-to-global-temperature-rise (accessed 10 December 2015) 7 Meikle, J. (2015) Environmental campaigners say Storm Desmond is a sign of things to come. The Guardian (6 December 2015) http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/06/environmental-campaigners-saystorm-desmond-is-a-sign-of-things-to-come (accessed 7 December 2015) 8 Abraham, J. (2015) Study drives a si th ail i to the glo al ar i g pause th. The Guardia November 2015) http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-percent/2015/nov/24/study-drives-a-sixth-nail-in-the-global-warming-pause-myth (accessed 7 December 2015) 8 9 Wikipedia (2015) Climatic Research Unit email controversy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatic_Research_Unit_email_controversy (accessed 7 December 2015) 10 Ramsay, A. (2015) Climate deniers agree their key messages for journalists (with a journalist in the room). Open Democracy UK (3 December 2015) https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/adam-ramsay/climate-skepticsagree-their-key-messages-for-journalists-with-journalist-in-room (accessed 7 December 2015) 11 Bagley, K. & Sadasivam, N. (2015) Climate Denial's Ugly Side: Hate Mail to Scientists. Inside Climate News. (11 December 2015) http://insideclimatenews.org/news/11122015/climate-change-global-warming-denialugly-side-scientists-hate-mail-hayhoe-mann (accessed 13 December 2015) 12 Chait J. Ho ‘epu li a Thought Poli e E for e Cli ate-Science Denial. Daily Intelligencer (1 December 2015) http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/12/how-gop-thought-police-enforce-sciencedenial.html (accessed 7 December 2015) 13 Barron-Lopez, L. (2015) GOP Threatens To Disrupt Obama's Climate Agenda At Paris Summit. HuffPost Politics. (25 November 2015) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-obama-climatesummit_5654d95ae4b0d4093a599b89 (accessed 7 December 2015) 14 Hodson, M.J. & Hodson, M.R. (2013) Climate Justice: contemporary developments in science, policy, action and theology. In Carnival Kingdom - biblical justice for global communities. Eds. M. Hoek, J. Ingleby, C. Kingston-Smith, & A. Kingston-Smith. 125-143. Wide Margin Publishers, Gloucester. http://www.hodsons.org/MartinHodson/CarnivalKingdom-7.pdf (accessed 9 December 2015) 15 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2015) Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) http://unfccc.int/focus/indc_portal/items/8766.php (accessed 9 December 2015) 16 Tollefson, J. (2015) UN climate chief on her plans to save the world. Nature News. (9 December 2015) http://www.nature.com/news/un-climate-chief-on-her-plans-to-save-the-world1.18978?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews (accessed 9 December 2015) 17 Levin, K. & Fransen, T. (2015) INSIDER: Why Are INDC Studies Reaching Different Temperature Estimates? World Resources Institute (9 November 2015) http://www.wri.org/blog/2015/11/insider-why-are-indcstudies-reaching-different-temperature-estimates (accessed 9 December 2015) 18 Remarks by President Obama at the First Session of COP21. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. (30 November 2015) https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/30/remarks-president-obamafirst-session-cop21 (accessed 9 December 2015) 19 Brumfield, B. & Pearson, M. (2015) COP21 climate change summit: 'Never have the stakes been so high' CNN (30 November 2015) http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/30/europe/france-paris-cop21-climate-changeconference/ (accessed 9 December 2015) 20 McGrath, M. (2015) COP21: Hopes rise as EU forms alliance to push for deal. BBC News (8 December 2015) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35040478 (accessed 9 December 2015) 21 Prystupa, M. (2015) Canada shocks COP21 with big new climate goal. National Observer. (7 December 2015) http://www.nationalobserver.com/2015/12/07/news/canada-shocks-cop21-big-new-climate-commitment (accessed 9 December 2015) 22 Ryan, D. (2015) COP21: Delivering on Differentiation. The Climate Group (6 December 2015) http://www.theclimategroup.org/what-we-do/news-and-blogs/cop21-delivering-on-differentiation/ (accessed 9 December 2015) 23 Davenport, C. (2015) Trust and Money at Core of Crucial Paris Talks on Climate Change. The New York Times (6 December 2015) http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/07/world/europe/trust-and-money-at-core-of-crucialparis-talks-on-climate-change.html (accessed 9 December 2015) 24 ‘o , J. I dia s Ne Paris Pledge: We ll Cut Ba k O Coal If We Get Help With Renewables Now. Think Progress, Climate (9 December 2015) http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/07/world/europe/trust-andmoney-at-core-of-crucial-paris-talks-on-climate-change.html (accessed 9 December 2015) 25 Hodson, M.J. & Hodson, M.R. (2015) The Ethics of Climatic Scepticism. Grove Books Limited, Grove Books Limited, Cambridge. http://www.hodsons.org/Scepticism/ (accessed 7 December 2015) 26 Reconciling a Wounded Planet. Conference 18th and 19th September 2015. http://www.reconcilingawoundedplanet.com/ (accessed 7 December 2015) 27 Hodson, M.J. & Hodson, M.R. (2015) A Christian Guide to Environmental Issues. Bible Reading Fellowship, Abingdon. http://www.hodsons.org/ChristianGuide/ (accessed 7 December 2015) 28 We were asked by EthicsDaily.com in the United States to produce two short articles for their readership: Challenging the Climate Change Skeptics: Part 1 (the issues) http://ethicsdaily.com/challenging-the-climatechange-skeptics-part-1-cms-22895 (accessed 7 December 2015) Challenging the Climate Change Skeptics: Part 2 (a Biblical reflection) http://ethicsdaily.com/challenging-theclimate-change-skeptics-part-2-cms-22899 (accessed 7 December 2015) 9 29 Martin and Margot Hodson (2015) Doubt, denial or opposition? Root & Branch Autumn/Winter 2015. pp. 14-15; Margot Hodson (2015) 'I can't believe it'. Root & Branch Autumn/Winter 2015. p. 16. 30 I wrote a roundup of material on Laudato Si at: Hodson, M. (2015) Laudato Si- the Pope's encyclical. http://www.jri.org.uk/news/laudato-si/ (accessed 7 December 2015) 31 Mellino, C. (2015) Yeb Saño Embarks on 930-Mile Walk From Rome to Paris Demanding World Leaders Take Climate Action. EcoWatch (1 October 2015) http://ecowatch.com/2015/10/01/yeb-sano-peoples-pilgrimage/ (accessed 7 December 2015) 32 Pilgrimage2Paris http://pilgrimage2paris.org.uk/ (accessed 8 December 2015) 33 Pilgrimage2Paris. Travelling to Paris: Prayers for Climate Pilgrims. http://www.jri.org.uk/wp/wpcontent/uploads/Reflection-booklet.pdf (accessed 8 December 2015) 34 A Rocha UK. Hope for the World Advent Calendar. http://advent.arocha.org.uk/ (accessed 8 December 2015) 35 A Rocha International. Raise a Voice for the Climate. http://www.arocha.org/en/raise-a-voice-for-theclimate/ (accessed 8 December 2015). For a report see: Kaylor, B. (2015) Evangelicals Meet in Paris, Consider Biblical Call on Climate Change. EthicsDaily.com (9 December 2015) http://ethicsdaily.com/evangelicals-meetin-paris-consider-biblical-call-on-climate-change-cms-23126 (accessed 10 December 2015) 36 Tendero, E. (2015) Faith for the Climate: Hope into Action in Paris and beyond. Tearfund JustPolicy blog (7 December 2015) http://justpolicy.co.uk/2015/12/07/hopeintoaction/ (accessed 8 December 2015) 37 Makgoba, T. (2015) From Paris, Archbishop calls for climate change agreement. (27 November 2015) http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2015/11/from-paris-archbishop-calls-for-climate.html (accessed 8 December 2015) 38 Brumfield & Pearson (2015) Op. cit. 39 Hodson, M. (2015) JRI Twitter Feed concerning COP21. https://storify.com/MartinHodson1/jri-twitter-feedconcerning-cop21 (accessed 10 December 2015) 40 The JRI Blog http://www.jri.org.uk/category/blog/ (accessed 8 December 2015) 41 All Things Considered. Climate Change. BBC Radio Wales. (09:03am 29 Nov 2015) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06qddnq#play (accessed 8 December 2015) 42 A Sustainable Future? A serious look at the new Sustainable Development Goals. Conference (5 March 2016) http://www.jri.org.uk/events/a-sustainable-future-a-serious-look-at-the-new-sustainable-development-goals/ (accessed 8 December 2015) 43 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2015) Adoption of the Paris Agreement. Proposal by the President. FCCC/CP/2015/L.9/Rev.1 (12 December 2015) http://unfccc.int/documentation/documents/advanced_search/items/6911.php?priref=600008831 (accessed 13 December 2015) 44 Chan, S. (2015) Key Points of the Paris Climate Pact. The New York Times (12 December 2015) http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/climate/2015-paris-climate-talks/key-points-of-the-finalparis-climate-draft (accessed 13 December 2015) 45 Allen, M. (2015) Can we hold global temperatures to 1.5C? 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Huffpost Politics (1 December 2015) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mayors-take-on-crucial-roles-fighting-climatechange_5650ae14e4b0d4093a5801de (accessed 11 December 2015) 49 A Rocha UK. Eco Church http://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/ (accessed 11 December 2015) 50 Encyclical Letter Laudato “i of the Hol Father Fra is o Care for our Co o Ho e. ) para 244. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclicalaudato-si.html (accessed 8 December 2015) 10