Ahead of the planned 27th Climate Change Conference of Partners (COP27) scheduled for November 6-18 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, the International Cooperation for Development Solidarity (CIDSE) has launched the African Climate Dialogues (ACD) to deliberate on key issues related to the climate crisis.
Inspired by Pope Francis’ call for the ongoing preparations for the Synod on Synodality that is about “journeying together in dialogue”, and his May 2015 Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si’, discussions at the dialogue will be guided by Social Teachings of the Catholic Church.
In a statement, CIDSE- the umbrella organization for Catholic development agencies in Europe and North America- said that the dialogue brings together Church and civil society actors including communities and religious leaders from across the African continent and European organizations.
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CIDSE officials said that the main goal of the dialogues was to discuss African realities, personal experiences and perspectives on key topics related to the climate crisis, adding that it will involve a series of meetings that will focus on “on key topics” during the months of August and September 2022, when expert participants will be invited to share their perspectives, discuss priorities and put forward solutions.
“These participatory dialogues will reflect on climate realities of communities on the ground through the lens of Catholic Social Teachings, as well as climate science, distilling concrete policy outputs for COP27,” officials of the umbrella organization said.
The outcome of the dialogues- which will be composed of inputs from climate realities on the ground, and spiritual and technical reflections directed at governments at the national, regional and international levels- will be shared ahead of and during COP27 through a joint communiqué.
Story was adapted from aciafrica.
