UUSC Demands Bold Climate Action at COP27

Contact: Michael Givens, 617-301-4335, mgivens@uusc.org

Cambridge, MA —  A new report released on the eve of COP27 found that the past eight years have been the world’s warmest on record, with sea level rise increasing to dangerously high levels. With the climate crisis reaching new levels of urgency, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) Director of Advocacy, Global Displacement Salote Soqo called for world leaders to take immediate action. The 120 world leaders gathering in Egypt for the 2022 United Nations Conference of Parties (COP27) have the opportunity to make significant changes to save our planet and reduce additional humanitarian crises caused by extreme weather events.

“We can no longer ignore the human cost of the climate crisis. The goal for COP27 is to move from planning to implementation, and world leaders must live up to that mission because time is not on our side. Our future depends on the actions taken at COP27. Now is the time to act swiftly and act boldly,” said Soqo, who will be attending the conference with several UUSC partners.

“COP27 comes when the climate crisis has never been more devastating for people worldwide. Extreme weather and climate-related disasters worsen poverty, hunger, and displacement for vulnerable communities, including UUSC’s partners in the Pacific, the Americas, South Asia, and the Caribbean. These communities deal directly with the disruption and destruction of their homes, livelihoods, and traditional ways of life.”

COP27 aims to build on the Glasgow climate deal created at last year’s summit, as well as 2015’s Paris Agreement.

UUSC joins its partners in calling upon world leaders at COP27 to:

• Act swiftly to address the impacts of the climate crisis and forced displacement by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, addressing loss and damage from climate change, helping communities stay in place and build adaptation strategies, and providing financial support to make these goals possible.
• Ensure the active and meaningful participation of civil society from the Global South, particularly Indigenous peoples, youth, and women, and affirm the Gender Action Plan in all COP27 proceedings.
• Protect the human rights of civil society and their freedom of expression, and ensure that these rights are protected at all times throughout COP27. The United States and other progressive countries should support the Egyptian government in upholding the principles of justice and equity through anti-racist, anti-patriarchal, and anti-colonial practices.

UUSC also endorses the following calls from our partners:

• Kioa Climate Emergency Declaration
• Pacific Islands Climate Action Network
• Loss and Damage Collaboration
• Advisory Group on Climate Change & Human Mobility

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The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) is a human rights and solidarity organization founded as a rescue mission in 1940 during the Holocaust. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and with a membership of more than 35,000 supporters across the United States, UUSC’s programs focus on the issues of climate and disaster justice, migrant justice, and international justice and accountability.