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Emma our Step into the Gap volunteer reflects on her experience at COP26 |
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This November I travelled to Glasgow to be part of CAFOD’s mobilisation at COP26 with 36 other young people.
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This COP has been incredibly significant not only because it was based in the UK so the whole world was looking to us, but also because it was the first COP to be held since the pandemic and laid the path for how we return to normality. CAFOD’s presence at COP represented the communities that CAFOD work with who are most effected by climate change. It gave a voice to those who could not be there to ensure that people were kept at the heart of the decisions made at COP.
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During our time in Glasgow we were part of a Faiths Together 24-hour prayer vigil that was broadcast online. This gave a platform to those who had been affected by climate change, to share their stories and for us to hear about their unique cultures and experiences of climate change |
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One of the favourite parts of my time at COP was talking to indigenous people as part of International Inuit Day. They shared their culture and experiences with us and reminded us of the importance of protecting our world as ‘we live directly with and within the environment.’ They also highlighted the problem of businesses seeing nature as a product to buy or sell. A price cannot be put on rivers and forests. To indigenous people the land is their home and their whole way of life. We were urged to raise the voice of indigenous communities to ensure their knowledge and experience is shared. Only through cooperation and collaboration will governments have the best knowledge, information and resources to protect our planet.
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It is widely believed this COP is the last hope to save our planet from global warming and from talking to other people at COP I realised that we are already too late for some. People’s live, homes and jobs have already been drastically affected by climate change and for those people we are too late. We need decisive, coordinated action now in order to prevent other lives being affected. |
November 6th was the Global Day of Action where over 250 marches were coordinated across the world. In Glasgow over 250,000 people took to the streets to make their voices heard and to show that people are united in their desire to see action on climate change. CAFOD was joined by our sister organisations SCIAF and CIDSE as well as other faith organisations to answer Pope Francis’ call to protect our common home. Despite the rainy weather there was a wonderful atmosphere of unity and hope as people along the streets joined us and shouted encouragement.
I am excited to be back and to share my experiences of COP. The unity I felt and the desire for us all to protect our common home filled me with hope of a cleaner future. I hope to be able to inspire other people, especially young people, to be part of the change needed to protect our planet.
