Caritas Oceania, represented by Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, will return to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference – COP 23 – to advocate for climate justice in Oceania and globally. Coming just after the launch of Caritas’ State of the Environment Report for Oceania 2017: Turning the Tide, Caritas will be tackling the impact of climate on food and land.
“I am still struck by stories of children in Namosi, Fiji eating baking powder and powered paracetamol to soften cassava after Cyclone Winston,” says Caritas Director Julianne Hickey.
“We should never forget this because this is what our neighbours in the Pacific, and around the world, face when we do not respond to the effects of our changing climate. Climate action needs to be comprehensive, inclusive, and swift to reach the most vulnerable and have the greatest impact.”
Mrs Hickey will be attending COP23 (chaired by Fiji) November 6-17 to share learnings from around Oceania at the Caritas Internationalis session – Climate, Land, Food: virtuous synergies for our common home.
Copies of current and past environmental reports are available online on the Caritas New Zealand Aotearoa website. Click here to see them.
Supplied: Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand