What is the Climate Justice Fund?
The Climate Justice Fund is a new initiative enabling individuals, parishes and dioceses in the UK to support church-based projects around the Anglican Communion helping poor and vulnerable local communities to adapt to the challenges of climate change.
The Climate Justice Fund also encourages Anglicans in the UK to pray for those affected by climate change and to pray and campaign for effective policy and action at national and international levels to counter the threats of climate change.
Why have we launched the Climate Justice Fund?
Climate change affects all of us, but the world’s poor – those who contributed least to the problem and have the least capacity to adapt – are already suffering its devastating impact. Climate change threatens to push many communities still further into poverty.
Leaving the world’s poor to sink or swim with their own meagre resources in the face of the threat posed by climate change is morally unacceptable. That is why at its heart climate change is an issue of justice, and that is why the General Synod agreed in July 2008 to the creation of the Climate Justice Fund.
With important climate change negotiations taking place in Copenhagen in December 2009, the Climate Justice Fund also provides an opportunity for the Church at all levels to press governments to secure a new international climate change deal which is genuinely good news for the world’s poor.
The Climate Justice Fund connects you with Anglican church-based projects overseas that are helping vulnerable people adapt to the challenges of a changing climate to secure a better life now – and for generations to come.
How does this fund differ from offsetting?
Offsetting is helpful as far as it goes, but it doesn’t undo the damage done by carbon pollution. We have launched the Climate Justice Fund following the success of Shrinking the Footprint because mitigation (reducing emissions) and adaptation are two sides of the same coin.
We must continue to take steps to reduce our own carbon footprint, while at the same time helping those in poor communities who most urgently need to find ways of adapting to climate change.
How does the Climate Justice Fund relate to Shrinking the Footprint?
Shrinking the Footprint, the Church of England’s national environmental campaign, was launched in 2006. Shrinking the Footprint sets out a carbon reduction pathway consisting of six steps, to help us reduce the Church’s institutional carbon footprint.
Step Five relates to the Climate Justice Fund – important though mitigation is, our actions can’t begin and end there. We have a responsibility to protect and assist vulnerable communities that are already experiencing the devastating impacts of a changing climate.
The Climate Justice Fund is open to all individuals, parishes and dioceses regardless of whether they are taking part in Shrinking the Footprint or where they are on the Shrinking the Footprint pathway.
How will my money be used?
In the first instance your money will support three Anglican Church projects in Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo that are helping poor communities respond quickly and effectively to the challenges of climate change. From provision of drought-resistant seeds to running training workshops on the most effective ways to adapt to climate change, your active support will help transform the lives of people who need it most.
The three projects currently being supported were rigorously selected on the basis that they are high-quality and successful Anglican initiatives, that they share a vision for integral mission (working for both material and spiritual transformation), and that they have an emphasis on helping people adapt to the effects of climate change.
These projects are trusted partners of Christian relief and development charity Tearfund.
The money will be managed by Tearfund, which has more than 40 years’ experience in development and is taking a leading role in both grassroots action to counter the effects of climate change and high-level advocacy to secure effective international measures to tackle this issue.
What guarantees are there that my money will be used to finance climate-specific projects?
All financial matters regarding the Climate Justice Fund will be managed by Tearfund, one of the UK’s leading relief and development agencies, committed to working in partnership with churches around the world to tackle the causes and effects of poverty.
Drawing on more than 40 years of practice and expertise, Tearfund will ensure that your money is spent well. As one of the first agencies to be involved in the field of adaptation, Tearfund has developed rigorous criteria against which it has tested the effectiveness and sustainability of the three Anglican Church climate projects being supported by the Climate Justice Fund.
The cross at the church in Fombe, Malawi.
Why is Tearfund involved in this initiative? What is the nature of its involvement?
The Climate Justice Fund is the Church of England’s National Environmental Fund, managed by Tearfund. Tearfund has assisted us in setting up the website and in helping us to find suitable climate projects from around the Anglican Communion.
The Climate Justice Fund is a partnership of equals. Tearfund will provide continuing support in maintaining the website and ensuring that material featured is relevant and accurate. Tearfund will ensure that your money is used solely for its intended purposes.
Why is the fund only supporting three Anglican partners?
We have deliberately limited the number of partners to three in the first instance – sustainable development involves building long-term partnerships that deliver real and lasting change.
As the Climate Justice Fund captures people’s imagination, we expect it to grow. When that occurs, the Climate Justice Fund will be in a better position to support a range of climate projects that better reflects the richness and diversity of our relationships across the Anglican Communion.
How does the Climate Justice Fund relate to our work with our diocesan links?
The Climate Justice Fund represents a national Church response to a problem that is a pressing reality for many parts of the Anglican Communion. Through its economy of scale, it provides a very cost-effective solution for all concerned.
Our partnership agreement with Tearfund means that strong safeguards have been built into the Climate Justice Fund to avoid any reputational risk of the kind sometimes associated with offsetting. Where parishes and dioceses do decide to set up their own initiatives, we hope that the expertise developed nationally will be of assistance and ensure that they complement the Climate Justice Fund.
When and how was the Climate Justice Fund launched?
The Climate Justice Fund was launched in September 2009. With corporate leadership and ownership, we aim to work with and through the various diocesan networks to promote the Climate Justice Fund.
Climate justice will be central to our advocacy and campaign strategy as we engage with the UN conference on climate change taking pace in Copenhagen in December 2009.
We will use publicity surrounding these negotiations to raise awareness of the Climate Justice Fund, and at the same time use the Climate Justice Fund to draw the Church into further advocacy around this issue in the run-up to Copenhagen and beyond.
How can I help support and promote the Climate Justice Fund in my parish and diocese?
The Climate Justice Fund is an entirely voluntary initiative. We hope, however, that you will incorporate it in your diocesan environmental strategy and promote it through the normal channels of communication.
This might mean having a link from your diocesan website to the Climate Justice Fund website or providing regular coverage from the three chosen Anglican partners in your diocesan or parish newsletter.
For those parishes and dioceses that are mobilising around the UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009, the website should become your first port of call on advocacy and campaigning.
It is also possible for individuals to support and participate in the Climate Justice Fund.
How can I find out more about the Climate Justice Fund?
For further information about the Climate Justice Fund, please contact Charles Reed, the International Development Secretary for the Archbishops’ Council, by email on climate.justice@c-of-e.org.uk.