The COP 29 is currently being held in Baku, Azerbaijan and it is good to do some reflection
on Climate Change. Jesuits for Climate Justice are making three Calls for COP 29:
1.    Make the Loss and Damage Fund effective: For the implementation of the Loss
and Damage Fund in a transparent and grant-based way, so that the most vulnerable
communities, particularly in the Global South, are effectively supported and prioritised.
2.    Cancel Debt for the Climate: Advocate cancelling unpayable debts owed by
developing nations, particularly in the Global South. This will free up resources for climate
adaptation and mitigation efforts, enabling these countries to invest in a sustainable future.
3.    Call for a Just Energy Transition: For a just energy transition that respects Indigenous
rights, values nature, and prioritises sustainable livelihoods over purely profit-driven models
of natural resources exploitation and energy generation.
Sustainable development and human well-being are very much linked to the state of
biodiversity. Climate change will have a profound impact on human and natural systems.
It will affect species, habitats, ecosystem functioning as well as lives and livelihoods. It will
impede economic growth and jeopardize achievement of the sustainable development goals.
Conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services is part of the larger objective of building
climate resilience and promoting good quality of life, human well-being and sustainable
development.
Poor and marginalized people and indigenous communities depend on natural resources
for their lives and livelihoods, and hence conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services
is of critical importance to their well-being. Nature provides a broad array of goods and
services such as food, fuel, fodder, fibre and medicines that are critical to good quality of
life and human well-being. Healthy and diverse ecosystems can play an important role in
reducing vulnerability and building resilience to disasters and extreme weather events.
Human beings cannot survive without biodiversity. We need trees and greenery to produce
oxygen we breathe. We need fish as food. We need birds to enjoy beauty. We need insects
to pollinate. We need tigers for health and diversity of ecosystem. We need
insects to produce crops. We need earthworms to make the soil fertile.
Whether it hops, crawls, runs, wriggles, slithers, swims, flies, buzzes,
chirrups, grows from the ground or lives in water…. human being needs
nature!