Episcopal delegates leave UN climate change conference disappointed yet determined

[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal delegates left the United Nations’ 29th annual climate change conference disappointed with the end results, but they are determined more than ever to continue advocating for policies that help mitigate climate change.

This year’s U.N. Conference of Parties of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP29, focused on the theme “Investing in a Livable Planet for All,” addressing the need to financially equip developing countries to adapt to a warming world.

The 12-day conference, which took place Nov. 11-22 in Baku, Azerbaijan, concluded with developing nations criticizing developed nations for pledging to pay $300 billion, a fraction of the estimated $1.3 trillion needed annually in climate finance by 2035. The participating nations’ pledge left the private sector, nongovernment and civil society organizations responsible to cover the rest. Developing country leaders say the sum isn’t enough to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for extreme weather events. 

“I left Baku … disappointed, that more had not been achieved, but also a pragmatic view that there was some progress, and a deal is better than not having a deal,” Elizabeth “Lizzy” Harnett, a research and impact expert for the Center for Climate-Aligned Finance and a lay parishioner of St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colorado, said during a Dec. 3 webinar where Episcopal delegates shared their COP29 experiences and observations.

More than 55,000 world leaders, policymakers, climate scientists, activists, corporate executives and interfaith representatives from nearly 200 countries participated in COP29. Seventeen – three in person and 14 virtually – Episcopal delegates named earlier this year by former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry participated in the conference. 

The $300 billion would be used to help developing nations address what is referred to as “loss and damage” – economic and non-economic climate change impacts, including harms to livelihood and poverty, as well as the losses of life, cultural heritage and biodiversity. Small island nations, including Vanuatu and the Bahamas, are particularly vulnerable to loss and damage from climate change.

“Loss and damage have a tremendous impact on communities that are vulnerable already and are also just bearing the brunt of climate change,” the Rev. Stephanie Johnson, a Connecticut priest who chairs the churchwide Task Force on Care of Creation and Environmental Racism, said during the webinar. A virtual delegate, Johnson concentrated on areas of loss and damage during the conference.

The Rev. Melanie Mullen, The Episcopal Church’s director of reconciliation, justice and creation care, and one of the three delegates working on the ground in Baku, told webinar participants, “The road ahead is tough, but … we as a church will never give up the fight to live, love and make this world God’s delivering image.”

This was the 10th year Episcopalians, both clergy and lay leaders, participated in the climate change conference on the presiding bishop’s behalf. And since 2016, The Episcopal Church has held U.N. observer status, which allows delegates to brief U.N. representatives on the church’s climate policy priorities and to attend meetings in the official zones.

COP29 took place as the Earth’s surface temperature is on track to breach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of this year. As global temperatures continue to surpass record levels due to human-induced climate change and the El Niño weather pattern, scientists say more extreme weather events will occur, including heatwaves, hurricanes, severe rain, increased flooding and wildfires.

“Justice must be at the heart of climate action. Justice must replace consumerism,” the Rev. Richard Acosta Rodríguez, an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Colombia and a virtual COP29 delegate, said during the webinar. “If we want to save life on the planet, then as a church we have an imperative task when it comes to raising awareness … of our impact on creation, educating our care of our planet, celebrating life in the liturgy and encouraging transformative participation.”

This was the second year in a row an oil-rich nation hosted the climate conference, sparking criticism that escalated further when Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev drew backlash for calling oil and gas a “gift of God” on the opening day of COP29. Azerbaijan also plans to increase its oil production by up to a third over the next decade, according to news reports. 

Oil, a finite resource, comes from the decomposed remains of marine organisms, such as algae and zooplankton, that died millions of years ago, predating dinosaurs.

During the conference, Episcopal virtual delegates met remotely with interfaith and government representatives and participated in various plenaries and workshops. On Nov. 16, Episcopal delegates and the Lutheran World Federation jointly led a workshop about climate change adaptation and highlighted the work The Episcopal Church’s creation care grant recipients have been doing. They also participated in the faith pavilion to engage in faith-based sessions with stakeholders, political delegations and other leaders to promote climate action.

“It’s good to share grassroots input and discuss what is needed in the wider climate action discussion,” Lynnaia Main, The Episcopal Church’s representative to the United Nations, told Episcopal News Service while in Baku at the beginning of the conference. Main was the only Episcopal delegate to stay in Baku for the duration of COP29.

The Rev. Lisa da Silva, a priest in the San Francisco-based Diocese of California and a virtual COP29 delegate, tracked Indigenous issues during the climate conference, where she said during the webinar she “witnessed hope in the tenderness of petition.”

“As we heard from international communities all around the world, I really had rarely before felt such hope around eco matters, which I’ve been working on and studying and teaching for close to 25 years,” she said. “I found it electrifying that some of the truth-telling, particularly from small nations … their appeals to be dignified, moving in their fortitude. That dignity really stood out to me in the gatherings of Indigenous peoples.”

Gender-based issues around climate change were also a concern for the Episcopal delegates, as research conducted by the U.N. shows that climate change “amplifies existing gender inequalities and poses unique threats to [women and girls’] livelihoods, health and safety.” Robin Okumu, a lay leader from the Diocese of Olympia, focused on the subject as a virtual climate change conference delegate.

“[Participating in COP29 has shown that] we need to really protect diversity and inclusivity, intersectionality of human rights,” she said.

During the webinar, Susie Faria, a policy analyst for The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations, explained to the 57 Zoom participants how the Washington, D.C.-based office works from General Convention and Executive Council resolutions to engage in climate advocacy at national and international levels.

Faria said it’s important to engage in climate change advocacy at both international and domestic levels. For example, she said, the incoming Trump administration and the newly elected officials in Congress “present a new opportunity to build relationships with your representatives at the federal level and also at your state and local levels.”

The church decided to send a smaller delegation than usual to Baku because of human rights violations in Azerbaijan. In 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military offensive to expel more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh in the southern part of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains. The region had been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war ended there in 1994, three years after both nations declared independence from what was then the Soviet Union.

At the 81st General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies passed Resolution D062, “Support and solidarity with Armenia,” which calls on The Episcopal Church to promote educational initiatives – such as webinars, informational resources, lectures and dialogue groups – that explain the history of the Armenian Church. The resolution authorizes The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations and Episcopal Public Policy Network to advocate for and promote U.S. government policies and legislation that support the church’s stance on this issue.

The next U.N. climate change conference, COP30, will take place Nov. 10-21, 2025, in Balém, Brazil.

Episcopalians can learn more about the church’s commitment to addressing the global climate crisis on its website.

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.