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The First Minister of Scotland, Ms. Nicola Sturgeon, meets Ms. Frances Namoumou from the Pacific Conference of Churches, at COP23. ©Sean Hawkey/WCC

The First Minister of Scotland, Ms. Nicola Sturgeon, meets Ms. Frances Namoumou from the Pacific Conference of Churches, at COP23. ©Sean Hawkey/WCC

An ecumenical delegation led by the World Council of Churches (WCC) met first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, in Bonn, Germany, to share concerns over rising sea levels and increasingly severe droughts and storms that are putting into question the very survival of people in the British Commonwealth of Tuvalu.

Sturgeon met with Frances Namoumou from the Pacific Conference of Churches in Fiji, Rev. Tafue Lusama, general secretary of the Congregational Christian Church in Tuvalu, Rev. Henrik Grape, coordinator of the WCC Working Group on Climate Change, and Rev. Adrian Shaw, climate change officer of the Church of Scotland.

The meeting was facilitated by the Church of Scotland at the UN's Climate Conference on 15 November.

They shared stories of hope and pain from Pacific islanders who are more vulnerable to migration and displacement due to the impact of climate change.

Namoumou explained how the churches in the region were working with communities relocating from exposed coastal sites to safer locations inland, stressing that women and children are the ones who suffer most in the face of climate change and must be involved in the planning relocation.

“This is a matter of survival”, she said. “Losing our land to the sea means losing our identity as a people”, added Namoumou.

Rev. Shaw highlighted how the conversation between the first minister and the delegation included the issue of just transition. “When people have to leave their land, this is not just. It challenges us to think about what it means and how we can work together”, he said.

The 23rd Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change goes on until 17 November.

Links:

YouTube video: WCC member churches from the Pacific at COP23: "We are not drowning, we are fighting"

The Pacific Conference of Churches

The Church of Scotland

"Global church leaders urge COP23 to take action" - WCC news release 13 November 2017

Tveit: “We need the wisdom of creation” - WCC news release 13 November 2017

"WCC addresses climate-induced displacement at COP 23" - WCC news release 10 November 2017