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Rev. James Bhagwan

Rev. James Bhagwan, general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches.

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"COP26 is important because if this doesn't work, then we're in serious danger. It's already obvious that many of the targets set during the Paris agreement in 2015 have not been met," says Bhagwan with passion and sadness tinging his voice. "We're in danger of going well beyond the 1.5 limit of carbon emissions that we need to maintain where we're at."

The Pacific Conference has a membership of 33 churches and ten national councils of churches spread across 19 Pacific Island countries and territories, effectively covering one-third of the world's surface.

Some progress on countering the effects of climate change have been made in global awareness, says Bhagwan. The return of the United States to the treaty around it helps.

"And even though there is significant commitment to reduce carbon emissions by countries to as much as 26 percent of those countries that have committed, globally we're going to see an increase of carbon emissions by 19 plus percent by 2030, which isn't far away—that’s nine years away," rued Bhagwan.

Greenhouse gases warning

On 25 October, the World Meteorological Organization secretary-general Dr Petteri Taalas, releasing a report on greenhouse gases, had confirmed Bhagwan's worries in a warning: "We are way off track. At the current rate of increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, we will see a temperature increase by the end of this century far in excess of the Paris Agreement targets of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels."

Bhagwan said his churches’ group covers from the Marshall Islands in the northern Pacific across to Maohi Nui (French Polynesia) in the eastern Pacific, down to Aotearoa New Zealand in the southern Pacific.

The conference also has member churches in West Papua and Australia, and it serves a population of some 15 million people.

For the members of the Pacific region churches, climate change is not an abstract issue.

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Rev. James Bhagwan at COP23

Bhagwan rides a bike during a public demonstration at COP23, in Bonn, Germany 2017.

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Frontline of climate change

"We are on the frontline of climate change; we have rising seas we have ocean acidification which affects our fish and the life of the ocean. We have extreme weather events now regularly, and the category five cyclones which, in the past, would be the exception to the rule for us, now are the baseline for our extreme weather events. During the cyclone season, at least one cyclone will be category five," explained Bhagwan.

"And so, you just pray that either it goes past, or it drops enough when it reaches us, and usually these systems do not affect just one country."

Bhagwan noted that the churches in the Pacific region play a much more integral role in society than they do in some of the secular nations.

Because of the COVID-19 situation, "We're not getting as many Pacific islanders attending COP26 as we would like, both in governments and in civil society.

"And so, it's important that those who can come do so. We, the church, play a very significant role in the Pacific. The Pacific is approximately 90% Christian, particularly within the island communities. And so, we have significant influence within the region, working with governments. But we also recognize ourselves as part of the civil society space," said Bhagwan.

"And so, we have that ability in the Pacific to walk in these spaces, because leaders, government leaders, etc., ministers, workers, civil servants— they're members of our churches. So, we are providing pastoral care and engagement with those in leadership and government leadership, but also that prophetic voice."

"On the way to COP26, climate pilgrims arrive in England after ferry crossing" - WCC news release 14 October 2021

Global religious leaders, scientists join to release “Faith and Science: An Appeal for COP26” - WCC news release 4 October 2021

"In lead-up to COP26, churches augment calls for climate justice" - WCC news release 30 September 2021