EXACTLY 20 years ago, I was working for the Cabinet Office and boarding a plane to Marrakesh as part of the UK delegation to COP7. The hype was high: it was a historic moment for the 190 countries of the United Nations convention on climate change, meeting for the first time on African soil.
The pressure was on to ratify the Kyoto Protocol in the face of constantly mounting scientific evidence on the consequences of the exponential rise in carbon emissions, deforestation, and ocean pollution. Hotels in the city were rammed with thousands upon thousands of members of national delegations, support staff, security, media, translators, and NGOs clamouring on the fringe. Someone, somewhere, calculated how much aviation fuel had already been burned before the COP even began.
In 2001, the politics was fairly straightforward: Russia, Canada, and Brazil arguing that, owing to the size of their forests (“carbon sinks”), they should get credit to forgive their carbon emissions. The United States, with President Bush in the White House, was not even at the table to negotiate; Saudi Arabia was at the table, but not really talking. The Small Island States were pleading to be heard on sea-level rise, but had not been helped by the British Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, going scuba diving in the Maldives to “raise awareness”.
WHAT I observed in Morocco has been repeated time and time again in the 19 COPs (Conference of the Parties) that have followed. The majority of the conference involves highly detailed technical negotiation by civil servants on the wording of a staggering array of UN documents
This goes on in the background during long and entirely predictable speeches from junior ministers in the plenary, calling for action and voicing earnest commitment to a better future. NGOs work desperately for bilateral conversations to put pressure on those who are truly in charge; they rarely gain access.
The last few days herald the arrival of senior ministers, prime ministers, and presidents. Individual governments have pre-decided their “new” environmental commitments. No meaningful debate is held in plenary: everything of note happens in bilateral conversations on the fringe organised by anxious private secretaries trying to secure their minister an audience with someone noteworthy. Small, poor countries are largely ignored.
The clock is ticking on the conference, and the host country becomes desperate for some kind of breakthrough, so that an “accord”, or new commitment, can be announced with fanfare. On the last day, a very small number of the “big-hitter” countries finally meet in a side room, and officials and ministers work through the night to thrash out that longed-for “historic” announcement. They emerge at 8 a.m. with a press release, enabling the host nation to declare the success of the COP and allow everyone to go home.
I am an impatient person, and the world of climate-change politics was not for me. Next year will mark 30 years since the Rio Earth Summit agreed to Agenda 21, setting out a plan for global sustainable development. Progress on any front is excruciatingly slow. Every democratic nation is locked into a short election cycle that works against delivering long-term systemic change. It is hard to resist some measure of cynicism and hopelessness.
SO, WHAT can we do? We can make a host of changes to our own lives, of course, and, in doing so, we will influence others to change. We can be part of the groundswell of public opinion which puts mounting pressure on to our elected representatives. We can support the plethora of charities making a difference and campaigning politically.
But, for me, for this COP, I have settled on the seemingly most weak and pathetic option: to pray. I hold on to faith that, with God, nothing is impossible, and that in his gracious mercy this COP will result in real action. Ultimately, I believe that a move of God’s Spirit is the only way in which we will see the breakthrough that we need politically.
The American writer, academic, and civil servant Gus Speth has been at the heart of global climate-change politics for more than 50 years. He said: “I used to think the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and climate change. I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address those problems; but I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed, and apathy. To deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation, and we scientists don’t know how to do that.”
He is absolutely right. The heart of the problem is our own sinful selfishness: we are unwilling at a personal or national level to sacrifice our own comfort and convenience for the good of others.
Yet, at the heart of the gospel is the sacrifice of God for our salvation; our hope is in him for our own transformation to lead more selfless lives. So, my prayers are with and for all those in Glasgow this week, for God to do what only God can do.
The Rt Revd Ruth Bushyager is the Suffragan Bishop of Horsham, in the diocese of Chichester. Before being ordained, she worked as an International Policy Adviser in the Cabinet Office
Read the Archbishop of York’s call for campaigning and a change of heart for the climate here