An African church leader has called for holistic approaches to climate solutions at COP29.
At the COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, Rev. Lydia Chituku-Neshangwe, moderator of the General Assembly of Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa and president of All African Conference of Churches (AACC), spoke at a panel session titled “Dialogue on Impact Series: ‘The Role of Faiths and Science at the Climate Negotiations.’”
The COP29 summit, taking place from November 11 to 22, serves as a platform under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for nations to collaborate on tackling the global climate crisis.
Dedicated to uniting faith leaders, scholars, activists, and policymakers to inspire “holistic and just climate action,” the Faith Pavilion launched this session on November 14.
In her address, the theologian Rev. Neshangwe emphasized the critical role of faith communities in advancing climate negotiations. With 85 percent of the global population identifying as religious, people of faith share common values such as love, stewardship, solidarity, justice, and peace. “When we are at the table, we add a quality aspect and push for those particular values for policymakers to take them into account,” she said.
She also underscored that climate change is fundamentally a matter of justice. “We expect those who pollute more to be able to contribute more and to add resources more in the spirit of justice,” she asserted/ People of faith, she added, must make sure pledges raised years ago “now translate into reality.”
When it comes to the synergy between science of faith, she put forward that people usually regard them as oil and water which never mix. However, “they do need to work together.”
Through dialogue, data, and demand, she notes, the two roles can complement each other. She stressed that religious communities are “mature enough to know that we need one another across the faith and science spectrums.”
Moreover, she pointed out that people of faith “are the first responders upon flooding, droughts, disasters,” even more actively than governments. While science focuses more on advanced solutions, it also needs to include the “lived experiences of people,” with religious people serving as “primary data resources.”
Rev. Neshangwe advocated for developing a “demand accountability mechanism” between faith and science. Religious people should turn to scientists to simplify explanations of complex issues, while science should consider solutions that can be implemented at the “grassroots level.”
To illustrate, she shared a personal anecdote about her mother, who cooked using a yellow flame to cook. She explained to her mother that she was using “incomplete combustion” which is less energy-efficient than “complete combustion.” The latter can be applied as “a flame that is blue or white” in this case.
She concluded her remarks with a reflection on the faith value of “perseverance.” Perseverance, she explained, involves building alliances, with powerful countries allying together to “put pressure on their other rich friends.”
Using the African “cha-cha-cha” dance as a metaphor, Rev. Neshangwe described the dynamic of progress and setbacks. While African people dance, they take three steps forward and three steps back. “Three big steps forward” represent cooperative countries, while “three small steps back” signify those absent from the efforts.
“But we will not stop,” she affirmed. “We will move forward and ally with one another.”
