Climate change and water
Progressio has a particular focus on water and climate change. Our Just Add Water campaign, in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate change negotiations in December 2009, aimed to ensure that water was firmly on the agenda. Progressio travelled to the negotiations with Fabiola Quishpe, a community leader from Ecuador. Working through the Water and Climate Coalition (WCC), we have continued to push for water to be part of the agenda and are pleased to report that substantial progress has been made!
Read more about why water is crucial in the context of climate change.
Working with others
Progressio is a member of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, the Working Group on Climate Change and Development (the ‘Up in Smoke’ coalition) and the Water and Climate Coalition.
In cooperation with the leading global law firm Mayer Brown, we have also produced a Climate Change Legal Reference Guide which sets out key laws on forestry and water in the context of climate change. The guide aims to help organisations working on climate change to understand the key principles underpinning international environmental law. The guide is available to download in English (470k PDF) and Spanish (515k PDF).
Catholic perspectives on climate change
There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is driven by high levels of CO2 emissions. This scientific consensus is consistent with recent Church teaching and the advice of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
The Church has commented on climate change within its wider teaching on care for creation, stewardship and environmental justice: clear and strong messages on this theme represent a vital contribution to contemporary thinking.
Read a Progressio briefing on climate change and environmental stewardship from a Catholic perspective (161k PDF). It includes quotations from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, among others.
