Spiritual Solidarity with Victims of Extreme Weather Events

LWF Delegation Meets with Philippine Delegate Yeb Saño

(LWI) – Leaders and lay people from Christian, Buddhist and Muslim traditions have joined together in support of a meaningful outcome to climate negotiations at the COP 19 United Nations climate change conference in Warsaw, Poland.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) delegation at the latest round of the Conference of the Parties (COP 19) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) initiated an interfaith chain of fasting in solidarity with the poor and vulnerable who are the worst hit by extreme weather events which are increasing in frequency.

Pranita Biswasi who is part of the LWF delegation brings first-hand experience to the global talks in Warsaw: “Cyclone Phailin, that hit Orissa, where I am from in India, has left a million people homeless, and destroyed crops, killed livestock, ruined livelihoods. This disaster is a very real thing for my people, and it hurts the poorest most, it is harder for them to recover and rebuild. And our huge disaster, barely a month ago, has already been overshadowed by other disasters, even greater in magnitude. These disasters are becoming routine, and they leave a trail of suffering and misery in their wake.”

The urgency of the talks here was highlighted on the first day of the conference by Philippine negotiator Mr Yeb Saño, whose country was hit by the devastating super Typhoon Haiyan just days before the conference began.

Saño, who has shied away from the media since addressing the first day of the conference on 11 November, met with the LWF delegation in Warsaw. The Philippine delegate has been fasting since the start of the talks and thanked the LWF delegation and Lutherans around the world for their support for the people in the Philippines and for a satisfactory outcome for the talks.

“Together, we can turn things around,” he said. “In the past few days I've been hiding from the media, I've never experienced anything like it, I've had hundreds of media requests, I didn't imagine that it would snowball into this, but we feel strongly that we are now in the 19th COP and this process has been slow, it has not been functioning as well as we would want it to, so maybe it's time to reach out to real people, out there in the real world, to fight climate change and turn things around.”

Saño added, “Climate change is something that can only be won or lost at the community level, at the grassroots, it's not going to be won or lost at the level of ministers and diplomats. Many communities are losing the battle against [climate change] but there is still hope and that's the reason that we continue to persevere. There is time, but the time is very short, but with all of you we can do this, we can win this battle.”

He thanked the LWF delegation and all others fasting in solidarity, on behalf of the people in the Philippines who are suffering the impact of super typhoon Haiyan.

Caroline Richter, LWF Youth secretary spoke to Saño expressing the delegation’s feelings about his position and speech in the plenary.

The speech “inspired us to start a fasting chain here in Warsaw, with our own delegation and people from other faiths. Our General Secretary [Rev. Martin Junge] and many other leaders pledged to fast too, and they have all shared the call to fast with the communion, with their constituencies all over the world.”

Richter continued, “We are in a similar situation, we've never experienced a wave of solidarity like this. While the long days of work at the conference are exhausting it is so exciting that we can't sleep. We have brought interfaith representatives together, who have made a worldwide call for fasting and solidarity for climate change. We are united on this, we are moved and we stand together with you, thank you for spreading the light.”

(Written for LWI by Sean Hawkey, accompanying the LWF delegation in Poland)