For the first time, Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Orthodox Christians’ leader issued a joint statement requesting COP26 summit delegates to take immediate action against climate change.
The COP26 climate summit is scheduled to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, this November.
“As leaders of our Churches, we call on everyone, whatever their belief or worldview, to endeavor to listen to the cry of the earth and of people who are poor, examining their behavior and pledging meaningful sacrifices for the sake of the earth which God has given us.”
They also urged people to focus on long-term sustainability rather than short-term gains while keeping the poor in mind.
“Technology has unfolded new possibilities for progress but also for accumulating unrestrained wealth, and many of us behave in ways which demonstrate little concern for other people of the limits of the planet.”
With the global carbon market expected to reach $22T by 2050, the opportunity to positively impact the environment and the world’s most vulnerable populations is endless. In fact, both are a driving force behind Amazon’s new Agroforestry and Restoration Accelerator project, which was announced this week.
In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, their goal is to help 3,000 small farmers in Brazil produce sustainable agriculture. Over 10 million metric tons of carbon will be removed from the atmosphere, and 50,000 forest acres will be restored. The carbon offsets produced will go towards Amazon’s emissions.
Once additional investments are made, these projects can impact over 40,000 farmers, sparking socio-economic development worldwide. They can also help remove additional carbon from the atmosphere through agroforestry, restoration, eco-friendly fuels, and more.
The Pope, Archbishop, and Orthodox Leader went on to say that “Extreme weather and natural disasters reveal afresh to us with great force and at great human cost that climate change is not only a future challenge, but an immediate and urgent matter of survival.”
Carbon markets may very well be the solution these leaders, and the world, are looking for.