26th November 2021

COP26: success or failure? For people demanding target times underpinned by large grants of money to less developed countries, it was a disappointing failure to be wept over. To people prepared to rejoice over and work with each step towards less fossil fuel and more greening, and whatever time commitments could realistically be achieved, it is a qualified success. Both sides emphasise that we must all keep up the pressure on everyone concerned.

COP26 is also a success in another way: it brought together national delegates talking together, influencing one another, along with groups with particular needs like the Indigenous Peoples Group and the Small Islands Group describing their urgent situations. Scientists and industrialists. Innovators and charities also set up their stands raising the needs of human beings and how they could be helped. Christian Aid was there, the Fairtrade Foundation and Practical Action among others. They brought nationals from the countries they serve, able to talk together and realise their needs and aspirations are the same.

Now they’ve all gone back to their own countries: what messages are they taking, what pressures bringing to bear on their own governments and peoples? That’s where the future lies and the focus for our prayers.

Lesley Fuller