LWF Youth Delegates Mobilize at COP22 Marrakech

7 Nov – 18 Nov 2016

Invitation Only

7 - 18 November, Marrakech, Morocco will be the scene of a concerted global effort to mobilize action on climate change.

For the LWF, climate change is a question of justice, peace, the care for creation, and human rights. It is also a question of justice between people, nations, and generations. As a young delegation, and people of faith, we have an intergenerational responsibility to care for creation and stand in solidarity with our neighbor.

Because the LWF wants to be part of the solution, in June 2015, its Council voted not invest in fossil fuels.

The LWF at COP 22 in Marrakech

The LWF's interest in climate change is not new. In fact, institutional memory on matters involving climate change and climate justice dates back to 1977 at the Sixth LWF Assembly in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and since 2013, the LWF Climate Delegation has been making its presence known at COP negotiations, advocating for climate justice and standing in solidarity with those most impacted by the effects of climate change.

At the LWF Eleventh Assembly in Stuttgart, Germany, young people were particulary involved in climate change advocacy, highlighting the need for sustainability and ecological justice. LWF Youth have already joined with the World Council of Churches at the climate change summit in Durban, South Africa, in 2011 for the Youth for Eco-Justice program (Y4EJ), as the LWF Delegation for the COP18 in 2012 in Doha, Qatar, for the COP19 in Warsaw, Poland in 2013, for COP20 in Lima, Peru, in 2014 and for COP21 in Paris last year.

Comprised of eight young people -- all representing the African region, the LWF delegation will participate in a number of activites, including the final "Fast for the Climate” campaign, which ends on 18 November.

For this year’s UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change, an LWF delegation of young leaders will be sent again. They will be closely work together with the LWF communion office and our ecumenical partners ACT Alliance, World Council of Churches, Bread for the World, the YMCA and many more.