A justice issue

Thomas Baldwin interviews Christian Aid’s Andrew Tomlinson, and hears why campaigners are pushing for the creation of a loss and damage fund this year

THE latest UN climate conference, COP28, takes place later this year in Dubai. High on the agenda will be the Loss and Damage Fund, funded by wealthier countries, to support those countries that have contributed least to the climate emergency but are now suffering the worst consequences, and are least equipped to deal with them.

The international fund was first agreed in principle last year at COP27, and campaigning organisations such as Christian Aid hope that this year’s conference will establish the details of how it will work, who will contribute and who will have access to the funds.

Andrew Tomlinson, who has the somewhat unwieldy job title of Campaigns, Advocacy, Youth and Education Manager for Christian Aid Scotland, says that it is vital that the establishment of the fund goes hand-in-hand with richer countries reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. “Scotland and the UK are still failing to meet their own targets, and we desperately need to bring down emissions domestically,” he says. “But there is also a justice element. Even if we do get our domestic emissions down, we are in a much stronger position as a country, we are wealthier, because of colonialism and the slave trade and global inequalities. Through those means we were able to industrialise, through which we have contributed more to climate change but are better equipped to adapt to it.”

“ There will be a Global Day of Action on October 24, and alongside Stop Climate Chaos Scotland we will be looking to facilitate a gathering to highlight the need for climate justice now.

At the opposite end of the scale Andrew points to the Marshall Islands, in the Pacific Ocean halfway between Hawaii and Australia. By 2035, a significant proportion of the islands are predicted to be underwater, driving people away from their ancestral land, and yet more will be uninhabitable as there will be no safe drinking water.

“The Marshall Islands were under colonialism until very recently. The US tested a number of nuclear weapons there and people are still displaced from those islands. They are less able to adapt to climate change because of the colonial system they existed under for so many years.

“There needs to be some form of redress for that if you believe in justice. The Bible talks about us not taking advantage of “the widow, the stranger, the orphan”, in other words not taking advantage of those who in a disadvantaged position. As Christians we should not just be looking to hold the playing field where it is, but trying to level it and make reparations for the historical damage we have done.

The figures suggested for the fund are eye-watering, with calculations for the UK’s fair share as high as £15bn, and for Scotland £2.5bn (the Scottish government is one of very few to date that has committed money to Loss and Damage – about £7m).

However, Christian Aid has produced a report on how this money could be generated, based on the principal of ‘make polluters pay’. Along the suggestions are taxes on fossil fuels companies, or on wealthiest individuals who will usually have a larger carbon footprint than less well-off people.

They also emphasise that money given through the Loss and Damage Fund must be in the form of grants not loans, as loans would exacerbate the debt problems of poorer countries.

In order to keep the pressure on the UK and Scottish governments, Christian Aid and its partners, including the Church of Scotland, are taking part in a series of events in the approach to the conference.

“The first thing is a ‘make polluters pay’ action day on September 23,” says Andrew, “Which is an opportunity to highlight some of the exorbitant profits that fossil fuel companies have been making, and contrasting that with the severe costs some countries are having to bear as a result of climate change.

“We are working on a pledge for parliamentarians to sign, to commit to the ‘make polluters pay’ principle, and there will be events at Westminster and Holyrood.

“In addition, Christian Aid, the Guild, Eco- Congregation and the Church of Scotland Faith Action Programme are running a series of gatherings going into the autumn, looking at churches’ response to the climate crisis both in advocacy and campaigning, and in terms of practical action.

“The run-up to COP28 is a real opportunity for people to meet their MPs and MSPs, and call on governments to contribute to the Loss and Damage Fund, and we would like to see church and faith leaders lend their voice to that call.

“There will be a Global Day of Action on December 9, and alongside Stop Climate Chaos Scotland we will be looking to facilitate a gathering to highlight the need for climate justice now.”

It all adds up to a lengthy to-do list for Andrew, who will be familiar to many in the Church of Scotland as he was an Associate Secretary of the old Church and Society Council for six years, where his work encompassed the climate emergency, Israel/Palestine, funeral poverty, education and much else.

“One of the things I really enjoyed about it was the rootedness,” he says. “I felt the reason the Church was able to have a voice nationally was because it is rooted in service and action locally, and with that came a diversity of issues that it’s able and called upon to speak out on.”

His time at Church and Society was followed by two years as Parliamentary Engagement Officer for the Quakers in Scotland, before he started at Christian Aid in February.

He joins in a big year for Christian Aid Scotland, with its leader, the Rt Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, serving as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for 2023-24. “I’m a huge fan of Sally’s,” he says. “She was the convener of Church and Society when I started. I think she’ll be a brilliant Moderator and I’m confident that she’ll be an example of how the Church can use its voice for justice.”

As well as the work on climate, his priorities for the immediate future include working with partner churches on a response to current worsening of tensions in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. “Our partners are saying the situation is deteriorating, and we are hoping to see whether there is more we can do to encourage churches to help.

“We are hoping to welcome Bt’Selem, a human rights organisation and Church of Scotland partner, who are coming over to Scotland in September, to get them to spend some time at the Scottish Parliament and with the churches.”

He’s also hoping to reconvene the Gender Justice Working Group, which has ‘gone a bit quiet’ since the Covid-19 pandemic, with a view to forming some plans around the international 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, that starts on November 25. Again, the approach is to work together with sponsoring churches and partner organisations where possible, which very much mirrors the emphasis on working with others set by the Church of Scotland at this year’s General Assembly.

While working together brings obvious practical benefits in terms of the best use of scarce resources, Andrew says that there is more to it than that: “My sense in all these things is, if we can do stuff together, it tends to be stronger, have more reach and greater authenticity.”