CAFOD's policy and research papers on climate and the environment.
Communities all over the planet are already experiencing the effects of climate change, from unpredictable and changing weather patterns to extreme weather events. These changes are pushing individuals over the poverty line, destroying ecosystems and livelihoods, forcing migration, and threatening the survival of families and communities.
Those who contributed the least to the problem have been hit the hardest.
Specifically, CAFOD is calling for:
ambitious action to keep warming below 1.5°C, including fully funded policies to ensure the UK is on track for net carbon zero and diplomatic action as COP 26 President to ensure other countries deliver on their climate promises
support for the poorest and most climate-vulnerable communities, ensuring that the $100 billion/year climate finance goal for low-income countries is delivered in the forms of grants, not loans
an end all support of fossil fuels, at home and overseas, including gas.
Current predictions place the planet on a pathway to around 4°C of warming by the end of the century - well over the 1.5°C limit that the world needs to keep within to prevent climate and planetary catastrophe.
The simple cause of climate change is the historic and current emission of greenhouse gases, primarily from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. This is exacerbated by contributions from sectors such as agriculture, which is a key driver in deforestation and land use change.
We must end carbon emissions from fossil fuels and other sectors, and countries in the global north must lead the way. Wealthy countries must also support communities to respond to the effects of climate change, through financial and technical support, and face up to our historic responsibilities as the main polluters.
This discussion paper calls for greater exploration of three ‘innovative sources’ of finance, which can help raise the huge amounts of money needed to tackle the climate crisis in a way that is both fair and effective.
We outline five key areas in which governments need to deliver at COP28 in Dubai for communities suffering devastating climate impacts.
Ahead of COP28, Pope Francis has written a new message, named Laudate Deum, imploring political leaders to act with greater urgency to tackle the climate crisis.
We outline four priority areas on which governments need to deliver at COP27, and the role that the UK government can play both unilaterally and in the remaining weeks of its COP presidency.
Eradicating global poverty is within reach, but under threat from a changing climate. Left unchecked, climate change will put at risk our ability to lift people out of extreme poverty permanently by 2030, the first target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Climate change is already pushing poor and marginalised communities further into poverty, and continued production and consumption of oil and gas will intensify these impacts, putting the Sustainable Development Goals at risk.
This report focuses on the UK’s International Climate Finance (ICF) and examines whether ICF actions are supporting the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) of the Paris Agreement.
Burning polluting fossil fuels is the main cause of the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, which is hitting the poorest communities hardest. Phasing out investment in fossil fuels and scaling up support for renewable and efficient energy systems to reach 100 per cent by 2050 will be critical for remaining under 1.5°C of global warming.
Our latest research shows that CDC is investing hundreds of millions of pounds in fossil fuels overseas, undermining its new Climate Change Strategy and the UK’s international leadership on tackling climate change.
If deforestation continues, the Amazon will lose its ability to produce its own rainfall and the largest rainforest on the planet will become dry grassland.
In the past, the community was regularly terrorised by armed men who would shoot indiscriminately, kill livestock and set fire to their crops and straw houses.
Play your part in tackling the climate crisis by making a swap in your life – and urge politicians to do the same.
A community near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia have come together to clear the tons of waste that washed up on their doorstep.
The agreement to "transition away from fossil fuels" is the first time governments have committed to move away from fossil fuels in more than thirty years of UN climate meetings.
In his message at the summit in the United Arab Emirates, the Pope called on governments to put the global common good ahead of national interests.
The COP28 climate talks have begun with countries agreeing on the first day of the UN summit how a loss and damage fund will operate.
Add your voice to Pope Francis' call for leaders at the UN climate summit to take the action we need to tackle the climate crisis.
The new apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum follows eight years after Laudato Si’, in which Pope Francis called for all people to care for our common home.
Speaking on BBC World News, CAFOD’s Head of Advocacy, Neil Thorns, said “the UK is leaving its international reputation in tatters”.
CAFOD's policy team provides briefings, reports and research on our advocacy and lobbying work, plus materials to support our campaigns.
