UK poverty levels in violation of international law Last month, the United Nations poverty envoy, Olivier De Schutter, stated that the UK is in violation of international law due to the poverty levels currently being experienced. This came five years after his predecessor accused the government …
Universal Declaration of Human Rights – 75 years on
What is the Declaration and where did it come from? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was written in 1948, following the devastation of the Second World War and the atrocities and absolute horror of the Holocaust. The United Nations was established in 1945, and the UDHR was …
COP28 – A call to “accelerate action”
Following my article two weeks ago on what would count as ‘success’ at COP28, here is a report back. Predictably, COP28 ran over for an extra day as delegations struggled to tried agree a final statement that all might support. Fossil fuels – 'Phase down' or 'Phase out'? COP28 became the …
Faith in human rights: Our common journey as global citizens
This week begin celebrations of 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). We may not have much day to day awareness of UDHR or be able to quote any of its 30 articles, but we all have benefited enormously from its adoption by the UN General Assembly in 1948. So, what has been the …
Prayers for COP28
Creator God, as COP28 takes place in Dubai, we turn our focus to the environment and to those attending the global climate summit. We give thanks for the Faith Pavilion at COP28. Unifying God, we give thanks for this significant inter-faith space facilitating dialogue across differences, and …
COP28 Leaders’ Summit – what happened?
The Leaders’ Summit of COP28 took place over Friday and Saturday, 1-2nd December in UAE. World leaders met to discuss and make agreements prior to negotiations throughout the rest of the Conference. These negotiations will be done by other representatives, ministers or officials. The Leaders’ …
COP28 – Benchmarks for success
King Charles has opened the COP28 Climate Summit in the United Arab Emirates with the following words: I pray with all my heart that COP28 will be another critical turning point towards genuine transformational action at a time when, already, as scientists have been warning for so long, we are …
As COP28 approaches
With COP28 beginning this week, the UK must demonstrate commitment to our own targets as a contribution to meeting global targets set out in previous COP gatherings. This year has seen increasingly extreme weather, with heatwaves hitting around the world last week, which saw feel-like temperatures …
The Autumn Statement will not halt growing poverty and destitution
Our Churches have called for concerted action to turn the tide on poverty and put us on the path to a poverty-free Britain. Despite the Chancellor’s upbeat tone, the Autumn Statement offered little sign of this message yet being heeded. 14.4 million people in the UK are currently experiencing …
Why must every social security announcement feature a big threat?
“Anyone choosing to coast on the hard work of taxpayers will lose their benefits” said the Chancellor, as he announced a raft of changes to the social security system. The press release riffs on old and unpleasant themes. Benefit claimants are to be treated with suspicion because they may be “taking …