COP26

Rt Hon [insert name] MP

House of Commons

London SW1A 0AA

[Insert date]

Dear Mr/Ms [insert surname] MP,

I am writing as a constituent of yours to ask you to step up your action for climate justice in advance of the critically important COP26 UN climate talks in early November in Glasgow. My specific request is that you write a letter to the Prime Minister and to COP26 President Alok Sharma on the issues laid out in this letter and in more detail in the [enclosed/attached] briefing from Christian Aid.

[If applicable, insert: I would like to meet with you in the coming weeks to discuss these matters further, either face-to-face or virtually on zoom. Please let me know when this would be possible.]

As host of COP26, the UK Government has a unique and historic opportunity to hold world leaders to account and ensure they commit to the ambitious action urgently needed to deal with the climate crisis. The world is also looking to show genuine leadership and take meaningful action domestically, too. As well as keeping global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, world leaders must fulfil and surpass their promises to those hit hardest by the climate crisis in the poorest and most climate-vulnerable communities. This is an issue of justice, these communities have contributed the least to the climate crisis and yet they are bearing the brunt of it ,especially women and people of colour.

Following the recent G7 and G20 I am very concerned about the lack of progress so far in the UK Government’s preparatory discussions with world leaders in these four areas:

Climate finance: Richer countries agreed at the climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009 that they would raise $100bn a year for poorer countries by 2020 to deal with the climate crisis. But this promise has been broken. Meanwhile, the recent cuts to the UK aid budget sends a contradictory message to donor countries at the very time the UK government should be using its diplomatic pressure to persuade other donor countries to provide more money for climate finance.

The Government must press rich countries to come up with a concrete plan to finally deliver the $100bn promise this year, and a process for agreeing a new and more ambitious climate finance deal from 2025 onwards. The Government must also reverse the UK aid cuts.

Loss & Damage: The UK must facilitate a constructive process that concretely advance action on loss and damage at COP26 – including scaling up finance to address loss and damage, and acknowledging it as the third pillar of climate action on a par with mitigation and adaptation. Since almost no progress has been made towards this, the Government must act urgently to unlock the impasse.

Debt cancellation: Climate-vulnerable countries and the world’s poorest countries face crippling levels of debt which have risen sharply as a result of the pandemic. Yet 74% of international climate finance is offered in the form of loans, thereby adding to these debts which hit the poorest the hardest. These countries’ debts need to be cancelled and climate finance provided in the form of grants not loans.

A failure to address these three issues poses a threat to hundreds of millions of people. It also threatens to derail the COP26 talks altogether, as many countries may refuse to agree to ambitious action to mitigate global heating unless these issues of justice and resources are addressed. Please raise these issues with the Prime Minister and with COP President Alok Sharma as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Regards,

[Insert your name, address and contact details – ie email address]