The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international climate summit, held annually, and attended by global leaders, lobbyists, climate experts, and activists. Policymakers set global climate actions for the years ahead.
Those of us who cannot be present in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the COP 29 meetings can play a powerful role by praying and fasting along with others. By praying and fasting, we will:
Let policymakers know our eyes are on them
Find strength and hope in collective action
Transform despair into a constructive and powerful force!
Actions you can take: Invite your friends, family, and congregation to create a COP 29 climate fast plan. Share your plans and receive updates on how others are planning to fast. Post on social media, including #COP29climatefast in your post. Send a message to President Biden. Sign the COP 29 petition.
Fasting can take many different forms:
Pray or meditate while holding the COP 29 meetings and policymakers in your heart
Abstain from a meal a day and devote that time to contemplation or climate action
Gather with others to sing and pray
Spend time in nature, conscious of the web of life
Learn about impacts of climate change local to your area
Clean up local polluted areas
Commit to one new way of green living that challenges you
Let go of a behavior that you know harms the planet
Talk about the climate crisis with others
Donate to an organization taking climate action in your community
Call your legislators to urge support of planet-saving policies
Join or start a nonviolent direct action movement on climate
Encourage others to take collective climate action
Isaiah 58:6-9 (NRSV)
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”
Carolyn Yoder (climatestarr.org), began the climate fast in 2023 for COP 28 and contributed to this document.
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COP 29 Climate Fast
