ELCIC member Katarina Kuhnert is travelling to Egypt to participate in the United Nations’ Climate Change COP27 Conference. She will be taking over the ELCIC Instagram account (@CanadianLutherans) during her time overseas (November 7-19).
The majority of her trip will be spent in Sharm El-Sheikh, but exciting treks through Mount Sinai and Saint Catherine’s Monastery are also on the itinerary. Watch for Katarina’s content which will be posted daily to the @CanadianLutherans Instagram page beginning this week.
In October of 2021, the circumpolar climate scientist had the opportunity to serve as one of four representatives from the Lutheran World Federation at COP-26 in Glasgow, Scotland. She collaborated with the Interfaith Liaison Committee, the World Council of Churches, the ACT Alliance and the Climate Action Network of Canada, before presenting at the People’s Summit for Climate Justice on the topic of energy transitions (pictured above). The experience was something Kuhnert will not soon forget.
“It is very important that we maintain this work from a place of radical hope,” Kuhnert told the ELCIC following COP26. “Since I’ve come back from COP, I’ve been saying that my hope is greater than my despair. My hope has legs. My legs have accountability. That is a great place to ground this work. If we believe that we have the possibility to make significant change with respect to things like our oceans – one of the highest greenhouse gas emitters in the world – if we believe that things can be different, than that’s the way to make them different.”
This year’s conference – as hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt – will aim to continue building upon the work and goals set at COP26, while paving the way for future ambition to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change. Focal points will feature climate finance and technology, various nature-based solutions and action for climate empowerment.
“Climate change is an intersectional and an intergenerational issue, and we need to respond in a diversity of ways across generations,” Kuhnert said. “This affects everyone from youth and children to adults, elders and leaders in the church. The potential for challenges of the current climate crisis impacts so many elements in our lives. Attending events like this, building our understanding of what’s happening and our networks of support, our community resilience improves greatly by having these conversations together. When we hold the burdens of challenge and change together they become a little bit lighter.”
