The call comes after a new text for the Global Stocktake (GST) was released on the eve of the climate conference scheduled last day.
According to the delegates, the text featured significantly weakened language compared to earlier drafts regarding the urgency of transitioning to clean energy, especially in terms of phasing out fossil fuels in accordance with the best available climate science.
The GST is one of the biggest features of the climate conference, as it sees parties taking stock of climate action and gaps to keep global temperature rise from going beyond the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5°C or the less ambitious 2°C.
Bishop Gerry Alminaza, head of the National Laudato Si’ Program of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said thousands came to COP28 with the hope that it will deliver the climate action “we all so desperately seek”.
“But the latest Global Stocktake is crushing that hope,” Alminaza said.
He said the global leaders have the moral duty to use the remaining hours of this climate conference to deliver action compatible with 1.5°C, and herald a full and equitable phaseout of all fossil fuels.
“Now is their chance to make a courageous decision to pursue the global common good above their national interests,” he said. “Our time is running out!”
Fr. Edwin Gariguez (right), lead convenor of the Protect Verde Island Passage (Protect VIP) network in the Philippines, at the COP28 in Dubai, UAE.
The new text, he added, was received with much concern by civil society and several parties, including the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) group which proclaimed they would not sign their own “death warrant”.
In October, Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Exhortation gearing up for COP 28.
He wrote: “…If we are confident in the capacity of human beings to transcend their petty interests and to think in bigger terms, we can keep hoping that COP28 will allow for a decisive acceleration of energy transition.”
“This conference can represent a change of direction, showing that everything done since 1992 was in fact serious and worth the effort, or else it will be a great disappointment and jeopardize whatever good has been achieved thus far,” the pope added.
Fr. Edwin Gariguez, a Goldman Prize awardee, said world leaders must keep the best interests of people and nature in mind in coming up with final decisions.
The priest is also the lead convenor of the Protect Verde Island Passage (Protect VIP) network in the Philippines
Gariguez resides in a province along the VIP, a marine biodiversity hotspot heavily threatened by ongoing and planned fossil fuel expansion in the Philippines.
“The earlier we phase out fossil fuels, the earlier our communities will be free from their deadly impacts, and our waters and seas can recuperate from pollution,” he said.
“A phaseout of all fossil fuels will help ensure that generations to come can have a fighting chance and ensure the survival and sustainability of all Creation,” Gariguez also said.