The joy of enlightenment is liberating
Reflection about the UN Conference on Climate Change by Lily Kwaw
The unfamiliar road that leads to discovery still stands difficult and bizarre. However, the joy of enlightenment is liberating.
For most people the sessions of the conference of parties may be familiar but I am new to it. I joined the 22nd session of the conference of parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which began on 7 November and will end on the 18th.
My awareness of change became real as I entered the COP compound and participated in events. There are representatives of every country, various organizations as well as a network of global faith groups.
The raised concerns and action process in progress proves the undying need in every heart to be responsible for creation. Now the light of what climate change does is evident. The severe floods in Ghana have every connection to climate change. The drought in South Africa and Ethiopia, cyclones in Madagascar, scarcity of food, and forced migration are all evidence of the change in the earth’s atmosphere.
The atmosphere of displacement and loss has a crippling effect that damages understanding. The language is different, the air is not what I knew, where do I find myself?
Mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage and issues related to finance? If honesty helps: I am confused. But there is hope because the young delegation of the Lutheran World Federation to COP22 is supportive, loving, prayerful and very knowledgeable. I have been exposed, shaken and informed.
Religion speaks! The importance of faith leaders in the climate negotiations brings hope and comfort to those grieving, and assurance that the real change starts at the hearts of every believer. The warmth in every heart, the urgency in every voice and the compliment in every smile, assures a future.
Having been damaged by change and restored through hope, I adapt. The most unforgettable experience in life is one that has a direct impact on your views, knowledge and spirit, and for me this is it. To be able to join together with other young people, experts and older people in such a moment of great action, as the future of our planet is decided, is a blessing.
Ms Lily Kwaw is a youth leader and young reformer at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ghana. She works a s a journalist. In 2016, she was delegated to represent her church and the LWF in Africa at the 22nd UN Conference of Climaet Change in Marrakech, Morocco.