On Sunday August 30th after church, Reverend Emilie Smith will be speaking to us about her environmental justice work and her adventures. For example, she attended the COP 30 in Belém, Brazil in 2025 and she chose to take the road-less-traveled-and-more-environmental route which took her three and a half months to get there!
If you don't know what COP is, here is a quick summary from COP Conferences (1995–2025): Full List of UN Climate Change Summits and Key Outcomes.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) serves as the supreme decision-making body of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Every country that has signed the Convention, known as “Parties”, takes part in these meetings. The main goal is simple yet vital: to assess how nations are performing in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to make decisions that ensure the effective implementation of the Convention.
At each COP, member countries review reports on national emissions and climate actions, discuss progress, and adopt new measures to strengthen climate governance. The COP also handles administrative and institutional arrangements to ensure the Convention’s objectives are met globally.
There have been 30 COP conferences so far, and the 31st one will be held in Antalya, Türkiye in November of this year.
If you'd like to attend this (and this is just for St Clement's folks; Emilie will be doing other talks around the diocese soon), please let the office know as there will be a light lunch and Emilie will be baking cakes, so it would be good to make sure that there is enough food. Please include your dietary needs when you reply.