Climate justice

The climate crisis is a highly complex global problem against which we can do little individually. To realise its commitment to climate justice and to mitigating climate change, HEKS/EPER therefore works with a range of national and international partner organisations.

Climate Alliance

The Climate Alliance is a coalition of more than 90 civil society organisations that are advocating for the rapid implementation of the Paris Agreement. As a member of the Climate Alliance, HEKS/EPER is calling on Switzerland to implement «net zero» by 2040 at the latest. The key to this is a policy roadmap with specific milestones that immediately begin to show clear emission reductions.

www.klima-allianz.ch

Glacier Initiative

HEKS/EPER supports the Glacier Initiative, which calls for «net zero» greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Its aim is to have the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement enshrined in the Swiss Federal Constitution and to place Switzerland on a climate-friendly path. HEKS/EPER is a member of the Swiss Association for Climate Protection (Verein Klimaschutz Schweiz), the sponsoring organisation that launched the Glacier Initiative. In this context, HEKS/EPER participated in the collection of signatures and is also taking part in the public consultation on the Federal Council's counterproposal to the Glacier Initiative.

www.gletscher-initiative.ch

Alliance Sud

As part of the lobbying organisation Alliance Sud, HEKS/EPER advocates for Switzerland to make a commensurate contribution to global climate funding. The Paris Climate Agreement effectively commits industrialised nations to making 100 billion US dollars available annually to the Global South to offset damage caused by climate change. The Federal Council considers a contribution of 450 to 600 million francs to be commensurate. However, when account is taken of Switzerland's carbon footprint abroad, the country should be making an annual contribution of 1 billion US dollars. Besides, Alliance Sud and HEKS/EPER are critical of the fact that Switzerland's climate funding is being provided at the expense of development cooperation, and more particularly of poverty alleviation. Instead of providing new funds, a part of the existing development cooperation budget is being reallocated to the climate budget.

www.alliancesud.ch

ACT Alliance EU

of European faith-based aid agencies. Act Alliance EU published a report in this regard in January 2021. It concludes that the efforts of most European countries, Switzerland among them, are still lagging behind what would be needed to reach the annual amount of 100 billion US dollars promised under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

www.actalliance.eu

Fastenopfer

In 2019, HEKS/EPER and Fastenopfer jointly launched the Climate Conversations in German-speaking Switzerland. Originating in England, this method helps people put their lives on a climate-friendly path. Climate Conversations work with a range of technical and psychological methods and use group dynamics to prompt people to act. More than 140 people took part in the Climate Conversations in 2021; 27 people were trained as moderators of Climate Conversations.