29-year-old journalist, Holly Jones from Standish is heading to the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay, along with 18 other climate campaigners, to put their concerns on major global issues to seven of the world’s most powerful leaders.
Holly is also a climate campaigner and Communications volunteer at CAFOD. She says that 2021 presents a unique opportunity to hit the reset button and rebuild our common home, earth.
“As our planet reaches a tipping point in its battle against climate change, the future looks even more alarming. The relationship between the planet and its people is symbiotic one; the detriment of the planet inevitably spells further harm for its people.
“I believe our world has come to a natural and critical crossroads, calling us to embark on a new world of responsibility, sustainability, and fraternity,” says Holly.
Representing overseas development charity CAFOD, the group of 18–32-year-olds from across England and Wales will be raising awareness on global issues – especially climate and debt cancellation – during their time in Cornwall from 10-13 June.
As the UK is host to the G7 and COP26 this year, CAFOD is urging leaders to support vulnerable nations by cancelling all debt payments owed by low-income countries so that they can recover and rebuild from the pandemic – including debts owed to private lenders.
The overseas development charity wants to see the world’s leaders provide support to these countries to tackle the immediate health crisis and poverty caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. And, as the world begins to recover, it wants the leaders to pledge to build back better, tackling the other challenges that plague our common home, the pandemic of hunger, the pandemic of poverty and the pandemic of climate change.
“In Let Us Dream, Pope Francis encourages us to emerge from Covid by embracing change, saying we can “return to the false securities of the political and economic systems we had before”, or create something new.
“I’ve tried to adopt this into my own life. Seeing how lingering injustices regarding “land, lodging, and labour” meant people had no means of protecting themselves, I want to help bring about this long-awaited change,” says Holly.
CAFOD’s head of campaigns, Aisha Dodwell says:
“As leaders of the world’s most powerful nations gather in Cornwall to discuss the global recovery from the pandemic, CAFOD’s youth delegation will be there to campaign for a just global green recovery that includes all nations.
“Attending the G7 mobilisation will enable these young adults to put their Catholic faith into action and speak out in solidarity with the world’s poorest communities to ensure world leaders tackle the climate crisis and cancel debts for countries in the global south.
“The attendees will have an opportunity to learn more about the deepening inequalities and ecological destruction of our common home and raise their voices against global injustice.”
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