Beginning in 2022, Catholic Relief Services, the international relief and development agency of the US Catholic community, launched a campaign to emphasize the impact of climate change on the communities in the Global South with which it works. Cabrini University cooperated in partnership with CRS, and this class in particular draws on CRS resources. For 2022 (and beyond), CRS enlisted its supporters in advocacy on behalf of the Green Climate Fund and lobbying the US Congress to increase contributions to the Green Climate Fund in the federal budget. Therefore, the advocacy at the end of the simulation focused on this request to Congress.
The students asked the participants to advocate to combat climate change. The end of the simulation calls for advocacy because we need to make our senators and representatives prioritize this issue. The people in the government are supposed to represent the interests of their constituents, and they cannot do that if people do not raise their voices. The class had postcards available that students and staff could fill out to request funding for the Green Climate Fund. These postcards would be mailed to different members of Congress. There was also a virtual option, but participants were encouraged to use the postcards because the physical postcards were a simpler and briefer option. The more people who use their voices, the larger the effect it will have on our government. This advocacy aims to secure the amount of funding for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) recommended by InterAction in the 2023 fiscal year: $2 billion. The GCF is the largest multilateral fund combating climate change. It funds projects for mitigation and adaptation efforts. The GCF also attempts to maintain an allocation of at least 50 percent of funds for low-income countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change’s effects. Supporting the GCF in the U.S. foreign aid budget will allow more projects to be financed and improve the lives of many people that are being hurt by climate change right now.
We had 3-4 students in the Advocacy area, and many participants engaged in discussions with the students about their reaction to the simulation as well as their thoughts about Climate Change.
Download these post cards (front and back):
A student designed the post card and we had 100 cards printed. About 50 participants wrote messages and we sent the cards to the students’ officials.
Now go to the next page to see a video and photos of the simulation.
