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Presiding bishop announces Episcopal Church delegation to United Nations COP28 conference

November 22, 2023
Office of Public Affairs

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has named 21 delegates to represent the presiding bishop’s office at the upcoming 2023 United Nations climate change conference. It is the ninth year the presiding bishop has convened Episcopalians in the urgent work of climate change advocacy in the global forum.

The 28th session of the Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP28, will be held Nov. 30 through Dec. 12 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This year’s hybrid platform again allows for a wider representation of Episcopalian delegates, who will participate virtually and in person in daily events, working closely with Anglican Communion delegates.

“The Episcopal Church has had a nine-year history of active representation at the premier global climate gathering, the U.N. Climate Change Conference,” said Bishop Marc Andrus, who chairs the delegation. “The delegation is a very diverse group of deeply committed people who bring their strong gifts to the multisector, ‘whole society’ approach to healing the planet.”

All are invited to meet the delegates and learn more about global climate advocacy from an Episcopal faith perspective at a Nov. 27 online kickoff and prayer event at noon ET. Learn more and register.

The delegates—who will complete in-depth advocacy training and host public reports, discussions, and events throughout the process—are as follows:

  • The Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus, Episcopal Diocese of California, delegation head
  • The Rev. Richard Acosta, Episcopal Diocese of Colombia  
  • Canon Barbara Okamoto Bach, Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey 
  • The Rt. Rev. Cathleen Bascom, Episcopal Diocese of Kansas 
  • Destinee Bates, Episcopal Diocese of New York 
  • Logan Crews, Episcopal Diocese of Missouri 
  • Coco de Marneffe, Episcopal Diocese of New York 
  • Justin Dehnert, Episcopal Diocese of New York 
  • The Rt. Rev. Carol Gallagher, Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts 
  • The Rev. John George, Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast 
  • Seán Hansen, Episcopal Diocese of Chicago  
  • Delia R. Heck, Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia 
  • John Kydd, Episcopal Diocese of Olympia 
  • The Rev. Lester Mackenzie, Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles 
  • Esther Mathieu, Episcopal Diocese of Utah 
  • Kara Lyn Moran, Episcopal Church in Connecticut 
  • Stephanie Peramas, Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee 
  • Katie Ruth, Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania  
  • The Rev. Anna Shine, Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina 
  • Matthew Strange, Episcopal Diocese of Lexington 
  • The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, Episcopal Diocese of Olympia 
  • The Rev. Christine Trainor, Anglican Diocese of Cyprus & the Gulf 

Delegates will report back on their experiences during an online closing event at 3 p.m. ET Dec. 15, open to all. Learn more and register.

In its policy priorities for COP28, The Episcopal Church urges stakeholders to embrace the following priorities in the work for environmental justice, ending environmental racism, and solving the climate crisis:

  • Accelerate ambition.
  • Increase support for communities experiencing loss and damage.
  • Protect human rights and affirm environmental justice in addressing adaptation and mitigation.
  • Fulfill climate finance commitments and strengthen mechanisms.

The document—which is distributed to negotiators and representatives of every nation attending COP28—also lists some actions The Episcopal Church has taken to implement the Paris Agreement and address the climate emergency:

  • Our churchwide Covenant for the Care of Creation invites individuals, churches, dioceses, and Episcopal institutions to commit to deeper formation, public advocacy, and mitigation. 
  • Over 2,000 households and congregations are measuring their carbon footprint via our Carbon Tracker. 
  • We have set and are working toward churchwide goals for achieving net carbon neutrality by 2030. 
  • We support rainforest protection in the Amazon and the Anglican Communion Forest initiative. 
  • We are planting “Good News Gardens” and partnering locally to improve access to good, affordable food. 

During its recent October meeting, The Episcopal Church Executive Council approved a resolution endorsing a proposed Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The resolution notes, “The Executive Council recognizes that the treaty is calling the people of the world not just to make technical adjustments to negative impacts on the planet, but to transform lives by phasing out fossil fuel production and the reliance on fossil fuels by the parties to the Paris Accords.”

In addition to the delegates, all Episcopalians are encouraged to participate in and promote global climate justice during and beyond COP28, as well as to join the delegates in intentional prayer prior to and during the conference.

“For us, as the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement, it is a joy to join with other faith bodies, with governmental bodies, with business, with the whole of the planet to work to save the precious creation,” Andrus said. “Because we are Christian, we know that the healing that will come is not the work of collective will alone, important as that is, but of prayer to a loving Creator. Let our work be fundamentally the work of prayer.”

The delegation is guided and supported by The Episcopal Church offices of Global Partnerships, Government Relations, and Creation Care. Follow Episcopal Church COP28 updates online.

For more information, email Phoebe Chatfield or Lynnaia Main. 

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