Devon Churches Green Action
Climate Change Report
'I am very pleased to welcome you here for the public launch of this very important document entitled 'COOL IT! - Climate Change and the Devon Churches'.
The document has been researched and written by the ecumenical 'Devon Churches Green Action'. We are extremely grateful to the Group and to all who have been involved in the creation of the document, and we thank them for the immense amount of time an energy, thought and wisdom they have given to the task.
The document provides a great deal of information about the various issues with which we are concerned, as well as giving more details about what is being done in each part of Devon.
There is a challenge about what could or should be done in terms of Church and Community Action; in Personal and Household affairs; and in Congregations and Parishes - and in the wider denominational structures. And there is a good deal of advice and challenge to us all for the years to come.
So then - Welcome - Thank you for being here!
And as I said at the beginning - we are most grateful to the ecumenical 'Devon Churches Green Action' for all the progress that has been made so far.
The following presentations were then given:-
Mrs Delia Law: DCGA
In the summer of 2002 the Bishop of Exeter wrote to public agencies, universities and local authorities in Devon, to ask what action each was taking in the face of the growing evidence of climate change.
Bishop Michael posed the questions
- How were they establishing good practice? - and
- How were they attempting to change policy appropriately?
- those initiatives addressing the causes of climate change
- those reducing its impacts and effects
- those investigating and publicising the issues
Members of our Working Group also looked at the report by the SW Climate Change Impacts Partnership entitled 'Warming to the idea: meeting the challenge of climate change in the South West'. The summary lists both opportunities and challenges that are likely to occur.
Some local churches are already taking action to tackle the implications of climate change. But there could be a greater move towards:-
- changing the way in which church buildings can be made more energy efficient;
- churchyards can be made more friendly to wildlife
- waste reduction in offices
- recycling and composting
- green transport and car sharing
- in fact changing our lifestyles individually and collectively.
We need to take seriously the negative consequences of our oil dependent lifestyles, and actively encourage the churches to increase the pace of their initiatives to meet the challenge of climate change.
Mr Martyn Goss: DCGA and Director, Council for Church & Society
There is an old African proverb which says people are always concerned about the bear that threatens at the mouth of the cave, but fail to notice the river level rising in the valley below! We have a strong tendency to focus in on the immediate and forget or neglect the longer term perspective.
This year has been critical - one of the hottest on record - with dire consequences across the globe: massive forest fires in Canada, the USA and Venezuela. Grain harvests collapsing in central Europe (Ukraine dropped from 21 million tonnes of wheat to 7 million) due to drought. Seas and rivers are continuing to dry up. Thousands of people die because of heat in France, Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal. There are current water shortages in Devon and Cornwall. UNHCR now suggests there are more environmental than conflict refugees.
We continue to try to live as if there was no tomorrow. But this has to be challenged because our lifestyles are fundamentally unsustainable. We are dependent on 'cheap' oil, and its excessive use means supplies will dwindle, and meanwhile pollution becomes worse.
From a Christian point of view at least 3 values come into play:
-
the need to respect the non-human world for its own value and not as a human commodity, recalling that everything is part of God's wider Creation.
Remember God created the Universe before the Earth; the Earth before people; and people before the Church! The purposes of God go way back into history and do not just start with us!! - emphasising the need for justice for those places and people who bear the brunt of the damage and pain provoked by human-induced Climate Change. There should be a "preferential option for the poor", but not only for human beings.
- a responsibility for future generations - human and planetary. The Christian tradition speaks of the life of the world to come, which needs to be earthed and not totally spiritualised! We should not pass on a poisonous legacy for others to sort out in the future.
Cool It! is more of a pointer than a panacea. It is one small contribution to the discussion and need for action on the climatic chaotic conditions we increasingly face.
To do this we have to act in partnership with others - public agencies, environmental and community organisations. Together we can develop visions for being and living differently in an excessively consumerist world. Local action can make a difference and it begins with each of us. Our churches have a role to play and let them act from today!
Mr Jonathan Deacon spoke about Buckfast Abbey's hydro-scheme and the Rev'd Chas Deacon about his church's solar panelling for their hall.
Miss Charlotte Hunter and Miss Rebecca Wagstaff spoke on behalf of young people and stressed the need to encourage the use of fair trade and of local products.
The following letter of support was read out
Dear Martyn,
My best wishes for your campaign 'Cool It! - Climate Change and the Devon Churches'. It is precisely local, regional and national initiatives such as yours that are so critical in making a difference. Unless we have this on-the-ground kind of activity by faith communities, then our advocacy at the international level lacks credibility and our follow-through is ineffective.
Blessings on your work in preservation of God's creation and in solidarity with those most affected by the destructive impacts of human-induced climate change.
All the best, David Hallman
Dr. David G. Hallman,
Programme Officer for Energy & Environment for
The United Church of Canada, and
Climate Change Programme Coordinator for
The World Council of Churches,
Copies of the 'Cool It' report are available at £2.50 each, or £5.00 for three copies, from DCGA at the address below. (Cheques should be made payable to Board for Christian Care.)
For details about DCGA please write (enclosing an sae) to:-
DCGA, 96 Old Tiverton Road, Exeter, EX4 6LD.
or e-mail:- greenaction@christiancare.freeserve.co.uk
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