2023 was Earth's hottest year ever recorded, beating the
previous record set in 2016 by a huge margin. Last year was also the first in
which the world was close to 1.5°C hotter than the pre-industrial average and
the past nine years have been the warmest years since modern record keeping
began in 1880. (Meteorological Office[1] and NASA[2]).
“To hurt the Earth is a sin” says Patriarch Bartholomew and
Pope Francis states: “we must respond to the cry of the Earth and the cry of
the poor”. Archbishop Justin Welby believes "reducing the causes of
climate change is essential to the life of faith. It is a way to love our
neighbour and to steward the gift of creation."
Climate Justice:
Poorer communities and countries with high rates of poverty
are more vulnerable to climate change. Countries with less resources do not
have the same financial capacity as other countries with more wealth to
mitigate against the impacts of climate change. These countries and communities
have less power to influence decision making and are not always included
meaningfully in the decision making processes at national or global levels[3].
What can we do?
The dire state of God’s Creation can make us wonder “what on earth can I do?”
Churches Together in Milton Keynes believes that living in a way that respects
what God has made is part of our joyful discipleship and, by inspiring others
to join us, we can begin to change the world. We believe that responding to the
climate crisis is an essential part of our responsibility to safeguard God's
creation and achieve a just world. Climate change hits hardest the poorest
countries and poorest people of the world. The widespread destruction of the
natural world is a crisis for creation and all Christian’s must work for
Climate Change and Justice.
Eco Church
Working for Climate Change and Justice involves changing many aspects of
church life and lifestyle choices of Christians including: worship and
teaching, use of our buildings, land and nature, community and global action
and decisions about our lifestyles. All these issues are included in the
comprehensive A Rocha Eco Church award scheme.
Registration: To become an Eco Church churches must first register, which can be done on the A Rocha website here
Online Survey: After registering the next step is for churches complete an Online Survey: https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/how-eco-church-works/ .
Resources: A Rocha has many useful resources to guide churches take action on all
five areas of Eco Church: https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/resources/