Stop Climate Chaos
We started a residents' association a year or so ago - all because an attractive area of playing fields surrounded by woodland was threatened with development. It has brought neighbours together to fight for our local environment. It's a small part of a small town, but, maybe, the decision-makers might listen to us.
We also have parking problems, and we find ourselves seeking to solve our problem by hoping drivers will simply go and clog up someone else's neighbourhood! In the end, solving our problems means accepting limitations and infringement of our liberties as well.
But when it comes to a threat to the environment so massive, and so incalculably damaging - not just to me and my neighbours, but to all 6 billion of our wider neighbourhood - who will stand up and who will listen? We cannot simply protect our small part of the planet. We sink or swim together. A report from the Met Office, released at the end of September, looked at projections of fossil fuel use, reflecting the trend seen over the last 20 years. It showed a best estimate of 4 ?C of warming being reached by 2070, with a possibility that it will come as early as 2060.
My youngest grandchild will be 53 in 2060. What will his world be like? Quite possibly it will contain up to 40 per cent fewer species than it does now. Could he also live to see London under water, while Africa dries up?
Love the Lord your God - who made it all; love your neighbour - millions of whose lives are on the line. These commandments place on us the requirement to do all we can to slow down climate change. The climate change summit in Copenhagen in December is one of the most crucial meetings of sovereign states ever convened. Could India, China, USA and Europe, for starters, possibly agree on unpopular and uncomfortable policies? How can we tell our governments that we require them to take every possible action, however hard?
One thing we can do is to join the Stop Climate Chaos coalition's call to action. On Saturday 5 December at 11.00am, there will be a service in Westminster Central Hall, organised by a number of Christian organisations, followed by a march. Be there if you can.
If you can't get to London, then organise a breakfast, using materials and information from Tearfund (or CAFOD or Christian Aid). Talk, pray, write to your MP...
For the sake of our God, who created the heavens and the earth, do anything but nothing.
Margaret Killingray
Links
Find out more about the Stop Climate Chaos coalition here
You can read more about the Met Office report mentioned in this article here
Al Gore has just published a new book, outlining his ideas for solving the current climate crisis. Check out the details here
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