Why is it that some Catholics still regard action on climate change, and other environmental issues, as a sideshow to the main business of being Catholic?
It is not uncommon, in my experience, to meet both clergy and lay, some in responsible positions within the parish structure, who show not only disinterest in climate change but an almost Jeremy Clarkson-type attitude. The undercurrent is that climate change is for green hippies who belong to the liberal end of the Church and are dangerously close to being pantheists – that real Catholics concentrate on alleviating human suffering and maintaining an aloofness towards anything that could be classed as a contemporary trend.
This is not only a slap in the face for the many unsung parishioners who do wonderful work, and who are utterly bemused by the lack of interest. But it is also plain wrong-headed.
Climate change takes us to the heart of social justice and individual responsibility. It forces us to consider our lives in a global context and to redefine our day-to-day actions in regards to not only our nearest neighbours but also to those we will never meet.
2015 is a crucial year for all Catholics to re-assess their attitude to one of the greatest threats to human wellbeing we have ever faced. In New York in September, member states of the United Nations will gather to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will take over from the now 15-years-old Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), defining the agenda for relieving poverty in a resource- and climate-stressed world.
In December the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) will again attempt to sign the long overdue and internationally binding agreements on action for climate change. These two meetings, so close together, will highlight that development and climate change are not separate issues but are intimately bound together.
It is simply impossible to be concerned for justice, peace and the alleviation of poverty and not be concerned about a warming world. As the climate destabilises and we experience more extreme weather events (2014 was a another record year for heat, snow, floods, typhoons and flooding) more people will find their lives changed in unpredictable and potentially devastating ways.
And because this “small blue dot” that is our home is spherical it means those who live in the equatorial regions will suffer disproportionately, and most of the world’s poorest peoples live around the central band of the earth. For people already struggling to cope in an unequal world where corrupt governance, debt and discriminatory social structures all work together to keep people poor, climate stress will be unbearable.
I hope 2015 shows Catholicism becoming a leading light for raising awareness and action on greenhouse gas emissions. (Cafod has some suggestions here.) It will require discipline and sacrifice to do what is needed. We must significantly reduce the energy we use, scale down consumption of goods and eat a lot less meat – but then a life of simplicity and awareness is quintessentially Catholic.
Mary Colwell is a producer and writes for The Tablet on environmental issues
Above: A protestor in the Peruvian capital on the eve of last December's UN climate summit in Lima. Photo: CNS
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