Religions demand end to ‘fossil fuels era’

LEADERS OF France’s main religions have issued a joint appeal to the Government, saying the climate crisis is a spiritual and moral challenge and urging it to “rethink and reshape our relationship to creation and nature”.

The leaders of the Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist faiths, who meet monthly to coordinate policies concerning religion in the public sphere, handed President Hollande a letter asking him to seek a binding agreement for all countries at the Climate Change Conference in Paris in December.

That deal should “commit us to a timely end to the era of fossil fuels and sets out the bringing together of objectives for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions”.

They urged help for the poor to adapt to climate change and promote responsible ecological development. “We commit ourselves to impart, on the basis of our foundational texts and respective traditions, the demands of conscience, and the responsibility of human beings within nature and creation,” they said.

“By destroying the environment, humanity destroys itself,” they wrote. “By preserving it, we preserve ourselves, our neighbours and future generations.”