Catholic leaders, charities and campaign groups have joined calls to strengthen the international response to climate change as the COP27 conference continues.
Catholic and other Christian organisations were among those who rallied in London on the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice, which saw more than 40 protests throughout the UK alone last Saturday. Cafod, Westminster Justice and Peace, students and staff from several London Catholic schools and the Southern Dioceses Environment Network joined demonstrators from across the Christian community and further afield.
The Global Day of Action, held at the midpoint of the COP27 conference, called to keep the 1.5 degrees target rise in temperatures in international treaties and to halt further fossil fuel investments.
A particular focus of campaign groups in the run-up to COP27 is the question of “loss and damage” – the reimbursement of countries most affected by climate change by those countries most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.
COP27 - “The twenty-seventh Conference Of Parties on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change” - held in Egypt, follows the landmark COP26 conference in Glasgow, which was widely considered a disappointment by campaign groups concerned about the pace and impact of climate change.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, speaking to the conference a fortnight ago on behalf of the Pope, warned that “concrete decisions” to tackle the climate crisis “can no longer be postponed”.
On Sunday, 13 November, religious leaders from Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Buddhist backgrounds climbed Parliament Hill with scrolls bearing “Ten Principles for Climate Repentance”.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who led the participants, said that the recognition of “Climate sins” was an important factor in tackling climate change. "Only when we deeply acknowledge the past and the present,” Williams said, “can we make the courageous changes necessary for a future of climate justice.”
A number of Catholics Bishops met and prayed with Christian climate activists before the plenary meeting of the English and Welsh Bishops’ Conference in Leeds last Monday.
Bishop of Salford John Arnold, Bishop of Hallam Ralph Heskett and Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle Robert Byrne were among those who met activists from the campaign group Catholics for Christian Climate Action.
The group presented the bishops with a letter asking them to speak out on “loss and damage”, which they described as a pro-life issue, issuing a pastoral letter on the question and encouraging the showing of The Letter, a recent film on Laudato Si’.
After praying with the group Bishop Arnold, the bishops’ lead on environmental issues, said: ‘We must all take our part in facing a crisis which is global and we all have a part to play in repairing the damage and living in hope as Christians.”
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