New campaign targets climate change
An international development agency is calling on UK Christians to join in prayer to help the world’s poorest people to flourish and be resilient in the face of climate change
In a statement, Tearfund said it sees prayer as a powerful tool to launch and sustain the international Renew Our World campaign.
Launched on the first day of Lent, (1 March) alongside organisations from another six countries, the long-term campaign aims to mobilise and inspire churches around the world to beat poverty and injustice. Starting with climate change, the campaign will ask governments to make firm plans to keep their promises made in the Paris Climate Agreement, and to invest in clean energy.
The Paris Agreement sets out a global action plan to start putting the world on course to address dangerous climate change. As part of The Renew Our World campaign, Christians will be praying that the 195 countries who signed up to the Agreement will limit global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees as possible and that greenhouse gas emissions will be eliminated.
In addition to prayer, UK Christians are calling on the government to bring light to remote communities around the world, by supporting clean, affordable and renewable energy which isn’t reliant on old fashioned grids and power stations. The vision is for a world where everyone has electricity.
Tearfund’s Director of Advocacy, Paul Cook, said, ‘The Renew Our World campaign will put pressure on governments around the world to deliver on promises made in the Paris Agreement. Part of that agreement is to see energy renewed with clean power, and food renewed by taking action on waste.’
‘This is our generation’s choice,’ said The Right Reverend Nicholas Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury, and the Church of England’s lead bishop on climate change. ‘We can beat poverty, and to do that we need to beat climate change.
'Previous generations didn’t know about climate change; for later generations it will be too late. This is our generation’s challenge. We need to rise to it. As followers of Jesus we already know we need to love our neighbours and care for creation.
'Lent is a good time to remember the spiritual and physical limits of consumerism.’
Baptist Times, 28/02/2017