Hampshire: Churches speak out on climate

Our Lady's RC Church in Fleet

Church-goers in Hampshire have been supporting the upcoming United Nations talks on climate change in Paris in prayer and action. Churches Together in Fleet & Crookham held a multi-sensory prayer event at Our Lady's Church in Fleet on 1st November where a petition was launched calling on the government to show leadership nationally and internationally to secure fair and ambitious agreements on tackling climate change and poverty.

There has been a clamour of calls for serious action ahead of the summit from top scientists and faith leaders as well as less likely sources, such as the governor of the Bank of England and the CEO of Unilever.

Christians in North East Hampshire wanted to add their voices and demand urgent and decisive action by all countries, particularly our own, which holds historic responsibility for a large proportion of the carbon emissions in the atmosphere.

At a multi-sensory prayer event at Our Lady's Church in Fleet, there was a continuous presentation of CAFOD's 'Care of our Common Home' power point in the background and various prayer stations focusing on different environmental themes. An 'Action station' included the launch of the climate petition to the government, publicity for the People's Climate March on the 29th November and pledges to undertake specific 'Live Simply' activities such as leaving the car home for the day or living on a subsistence meal once a week.

The petition with 288 signatures from members of Churches Together in Fleet & Crookham and two Hartley Wintney churches, St Thomas More and St. John's, was sent to Ranil Jayawardena, their constituency MP, this week.

"Our government is reducing support for renewable energy just at the time when the world is crying out for leadership at the UN Paris Conference," said Will Parker, who chairs Churches Together in Fleet & Crookham. "With understanding of the causes of climate change comes responsibility to take actions that limit global rise in temperature. This is an issue of social justice as climate change hits the poorest hardest. It's great that the Pope has given a strong lead on this in his recent encyclical and that Christians, locally and nationally, are saying that we need to take long term sustainable care of God's earth. Climate change threatens both people and the amazing biodiversity of our planet."

Several church members will be joining the Interfaith Event and People's Climate March on the 29th November calling for a genuine and just solution to the climate crisis.

The wording of the petition follows:

To Prime Minister David Cameron,

Inspired by our Christian Faith, we the undersigned on behalf of the Christian Community of Fleet, Church Crookham and Hartley Witney, call on you to show leadership nationally and internationally to secure ambitious agreements on tackling climate change and poverty. We urge you and other world leaders to cut carbon emissions to keep global temperature rise below the dangerous threshold of 1.5 degrees C, and to prevent climate change pushing people deeper into poverty.

'It makes no sense to invest in companies that undermine our future. To serve as custodians of creation is not an empty title; it requires that we act, and with all the urgency this dire situation demands.' Desmond Tutu

For more information see: http://brightnow.org.uk/

To read about the People's Climate March on the 29th November go to: www.campaigncc.org/climatemarchlondon