Advertisement MissioICN Would you like to advertise on ICN? Click to learn more.

Faith leaders and MPs celebrate climate law's tenth birthday

  • Liam Finn

Reception participants - photo by Kristian Buus, Climate Coalition

Reception participants - photo by Kristian Buus, Climate Coalition

Faith leaders and MPs have marked ten years since a world-leading Act on climate change came onto the statute book.

The event at Parliament on 21 November celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Climate Change Act, a law which requires the UK to cut the carbon emissions which are causing climate change and pushing poor communities deeper into poverty.

Members of Parliament, UN climate report author Farhana Yamin and actress and entrepreneur Lily Cole were amongst the speakers at the event.

The reception was organised by The Climate Coalition, a group of more than 130 organisations representing over 15 million people, ranging from aid agencies such as CAFOD to groups such as the Women's Institute and the Woodland Trust.

Politicians and campaigners at the event celebrated the impact of the Act and called for the government to set a more ambitious target to prevent temperatures rising more than 1.5 degrees. Scientists say this is necessary to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change, which include even worse flooding and storms in some areas of the world, and threats to food and water supplies due to famines and droughts in other regions.

Neil Thorns, Chair of The Climate Coalition and Director of Advocacy at CAFOD, said: "The Climate Change Act is one of the most ground-breaking pieces of legislation to have been passed by Parliament this century. This event has shown that it continues to command support from all political parties ten years on.

"But with the developments in science over the last decade, we know that we need to go even further than the target the Act set in 2008 - reducing our carbon emissions to zero before 2050.

"Pope Francis has said that tackling climate change is 'the greatest leadership opportunity of them all'. We need the government to take this opportunity and respond to from calls people across the country. God has made us guardians of this earth"

Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra from the Muslim Council of Britain said: "It's important to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Climate Change Act which all of us as citizens of the United Kingdom should take great pride in.

"As an imam and a preacher, I try and educate my congregations about the importance of looking after our planet. I also make extensive use of scripture to try and convince people and give them evidence that God has made us guardians of this earth and so we are duty-bound to ensure that we use it wisely and we leave it in a state which future generations will be able to benefit from - as we have benefited ourselves."

Anna McMorrin, MP for Cardiff North, said: "Climate change is the biggest issue facing this generation and future generations. People across the globe are being affected by the changing climate so it's time we take this incredibly seriously.

"We've had ten years so far but we're not taking enough action. It's time to go faster and take much more serious action in terms of mitigation, adaptation and actual action."


Adverts

Apostleship of the Sea

We offer publicity space for Catholic groups/organisations. See our advertising page if you would like more information.

We Need Your Support

ICN aims to provide speedy and accurate news coverage of all subjects of interest to Catholics and the wider Christian community. As our audience increases - so do our costs. We need your help to continue this work.

You can support our journalism by advertising with us or donating to ICN.

Mobile Menu Toggle Icon