God of blessings, the universe sings of your glory. Deepen our gratitude for all you have made and awaken in us a renewed commitment to care for the earth and each other. Inspire world leaders at COP27, with openness to listen to those most affected by climate change and with courage to act urgently and wisely, so that our common home may be healed and restored and all people, and generations to come, may delight in it. Amen.
Join CAFOD, Westminster Justice & Peace, the Southern Dioceses Environment Network and other Catholic groups in the Faith Bloc for this Global Day of Action rally in Central London on the middle Saturday of COP27, the UN Climate Conference.
LOCATION
Starting Location: St John’s Church, Waterloo, SE1 8TY
Date: Saturday, 12th November 2022, 11.30am
We will be meeting at 11:30am outside St John’s Church, Waterloo, for prayers from different faith traditions, before joining the main march outside the Shell building on the South Bank, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 7NA, at noon. The march route ends at Trafalgar Square, where there will be a rally from 2:30 until around 4pm.
CAFOD Supporters at the Global Day of Action for the Climate, Glasgow, 2021, COP26
Join CAFOD, Westminster Justice & Peace, the Southern Dioceses Environment Network and other Catholic groups in the Faith Bloc for this Global Day of Action rally in Central London on the middle Saturday of COP27, the UN Climate Conference, on 12th November 2022.
Location
Starting Location: Shell Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 7NA
22 September – 7 November: Walk2COP27 – Virtual walk from Glasgow to Sharm el-Sheikh organised by Sam Baker. Participants include the Laudato Si’ Animators. Download the App and log your steps in solidarity with others around the world! A virtual townhall meeting takes place in each of the 12 countries en route: Scotland, England, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. https://www.walk2cop27.com/
25 October, 7.30-9.30pm: Catholic People’s Weeks Annual Autumn Online Lecture with Dr Carmody Grey – Living in a Time of Crisis: Christianity and Ecological Catastrophe. Dr Grey is Assistant Professor of Catholic Theology at Durham University and a visiting research fellow at Laudato Si Institute, Oxford. https://catholicpeoplesweeks.org/events/annual-autumn-lecture-2022
29 October, 11am-2.30pm: CAFOD Faith in Action – Online event. Includes updates on transforming our food system campaign and finding out more about COP27. Register in advance
Southern Dioceses Environment Network 12th September 2022: Presentation by Shanon Shah, Director, Faith for the Climate
We were delighted to welcome Shanon Shah, the Director of Faith for the Climate, as our guest speaker for the first meeting this term of the Southern Dioceses Environment Network.
Faith for the Climate is a network that aims to equip, inspire, and encourage faith inspired action on issues of climate change across the UK. All faiths and spiritualities are welcome.
Shanon Shah is a Malaysian Muslim who came to the UK in 2010. He joined the team at Faith for the Climate in 2020.
The organisation aims to unite those of faith together in the environmental justice space and to encourage learning from the different faith traditions. It was a way to target the UK government and show solidarity with those who suffer the worse impact of climate change despite doing the least to contribute.
The group meet regularly online with two priorities in the lead up to COP-26: new and additional money for loss and damage, ending fossil fuel subsidies. The UK government has made some progress with the second focus, therefore, most energy was focused on loss and damage.
Loss and Damage is part of the architecture of the Paris Agreement which includes three main pillars of climate action; mitigation of climate emissions, adaption to live with the impact of climate change, loss and damage. Loss and damage is when the impact of climate change is so severe that adaption/mitigation is not possible e.g. as a result of sea level rises, extreme weather events.
The UK government has historically blocked negotiations on loss and damage.
At COP-19, in 2013, the Warsaw international mechanism for Loss and damage was established in response to the typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. At COP-25 in Madrid, the Santiago network on loss and damage was established to implement the Warsaw mechanism. It called for richer countries to offer compensation. At COP-26, there was a push for clarity on how the Santiago network would be implemented.
The Glasgow Dialogue on Loss and Damage was established post COP-26. Many questions on how to address the issue are undecided, but it is climbing the agenda with the first awareness day last year. This is largely due to the efforts of faith communities.
The UK has faced financial difficulty this year due to the war in Ukraine, cost of living crisis etc. which has made it more difficult to talk about loss and damage. Despite our own issues we must not forget countries such as Pakistan which is now 1/3 under water with the displacement of 50 million people and 10 billion US dollars’ worth of damage. These poorer countries are suffering the worst effects of climate change despite contributing the least. The impacts of extreme weather events are far greater for them and they are still struggling with debt.
It seems only fair that the big polluters have the most responsibility to pay compensation for loss and damage. It is a moral issue that lies at the centre of many faiths; we are all interconnected.
The next Loss and Damage Awareness Day will be on the 22nd September; including a walk of witness to Parliament Square via the Shell headquarters. Gathering at St. John’s Church, Waterloo, 10.30am. It will join those doing an interfaith fast for loss and damage.
22 September – Loss and Damage Awareness Day 10.30am Meet at St John’s Waterloo, 73 Waterloo Rd, London SE1 8TY 11.30am Walk to the Shell headquarters for a vigil 12.00pm Walk to Parliament Square Loss and Damage Day of Action London
We then broke into small groups to consider the question: “In what ways does the topic of Loss and Damage resonate with this year’s theme for the Season of Creation – Listen to the Voice of Creation?”
The episcopal lead for the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales on the Environment, Bishop John Arnold of Salford, has called for more urgent action on the climate crisis. In a statement on his diocesan website on 23 July, after a record-breaking heatwave in the UK, he said:
“This is not going to just peak and then we’ll hear no more of it. It’s going to get gradually worse. We are warming the globe and we’re not reacting quickly enough to avoid the damage or to even begin to repair the damage that we’ve done. We’ve already been told that some of the damage is irreparable, so we’ve got to think and we’ve got to act. Unfortunately, the government is not fulfilling the promises made at COP26…. The politics of our nation must take full measure of climate change and the climate crisis.
“I know that we’re jogging along, showing an interest in climate change – but jogging is not enough. We’ve got to start sprinting at this stage to make sure that we are caring for our common home and our brothers and sisters.”
He described the recent heatwave as a “wake-up call,” saying, “this week, we’ve witnessed temperatures never before reached here in the UK and, here in our own diocese, temperatures also saw record highs as some parishes nudged 40 degrees and firefighters battled flames in nearby communities.”
Bishop John thanked parishes and schools already working to live more sustainably and campaign for environmental justice. Bishop Arnold invited involvement in the second diocesan Walk for Creation on Sunday 2nd October.
I have been privileged to attend the ‘Southern Environment Diocesan Network’ meetings, which are open to all with participants including members of CAFOD, Diocesan staff and volunteers, Laudato Si’ Animators, clergy, parishioners, religious and activists. We have met together for mutual support and encouragement for our efforts to tackle climate change in our work and home environments.
We were fortunate to receive input on all aspects of the climate, in order for us to inform those around us. Recently we learnt about ‘Biodiversity’ and how Climate Change is causing widespread devastation to all species and habitats on this planet. Clearly, there needs to be a dramatic reduction in our carbon emissions as individuals and organisations in order to protect the future and diversity of all life on earth. The mission of the network is inspired by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching set out by Pope Francis in his encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ which draws upon scripture to highlights our duty as Catholics to care for the earth and each other.
For me the experience highlighted the reality and urgency of the crisis which is often easy for us to forget amongst the business of our lives and the fact that real change is only possible if we take responsibility as individuals. It is only by the accumulation of our efforts that there can be hope for the future of life on this earth. With prayer and support of one another, we can have the strength to ‘take up our cross’ (Matthew 16: 24,26) whatever form this may take so we can protect God’s creation for future generations.
The next leader of the Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister must aspire to make the UK a global leader on climate change, nature restoration and environmental health. The environment needs to be centre stage in their campaign. Below are 10 commitments that a candidate, who’s genuinely commited to the environment, should be comfortable in making. If delivered, they would make a substantial difference to people’s lives and the environment and demonstrate global leadership.
Invest in the biggest ever UK-wide home insulation programme through a council-led street by street programme and provide additional financial support to low-income households.
Reject calls for the scrapping of the moratorium on fracking and the development of any new oil, gas, or coal extraction and instead say ‘yes’ to the rapid growth of onshore and offshore renewable energy.
Accept the Office for Environmental Responsibility’s recommendations for stronger targets for nature restoration and air quality, reverse plans to weaken habitats and environmental assessment laws, and swiftly implement the Environmental Land Management Scheme to reward nature-friendly farming.
Support calls for the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment to be recognised by the UN General Assembly and put this into UK law, as an essential part of protecting people’s health and eradicating environmental inequalities.
Fix the Net Zero Strategy so it delivers on legally binding carbon reduction targets and the commitments made at COP26, ensuring all departments in Whitehall deliver their part, including the Treasury.
Decentralise power and resources to devolved nations and councils so that they can properly eradicate environmental inequalities, deliver on the Climate Change Act, restore nature and ensure planning rules are in line with the climate and ecological emergency.
Introduce a new UK Business, Human Rights and Environment Act to make companies accountable for environmental damage and human rights abuses in their overseas supply chains and to eliminate the UK’s role in global deforestation.
Follow through on the UK’s world-leading commitment to ending the financing of fossil fuel projects abroad by speeding up the decarbonisation of the UK Export Finance agency’s portfolio. This must include withdrawing funding from the Mozambique gas project and switching financial support to renewable energy.
Ensure all new trade deals have strong, enforceable climate change and nature protection safeguards and that food standards and nature-friendly farming are not undermined by imports produced to lower environmental standards.
Make the UK a beacon of democracy by reversing draconian restrictions on protest, guarantee the independence of the Electoral Commission, stop the attacks on the Human Rights Act, and ensure citizens can challenge unjust decisions through the courts.
London Climate Action week 2022, the largest independent climate change event in Europe, will take place from 25th June to 3rd July and focuses on delivering the promises from COP-26 in this post pandemic era. It will involve a mixture of in-person and virtual events which anyone is free to host and hopes to embrace the diversity of London’s experience and heritage. Events will be a mixture of panel discussions, digital campaigns, announcements from business leaders and much more.
This annual event aims to harness the power of London for global Climate action to help us move towards a net-zero future. It will feature many world leading climate professionals and communities across London and beyond with the hope of finding practical solutions to the climate crisis.
As we recover from COVID-19, we need to embrace a new normal that puts tackling the climate emergency at the heart of everything we do.
We invite you to the next ‘Southern Dioceses Environment Network’ meeting, on Monday 13th June 12.45-2.00pm where we will explore the theme of ‘sustainable summers’. In preparation it would be helpful if you could have a think about a place, attraction, or venue in your Diocese to encourage families to explore the many things a sustainable holiday in England can offer. We would like to know something great about each Diocese! At the meeting, in Diocesan groups, you will be tasked to give each suggestion a trip advisor type review.
Things to consider could be:
Public Transport Cost Facilities Accessibility What is on offer Opening times Extra information Web site
Although this is a serious topic, we intend this to be an enjoyable session as we look towards the much-needed holiday season.
Diocese of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission 