News

Churches' network urges world leaders to act on climate change

June 21, 2005

The Environmental Issues Network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland has written to the Prime Minister ahead of the G8 Summit.

The text of the letter reads:

Dear Prime Minister,

I write on behalf of the Environmental Issues Network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. We are the focus for environmental concerns for the main Christian denominations of these islands.

We accept the judgment of the Joint Science Academies of the world about the evidence of escalating damage from climate change and we are concerned about the lack of urgency on the subject being shown by world leaders. Consequently we very much welcome your acknowledgement that there is no “bigger long-term question facing the global community”. We expect nothing less than that the G8 meeting will clearly and unequivocally acknowledge that the threat of climate change is real and increasing. We will be praying for you as you Chair the G8 and then the EU, in particular that concerted international action can be agreed both to reduce without delay greenhouse gas emissions in the G8 and EU countries sufficiently to begin to make a difference and also to share relevant technology with the South. Unless there is action on these issues, the benefits of debt relief will be considerably reduced.

On the domestic front, we were pleased that in launching the new UK Sustainable Development Strategy, you committed yourself to “joining up thinking and action across all levels of government”. We look forward to seeing the fruits of this. Six years ago, we rejoiced at your Foreword to A Better Quality of Life that “focusing solely on economic growth risks ignoring the impact – both good and bad – on people and on the environment”. As you wrote, “in the past governments have seemed to forget this. Success has been measured by economic growth – GDP – alone. We have failed to see how our economy, our environment and our society are all one. And that delivering the best possible quality of life for us all means more than concentrating solely on economic growth”. The Archbishop of Canterbury made the same point when he declared recently that separating or opposing ecology and economy “has come to look like a massive mistake”. But there is little indication that this separation is disappearing or even shrinking. Ambition to “make poverty history” will founder unless economy and environment are dealt with together and this will not happen unless we in the developed world give a lead.

In the light of all this, we look to more leadership on environmental matters from your ministers than has been obvious so far. In particular, we trust that your Government will:

Take without delay the hard decisions necessary to assure the supply and more efficient use of energy whilst encouraging reduction in demand and promoting sources of energy that minimise emissions of CO2 and hence any subsequent alleviations necessary;
Enforce appropriate building regulations so as to reduce radically the waste of energy in the housing stock, especially in new building.
Take action to reduce pollution and congestion from both road and air transport.

We believe that through your Chairmanship of G8 and EU, we as a nation have an opportunity to set an example that can challenge and encourage the world, and in so doing exercise the stewardship of Creation to which the Bible calls us. We look forward to the fruits of your involvement.

Yours sincerely,

Professor R.J. Berry, Moderator, Environment Issues Network