The role of churches in holding governments accountable on climate change

Two shocking things happened as the Climate Sunday campaign was over. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released its most frightening report yet on the effects of climate change. Russia invaded Ukraine, its peaceful, democratic neighbor, bringing back the chaos and tragedy of war in Eastern Europe, something that many thought would never happen.

The report gave the most dire warnings yet about the consequences of rising temperatures for the planet. António Guterres, Secretary-General to the UN described it as “an atlas of human suffering” and condemned the “criminal” abdication of leadership, leading to the “arson of our only home”. This, along the Russian dominance in the supply oil and gas to most of Europe has highlighted the importance for investing in renewable energy. The war in Ukraine is being used by those against green energy to advocate more oil and gas, including fracking in the UK. This is absurd. The UK takes only a small percentage of our supplies from Russia, and developing more of our own fossil fuel will barely influence its international price but will  damage the climate.

As a response to the energy crisis, and the threat from climate change, More than 500 leaders from local and national churches have signed a letterPM Boris Johnson, Chancellor Rishi, and the President of India, asking them to stop the development of fossil fuels, invest in green energy and set a windfall oil and gas tax. They also asked for support for those most affected by the rising energy prices and the cost-of-living crisis. The letter is available to view Here.

It is now more likely that we will reach 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial levels Cop26 was trying to avoid. All is not lost. Although some climate impacts are irreversible and beyond our control, all degrees matter and there is so much more to be done. At the end of the report the IPCC said: “The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health. Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.” It’s important to note that the IPCC is made up of delegates from all UN member countries. They appoint scientists to prepare these reports. This means that all governments around the world have approved the wording and the findings of this report, including the UK. It’s time to hold them accountable, and we believe that the church has a key role to play in this. 

The Climate Sunday Initiative was formed by a coalition made up of members of the Environmental Issues Network, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), and others. The goal was to encourage all churches in the UK to participate in international climate negotiations. It has been encouraging that at least 2,200 churches and church groups throughout Britain and Ireland participated in the Climate Sunday Initiative by holding Climate Sunday services, committing to practical action and speaking up for climate justice – many for the first time. Many churches have joined together in prayer, worship, and action in their local communities.

Cop26 is over. However, the UK continues to be the Cop president responsible for the conference’s outcome until Cop27 in Egypt, 2022. It is important that churches voice their concerns and hold the UK government accountable for delivering and building upon the Cop26 outcome. They also need to implement the practical actions they committed to during the campaign. Cop27 will likely ask countries to increase their pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within one year, rather than waiting five more years. It is imperative that rich countries take immediate action to boost their domestic efforts before they can commit more internationally.  

Climate Sunday was the largest coalition of Christian denominations or organisations mobilizing churches in the run up to Cop26. It offers some hope for the future.  The high level of participation in local churches would not have been possible without the spirit of collaboration between charities and denominations. And it also leaves a very practical legacy of a website crammed with excellent resources in English and Welsh, so that churches can carry on acting – holding further Climate Sunday services, taking practical action, campaigning. There is, for example,  information on the four church greening schemes, including Cafod’s Live Simply programme as well as a rich menu of relevant campaign actions for churches to take in 2022.

In the spirit and cooperation of this collaboration, the Environmental Issues Network, (EIN), met at the start of 2022 in order to identify the top climate-related issues that churches should campaign on in 2022, with the UK still holding the presidency of Cop. Three clear priorities emerged.  First, the need for the UK to end all fossil fuel development (the geo political crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only underscored the urgency of transitioning away from investment in fossil fuel, toward renewable energy and energy efficiency). The second is known as “loss and damage” and speaks to the injustice suffered by countries who have done the least to cause the climate crisis and are facing the worst impacts. EIN  is calling on the UK government to back measures to compensate climate vulnerable countries for the irreversible loss and damage they are already experiencing from climate change. EIN believes that a fair and quick transition to a low-carbon economy requires a spiritual awareness of the importance of protecting creation. Pope Francis, in his seminal Laudato Si’ has called this an ecological conversion meaning a “transformation of hearts and minds towards greater love of God, each other, and creation”. Climate Sunday has a complete briefing paper that addresses these three priority issues.

It will be difficult to make the transition to net zero across the globe. We are grateful that church communities across Britain and Ireland have been part of enabling the legacy of Cop26 to be more than a negotiated outcome, but also a transformation of grassroots churches’ engagement in climate action. It has shown what is possible with collaboration across denominations and charities, and EIN members are already planning future joint action to increase churches’ collective impact on the environmental crisis in the critical decade ahead. Keep an eye out for this!

Andy Atkins is the chair Climate SundayChief executive officer of A Rocha UK.