Climate change and Christian responsibility

By Heather Hill
Environment Action Group member, Uniting Church SA

Posted Dec  4, 2015 in Culture

On Saturday 17 October, a symposium was held at Playford Uniting Church addressing the topic “What would Jesus say about climate change?” The event was organised by the Uniting Church SA Environment Action Group, and featured a number of keynote speakers. Heather Hill has the details.

The symposium opened with a welcome from Rev Peter Riggs, the minister at the recently opened Playford Uniting Church in Munno Para and the site of the event. A group of dedicated participants were gathered for the symposium, ready to hear more about climate change and the role the Uniting Church might play in dealing with this issue.

We listened attentively as the first of the keynote speakers, Rev Prof Andrew Dutney, reminded us of the close links that the Uniting Church of Australia has with its Pacific neighbours. Climate change is a crucially important issue for these countries, and sea level rise is already affecting Kiribati, Hindmarsh Islands and Tuvalu.

Andrew spoke about how climate change has started a spiritual crisis for Pacific Islanders. He shared his belief that Australian Christians need to provide ongoing support to these communities, now and in the future, as they work out how to address the associated issues.

The next speaker, Dr Denis Edwards, provided some insight and analysis of the Laudato Si document released by Pope Francis. This document represents a new movement in Catholic social teaching as it introduces a formal regard for protecting God’s creation. The document emphasises that Earth is our common home, and we are called to care for and protect it for the next generation.

Denis described three concepts outlined in Laudato Si – the “communion of creation”, creation as revealing the Creator, and the intrinsic value of nature. We may recognise these concepts, but the document – and Dennis’ discussion of it – provide a new way to deliver this message to the world and reach another group of people.

The final keynote speaker, Dr Trevor Powell, provided us with the facts of climate change. He reiterated that an increase of more than 2°C to the average temperature of the Earth is dangerous and will start a cascade of events that will be hard to reverse. World leaders are still struggling to agree on how to keep the temperature from dramatically increasing. He also spoke about how the impact of climate change will mean climate change refugees need to move en masse to “safer” places. Countries such as Australia need to get ready and plan and prepare so that they are able to rapidly accommodate an influx of large numbers of people.

Several small workshops followed the keynote addresses on topics including indigenous responses to climate change, food security in Southeast Asia, and energy for growth.

Personally, I went home feeling inspired to act on what I had learnt. What can we, as Christians, do in response to our growing knowledge of the effects of climate change? There are many possibilities. We can take an advocacy role and become eco-evangelists. We can call on government and society to take action to reduce carbon emissions. We can share our knowledge with others. We can become low carbon/carbon neutral communities and churches. We can embrace renewable energy and solar panels. We can establish environment groups at church to encourage and challenge each other.

If you feel inspired, I urge you to take up one or more of the above suggestions – or follow your own ideas. Others will soon want to join you.

To find out more about the Uniting Church SA Environment Action Group, please email Transforming Justice Officer Adrian Nippress at Turn on Javascript!

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