Called to Care
By Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath and Wells
I heard about one of the earliest scientists to get involved in climate change research. When he began, the researcher said, he’d believed that if we could just get the science right, all the challenges could be resolved. The best information would enable humankind to find the right technologies and take the right actions to bring climate change under control. Twenty-five years on, the scientist said, he’d realised he’d got it all wrong. What we need to sort out, he said, is the human heart. We know what to do to address the climate emergency. Our challenge is that we’re all too liable to place the actions we need to take into the ‘too difficult’ box, or just deny there’s a problem altogether.
Yet whether we like it or not, the climate emergency is a reality that is advancing upon us. It’s seen in rising sea levels and increased freak weather. Talk to our brothers and sisters in Zambia and they’ll tell you that the climate emergency is upon them now in increased droughts and floods. Last year the National Emergency Briefing on the Climate and Nature Crisis saw leading experts brief an audience of over 1,200 politicians and leaders from business, culture, faith, sport and the media. The Briefing outlined the implications of climate breakdown for health, food systems, national security and the economy. If you’ve not seen it please can I encourage you to find out where you can watch it.
I invite us all to think too about the next steps we can take to address an issue we’d probably rather ignore. The Church of England has set the bold target of becoming Carbon Net Zero by 2030. Our churches can make a difference in local communities towards achieving this ambitious goal. I urge you to fill out your church’s Carbon Footprint return, sign up to achieve an A Rocha Eco Church Award, make whatever difference you can where you are. Such actions are a sign of us turning around – metanoia as the New Testament puts it – away from denial of what’s wrong towards putting things right. Our actions can be signs of the change in heart that all of us need to make.