Comment (February 2010)
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Bishop’s Letter
A week before Christmas the United Nations Climate Change talks came to an end with not a great amount achieved. Many across the world were left frustrated, disappointed or worse with the final outcome. It had obviously been a difficult time for all involved. Ed Milliband described it as “a chaotic process dogged by procedural games”. There is obviously a very great deal still to be done. Copenhagen has got to be the start not the end of the process of carbon reduction throughout the world.
Whatever its causes, climate change remains a very great threat to the future of our world. The trends over the last 20 years clearly show evidence of global warming. We only have to remember the floods of recent years, or pictures on our TV of glaciers retreating and great ice caps melting. The evidence is all around us.
We are facing an average rise in temperature of two degrees over the next 50 years. That will cause world-wide difficulties with water resources. Summer flows in rivers will be down 50 per cent. Sea rise will threaten urban areas and there will be pressure on agricultural resources. Changes to the coastline will accelerate, low-lying land will be at considerable risk of permanent flooding. Large movements of population round the world are expected as people flee less habitable areas.
Whilst we have rightly been worried about unemployment and bankers’ bonuses, it is important to remember that the economy and the environment go together. We have to come out of recession in a more sustainable way.
We have to look creatively and with commitment at green products, carbon capture and tidal power. These are new industries for tomorrow and hold some of the answers to our economic problems. Apart from the most precious and beautiful landscapes, more wind power is also necessary.
The North-east is planning the development of electric cars and we need to improve the energy efficiency of all our homes. There are lots of small things we can all do. Whilst there’s some evidence that the energy used and greenhouse gases generated by making a windmill for a house far outweighs the benefit, solar panels have yet to be widely developed.
We can reduce relatively easily the amount of water we use. We can turn lights off whenever they aren’t needed. We can recycle everything we can. We need to find better and less damaging (even if less convenient) ways of travelling around.
“We cannot show the right kind of love for our fellow humans unless we also work at keeping the earth as a place that is a secure home for all people,” said the Archbishop of Canterbury at an ecumenical service in Copenhagen Cathedral. “The deepest religious basis for our commitment to the environment in which God has placed us is this recognition that we are called to be, and are enabled to be, the place where God’s love comes through. We have to flesh out in our lives that fundamental biblical conviction that when God looks on the world he finds it good. We have to show in our lives some echo of the delight God finds in creation”.
So the question for all of us at the start of this decade is how do the lives that we lead and the choices we make look in the light of the command to love the world we inhabit? How do we show that we love and enjoy God’s creation? How can we show our concern for those who live in less favourable environments? And how can we build international institutions that make sure the resources of the world get to where they are most needed?
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Bishop’s Christmas Appeal – Thank You
I would like to thank all those of you who have given so generously to the Bishop’s Christmas Appeal. A total of £7,276.40 has been raised, which will be divided between three local charities supporting asylum seekers in Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside. The East Area Asylum Seekers’ Support Group, known as ‘Common Ground’, and the West End Refugee Service (WERS) both run Hardship Funds which bring some relief to people who find themselves in this situation. The relief is minimal: £10 per week and a bag of groceries and toiletries. At present, 188 clients are supported by Common Ground and WERS. The ‘Walking With’ project in North Tyneside supports approximately 24 clients each week. The money received through the Bishop’s Christmas Appeal will enable the project to give £5 to each person for groceries and toiletries. This is certainly good news for those who find themselves destitute, fearful and cold at the start of a freezing 2010. Of course, further donations would be gratefully received. Please send cheques made out to the ‘Newcastle Diocesan Board of Finance’ to Lesley Carson at Church House, St John’s Terrace, Percy Main, North Shields NE29 6HS. + Martin
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