Emergency, emergency!  The earth is running out of time to reverse climate change.  David Attenborough has been telling us for years, scientists who are experts in climatology have been warning us, Prince Charles has been alerting us, HM The Queen has made a rare public observation to this effect – even if she didn’t realise that her words were being picked up through her microphone, although I suspect that such a seasoned public figure possibly wanted her comments to be overheard!  Last Friday Pope Francis recorded a special Thought for the Day on this topic for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

COP26 has started this week in Glasgow, and if you wonder what the name signifies, it stands for the 26^th Conference of the Parties who signed up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015.  Under the Paris Agreement, all signatories agreed to find ways to reduce their emissions and to reconvene every 5 years to update their plans.  But these goals are not being met.  The pandemic delayed last year’s meeting, but the need for action has become even more urgent.  Almost every country on earth, totalling approximately 200 countries, is being asked to cut emissions and reduce its global warming because if we don’t do something about the way we treat our earth, then we may lose the best and last opportunity to restore the natural delicate balance of our climate.

We have seen unprecedented flooding in our own country in the last few years, as well as extreme heat.  Globally, the polar caps are melting, the glaciers are measurably retreating, forest fires have been raging and crops have been failing.  The worst effects of climate change impact most heavily on the poorest countries of the world which have the least resilience to be able to cope with these disasters.  The richest nations have the money to resource the changes, but need to foster the political will and popular support to help their poorer neighbours.

Pope Francis talks about the need for shared vision, joint responsibility and a new perspective to lead us in a new direction.  Everyone should recognise this need for a common purpose to save our planet for future generations, whatever our religious convictions or political affiliations.  Put simply, if we do not take collective and individual action now, we shall run out of time to bring our world back from ecological disaster.

All of us can take immediate steps to reduce our reliance on single-use plastics.  We can stop buying bottled water, we can look for bamboo toothbrushes and razors, we can buy shampoo bars or deodorant in non-plastic containers, we can take care to recycle cleaned plastic containers.  We can make fewer flights by aeroplane, take public transport more often, ride our bicycles regularly.  We can eat less meat, buy fewer new clothes, use brown paper to wrap presents, give fewer presents at Christmas time.  All of these are simple small changes which lie well within the scope of most of us.

And if we are people of faith, or perhaps unsure whether we believe in any divine power, we can also pray wholeheartedly that our leaders will seize this opportunity to work together for a safer, greener world which is not built on greed and exploitation.  We can ponder the fact that we are mere stewards of what we currently consider as our own personal or national resources, and remember that environmental concern begins at home.

Sarah Bourne, Chaplain for the Arts – 3^rd Nov 2021             sarahbourne@banburystmary.org.uk