Churches responds to the Climate Challenge.

No one can ignore the fact that Climate Change is going to have a huge impact on everyone on this planet. It is not just about sea level rise or warmer weather. The largest impact is on the social level. Who will have access to water when climate change will affect water supplies? Where can people settle down to make a new start when the harvest were th


ey lived doesn’t feed them anymore or when their small island in the pacific is conquered by salt water? Who will get help from the diseases spread over larger areas when insects will spread wider due to a change of climate?

For a long time World Council of Churches (WCC) have had Climate Change on their agenda. WCC have produced different material, being present at the different meetings under UNFCCC and saying again and again that those who are most vulnerable to climate change are the poor.

It is not possible to be church and at the same time ignore the poor. Therefore I think Climate Change must be on every Church agenda. Since Climate Change very often relates to our way of living and the choice we make in our everyday life.

And there are signs of hope.

For example. There is a statement from concerned Bishops at the Lambeth Conference August 2008 on Climate Change and the urgency to act now. Both on political level and on the personal behavior.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has done their policy work on Climate change. Church of Sweden have their position on Climate Change and development were they want to see considerable cuts of emissions from developed countries combined with new resources for adaption and technology transfers.

The churches in the Netherlands have a good and comprehensive work on Climate Change. The Roman Catholic Church have made statements on Climate Change and the need for a change of lifestyle to curb the emissions of greenhouse gases as soon as possible. I could go on with many more examples.

I hope that this is a start of something more. Because the real challenge of climate change is more than an environmental question. The core of the Climate Change issue is about how to share this planet in a fair and sustainable way. All of these faith communities declare that life and the earth is a gift. And this gift must be shared with righteousness among the living creatures of the world. Climate Change is not only a green issue. It is a question of equity and sharing. It is a moral and existential issue. We need new technology, political leadership but also values and a change of mentality to succeed to get the emissions down. So faith communities of the world - it is time to respond to the challenge now!