Can the church make an effective response to climate change? asks Andy Atkins of environmental charity A Rocha UK, in the first of a three-part series

The world is now waking up, belatedly, to the fact that we are in an unfolding climate crisis. In the last few weeks, extreme weather events worldwide and the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have seen to that. According to their latest analysis we have only 10 years to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 40% or face runaway climate change, with large parts of the world becoming uninhabitable within the next few decades.

This is an emergency, but the churches have the potential to bring great and very practical hope in this crisis.

We have a double biblical mandate to do so. First, the Bible is very clear that God created the earth and everything in it, he loves it, and gives us the honour and responsibility of loving it too. So we have a responsibility as Christians to care for God’s creation. Second, we’re commanded to love our neighbour, those who are poor, vulnerable, in need, and climate change is seriously threatening the livelihoods and lives of our global neighbours.

The churches could make a world of difference, because we have got incredible earthly, as well as heavenly, resources.

First, we have geographical spread. There are around 50,000 churches in the UK, in almost every neighbourhood. Imagine their influence if even a quarter became beacons of good practice on tackling climate change…

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This is an extract from an article published in the October 2021 edition of Reform

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