Church of England launches first global index aligned to the Paris accord in push to address ‘climate emergency’

From Ontario-

The Church of England Pension Board, overseer of the £2.8bn retirement savings pot for the Anglican clergy, will on Thursday launch a passive index aligned with the Paris climate goals on the London Stock Exchange.

The church will invest an initial £600m in the FTSE TPI Climate Transition Index which follows calls from Mark Carney, the outgoing governor of the Bank of England, for pension funds to tackle the financial risk of climate change.

Through its £12bn endowment and investment funds, the Church of England has become a powerful international advocate for sustainable investment and better governance standards. It immediately sold its shares in Brazilian miner Vale after a dam collapse in Brazil that killed more than 200 people, while also ridding its investment portfolio of thermal coal and tar sands.
 
Starting in 2023, the church will also sell shares in other fossil fuel companies that are slow to respond to global warming.

More here-

https://windsorstar.com/financial-times/church-of-england-launches-first-global-index-aligned-to-the-paris-accord-in-push-to-address-climate-emergency/wcm/becc5512-1870-48c8-90bb-29593ec964c1

How A Doctor and A Reverend On Oahu Became Climate Warriors

From Hawaii-

“It is a true public health emergency,” declares a call for policy action issued this year by the American Medical Association and 73 other medical groups.

Religious leaders are also driving action for climate justice. While many evangelical Christians reject the premise of climate change as a crisis spawned by humans, other Christian congregations are mobilizing to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The Episcopal church, notably, has called out climate change denial as immoral. Regardless of the official U.S. stance on the Paris climate agreement, the church maintains that it’s still committed to the international solutions deal.

Civil Beat talked to a Honolulu doctor and a Kailua Episcopal reverend who are taking new approaches to their work in the face of a warming climate.

More here-

https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/11/how-a-doctor-and-reverend-in-oahu-joined-a-new-wave-of-climate-warriors/

Speaker to explore intersection of religion, climate change

From Western Massachusetts-

The Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas believes religion and climate change are not mutually exclusive subjects, but rather that individuals can prepare themselves spiritually to combat climate change in their own lives.

This belief will be the topic of Bullitt-Jonas’ free talk titled “Earth Care, Soul Care: Reflections from the Front Lines,” Thursday at the First Congregational Church in Ashfield. The event, which starts at 7 p.m., will be preceded by a 6 p.m. potluck.

“I’m deeply concerned about the climate crisis,” Bullitt-Jonas said, adding that “I really feel that at this point, we need a power greater than ourselves” to guide our relationships with the Earth.
Her concern about the planet led her to a unique role. In 2013, she became the minister for creation care for the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts. That role turned into an ecumenical one — she is also the minister of care for the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ.

More here-

https://www.recorder.com/When-the-Spirit-Fights-for-the-Earth-local-talk-on-religion-s-role-to-combat-climate-change-28999998

Anglican Church Declares War on Climate Change Before It Becomes ‘Unstoppable’

From Breitbart-

The global Anglican Church is uniting in a common crusade against “climate change and biodiversity loss” with its “Letters for Creation” campaign that runs until October 4.

The initiative features a series of letters published Tuesday from different provinces of the Anglican communion around the world describing the alleged negative effects of global warming as well as a common effort to combat it.

The letters are meant to promote “the Season of Creation,” a campaign that runs from 1 September to 4 October, in response to an appeal by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to his fellow Primates to set out what “the care for God’s creation” means in their Province as well as what they wanted to say to the wider Anglican Communion about “the care for our common home.”

More here-

https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/09/19/anglican-church-declares-war-climate-change/

More than 5,500 UK churches put faith in clean energy

From Business Green-

More than 5,500 churches and cathedrals across the UK have put their faith in 100 per cent renewable power, helping divert over £5m each year from fossil fuels towards green energy providers, Christian Aid revealed today.

Thanks to a raft of group buying schemes, thousands of Church of England, Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Quaker, and Salvation Army places of worship now run on renewable energy, according to the charity.

The news follows the CofE's recent decision to sell its shares in fossil fuel companies which it deems are not on track to meet the aims of the Paris Agreement.

As well as small parish churches, the cohort of sites running on green power includes fifteen Anglican cathedrals such as Salisbury, Bristol, Sheffield and York Minster, which are all now on 100 per cent renewable electricity tariffs through the CofE's Parish Buying procurement group.

More here-

https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3037019/praise-be-more-than-5-500-uk-churches-put-faith-in-clean-energy

Episcopal delegation to COP23 encouraged by talk of taking action on climate change

From ENS-

 Episcopalians have returned home after spending two weeks in Bonn, Germany, representing Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and contributing voices of faith in support of environmental stewardship during the U.N. climate change summit held there.

The Nov. 6-17 conference, officially known as the 23rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP23, was an annual intergovernmental meeting to focus on global dialogue and action. The Episcopal Church, granted observer status, sent about a dozen Episcopalians to continue the church’s advocacy that began at the previous two conferences.

“The Episcopal Church, through the presiding bishop’s delegation, is taking a very strong presence in the life of these climate summits,” Diocese of California Bishop Marc Andrus told Episcopal News Service after returning from COP23. “We’re making strong networks in the faith communities.”

More here-

http://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2017/11/21/episcopal-delegation-to-cop23-encouraged-by-talk-of-taking-action-on-climate-change/

People of faith have duty to fight climate crisis: Indigenous Bishop

From National Observer-

Thankfully, I am not alone.

This month, during the Season of Creation, tens of thousands of Christians across the globe are committing to healing our relationship with the Earth and those with whom we share it.

We have a long way to go. Among the many worrisome effects of climate change is the recent development of large craters in the permafrost in places like Fort McPherson, N.W.T. and others regions in our far North. These craters, which are hundreds of meters across, are caused by unusually warm weather persisting year after year. Across the Arctic, the quick, deep thawing of permafrost disturbs the surface of the Earth and poses challenges like buckled roads and unsettled foundations.

Permafrost has been melting and refreezing for millennia. But as we burn fossil fuels that make the earth warmer, the layer of permafrost in our far North is melting more quickly than ever.

This is a distortion of our rightful role as protectors of creation. And for people around the world, the melting permafrost could unleash a deadly domino effect.

More here-

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2017/10/04/opinion/people-faith-have-duty-fight-climate-crisis-indigenous-bishop

Bishop of Polynesia addresses festivalgoers in England on climate change

From ACNS-

Archbishop Winston Halapua of Polynesia has taken his concerns about climate justice and his moana theology message to a new stage – to the immaculate grounds of a stately hall in the English midlands. He’d been invited by the USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) to be their keynote speaker at the Greenbelt Festival, which was held in the grounds of Boughton House. The Greenbelt Festival has been a British fixture for more than four decades and its organisers say their mission is “to create spaces, like festivals, where art, faith and justice collide.”

Dozens of artists and performers share stages at Greenbelt, and many church agencies – USPG among them – host events within the festival. This year USPG was highlighting climate justice, hence its invitation to Archbishop Winston to anchor its 2017 Greenbelt programme.

More here-

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2017/09/bishop-of-polynesia-addresses-festivalgoers-in-england-on-climate-change.aspx

Study: Katharine Hayhoe is successfully convincing doubtful evangelicals about climate change

From The Guardian-

Approximately one-quarter of Americans identify as evangelical Christians, and that group also tends to be more resistant to the reality of human-caused global warming. As a new paper by Brian Webb and Doug Hayhoe notes:

a 2008 study found that just 44% of evangelicals believed global warming to be caused mostly by human activities, compared to 64% of nonevangelicals (Smith and Leiserowitz, 2013) while, a 2011 survey found that only 27% of white evangelicals believed there to be a scientific consensus on climate change, compared to 40% of the American public (Public Religion Research Institute, 2011).

These findings appear to stem from two primary factors. First, evangelicals tend to be socially and politically conservative, and climate change is among the many issues that have become politically polarized in America. Second, there is sometimes a perceived conflict between science and religion, as Christians distrust what they perceive as scientists’ “moral agenda” on issues like evolution, stem cell research, and climate change. As Webb and Hayhoe describe it:

More here-

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/aug/28/study-katharine-hayhoe-is-successfully-convincing-doubtful-evangelicals-about-climate-change?CMP=share_btn_fb

The Church of England Takes on Climate Change—and Generates a 17 Percent Return

From Bloomberg-

President Donald Trump may have quit the Paris climate accord, but shareholders aren’t going to let carbon-producing U.S. ­companies off the hook. Witness the investor victory over Exxon ­Mobil Corp. management on May 31, a day before the Trump decision.

Over the Exxon board’s objections, almost two-thirds of shareholders voted for a proposal asking the company to provide a detailed report on how curbing climate change could affect its business. Leading the charge was the giant New York State Common Retirement Fund, which manages $192 billion and is a veteran activist. Its partner was a far smaller and lower-profile newcomer taking one of its first public stands in the U.S.: the Church of England.

Through a £7.9 billion ($10 billion) fund that finances the church’s mission activities, cathedral costs, and clergy pensions, the church has been quietly—and successfully—engaging with European companies in the energy and mining industries for the past few years. BP, BHP Billiton, and Royal Dutch Shell have all voluntarily adopted similar climate change steps to those sought at Exxon.

More here-

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-04/the-church-of-england-takes-on-climate-change-and-generates-a-17-percent-return

My Turn: Saving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: A sacred part of our collective story

From Alaska-

I have never been to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and yet, it is a part of me, and I a part of it. I have been an Alaskan since 1972 when my husband and I packed our earthly belongings into our VW bus sporting a sign declaring, “Alaska or Bust!” and headed west. I am captivated by Alaska’s vast natural beauty and rich history, and have written four books about my adopted home.

As a member of the Episcopal Church, I am in communion with Christians from many walks of life, including many of the Gwich’in people, whose ancestral land lies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Nine out of ten Gwich’in people are not only my fellow Alaskans, but they are also my brothers and sisters in Christ as part of the Episcopal Church.

More here-

http://juneauempire.com/opinion/2016-05-23/my-turn-saving-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-sacred-part-our-collective-story

I'm Ready to Evangelize... About Climate Change

From Soujurners-

Members of the Episcopal Church from around the world are suffering from the dramatic and damaging impacts of our changing climate. Its harshest effects are startlingly discriminatory, often affecting low-income and marginalized people. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti, stands on the front lines of climate change. Haiti — home to the largest diocese of the Episcopal Church — and our Haitian brothers and sisters are suffering from a severe, relentless drought. As the people of Haiti largely depend upon agriculture for their livelihoods, climate change is threatening the lifeblood of their island-home.

Travel nearly 5,000 miles northwest to the steppes of the Brooks Range in Alaska, and you will find a majority-Episcopal Alaskan Native community of Gwich’in people. The Gwich’in hunt the Porcupine caribou herd for their daily subsistence, but warming arctic temperatures have stimulated new species of plant growth that discourages the caribou from returning to local hunting grounds, leaving the Gwich’in food insecure as winter approaches.

- See more at:

https://sojo.net/articles/im-ready-evangelize-about-climate-change#sthash.0q8vn2w3.dpuf

California bishop represents church at climate agreement signing

From ENS-

Among the hundreds of people present at the United Nations headquarters in New York on April 22 for the historic signing of the world’s first ever comprehensive agreement on climate change, California Bishop Marc Andrus stood out as the only visible religious leader, dressed in a purple clerical shirt and a collar.

“I was there as a witness,” said Andrus, adding that he could not identify other “overtly” religious people in the crowd and that no one was singled out as representing the faith community. “I was the only one, and there where hundreds and hundreds of people, and so I’m so grateful for that. Then I was met with gratitude, people saying ‘I’m so happy that the church is here.’

“I was very careful to step forward saying I’m here to represent the Episcopal Church and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, and honored to be here partnering with you and we are looking for ways to support this work,” he said during an April 23 interview back in California with Episcopal News Service. Andrus spoke after an EcoConfirmation service, where participants upheld their baptismal vow to “cherish the wondrous works of God, and protect the beauty and integrity of all creation.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/04/25/california-bishop-represents-church-at-climate-agreement-signing/

Episcopal Diocese of Western Mass among signers of letter to Obama on climate change

From Western Massachusetts-

The Social Justice Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts was among the signers to Dec. 1 letter delivered to President Barack Obama during his attendance at the current Climate Summit in Paris, according to a diocesan release.

Signed by more than 150 signatories, the letter praised Obama for his administration's rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline and for protecting lands in the Arctic, and asks that the U.S. continue on this path.

"The actions taken in the next decade will either avert the worst harms from climate disruption by limiting warming to below 1.5° Celsius or commit the world to unacceptable harms for billions of people," it states.

More here-

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/12/episcopal_diocese_of_western_m_1.html

Anglican, Orthodox Leaders Urge World's Christians to Fight Climate Change

From Christian Post-

Anglican leader the Most Rev. Justin Welby and Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, joined together in a speech urging the world's Christians to lead the fight against climate change.

Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of close to 300 million Orthodox Christians, visited Welby at the Lambeth Palace in London this week, The Telegraph reported, and insisted that climate change is a "moral crisis."

Bartholomew called on Christians and people around the world to change their day-to-day behavior, instead of relying only on politicians making treaties concerning the environment.

More here-

http://www.christianpost.com/news/climate-change-anglican-orthodox-leaders-urge-worlds-christians-fight-global-warming-149166/

Catholic Church Leaders Issue Appeal on Climate Change

From The New York Times-

Roman Catholic cardinals, patriarchs and bishops from around the world on Monday appealed to climate-change negotiators to approve a “fair, legally binding and truly transformational climate agreement” when they meet at a widely anticipated United Nations conference in Paris next month.

Representatives of the church from five continents signed the appeal in Vatican City. They said it was inspired by Pope Francis’ sweeping encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si,” issued in June, which forcefully calls for action to stem environmental destruction and climate change.

More here-

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/world/europe/catholic-church-leaders-issue-appeal-on-climate-change.html?_r=0

Kenya’s Council of Churches launches climate change campaign ahead of Paris conference

From National Catholic Reporter-

While calling for global carbon emissions cuts, Kenya’s National Council of Churches has launched a multifaith campaign to lobby governments, industries and multilateral agencies to agree on a binding treaty at the United Nations climate change talks in Paris later this year.

A new protocol is expected to be adopted at the meeting, known as COP21, to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which is due to expire. That protocol required that state signers reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the premise that global warming exists and human-made carbon dioxide emissions have caused it.

A pan–African climate justice campaign, under the slogan “We Have Faith -- Act Now for Climate Justicem,” seeks to mobilize African religious communities on climate justice ahead of the December conference. It has launched a 1 million signature petition to push for a new treaty.

More here-

http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/kenya-s-council-churches-launches-climate-change-campaign-ahead-paris-conference

C of E will flex financial muscles to protect planet

From The Church Times-

THE Church of England will continue to invest in fossil-fuel companies, but will pull out its money if they stop listening to its demands to tackle climate change, the General Synod agreed on Monday.

Two motions on climate change were passed with overwhelming majorities, after the Synod heard that climate change was a “spiritual problem” and that there was a “moral imperative” to act. The debates were informed by pleas from Anglicans across the Communion. The Bishop of Fiji had told his counterpart in Salisbury: “The waters are coming up to our necks.”

The first motion, on combating climate change, anticipates the global summit that is due to take place in Paris in December. It urges governments to “agree long-term pathways to a low-carbon future” and endorses the World Bank’s call for the ending of fossil-fuel subsidies. It also looks inward, requesting the development of new “eco-theological resources” and encouraging parishes and dioceses to encourage a fast for climate change on the first day of each month.

More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2015/17-july/news/uk/c-of-e-will-flex-financial-muscles-to-protect-planet

Church of England leaders call on worshippers to fast for climate change

From Sydney-

The Church of England has pledged to fast for climate change action and pray for the Paris talks to succeed, urging the world's 70 million Anglicans to take up the global warming fight.

The pledge by the powerful English General Synod, which leads the mother church for Anglicans worldwide, follows a similar push by the Catholic Church last month, when Pope Francis released a major encyclical that warned climate change has grave implications and fossil fuel technology must be replaced.

It comes as the Abbott government has come under fire for directing the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to stop investing in wind and small-scale solar projects, throwing doubt on its commitment to renewable energy.


Read more:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/church-of-england-leaders-call-on-worshippers-to-fast-for-climate-change-20150714-gibr0d.html#ixzz3frfmjuZi

Bishop of Salisbury backs Pope's call for action on climate change

From England-

THE Bishop of Salisbury, the Right Revd Nicholas Holtam, has backed Pope Francis’s calls for action on climate change.

Bishop Nicholas, who was appointed the Church of England’s lead bishop for Environmental Affairs last September, spoke out after last week’s Papal Encyclical on the subject.

The Encyclical, labelled ‘Laudato Si (Be Praised), On the Care of Our Common Home’, put human activities as one of the key reasons for global warming.

Speaking in response to the letter, Bishop Nicholas said: “I wholeheartedly welcome the Papal Encyclical Laudato Si, a major contribution to tackling climate change, which is one of the great moral challenges of our times.

More here-

http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/communitynews/churchnews/13345798.Bishop_of_Salisbury_backs_Pope_s_call_for_action_on_climate_change/