“Our faith calls us to care” – Faith communities stand in solidarity with those on the frontlines of climate impacts as thousands gather for mass lobby of MPs
Faith leaders and representatives of leading faith organisations from across the UK’s faith communities including Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Jewish traditions, gathered in Westminster on Wednesday 9 July as part of the Act Now, Change Forever mass lobby for action on climate and nature.
They joined thousands of people from every corner of the country - Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England, meeting with over 300 MPs to ask them to take bold, fair action to tackle the climate crisis and protect the natural world in line with moral responsibility, human dignity and the stewardship of creation.
Faith leaders are standing with communities on the frontlines of climate impacts, calling for leadership rooted in justice, and offering a voice of unity at a time of global crisis.
Faith leaders and citizens asked MPs to back urgent action by committing to:
1. Deliver vital funding to communities hit hardest by climate change.
2. Restore nature to create a safer and healthier future.
3. Back UK jobs and secure a greener, fairer future for all.
Speaking in Westminster on 9 July, the following faith leaders said:
Christine Allen, CEO of Cafod, said: “Today is such a sign of hope. For the Catholic community this is a year of jubilee. We’re called to be pilgrims of hope. At a time when the political environment, at a time when international cooperation, solidarity and care for the climate seems to have dropped off the political agenda, to see so many people here today who are meeting their MPs is a real sign of that hope. So my hope for today is that many, many MPs will be met. The latest statistics are that 590 MPs had had meetings arranged. We as organisations and people of faith are part of The Climate Coalition because we have to stand together. People of all faiths and none, standing together to call for real action on climate, because it’s a moral imperative, we have to do it.”
Shanon Shah, director of Faith for Climate, said: “I’m here today hoping to meet my MP who has a really good track record on climate and nature and all sorts of social justice issues but I’m here hoping that she knows that her constituents appreciate what she’s doing and that we’d like a bit more ambition on local and global action for climate and nature. My faith tradition as a Muslim tells me that these issues are all interconnected. We’re also called to correct any kind of systemic or structural corruption.”
Bishop Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich and lead Bishop for the environment – who is addressing the mass lobby in the House of Lords this afternoon - said: “I really want climate and nature to go soaring up the agenda of government. It was quite high in previous years, and it’s really dropped down. We need to get it right back up there. From within my faith tradition, I see Jesus being attentive to the natural world around him and we’re sent out as Christians to share the good news of Jesus Christ, which is also about seeking justice. Climate change and biodiversity loss is impacting the most vulnerable people in the world and we need to see justice for them and for the whole of creation.”
Avnish Thakrar, national coordinator for Hindu Climate Action, said: “I’ve come here today for the mass lobby and to join in with The Climate Coalition’s event because, as a faith group, we really need to unite and show politicians how much we care about the environment and how much more there is we can do as a country. As Hindus, we have this beautiful philosophy which means try to cause the least harm in everything that you do. So a natural way of practising this is caring about the environment and trying to cause the least harm to our beautiful Mother Earth.”
Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, founder of Eco Judaism which represents more than 70 Jewish communities across the country, said: “I’m very glad to be here today particularly with so many people of other faiths. Because collectively we are an important voice. We carry communities with us. WE have the ability to communicate widely and we want to partner with politicians, lawyers, teachers, media personalities to press for urgent change. We as humans are interdependent with the environment and we need to understand how dependent we are on nature. And we need to understand the implications of climate justice. That we have taken from other nations, we haven’t given back and we need to act together to make it possible to adapt to climate change. Otherwise what are we leaving to our children, but a life of misery and disaster. We cannot possibly do that.”
The lobby was organised by The Climate Coalition. The Climate Coalition consists of over 120 leading UK organisations representing more than 22 million people. They are the largest group of people dedicated to action on climate and the ecological crisis who are coming together online to demand that their MPs invest in a greener, fairer, healthier society. The Climate Coalition includes members such as: RSPB, Women’s Institute, National Trust, Tearfund, Greenpeace, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Surfers Against Sewage, Oxfam, WWF and many more. www.theclimatecoalition.org
Photo Credit: Richard Dawson/PA Media Assignments