Climate Justice

Mother earth is not the limit of God’s creation, but we know it and inhabit it with all of God’s creatures.

The earth wasn’t always like this. The following 40-second video shows the plate tectonic evolution from 1 Billion years ago to the present.

Since industrial (colonial) activity on the planet, global temperatures have warmed. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared that we have to cut our global emissions in half (by 2030) in order to avoid catastrophic and irreversible climate disasters.

This climate crisis affects all that we hold dear to our hearts – our grandchildren and future generations, our citizenship on planet earth.
We don’t want this:

Moderator Richard Bott used these words to open Ash Wednesday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1lbSjxINRo

’…take a moment. Just to stop in that moment….reach down with your heart to the land upon which you live. Let your awareness feel the life that’s in it….The soil that nourishes the plants. The plants that nourish the animals. Theanimals that nourish each other and as things die that return to the earth to nourish it once again. The land upon which we live has been in relationship with people for tens of thousands of years. The people who are indigenous to that land have been and continue to be one with it, living with it, caring for it and being cared for by it….Our Bible, from Genesis to Revelations, tells us of God’s love for all of creation and our responsibility to look after it. We haven’t always been as faithful in that work as our indigenous relations.’

With God’s hope and help in our hearts and in our actions, the United Church of Canada is in partnership with these organizations:

For the Love of Creation, https://fortheloveofcreation.ca/

• For the Love of Creation invites Canadian faith communities and faith-based organizations to come together under a unified banner to mobilize education, reflection, action and advocacy for climate justice. During the Season of Lent this year, we are encouraged to join the campaign which runs from February 17 (Ash Wednesday) to October 4, 2021 (the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi and the end of the Season of Creation). It will include a public witness event on April 22, Earth Day.
• Join us!
• Make a personal pledge to reduce your GHG emissions and engage in acts of solidarity with justice-seeking communities!
• Share your pledge and call on federal Cabinet Ministers to commit the Government of Canada to:
• A. Increase our national GHG emissions reduction target and invest in a just transition to a fair, inclusive, green economy;
• B. Implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including, but not limited to, the right of free, prior and informed consent;
• C. Commit equal support for climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in the Global South.

Kairos, https://www.kairoscanada.org/ ‘Indigenous, settlers and newcomers in Canada working with people of faith or conscience all over the world for ecological justice and human rights.’

Citizens for Public Justice, https://cpj.ca/ ‘Seeks human flourishing and the integrity of creation as our faithful response to God’s call for love and justice.’

350.org We are standing up to the fossil fuel industry to stop all new coal, oil and gas projects and build a clean energy future for all. https://350.org/

We work together to change the course of ecological degradation. This affects every social justice issue that we are concerned about –right relations with indigenous peoples, youth, poverty, sexual orientation and identity, Black Lives Matter.

The United Church of Canada webpage (https://united-church.ca/worship-theme/climate-change) has worship and prayer resources.

Faith and the Common Good, https://www.faithcommongood.org/ Our religions and spiritual philosophies teach us to care for the earth. Join us in living out this Green Rule by greening our communities, helping our neighbours and healing our planet together.

Faithful Footprints – This new program offers United Church of Canada congregations inspiration, tools, and grants to help us live our climate commitments. https://www.faithfulfootprints.org/