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JUSTICE
Is it Time to Change the Climate Conversation?
Written by Katharine Sisk, Justice Ministries
The world is changing because a warming climate and its effects are increasingly being experi- enced in Canada and around the world. God loves creation and we are called to care for creation. But it can be difficult and even un- comfortable to discern how that principle translates into action.
It is easy to forget our mutual and interdependent relationship with creation. Too often, we see ourselves as superior to, or dis- connected from, the rest of the natural world. This can lead to a sense of entitlement to control, use and abuse nature. For years I have used the language of “envi- ronmental stewardship” or “caring for creation” to describe a Chris- tian understanding of the rela- tionship between people and the natural world. But I have become uncomfor table with this language because it seems to problemati- cally reinforce the human-centric notion that creation is a hierarchy, where humans are superior to, or even entirely disconnected from, the rest of creation. In the context of climate change, I think this lan- guage has failed to communicate the life-and-death, even existential, nature that the crisis presents.
The church has not been silent: statements on ecological justice span decades and include theo- logical principles that emphasize the integrity of creation and hu- mankind’s responsibilities to limit our impact on the natural world as a part of an ecological justice eth- ic. For example, in 1990, General Assembly adopted a report about global warming, recognizing that it “represents one of the most se- rious global environmental chal- lenges to the health, security and
stability of human life and natural ecosystems,” (A&P 1990, pp. 415-6, 62) and in 2010, recog- nizing that “our climate is a public good” (A&P 2010, pp. 390-405, 17, 39).
Churches in the global south, where climate crisis impacts are acute, have spoken out. The 2004 General Council of the World Al- liance of Reformed Churches (a predecessor of the World Com- munion of Reformed Churches), in a truth-to-power moment, identified the causes of global economic injustice and ecologi- cal destruction in its Accra Con- fession. The causes include:
• unrestrained competition, consumerism and the un- limited economic growth and accumulation of wealth;
• the idea that ownership of private property has no so- cial obligation;
• the idea that capital specu- lation, deregulation of the market, privatization of public utilities and national resources, unrestricted ac- cess for foreign investments and imports, lower taxes and the unrestricted movement of capital will achieve wealth for all;
• the idea that social obligations, protection of the poor and the weak, trade unions, and rela- tionships between people, are subordinate to the processes of economic growth and cap- ital accumulation.
For the full text, see wcrc.ch/ accra/the-accra-confession.
The Accra Confession correctly notes that these values are incom- patible for followers of Jesus. This is not a message directed to gov- ernments: it is from churches in the global south to churches in the global nor th. This document was
uncomfor table for many in the church in 2004 and I suspect it still causes discomfort today. Howev- er, we must have uncomfor table conversations if we actually intend to address the climate crisis.
What is an example of an un- comfor table conversation? A group of academics, scientists and activists, spurred by insuf- ficient collective global action, came together with the goal of changing the course of climate crisis conversations. International agreements such as Kyoto, Co- penhagen and Paris, while taking impor tant steps toward develop- ing a framework to limit green- house gas emissions, avoided talking about limiting, and even ending, the production of products that drive the growth of green- house gas emissions that in turn are warming the global climate. Recognizing this gap, work be- gan on a proposal for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT). If decades of climate talks have not addressed the enormous gap1 between the emission levels of ex- isting and already-approved fossil fuel extraction projects and the ac- tions and policies needed to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (we’re already more than one degree warmer2), these aca- demics, scientists and activists are accurately identifying a need to change the conversation. That is a difficult conversation.
The Presbyterian Church in Canada has not endorsed or commented on a FFNPT. Does our church need to commit to a seri- ous discussion that includes this type of proposal?
The church has suppor ted the call for a just transition to a low- carbon economy, which includes the necessary supports for people who are impacted by this transition
and par ticularly for those working in the oil and gas industry.
But our political, and even our church conversations typically do not extend beyond talking about curbing greenhouse gas emis- sions. And as I think about my three-year-old son, who is grow- ing up in a world that is warmer than the one I grew up in, my sense of urgency drives me to ask the question—do we have time for
more of the same? Or do we need to change the conversation?
FOOTNOTES
1 UNEP, Production Gap Report
2021, October 20, 2021, unep.org/ resources/repor t/production-gap- repor t-2021
2 IPCC, Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Assessment, Summary for Policymakers, ipcc. ch/repor t/ar6/wg1
For information and resources about climate justice, visit the Social Action Hub at presbyterian.ca/social action.
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