6th December, 2006

DAVID ADAMS

Christians of all denominations have spelt out their commitment to addressing climate change in a new report published by the Climate Institute.

Common Belief: Australia’s Faith Communities On Climate Change, which was launched in Sydney this week, contains a series of statements from representatives of a range of religious faiths - including those from numerous Christian denominations through to Hinduism and Judaism, to the Baha’i Faith, Buddhism, the Islamic faith and that of the Aboriginal people - who provided statements on why they see climate change as a “moral issue”.

GLOBAL WARMING: Representatives of all faiths have said action on climate change is a "moral imperative" for individuals, communities, business and governrnents. PICTURE: Marcelo Gerpe (www.sxc.hu) CHRISTIAN VOICES ON CLIMATE CHANGE “(C)hristianity is first and foremost a concern for the whole of the created order - biodiversity and business; politics and pollution; rivers, religion and rainforests”. - Anglican Bishop George Browning. “Christians have a moral duty to be stewards of the creation and to express God’s love and care for all people made in His image.” - Australian Christian Lobby. “(F)ailure to address climate change may ultimately contribute to the suffering and death of millions of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, and to the forced migration of millions more to cooler and less physically threatening regions such as Australia.” - Baptist Union of Australia. “Ultimately profit is secondary to ecologically sustainable living.” - Catholic Bishops of Australia. “Australian Christians are responsible to God for the way their actions affect the world and the lives of other people now and in the future.” - The Australian Evangelical Alliance. “To be made in God’s ‘image and likeness’ as the Bible tells us, is to do with man’s concrete responsibility for the whole created universe.” - Greek Orthodox Archbishop Stylianos Harkianaki. “The church recognises that the possibility of unchecked climate change causing irreparable damage to our planet and placing the survival of human life on earth at risk makes the issue of climate change one of the most important moral issues facing humanity.” - Lutheran Church of Australia. “The Salvation Army believes that, as people made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), we have a responsibility to use the resources of the earth in a way that ensures that people in this and future generations do not suffer from poverty or injustice.” - General Eva Burrows for the Worldwide Salvation Army. “Some humans consume the earth’s resources whilst others pay the price.” - Uniting Church in Australia. Source - Common Belief: Australia’s Faith Communities On Climate Change

Sky Laris, acting chief executive of the institute - which was formed in late 2005 with the five year goal of raising public awareness about climate change in Australia, says the document was developed after it became clear that religious leaders the group had been in contact with - including Anglican Bishop George Browning, a member of the institute’s advisory board - expressed a “willingness and: even a desire to make a statement about this”.

“So it made sense to join people together to give it a greater influence and (make) a greater impact...” she says.

Ms Laris says that while the organisation had expected a high level of “knock backs” as they approached representatives of different faiths, they ended up with a “much greater involvement than we expected in the initial stages”.

The faiths which have a voice within the document represent about two-thirds of the Australian population.

“It’s a great way of reaching through to people,” says Ms Laris.

While many of contributions contain statements of belief, others also call for a range of actions at a local, national and global level.

Writing on behalf of Anglicans, Bishop Browning, bishop of Canberra and Goulburn and chair of the international Anglican Communion Environmental Network, says that while the Christian faith is about “personal salvation”, Christianity is “first and foremost a concern for the whole of the created order - biodiversity and business; politics and pollution; rivers, religion and rainforests”.

He says that for Christians concern about climate change is “not an optional extra but a core matter of faith” and urges Australians to respond by, among other things, taking “targeted and specific actions to...reduce our environmental footprint”.

The Baptist Union of Australia acknowledge in their statement that humanity has often denied their interdependence with creation and abrogated their stewardship.

“One major result of this is the global environmental degradation and climate change we now face,” the union says in a statement whose principal author was Rev Rod Benson.

Calling for governments and corporations as well as individuals and local communities to respond to the “global environmental crisis”, they urge a range of actions - from using public transport where possible to addressing the human suffering and loss resulting from climate change.

Elsewhere, the Catholic Bishops of Australia says there needs to be a recognition that profit is a “limited goal” and needs to be linked to socially and environmentally ethical investment.

“Promoters of unsustainable lifestyles harm the environment now and ultimately will make Australia weaker,” they write. “Infrastructure planners, the building sector, transport, manufacturing, electrical generation and related industries can all promote energy saving and seek alternative energy sources. Farmers and foresters do well when they respect nature’s rhythms. Ultimately profit is secondary to ecologically sustainable living.”

In a theme reflected in several of the statements, the Lutheran Church of Australia write that with the developed world responsible for most of the global warming, it is poorer people in less developed countries who suffer most from climate change.

“This places particular responsibility on those of us who are the worst polluters and the most extravagant users of the earth’s resources to change what we are doing and to take remedial action.”

Other Christian denominations with statements in the document include the Greek Orthodox Church, the Salvation Army, and the Uniting Church in Australia. There are also statements from Christian groups such as the Australian Christian Lobby and the Australian Evangelical Alliance.

The latter group, among other things, voice their support for calls for a “carbon price signal” - which applies the cost of the pollution to the technologies which cause it and to those who use them.

The document is being sent to all Federal members of parliament and will also be distributed to church representatives that took part.

Electronic copies of 'Common Belief: Australia’s Faith Communities On Climate Change' are available for download at www.climateinstitute.org.au.