Anniversary of the Paris Agreement on Climate

A letter from Bristol Christian Climate Action to all churches in Bristol:

Dear Friends,

The weekend of 12th/13th December is the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Agreement on Climate (at COP21), when almost all nations promised to keep global temperatures well below 2°C of historic levels, and if possible to no more than 1.5 degrees.

You may or may not have gathered, in the newspaper euphoria, that the promises made by governments at the time would have resulted in 3.5 degrees of warming, even if the “voluntary commitments” were really implemented.

The idea was to come back in 5 years time (at COP26 in Glasgow) with planned carbon reductions that would achieve the temperature target.  This meeting will take place in November 2021 in Glasgow.

But, the problem is, that no country, not even the UK which considers itself a leader on Climate Change, has plans that get anywhere near the carbon cuts that are needed to keep global temperature rises to the Paris Agreement 1.5 degrees  hopes [1].  Net Zero by 2050 targets might sound impressive, but climate Scientists , and the UK’s official Committee that provides the budgets, are increasingly insistent that swift, steep cuts to greenhouse gases are needed to avoid the worst climate, ecological and human emergency.   The 10 point plan recently announced by the Government is woefully insufficient.

As Christians in this church you are doing your best to follow Jesus and help your neighbours, and in these difficult times, we are not wanting to add to anyone’s anxieties. It is not the ordinary “person in the pew” just managing to keep heads above water in the “Covid situation”, who bears the primary responsibility or ability to form a new green economy.  It is governments.  But, there is one thing that you COULD do this week, to help our global neighbours who suffer most from flood, fire and harvest failure right now, and our young people who are going to live through the consequences of this generation’s actions.

We are asking you to write to or email your MP and ask them to support the new Climate and Ecological Emergence Bill (https://www.ceebill.uk/). This is a private members bill.  It was presented to Parliament in September, supported by a cross party group of MP’s.  It will be debated next March  and will need a large number of MPs from all parties to vote it into law.

The Climate Change Act 2008 was ground breaking in its day, but its targets will NOT reduce emissions enough to nurture and restore the earth God gave us, or provide safety, food and life for our neighbours or our children’s children.

If you have time, and feel a calling to join with other Christians in Bristol to work together on climate justice , do contact us through email – christianclimateactionbristol@gmail.com or facebook  Covid restrictions at the time permitting, Bristol Christian Climate Action will be marking the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Agreement.  If you would like to join us, please contact us as above.

Thank you very much for reading this.

Members of Bristol Christian Climate Action

submitted by Gaie Delap

References

[1] Anderson K, Broderick J.F., Stoddard I. (2020) A factor of two: how the mitigation plans of ‘climate progressive’ nations fall far short of Paris-compliant pathways. Climate Policy 20 1290-1304. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2020.1728209