Author: Judith Russenberger

Environmentalist and theologian, with husband and three grown up children plus one cat, living in London SW14. I enjoy running and drinking coffee - ideally with a friend or a book.

Counting on … day 219

21st November 2024

Any alterations made to reduce carbon emissions need to be sustainable in the long term. Simply switching all combustion engines for electric ones is not sustainable as each new electric engine will make unsustainable demands on rare minerals. Further mining such minerals where they are found in less developed countries often leads to the exploitation of people and pollution of the land. 

Sustainability can be improved by the frequency with which a vehicle is used. A car that spends most of its life parked in the road, is not a sustainable use of limited resources, where as a bus or train that is in frequent use, carry larger numbers of people is a more sustainable option.

Active travel is always a good option with low emissions and significant health benefits!

Counting on … day 218

20 November 2024 

While the power sector has done the heavy lifting of Britain’s emissions cuts so far, the 2035 target will require bigger cuts in sectors such as domestic transport — which accounts for more than a quarter of Britain’s emissions — and buildings, responsible for about a fifth.(1)

The transport industries – providers and manufacturers- the government and we as users, need to each make the shift to sustainable travel options.

  1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65c0d15863a23d0013c821e9/2022-final-greenhouse-gas-emissions-statistical-release.pdf

Counting on … day 217

19th November 2024

Last week the UK announced its 2035 NDC* target –  to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% on 1990 levels. The previous 2035 target was for a 78% reduction. The UK has an interim target of cutting greenhouse gases by 68% by 2030.

Greenpeace UK’s senior political adviser, Rebecca Newsom, said in a statement. “But targets need to be backed up with bold action. When the government submits its action plan next year, it must include details of how the UK will deliver a full phase out of oil and gas.” Hopefully we can count on the government to curtail the development of the Rosebank oil field. The development of the oilfield is in the balance as judges on Scotland deliberate as to the legality of the original licensing process. 

  • nationally determined contribution – ie each nations’s undertaking to reduce national emissions so as to meet the targets of the 2015 Paris Agreement

Counting on … day 216

18th November 2024

One of the slogans of climate activism is ‘Make the Polluters Pay’ which feels very right and grounded in what is just – a sort of global scale ‘Rylands and Fletcher’ case: if A uses the land and in so doing damages land belonging to B, then A must pay damages to B.  So if Shell’s extracting of oil pollutes the adjoining land, Shell should pay the appropriate sum in damages. 

Burning fossil fuels pollutes the atmosphere, increasing levels of carbon dioxide, fuelling climate change and triggering damaging adverse weather events such as floods, droughts, wildfires etc. logically the polluters – those burning the fossil fuels – should pay up. But fossil fuels have been burnt by so many different people – individuals heating their homes, small metal workshops, whole industries, transport systems etc -and over a considerable period of time. The United Kingdom has produced a cumulative total of 79,777,710,000 tonnes of CO2 since 1750. When we then call on the Government to ensure payment of a fair share in climate finance to vulnerable countries in the global south, that payment needs to reflect the scope of the damage our nation has caused.

Proper 28

17th November 2024

Reflection with readings below

Jesus is quite clear in talking with his companions that the future is not all rosey, but that troubled times lay ahead, that the certainty of existing structures – whether of the temple, or of the rich and powerful, or indeed of the Roman Empire – were underscored by frailty and impermanence. 

And I don’t think the scenario has changed much since then. The world is still beset by troubled times – of human making! – and of unstable structures that could fall at any moment. Wars and coups, flash floods and financial crashes, are all possibilities.

Yet we are asked to be steadfast, to keep the faith, to hold on to hope. Indeed we are called to be like bright stars, leading the way by right living. Right living is what we discern from listening to God speaking into our hearts, night after night. It is what we discern through the laws that God writes into our hearts and minds. It is there in the DNA of creation – that we should love and live in harmony with each and every part of creation.  And just as we know we are called to love, we also know we are to be recipients of that same love – that creation loves us back. 

We are not merely single, stand-alone individuals. We are interrelated, interdependent beings, co-participants in the dance of life. The writer of Hebrews reminds us – and urges us to action – that we should “provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.”

And this is what we must do, even in the face of crises and conflicts, of despair and destruction. Yesterday across the world people held demonstrations calling for Global Justice – for a fair sharing of resources, for a just financial redistribution giving support to the most needy and ensuring that those who pollute and abuse their positions, pay up. Within the confines of COP29 in Azerbaijan, such protests were perforce, silent and stationary, as protestors lined the corridors between conference rooms. In London, people in their thousands marched (slowly) with banners and placards from the British Museum (which still receives sponsorship from a major oil producer) to Whitehall + the heart of government.  I can’t say that we were optimistic that we would win the changes we sought, that our and other governments would overnight become way more generous in providing climate finance, that oil companies would use their excessive profits to make good the damage they have caused. But we did make a stand, we did encourage each other, we did reaffirm our believe that we are called to love one another and to seek justice for those who suffer. 

Love is not a mere warm feeling; it is action taken against the odds, faithfully following the one true Christ.

Daniel 12:1-3

The Lord spoke to Daniel in a vision and said, “At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

Psalm 16

1 Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you; *
I have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord,
my good above all other.”

2 All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land, *
upon those who are noble among the people.

3 But those who run after other gods *
shall have their troubles multiplied.

4 Their libations of blood I will not offer, *
nor take the names of their gods upon my lips.

5 O Lord, you are my portion and my cup; *
it is you who uphold my lot.

6 My boundaries enclose a pleasant land; *
indeed, I have a goodly heritage.

7 I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel; *
my heart teaches me, night after night.

8 I have set the Lord always before me; *
because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.

9 My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; *
my body also shall rest in hope.

10 For you will not abandon me to the grave, *
nor let your holy one see the Pit.

11 You will show me the path of life; *
in your presence there is fullness of joy,
and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Hebrews 10:11-25

Every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds,”

he also adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Mark 13:1-8

As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.”

We do not presume to walk on this earth

17th November 2024

Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and not we are ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace.

A reading: Deuteronomy 11: 11-17 

But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul—  then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.  I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. 

Response:
We do not presume to walk on this earth,

O merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness,
but in your manifold and great mercies
We are not worthy so much
as to gather up the leftover grains 

nor glean the fruits fallen from your trees –
But you are the same Lord,
whose property is always to have mercy:
Grant us therefore, gracious Lord,
so to live where you plant us, 

that we may work in harmony with nature 

and  share your rich harvest with all. 

Amen 

Thank you God for trees and fruit, herbs and grasses

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness, 

we have cut down forests and burnt the scrub, 

when we have prioritised monoculture and marginalised diversity, 

when we have drained rivers and aquifers 

favouring cash crops over native plants. 

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for birds of the air, 

the creatures of the land and the fish of the sea.

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness, 

we have promoted our own livestock and made refugees of  the native wildlife, 

when we enlarged  our own living space and made other creatures homeless.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for soil and water and the fresh air we breathe. 

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness 

we take from the soil but do not give back, 

when we pollute the waters with waste we do not want, 

when we fill the air with an excess of greenhouse gases.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for our brothers and sisters, our kith and kin

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness 

we rob them of their livelihoods, 

when we divert their wealth into our pockets, 

when we ignore their pleas for help.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Lord God, as you made us in your image, that we might live with you

and, as your Son took on our form that he might live among us, 

you have shown us how to live.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Amen.

Counting on … day 215

15th November 2024

How much climate finance is needed?

“This year’s UN climate summit, being held in Azerbaijan, is focused on finance, and specifically the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) for climate finance, required under the 2015 Paris agreement. Rich countries are bound under the agreement to provide climate finance to help developing nations cut their greenhouse gas emissions and cope with the impacts of the climate crisis. The current finance goal, of providing $100bn a year to poor countries, is widely acknowledged to be inadequate, and most rich countries agree the figure needs to be several times higher.

Poor countries are asking for finance of about $1tn a year by 2035, based on widely accepted estimates of their needs. Rich countries are likely to agree to a considerably smaller sum, perhaps about half that amount, to be paid from their exchequers and through multilateral institutions such as the World Bank.

The gap could be met from a variety of means, including new taxes on fossil fuels or the diversion of existing subsidies to cleaner ends. These “innovative sources of finance” will not be fully articulated or agreed at Cop29 and will need further work.” (1)

  1. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/08/cop29-climate-talks-what-would-a-good-outcome-look-like?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on day 214

14th November 2024

“Let’s dispense with any idea that climate finance is charity;” runaway climate change is impacting “every single individual in the world one way or another,” Mr. Stiell, the UN climate chief,  said on Monday.

Why do poorer nations (in particular) need climate finance? Because it can enable them to: 

  • take action to mitigate against the causes of climate change  – eg switching to renewable energy, replacing wood/coal fired cooking stoves with electric ones, greening heavy industry; 
  • take action to adapt to the ongoing effects of climate change – eg insulating buildings against extremes of heat, upgrading flood defences, improving early weather warning systems;
  • cover the costs of damage caused by extreme weather and other destructive effects caused by climate change.

Counting on day 213

13th November 2024

Adapting lifestyles and infrastructure to cope with the already present aspects of the climate crisis do not come cheaply – although it is definitely (infinitely) cheaper than the cost of making good the damage that would otherwise occur. 

Not all countries can afford these essential costs. As a matter of justice and of common human decency we need to count on the world leaders to both agree and – most importantly – to pay their fair contribution to enable all global citizens to be protected.

“Poorer developing nations are struggling to find the money to meet those increasingly urgent challenges, with this week’s Adaptation Gap report putting their annual adaptation needs at $215 billion-$387 billion, against international public funding of about $28 billion in 2022.  

Wealthy governments say they’re on track to deliver a goal to double adaptation finance from 2019 levels by 2025, to around $40 billion a year – but that would only reduce the adaptation finance gap by about 5%, the report warned. (1)

  1. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2024/11/08/rich-nations-on-track-to-double-adaptation-finance-but-huge-gap-persists/?utm_source=Climate+Weekly&utm_campaign=92eb3c50b7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_10_25_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33c1cd21bb-408145328

Counting on day 212

12th November 2024

Even if we stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, the CO2 that is already there will not immediately diminish. It will be there for decades to come, meaning that the higher global temperatures that we are already experiencing will also not diminish any time soon. And this means that the extreme weather events that we are now experiencing – floods, droughts, heatwaves, wild fires etc – are not going to diminish either. We therefore need to count on the world leaders at COP29 to agree measures to help us adapt to the changes in the climate that we have already caused – improved flood defences, developing new farming models, conserving water, expanding early weather warning systems, heat proofing buildings etc. 

What is the difference between mitigation and adaptation? 

“Climate change mitigation means avoiding and reducing emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to prevent the planet from warming to more extreme temperatures. Climate change adaptation means altering our behaviour, systems, and—in some cases—ways of life to protect our families, our economies, and the environment in which we live from the impacts of climate change. The more we reduce emissions right now, the easier it will be to adapt to the changes we can no longer avoid.” https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/what-s-the-difference-between-climate-change-mitigation-and-adaptation