19th November 2022
As COP27 negotiations continue, pray for a good outcome for the establishment of a Loss and Damage fund. Great steps have been made – it wasn’t even on the official agenda at the beginning of the COP and there does seem to be a strong desire to implement this scheme. Read more in the following article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/18/cop27-talks-continue-over-eu-climate-loss-and-damage-fund-proposal?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
17th November 2022
Today is ‘solutions day’ at COP27. We do to need find solutions, and equally we all need to be part of the solution – however difficult that may seem.
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
We pray for all the participants,
the decision-makers and the protestors,
the bureaucrats and the prayerful,
influencers and bankers,
for producers and consumers.
May we build better towns and cities,
with green spaces and earth-friendly structures,
with accessible infrastructure and good housing for all
with local decision-making
and communities at their heart.
Loving and patient God,
may your will be done.
Amen.
Now is the sky blue!
Now is it framed
by a fretwork of branches
where leaves still linger –
some as big as dinner plates
some as small as butterflies.
Jackdaws riddle the earth
harvesting riches that lay below.
And squirrels skip and skitter
their autumn dance.
All is now, and now, and now!
But tomorrow, next week, next year?
Merciful God will they still be there?
Will our apathy,
our slowness to act,
our aversion to change
allowed all this
to be threatened,
diminished, and
evicted from life?
Have mercy.
But not just mercy –
rather prod us, prompt us,
push us into action.
Renew our hearts and minds,
reverse our expectations
so that we change the future
and once more
be restorers of creation.
Amen.
16th November 2022
Today COP27’s focus is on biodiversity
Therefore the LORD God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which they were taken. After sending them out, the LORD God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And the Lord God placed a sword of flame that turned back and forth to protect the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3: 23-24
We pray for all the participants,
the decision-makers and the protestors,
the bureaucrats and the prayerful.
May they recognise and understand
the interconnectedness of creation,
the fine balance of ecosystems,
the necessity of biodiversity
and our dependence on safe carbon levels.
We pray for scientists and environmentalists
whose skills sustain and protect
the long-term well being
of our environment, our lives, our world.
Loving and patient God,
may your will be done.
Amen.
Painted lady and bumble bee
damsel and dragon fly:
their lives praise you, holy God.
Wood mouse and pipistrelle bat,
urban fox and badger:
their lives praise you, holy God.
Buttercup and toadflax,
cat’s ear and pimpernel:
their lives praise you, holy God.
Girdled snail and leopard slug,
shield beetle and earwig:
their lives praise you, holy God.
Copper beech and sessile oak,
black poplar and mountain ash:
their lives praise you, holy God.
Yaffle and mistle thrush,
jackdaw and sparrow:
their lives praise you, holy God.
But we humans – blinkered and wasteful,
short-sighted and careless –
do our lives praise you, holy God?
Renew us, your people;
pardon our failings
and bless our strivings
that our lives may praise you.
Amen.
15th November 2022
One subject of focus at COP27 today is energy.
Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” But remember the Lord your God, for the same it is who gives you power to get wealth, so that the Lord God may confirm the covenant that sworn to your ancestors, as he is doing today. Deuteronomy 8:17-18
We pray for all the participants,
the decision-makers and the protestors,
the bureaucrats and the prayerful,
influencers and bankers,
shareholders and investors,
for producers and consumers.
May they recognise and understand
the need to produce only clean energy,
to ensure fair and equal access for all,
and to use energy wisely and in moderation.
Loving and patient God,
may your will be done.
Amen.
If we are called to beat swords into plough shares,
we are also called to turn military jobs into green ones.
If we seek to establish peace,
we must generously offer both love and practical gifts.
If we shift from passive to active travel, from cars to cycles,
we shall need cycle paths and secure shelters.
If we replace petrol engines with electric motors,
we must also turn petrol stations into recharging points.
If we swop meats for a vegan diet,
we must also turn beef farms into arable farms,
sheep fells into woodlands,
dairies into nut fromageries.
If we switch to green electricity,
our pension funds must invest in renewable energy.
If we green our pensions,
surely we will green our banks too.
Creator God, help us to see the changes we must make,
Give us the wisdom to support them,
the energy to achieve them
and the joy to celebrate them.
Amen.
14th November 2022
One of the agenda items today at COP27 is the issue of gender discrimination.
There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
We pray for all the participants,
the decision-makers and the protestors,
the bureaucrats and the prayerful,
influencers and bankers,
for producers and consumers,
for girls and women, boys and men,
transgender and non binary, gay and lesbian,
and those who would rather be free of labels.
May we care for and cherish each other,
supporting, enabling and encouraging all
to cope with the challenges
and opportunities of climate change.
Loving and patient God,
may your will be done.
All: Amen.
Love and cherish not some of the earth but all;
Not just your back yard, but mine too;
Not just your local wood but the rainforests too;
Not just your home town but the favelas too.
Love and cherish not some creatures but all;
Not just pandas and tigers, but the vulture and bat too;
Not just bees but wasps and spiders too;
Not just elephants but slugs and snails too.
Love and cherish not some landscapes but all;
Not just meadows but peat bogs too;
Not just ancient woodlands but hedgerows too
Not just national parks but grass verges too.
Love and cherish not some people but all;
Not just city bankers but street cleaners too;
Not just business leaders but refugees too;
Not just home owners but travellers too.
For if we do not, we are all diminished.
If we do not we shall all suffer
from droughts and floods,
rising sea levels and declining water supplies,
from infectious diseases and resistant bacteria.
We are one world, one family,
one eco system, one interdependent
and interwoven creation.
God, our creator, redeemer and sustainer,
Bring us to our senses!
Now!
13th November 2022
Yesterday I joined several thousand witnesses for the Climate Coalition march through London on what was the midpoint of COP27. Someone commented that imagined they would taking part in this march every year for the rest of their life. Certainly I imagine the COPs will happen each year until at least 2050 when we will hopefully hit net zero.
As you see from my banner, this was its second outing!
12th November 2022
At COP27 it is Adaptation and Agriculture Day.
We stand at a tipping point, O God,
teetering between life and death:
Shall we fall or rise?
“Chose life!”
Shall we retreat into our shells, bury our heads in the sand:
Or shall we step forth into a new age of sustainability?
“Chose life!”
Shall we ignore the science, hide ourselves in the trappings of consumerism:
Or shall we openly embrace renewable lifestyles?
“Chose life!”
Shall we pointlessly mourn the loss of polar bears and elephants, bees and butterflies:
Or shall we live our lives so that all may live?
“Chose life!”
Shall we fly to the ends of the earth while ice sheets melt:
Or value the future by enjoying what is local?
“Chose life!”
Shall we disregard floods and droughts, storms and heat waves, as seasonal blips:
Or acknowledge them as already-present signs of climate change?
“Chose life!”
Shall we close our ears to cries of help from farmers and islanders as their lands disappear:
Or shall we join voices in calling for justice?
“Chose life!”
Holy God,
Prompt us and urge us, encourage and propel us,
to now change our life styles so that all may have life and live!
Amen.
10th November 2022
At COP27 it is Science Day plus a special focus on future generations – what kind of world are we preparing for them?
If we are called us to beat swords into plough shares,
we are also called to turn military jobs into green ones.
If we seek to establish peace,
we must generously offer both love and practical gifts.
If we shift from passive to active travel, from cars to cycles,
we shall need cycle paths and secure shelters.
If we replace petrol engines with electric motors,
we must also turn petrol stations into recharging points.
If we swop meats for a vegan diet,
we must also turn beef farms into arable farms,
sheep fells into woodlands,
dairies into nut fromageries.
If we switch to green electricity,
our pension funds must invest in renewable energy.
If we green our pensions,
surely we will green our banks too.
Creator God, help us to see the changes we must make,
Give us the wisdom to support them,
the energy to achieve them
and the joy to celebrate them.
Amen.
11th November 2022
On the agenda at COP27 today is the subject of decarbonisation. Today’s Guardian reports “Carbon emissions from fossil fuels will hit record levels this year, according to a comprehensive analysis. The finding represents a brutal contrast with the need to cut emissions by half by 2030 to restrict global heating to 1.5C and avoid the most devastating impacts of the climate crisis. The analysis by the Global Carbon Project (GCP) uses multiple streams of data from the year to date to estimate emissions for 2022. It found fossil fuel related CO2 is on course to rise by 1% to 36.6bn tonnes, the highest ever. More burning of oil products is the biggest contributor, mostly because of the continuing rebound of international aviation after the pandemic.”
How long O Lord?
How many heat waves?
How many droughts?
How many floods?
How many lost coast lines?
How many before we admit our error?
Before we recognise the crisis?
How many lost penguins?
How many missing polar bears?
How many extinct butterflies?
How many disappearing swifts?
How many before we admit our error?
Before we recognise the crisis?
How many car journeys?
How many air miles?
How many beef steaks?
How many tonnes of cement?
How many before we admit our error?
Before we recognise the crisis.
Creator God, we admit our error
and recognise the crises we have caused.
Grant us the wisdom and determination to make amends:
To change the way we live,
To change the way we see things,
To have care for the future.
Amen.
9th November 2022
“Germany wants to help Kenya get from 90% renewables to 100%, its BMZ development ministry says. The two countries have announced a partnership at Cop27, with the details to be fleshed out in December. After Kenya’s power needs are met, it can use the electricity to make green hydrogen, BMZ said. ” Climate Home News
On the agenda today at COP27 is finance. Money is crucial if the world is to shift to a net zero economy.
We pray for all the participants,
the decision-makers and the protestors,
the bureaucrats and the prayerful.
May they have the courage
and the humility to make right decisions.
May they look beyond the short term
to the long term well being of life on earth.
May they seek a climate solidarity pact
not a collective suicide pact.*
May they recognise in each other
their own brothers and sisters.
May they understand the importance
of a family that stays together.
Loving and patient God,
may your will be done.
Amen.
* UN Secretary General Antonio Guterre
The Green Tau 