environment – Page 20 – The Green Tau

The Green Tau: issue 24

5th November 2021

Green Wash or Green Tonic?

Half way through the COP26 climate conference and what has been delivered? Green wash or green tonic? Or is it like the mushroom in Alice and Wonderland and it depends from which side you are eating?

It may be several months before we know whether what we have been given is a green tonic that will invigorate and rapidly promote growth in our transition to a sustainable global lifestyle; or whether it was in fact a green wash of carefully chosen words that don’t actually mean what they say, or don’t actually lead to any action.

Thursday was set aside for discussions and agreements on energy. It should be strikingly clear that fossil fuels in every shape and form can do nothing other than add to the climate crisis. They are termed ‘fossil’ fuels because they are the carbon content of plants and animal remains laid down/ locked away millennia ago. They are stores of carbon intended to be released gradually over not just millennia but eons of time, but which became the miracle power source for the industrial revolution. Carbon dioxide has been released into the atmosphere at a far faster rate than the planet can re-absorb. It is like a bath tub where the overflow is way too small to cope when the taps are open at full bore. Our carbon dioxide bath is all but overflowing and the consequences will be the total loss of icecaps, ice sheets and glaciers that will cause summer water shortages; rising sea levels that will drown not just towns but whole countries; rapidly rising temperatures, expanding deserts, diminishing agricultural output and the consequential increase in deaths across the globe. Current atmospheric CO2 levels stand at 413.96 ppm compared with the preindustrial level of 280 ppm and predicted maximum, after which climate change becomes uncontrollable, of 440 ppm.

40 countries have pledged to phase out coal-fired power stations by 2030 – or 2040 if they are one of the smaller economies. Note this doesn’t phase out all use of coal, nor does it phase out gas fired power stations, nor the use of oil, petrol, aviation fuel etc. In the UK we have 3 remaining coal fire power stations, which will be phased out by 2025. But we also have 30+ gas fired power stations, and, despite legal challenges, the government has given the go ahead for what will be the largest gas fired power plant at the Drax power station in Yorkshire.

20 countries, including the UK, have agreed to stop providing finance for overseas fossil fuel developments by 2022, and to divert the funds to clean energy projects. However earlier this year the International Energy Association had already announced that the world had already reached the maximum number fossil fuel extracting operations that would be compatible with the 1.5C temperature rise target. Why then provide another year’s worth of funding to develop even more? And why has the UK government given approval for a new coal mine in Cumbria and and oil extraction from the seas around the Hebrides?

Counting On …

6th November 2021

Today’s agenda at COP26 features ‘nature’ by which one might mean the state of flora and fauna when it is un-damaged by the impact of humans. There are large parts of the world which are termed as nature but which nevertheless have been subject to human impact where the impact has not been negative or destructive. Re-wilding projects give us some idea of what nature would look like without any human impact – and it is amazing! Sadly there are many more places – on both land and at sea – where vast areas of nature have been severely damaged by human impact. And if global temperatures continue to rise (a direct result from human activity) those areas of damage will only grow. Yet throughout history humans have been awed and inspired by nature, and at different times and in different ways, appreciated its value. And now we realising the multi faceted value of nature to our well being.

Green and blue spaces are good for our mental and physical health, as places of calm and relaxation, places for exercise, and as places of stimulus.

From rain forests to peat bogs, oak trees to whales, we now better understand how nature provides the lungs for the planet absorbing and storing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen.

At the same time, many constituent parts of nature remove and absorb pollution, be that particulates produced by motor vehicles or by products of sewage and other waste.

Plants can be key ingredients in shaping localised climates creating more congenial living conditions.

Nature is ultimately the source of what we eat, as well as providing medicines and health treatments. It is also the source of jobs – in farming, tourism and manufacturing.

Mangroves like their land coastal and their water salty. This tree and shrub family is adapted to spend their lives between land and saltwater, sometimes growing up to 200 feet tall in the process. Mangroves can have their roots in shallow, salty water because they are also exposed to air for part of the day. Their roots use this time above water to sequester oxygen for when they’re submerged. Mangrove roots create some of the most productive ecosystems on Earth, as their intertwined structure provides habitat for sessile creatures like barnacles and creates protective nurseries for juvenile fish. Mangrove roots provide more than habitat though: they trap sediment to stabilise coasts, and bio-filtrate nutrients and pollutants out of the water. These ecosystems are massive carbon sinks, taking in and storing excess carbon dioxide from our atmosphere and water—an important attribute in the face of climate change. By Jessica Knoth, Marine Conservation Institute Communications Intern

Counting On …

Friday 5th November

Counting On … is a follow on from the 100 days count down that preceded the start of COP26. Counting on is counting the days thereafter but I hope more importantly it will help us focus on people and groups – including ourselves – that the world is counting on to restrain and transform the current climate crisis. Today at COP26 the theme is youth and public empowerment – and young people both here in Britain and across the world are keen and willing – and already participating in transformative action.

“The YCCN’s relay to COP26 is currently covering 1,200 miles from Cornwall to Glasgow to campaign for decisions to be made that protect people – not bank balances – and that ensure no country will go into debt tackling climate change.”

Whilst in the Caribbean Christians Zakour is one of the young participants of the ‘Our Action, Our Future’ project. She is a master’s student in Biodiversity and Conservation from Trinidad and Tobago.

“My generation are the inheritors and rights holders of the future with significant capacity and drive to make changes for the better. In this action research project, the team of researchers and policy leaders get together to capture the value of youth, convert the youth as an asset class so that our action and future can be aligned”. (https://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/empowering-youth-small-states-forefront-commonwealth-cop26-agenda)

Counting On …

4th November 2021

Replacing fossil fuel powered energy with alternative renewable energy is key to addressing the climate crisis. But as well as being green, renewable energy can also provide remote communities with the advantages of electrical power without the need for large scale infrastructure. This can enable some amazing projects!

Practical Action has installed “ solar powered pumps [that] lift water from the river and distribute it to reservoirs close to Nepal’s farming communities, where pipes are installed to distribute water. Local reservoirs also naturally collect rain water, which is then turned into clean water and can be distributed too.

Even when the sun is at its hottest in the most arid regions of Nepal, it continues to provide the solar powered irrigation systems with energy – and gets water to crops when they need it most.

By having a reliable and safe source of water, farming communities can enjoy bigger harvests that produce enough to feed their families, with enough crops to spare for selling at a profit at the market.

Areas in Nepal that were previously famous for apple farming – but threatened due to climate change – are now viable spaces for orchards again, alongside crop and vegetable farming, according to local farmers. The use of solar pumps helps farming communities produce crops all year round, even during the dry season. The result is hugely positive. Not just financially, but environmentally and for the health of the farmers. Not only does it enable them to drink water safely, it means they can grow crops and enjoy a more balanced diet”. https://practicalaction.org/news-media/2021/03/09/how-solar-power-lifts-water/

Counting On …

3rd November 2021

The topic for COP26 today is finance.

In order to tackle climate change finance is needed, both state and private finance. This comes in the form of investment needed to facilitate the transfer from carbon-based to green technologies, and to train those who will work in these new industries; to transfer from animal based agriculture to plant based agriculture, and from a meat and diary based food industry to a plant based food industry; the need to invest in restoring, enlarging and maintaining carbon sequestering land and seascapes; the need to adapt existing and build new infrastructure to cope with the changes in climate that are already happening such as flooding and heat waves, including paying for those individuals and groups who cannot afford to pay for these adaptions themselves; to develop the new systems and infrastructure needed to cope with the future changes in the climate which have already been locked into world and which may increase if global temperatures rise significantly above the current 1C increase.

Poorer countries and small island states are in particular need of support from affluent countries like ours. The intention – although not yet the fact – is that developed nations will be supplying $1 billion to finance support for these more vulnerable nations.

Counting On …

As participants meet, discuss, negotiate and take action at COP26, what is at stake is the wellbeing of the amazing ecosystem in which we live. Caring for and improving biodiversity is essential. So many of the earth’s ecosystems can protect us from the adverse effects of climate change, and yet they are so vulnerable to damage from human activity!

Pray for, and support, action to enhance global biodiversity.

Seagrass, the only flowering marine plant, grows in the shallower waters of our seas and oceans as it is reliant on sunlight for photosynthesis. Where it is well established it forms meadows where its roots stabilises sediment on the seabed preventing erosion. Its roots also oxygenate the sediments supporting many burrowing organisms. As it grows it sequesters carbon dioxide and does so at rates 10 to 40 higher than that of forests! It provides food, breeding grounds and nurseries for many marine species – from seahorses to seals, dog fish and octopus.

However world wide seagrasses are under threat. These marine meadows are damaged and destroyed by sewage and chemical effluents, by algal blooms that restrict sunlight penetrating the water and so preventing photosynthesis, by mechanical damage from anchor chains, marine vessels, and dredging as well as from over-fishing which disturbs the balance of the ecosystem. It is estimated that the UK has lost 95% of its seagrass meadows. Restoration projects are in progress in Swansea Bay, Dale Bay Pembrokeshire, in the Solent and off Skye – but they are still very small in scale.

Counting On …day 394

1st December 2022

Kinship of all creation: we are all interconnected, dependant upon each other, bound into a finely wrought ecosystem that abounds in beauty. Pray that the interests of all our kindred will be valued and protected.

Climate change is affecting all parts of the world, from the Artic southwards. it affects people, plants and creatures alike.

Reindeer herd, Canada © Peter Ewins / WWF-Canada

Reindeer numbers across the Arctic have fallen by more than half in the past two decades. They survive by migrating to find food, using their hooves to dig through the snow to eat the nutritious lichen buried underneath. But climate change means herds must swim across previously frozen rivers and many young calves drown – and rising temperatures mean more rain, covering plants with ice instead of snow, making grazing harder.
https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/11-arctic-species-affected-climate-change

://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/11-arctic-species-affected-climate-chang

And from The Guardian: 30 Oct 2021, Gennadiy Shukin Taymyr, north Russia

I was born in 1962 in a family of deer herders in Taymyr, on a peninsula in the very far north of Russia. I am part of the Dolgan community: we are an indigenous Russian group and there are about 6,000 left of us living in the tundra.

Growing up, the Soviet Union tried to deny us our traditional way of life, but since then climate change has become the biggest challenge to our survival. Our community lives by hunting, fishing and herding deer. Scientists say that Taymyr has the most rapid temperature increase in Russia, and we can really feel it.

Because of the warmer winters, we have seen that deer are giving birth earlier in the year. Many are born too weak and don’t survive the long journeys they have to make. This means there is much less deer for us to hunt and it hurts the whole ecosystem.

Rivers and lakes that we use for fishing have also started to dry out. Others are too polluted after all the big oil and gas plants have sprung up over the years in our lands. Some days we don’t catch any fish at all.

For generations, we have sold the food we caught to local towns and cities to buy basic products like sugar and wheat. Without animals, we cannot survive.

Big craters are also forming because the Arctic permafrost is starting to melt under our feet. This means the routes that we have used for decades to travel, hunt and fish have to be adjusted as whole roads have sunk. It is also dangerous as you never know where the next crater will form.

Our ecosystem is changing quickly: animals like sables that I have never seen before in my life have appeared in the tundra. And now we also have to deal with giant mosquitoes and bugs that attack our livestock. The summers are becoming unbearable. It’s madness.

The young people see that climate change is making our traditional way of life impossible and they are forced to move to the bigger cities to find jobs, which are often low-paid. Our culture is disappearing.

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-guardian-supplement/20211030/281732682701562

Count Down

Action 99: Pray. Green Christian’s co-Chaplain, Andrew Norman, will be leading simple and contemplative-style prayers for 10 minutes at 8am every morning from 1-12 November, based on “Why Faith Matters at COP26”.

+ Register for zoom prayers for COP26 +

(https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApcuugqDovHdzejfpqPLtc1ZZEfOVVy_gm%20)

This is the last of the Count Down series! For the next two weeks there will be a daily image and prayer relating to the COP26 agenda, ‘Counting On …’

Sunday Reflection

31st October 2021, 4th before Advent

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=502594426 Hebrews 9:11-14 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=502594518 Mark 12:28-34 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=502594610

Reflection

The text of Deuteronomy offers the people a quid pro quo: if you obey this command, then your days will be long, all will go well with you and you will multiply – ie dwell in growing number – in a land flowing with milk and honey. Wow! Who would not want that?

And what is the the qualifying command? That you love God with your total being, with the totality of your existence. The lawyerly minded might then ask for clarification: what is it to love God? For the writer of Deuteronomy, the answer has already been given. It is to keep all God’s statutes and ordinances which Deuteronomy details. To love God is to do that which God wants, to live life the way God directs. There is a great simplicity and logic in this. It is what one might expect when we read the creation stories, for they tell us that God created a world that was good, which was full of life and which was created so that that life in all its forms might multiply and flourish. To live in harmony in such a creation is surely to live in accordance with the creator’s intentions.

Yet the fact that something is highly desirable and is straightforward to achieve, doesn’t necessarily mean that is what will happen. We know from reading the rest of the Bible that the people of Israel had great difficulty in sticking to following the ways of God. And we can clearly see when we look around the world now and see suffering, war, greed, destruction, deceit … that humanity still finds this a hard task.

The Letter to the Hebrews uses much of the imagery and ideas of the Pentateuch, envisaging Jesus as the ultimate high priest – the one who mediates between humans (and indeed not just humans but creation too as we will see later) and God. The writer describes Jesus as the high priest of ‘the good things that have come’. Again the message that what God is and does give us, is good! He is also the high priest who, through his own death, has redeemed us for all ‘dead works’ so that we can worship the living God. Again a message that picks up the same message as that in Deuteronomy: the desire that we should be in tune with God. To worship is to recognise the worth God, to offer our understanding of God’s nature. Jesus enables us to worship God not only because he embodies the nature of God in human form, but also because he redeems us from ‘dead works’: those things that come between us and God and between us and the rest of creation – those things that lead to suffering, war, greed, destruction, deceit. Jesus both aids our relationship with God and the resulting enjoyment of what is good in the world, and removes those stumbling blocks that damage that relationship.

The passage from Mark continues on the theme of the kingdom of God and how one might access it. (A few weeks ago we heard of the rich man whose love of his wealth impeded his access). In today’s episode, the dialogue between the scribe and Jesus probe what is involved in coming close to – and entering – the kingdom of heaven. The answer is two fold: loving God and loving neighbour. If we were to return to the creation stories, and in particular that set in the Garden of Eden, we would see that these as the subtext of that story. Whilst Adam and Eve and their companions – all the creatures God had created and which Adam had named – followed that two fold lifestyle, they enjoyed the fruitful life in the Garden. And maybe that too was a land flowing with milk and honey. But when they all respectively failed to love God and their neighbours, their companions, they found themselves living in a place of hardship and pain and enmity.

And isn’t that still where we find ourselves today? As the delegates gather for COP26 and all the non delegates arrive in person or via zoom, we come to a crunch point in the wellbeing of the world. Over the decades and indeed the centuries, we have not loved our fellow neighbours, both our human brothers and sisters, and our creaturely brothers and sisters. We have not loved our common home but have allowed greed and cruelty, envy and ignorance to damage and despoil the land where we live.

Let us pray earnestly that our global leaders will make the right decisions. Equally let us pray that we too as responsible individuals will do all we can to live penitent lives, truly loving God and neighbour with all our being.

Halloween Scones

Food waste is a big contributor to global warming. Waste can occur anywhere from on the farm, whilst in transit, at the supermarket or in the home. In the home we should aim to use all the food we buy. So here is a recipe for using up raw pumpkin – or squash. It is also cooked in a frying pan rather than in the oven which will use less energy. It is also plant-based – another plus for the environment.

250g self raising flour

60g vegan butter

1 tbsp of chia or camelina seeds

150g raw pumpkin/ squash

4 cardamom pods

Oat milk

Mix the seeds with 3 tbsp of warm water. Mix in the seeds from the cardamon pods.

Cut the butter into,cubes and rub into the flour.

Chop the pumpkin into small pieces.

Mix everything together, adding enough milk to create a soft dough.

Heat a frying pan with a little oil in the bottom.

Roll out the dough and cut into rounds or triangles. Place these in the pan.

Cook for 5-10 minutes or until browning on the bottom. Turn over and cook on the other side.

Enjoy plain or with jam.