Weekly Green Tau

Counting on …day 387

23rd November 2022

Make My Money Matter campaigns on the issue of where are money is invested and how,it is used when we’re not. We may not think of ourselves as investors but the money we have in our bank, the money we pay for our pension, our mortgage, our insurance policies, is invested on our behalf to cover future payments. Such investments can be ethical and sustainable – or not. At the current time many large institutions are investing heavily on fossil fuels and plastics, thus feeling  the climate crisis.

Make My Money Matter is inviting us to sign an open letter to the major banks asking them to invest in ventures other than those that are oil based.

http://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/openletter/

Green Tau: issue 57

21st November 2022

We’re in a climate crisis – will it get worse?

Global temperatures have risen by at least 1.1C, and possibly nearer to 1.2C, above the pre-industrial revolution norm. This is because of the increasing proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere – as of October 2022 this measures 419 parts per million. Pre-industrial levels stood at around 280 ppm. At 350 ppm the world could maintain global temperatures at about 1C above pre-industrial levels. 

With a global temperature rise of at least 1.1C we are already in a climate crisis. 

Icecaps, and glaciers are melting and reducing in size. Melt water from Himalayan glaciers has been contributing to flooding in Pakistan, whilst across the world sea levels are rising and drowning low lying coast lines in places like Tonga, Kiribati and Vanuatu. 

Warming seas are killing off corals through the process of bleaching. They are shifting the location and breeding patterns of many marine creatures at a rate which is causing a steep decline in populations of many species including birds – and land based animals that rely on the oceans for food.

Warming seas and warming air causes increasingly heavy rainfall and strengthening tropical storms, monsoons and hurricanes. These extreme weather events have led to flooding and the destruction of homes, roads and other infrastructure, forests and mangrove swamps – these latter help prevent coastal erosion – across the globe.  We have also experienced exceptionally heavy rain and storms in the UK. In February of this year three storms hit the UK – Franklin, Dudley and Eunice – leaving  three dead and 1.4 million homes without power. Just this last few days storms have again bought flooding to the UK cutting of road and rail links and leaving another person dead.

Summers have become hotter and dryer. The hottest temperature of 40.3C was recorded this summer, whilst four of the five hottest summers in the UK have all occurred within the last 20 years. This summer’s series of heatwaves caused more than 2800 excess deaths. The same heat wave has been felt across the world with wild fires in the UK, Europe and North America. The hot weather has been accompanied by a lack of rain causing widespread droughts, some of which, for example in California and East Africa, have been ongoing for several years. The drought in East Africa is creating a widespread famine.

These are all examples of changes in the climate that we will have to live with both here in the UK and across the world. They are changes that are now built in because we cannot reverse the 1.1C  increase in average global temperatures.  As global temperatures rise we will have to come to terms with even more changes in the climate,  and will have to try and adapt to them. Ideally (or rather the least worse scenario is) our aim should be to do all we can to keep global temperature rises below 1.5C. 

Is this possible? Scientists and academics have been working on this for several decades now and the route map agreed in Paris in 2016 is that if we can reduce all carbon dioxide (and associated greenhouse gases) emissions by approximately half by 2030 and to net zero by 2050 we should be able to keep temperature rises to 1.5 or 2C. Calculations have been carried out to show that this would be possible if the appropriate plans are  put in place now and acted on. It is in everyone’s best  interests to follow the carbon emissions reduction plan.

Will we achieve this?

At present it doesn’t look hopeful. In fact this year carbon emissions are expected to rise by around 1% rather than fall. Following last year’s agreements at COP26, it was hoped that nations and parties would come back with revised plans showing even greater ambitions to reduce emissions to meet the 2030 and 2050 targets. We are still waiting for the final outcomes of COP27 but certainly the UK Government is not on track for the 2030 targets. And the Government’s willingness to grant new licences for exploring more oil and gas fields in the North Sea is definitely a regressive step. 

Can we be part of the solution? 

Yes. We can focus on reducing our own carbon footprints – by 2030 we should be aiming for about 2.7 tonnes of CO2 per capita in the UK which is about half of the current average. (There are a number of carbon footprint calculators on the web. The WWF –  https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/ – one is very easy to use whilst the Carbon Footprint Calculator is more in depth –  https://calculator.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx?c=Full&h=ae20102bc28339fca671f85aed9a7be0) Knowing what your footprint is and what are its major components will enable you to,begin to work out how you can reduce it. As we work out how we can achieve this reduction we can put pressure on the companies we buy from – writing or emailing or simply asking in store for things/ services with a lower impact. We can also use our voices to call on the Government to create the system changes that are also needed – such as increased investment in public transport, in the insulation of buildings, completing the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy supplies, and transforming the way we farm and the foods we eat. 

We also need our Government and big businesses to work with their colleagues across the world to achieve a just transition to a net zero world. The climate crisis is a global crisis and needs global cooperation, or, as The UN Secretary General put it, we will be condemning ourselves to a global suicide pact. We can use our voices writing to MPs and business leaders, joining action groups, signing petitions, and at election time, using  our votes. 

The future is in our hands.

Counting on … day 385

21St November 2022

This Thursday is Thanksgiving Day in the USA. Since at least the 1950s the day after Thanksgiving has been a popular shopping day with many people starting their Christmas shopping. Now actively marketed as Black Friday any businesses and stores use this advertising medium to encourage sales of their goods. Black Friday has expanded to include not just the Friday after Thanksgiving but the preceding days – and even preceding weeks. This pressure to buy is not helpful for the environment nor for our purses. We should be looking to buy and consume less and when do buy things we should be able to consider carefully what we need rather than being hustled to ‘buy now!’ For more on this do read this article from The Ethical Consumer.

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/retailers/boycott-black-friday-cyber-monday-2021?utm_source=ECRA+Monthly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b98f928b21-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_11_17_BF&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-d07cf552ba-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Christ the King: 20th November 2022

Reflection (readings are below)

We need leaders who are just and compassionate and who stick to the ways of God – those whose aim is to be upright, to seek after righteousness. And we have the ultimate example in Jesus. Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King – the one who is the king of the kingdom of God. He is our king; he is the one above all to whom we owe our honour and allegiance. He is the one who will never stop caring for us.

Yet the gospel chosen for today is of the crucifixion, the suffering and death, of Jesus. That doesn’t sound like an apt reading to celebrate the highest of all kings? For Jesus’s friends and followers, that day, that hour, must have been the absolute low point of their existence. The day when all their hopes and dreams were dashed. Their leader had been arrested – trapped by his opponents, jeered at by his critics, brought to court and found guilty – a sentence approved of by the masses. His vision of a better world, a world of justice and peace, of inclusivity and divine compassion was surely now in ruins, lost for ever? And what was to be their future? Would they be hounded and rounded up by the mob? Would they be rejected by friends and family? Would they become vagrants trying to eke out a living on the margins of society? Were they overcome by shame and doubt, wondering why they had been taken in by Jesus’s words, wondering why they had not heeded the words of their religious leaders, their elders and betters? Perhaps it was one of those days when you think it can’t get any worse and it just does.

We are living after the event. We know that Jesus’s drawn out execution on the cross with its blood and pain, before a jeering crowd was not the end of the story. There were still some empty hours ahead, some dark times of waiting and not knowing, of uncertainty and fear, for the disciples. But they didn’t run away. They didn’t stop caring for Jesus. They kept on living taking each day as it came. They weren’t expecting a miracle but were waiting to do what had to be done to complete his funeral. And a miracle happened; an unbelievable miracle! Jesus rose from the dead and met them where they were. He comforted and commissioned them and then took on his new role as the ascended messiah, Christ the King!

Can we find hope in that story? Can we find that hope that the psalmist speaks of? The strength of faith to continue even when things get tough, when the future looks uncertain – doomed even – and to hold tight to get assurance that God will always be there for us? When we face an uncertain future in the face of the climate crisis, the intransigence of oil producers, the reluctance of rich nations to be neither penitent nor generous, the naive optimism of those who say the climate crisis isn’t really a problem.

Let us find hope, take strength, encourage one another and reaffirm once more our allegiance to Christ the King.

Jeremiah 23:1-6

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength, *
a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, *
and though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea;

3 Though its waters rage and foam, *
and though the mountains tremble at its tumult.

4 The Lord of hosts is with us; *
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

5 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, *
the holy habitation of the Most High.

6 God is in the midst of her;
she shall not be overthrown; *
God shall help her at the break of day.

7 The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken; *
God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.

8 The Lord of hosts is with us; *
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

9 Come now and look upon the works of the Lord, *
what awesome things he has done on earth.

10 It is he who makes war to cease in all the world; *
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,
and burns the shields with fire.

11 “Be still, then, and know that I am God; *
I will be exalted among the nations;
I will be exalted in the earth.”

12 The Lord of hosts is with us; *
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Colossians 1:11-20

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers– all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Luke 23:33-43

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. The people stood by, watching Jesus on the cross; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Counting on … day 384

20th November 2022

Small steps of change are happening. A Loss and Damage Fund has now been agreed in principle as COP27 came to an end. The details of who pays and who receives will be presented as a proposal at COP28. 

The following link gives a summary of what has and has not been achieved at this year’s COP.  Do give thanks for the small steps of progress. 

What was decided at Cop27 climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh?

Counting on … day 383

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

Counting on … day 382

18th November 2022 

Recycling old mobile phones. If you are up-grading your phone, the supplier will normally take your old phone – and even pay you some small sum. Otherwise you can recycle your old mobile phone at any Oxfam shop and any profit will support their work: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/more-ways-to-donate/recycle-with-us/

If you are replacing or upgrading your phone you could still opt to buy second hand thereby extending the useful life of the ‘new’ phone and so reduce its adverse impact on the environment.  I use Magic Magpie but there are other companies too. 

What can you do about the climate crisis?

17th November 2022

People often comment, ‘I am concerned about the climate crisis but I don’t know what to do!’

There is a whole range of things we can do, from at one end changing our lifestyle, right through to making acts of civil disobedience at the other. To say this is a range is not to say it is a progression and that having started with changes to lifestyle one must then progress down the line to acts of civil disobedience. Nor is it to say that either end of the range is better or more worthwhile. However from the viewpoint of integrity one hopes that those who engage in campaigning and actions are also prepared to adapt their lifestyles.

Within each type of activity there will again be a range of responses. People choosing to change their diet for example may choose to have a meat free day each week or to become fully vegan. 

What is the purpose of doing something? 

It is to minimise, halt or reverse the adverse effects we humans have on the environment and to help, support or improve, the lives of others (both human and non-human) who are adversely and/or unfairly affected by the crisis.

What can we do?

Change our lifestyle to reduce the impact of our footprint on the earth and its impact on the lives of others.

Whilst it may feel that changing one person’s lifestyle will not make a difference, it does. Each person who makes the change  shows that change is possible. This will encourage others to follow suit. And each person making these changes is creating a new – climate friendly – normal. We will only get to net zero when everyone has made changes to their lifestyle and the sooner we started the better. 

*Switch to a green energy supplier; reduce energy consumption by turning off appliances, turning down thermostats, using economy programmes, adding home insulation etc. For more info: https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/energy/green-suppliers-energy-crisis-rising-energy-costs

  • Swop to a largely plant based diet – a plant based diet can reduce your carbon footprint by at least 60%;  opt for local, organic, fair trade and animal friendly foods; minimise food waste – https://greentau.org/2021/08/09/eco-tips-4/
  • Opt for active travel (walking and cycling) and public transport in preference to driving; avoid flying – sign the Flight Free Pledge https://flightfree.co.uk/
  • Reuse, repair, recycle; minimise single use items; buy good quality long life products – The Ethical Consumer has helpful guides; buy second hand; borrow or hire for occasional use. Don’t buy what you don’t need – enjoy what you have!
  • Avoid waste by seeking out zero waste options for what you use in and around your home – eg milk that comes in refillable glass bottles, loose fruit and veg, various (numerous) groceries you can get from refill shops, from pasta to raisins, coffee beans to spices. Carry a keep cup for take away drinks and a bottle for water refills.
  • Green your finances – use banks, insurance and pension providers etc that take an ethical and environmentally responsible approach to their investments – https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/

* Re wild part of your garden; plant trees or hedges; plant insect friendly plants; install a water butt, a compost heap and maybe a pond. 

  • Support B-corps –  companies that undertake to do that bit more for the environment and for society. Avoid supporting companies that disregard the environment, don’t pay all their taxes, and/ or don’t pay their staff a fair or living wage. 
  • Support environmental charities financially and/ or as a volunteer. Support social well being charities. 
  • Read up on climate science, and on the ways and benefits of adapting our lifestyles. 

* Find a like minded group of friends for encouragement; set up a green group in your church; join Green Christian.

Campaign for change.

Whilst individuals can make significant changes to their lifestyle, there are somethings they personally cannot change. As an individual you cannot change the tax system that doesn’t tax aviation fuel. As an individual you cannot implement a subsidy scheme that would make public transport cheaper than private car travel. As an individual you cannot change legislation that discourages the building of on-shore wind turbines and solar farms. As an individual you cannot require all local councils to adopt a common recycling policy. And the list goes on – as an individual you might wish to see an expansion of nature reserves, of rewilding landscapes, of implementing nature based flood defences, of ensuring all homes and commercial premises are adequately insulated against extremes of temperature, the provision of safe cycle routes through and between all urban areas, an end to the discharging of sewage into seas and rivers, curbs on industrial farming and fishing etc.

Where we can’t effect changes as an individual, we may find we can as a group – the more people in the group, the stronger their collective voice. As individuals we can address issues of climate, biodiversity and social justice in various ways.

  • Becoming an active supporter of an action group
  • Donating to support an action group.
  • Signing petitions addressed to local and central government, to big business and to multi nationals.
  • Writing individually to lobby MPs, local councillors, business leaders etc.
  • Joining organised  marches and demonstrations. 

As with changing lifestyle, read up on climate science and what changes we can make as a society to safeguard the environment and protect lives. 

Non-violent direct action

Martin Luther King Jr wrote that the goal of non-violent direct action was to “create such a crisis and foster such a tension” as to demand a response. Non-violent direct action has come to the fore in climate issues because of the lack of response from, in particular, the government and the oil industry.

Non-violent direct action may include sit-ins, strikes, blocking roads, climbing onto significant structures, and boycotts. It may extend to include damaging property such as graffiti, breaking windows or letting down car tyres. Often these acts of civil disobedience may be classed as criminal acts (and probably increasingly so as the government introduces stricter laws limiting the right to protest) but in court protestors can present the arguments to the judge and jury that there is a legal defence can be made, justifying such action. Other non-violent direct actions, such as strikes and vigils,  are lawful. 

In terms of the climate crisis, non-violent direct action is being used to demand a response from government, from the oil industry, from banks and financial institutions, from churches (asking them to divest from fossil fuels*), from charities (asking the National Trust to bank with somewhere other than Barclays) to actions that target consumerist products such as private jets and SUVs. (2024 – all but two C of E dioceses have now divested showing that activism is effective).

Within groups that engage in non-violent direct action, there will be different roles for people – some of which will involve the risk of being arrested, whilst others will not. 

Climate action groups also focus on educating and informing the wider society about the issues and how they can be addressed, with the hope of increasing the number of supporters. The greater the number of supporters, the louder their voice will be.  

Read up on the climate  science and what changes we can make as a society to safeguard the environment and protect lives. Be informed about how government, local councils, and businesses work – and the media. Join a group for support and so that your voice becomes part of a greater whole.   It is especially important that if you are considering putting yourself in a position where you might be arrested that you fully understand what that entails and are sure that you can cope with the consequences. It is really important to be part of a group that offers advise, training and support. Christian Climate Action would be one such group – https://christianclimateaction.org/

A discussion on Non-Violent Direct Action – Green Christian Workshop
Welcome

Counting on… day 381

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.