The Church of England’s lead bishop for the environment, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, has urged the British electorate to vote in the up and coming local elections for political parties “who want to see climate justice”.
Bishop Usher has joined the Roman Catholic lead bishop for the environment, the Bishop of Salford, the Right Revd John Arnold, and other Christian groups, in calling on all churches to screen ‘People’s Emergency Briefing’, a 50-minute film was made by the UK’s National Emergency Briefing, to put pressure on the UK Government to stage a prime-time, televised emergency briefing on the climate and nature crisis.
In an interview with the Church Times, Bishop Usher said, “Once the film is seen, then sustained action needs to happen — first by voting for those who want to see climate justice and nature protection high on the political agenda, both locally and nationally.”
He continued: “We are the first generation to see the effects of climate change and the last that can do anything about it. The ‘People’s Emergency Briefing’ is a wake-up call for all of us. The threat posed by climate change and loss of biodiversity dwarfs that of other crises, and the public need to be informed, so that together we can turn the situation around.
“The Church of England has a clear role in caring for God’s creation and taking prophetic action. With a Christian presence in every community in England, I strongly encourage our churches, chaplaincies, and schools to host screenings of this timely and important film.”
The coalition backing the film includes the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, and the Joint Public Issues Team, which is a partnership between the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union, and the United Reformed Church.
Roman Catholic lead bishop for the environment, Bishop Arnold says: “Our faith calls us to care for our ‘Common Home’ and we must study the signs of the times and take the action that is needed to repair our relationship with God’s creation. The ‘People’s Emergency Briefing’ lays bare how serious the climate and nature crisis is, the significance of the threat to our common home, and the impacts it will have on people’s lives, and the need to come together to respond to this emergency.”
The National Emergency Briefing is a UK-wide public information initiative aimed at briefing the public and Parliament. To hear about the film and how screenings can be hosted, visit their website here. Read the full Church Times article, here.