Priests and religious march on Parliament
By Simon Caldwell
2 May 2008

Religious sisters demand stronger measures to tackle global warming

Almost 300 Catholic priests, monks, nuns and religious sisters have marched on Parliament to demand stronger measures to tackle global warming.

The group assembled outside the Houses of Parliament before expressing its concerns to politicians including Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Affairs.

They held up banners bearing the slogans "Kick the Carbon Habit" and "Stop Climate Chaos".

The event was organised partly by Cafod, the overseas development agency of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, and the Conference of Religious.

It aimed to persuade the Government to agree to amendments to the Climate Change Bill that is passing through Parliament and which will become law later this year.

The group wants the carbon emissions reduction target to be increased from at least 60 per cent to at least 80 per cent by 2050.

It also wants Britain's share of emissions from aviation and shipping to be included in the reduction.

The lobby included Benedictine Fr Christopher Jamison, the Abbot of Worth Abbey, Sussex.

"God made the world for us to care for and he also intended it for it to be something to share justly for everybody," he said.

"We have two religious duties that we are expressing here today. Firstly, to make sure the world is cared for because it is God's world.

"Secondly, the world's poorest are the worst affected by climate change and so in justice we must make sure that climate change does not make the poor even poorer."

Fr Jamison added: "It is easier to characterise this as stopping progress but what we are here to do is to encourage our Government to develop new ways and find new technologies so that the world's development can continue and continue fairly."

The event was also attended by Fr Sean McDonagh, a Columban missionary from Tipperary, who has campaigned on environmental issues for about 30 years.

Fr McDonagh, the author of the 2006 book Climate Change and the Challenge to us all, said that small rises in global temperatures might result in "catastrophic" harm to the planet and that it was important that the Church was at the forefront of the environmental movement.

Besides setting targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the Bill will establish an independent body - the Carbon Committee - to work with the Government to reduce emissions over time and across the British economy.

It will create powers to enforce new emissions-reduction measures and set out new monitoring and reporting arrangements.

Cafod argues that the United Nations Development Programme has recognised that the targets in the Bill "were not ambitious enough".

About 150,000 people die each year from the effects of climate change, almost all from developing countries, according to the agency.

Chris Bain, director of Cafod, said: "Tackling climate change is essential if the Government's good work in fighting poverty is not to be undermined by rising global temperatures which hit the world's poor hardest.

"We desperately need to see a strong Bill going through Parliament which shows the Britain is taking tough action on climate change, and gives the government a mandate to speak out at crucial international talks."

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the president of the English and Welsh bishops' conference, said he was "greatly encouraged" by the event.

"We are all called to care for creation, living simply and sustainably, and to work for justice in solidarity with those living in poor countries," he said