Global Climate Week

At our Chapter last summer, my religious community committed to engage more deeply with our call to Care for Creation and to do whatever we can in regards to Climate Change. (If you want to learn more, I posted about my meeting this summer as part of the Core Team looking at this Chapter Act.) I thought I'd share a bit of what I''m learning with my bloggy community as well...

Did you know that today is not only the first day of autumn, it's also the second day of Global Climate Week? UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is gathering world leaders in New York today for a high level meeting in preparation for the Copenhagen Climate Summit, to be held in December in, you guessed it, Copenhagen. They will be negotiating a global climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol which expires soon.

Global Climate Week coinides with this important meeting, part of a coordinated effort to urge world leaders to seal a fair and effective climate agreement at the Copenhagen conference in December. Here are some ways you can participate in Global Climate Week:

• "Green Day" (Tuesday, September 22): Wear Something Green today, the day that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hosts world leaders for at the UN. Tell friends and co-workers why you are wearing green.
• "Go Climate Neutral Day" (Wednesday, September 23): Find ways to decrease your energy usage today to show personal support for an agreement on climate change. Walk or take public transit to work. Enjoy dinner by candlelight. Turn off electronic devices when not in use.
• "Climate Voices Day" (Thursday, September 24): Visit the tcktcktck campaign website to read stories of how climate change is already affecting people around the globe.
• Sign onto the Seal the Deal petition urging political leaders to negotiate a fair and just climate agreement at Copenhagen.
• Pray for a global response to climate change, which often affects those people and countries least able to adapt.

Prayer for a Global Response to Climate Change

Creator God, this earth is miraculous and beautiful. Forgive our confusion and inaction as we confront the challenges of climate change. We pray for world leaders to agree a new and just treaty in Copenhagen that will protect our fragile world for future generations. Inspire us now to work together, as your people, to change priorities in the way we live, so that we build a fair and safe world for all your creation; a world where your will is done as it is in heaven. Amen

(Adapted from the Environmental Issues Network of Churches Together in Britain)