Seventeen bishops have released a call for prayer and action to address the “unprecedented climate crisis”

Seventeen bishops attending the Anglican Environmental Network meeting in Cape Town have released a call for prayer and action to address the “unprecedented climate crisis”. The 30 March 2015 declaration entitled “The World Is Our Host” calls upon the industrial nations to cut carbon emissions they blame for the change in the global climate. The host of the gathering, Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba (pictured) stated: “We accept the evidence of science: Human activity, especially in fossil-fuel based economies, is the main cause of the climate crisis. We heard of extreme weather and changes to seasons; rising sea levels; acidification of seawater; depleted fishing grounds; and displaced people who are climate refugees.” He added the “problem is spiritual as well as economic, scientific and political. We have been complicit in a theology of domination. While God committed the care of creation to us, we have been care-less – but not hopeless. In the words of St Theresa of Avila, we are God’s hands and feet on earth – now is the time for us, rooted in prayer, to step up and take action on the climate crisis.” The Declaration commits the bishops to specific first actions including: energy conservation measures in church buildings; more renewable energy; nurturing biodiversity on church land; supporting sustainability in water, food, agriculture and land use reviewing churches’ investment practices including a call for divestment; and closer ecumenical and interfaith co-operation.