The Anglican primates of Australia, New Zealand and Melanesia have endorsed an “Open Letter on Climate Justice” prepared by the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC), that calls upon Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to enact legislation that would stop coal and gas energy projects.
The letter, signed by a variety of religious leaders from several faith groups requests asks the government: “Stops approving new coal and gas projects; Ends public subsidies for coal and gas projects; Fully respects First Nations peoples’ rights to protect Country; Re-starts contributions to the United Nations Green Climate Fund; Assists extractive industry workers to prosper through jobs in sustainable industries; Actively participates in creating and endorses a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
The letter states the signatories are “grateful for your Government’s efforts to take the climate crisis seriously. Yet Australia is a wealthy country that profits from exports that are causing the crisis. We hear the cries of anguish from those most vulnerable in the human family who are losing their lives, livelihoods and homes through climate-fuelled disasters.”
They further state “current level of warming is not safe. This moment in history calls for an urgent, courageous, visionary response, especially from those in power. Australia’s leadership in this response, as part of its First Nations Foreign Policy, is vital for the vulnerable communities and ecosystems who depend on it.”
The theory that anthropogenic global warming explains today’s long-term increase in the average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere due to the effects of human industry and agriculture is popular but is not universally agreed among climate scientists.
