NJPN Blog: Can climate change became a transformative tool for humans?

Paul Southgate image ICN/JS

Next week (at 6pm on 23rd October, to be precise) creation will be 6025 years old according to Archbishop Ussher of Armagh 365 years ago. A brilliant calculation, even if slightly out. Life on Earth probably began around 3.5 billion years ago, with modern humans appearing only around 300,000 years ago.

The only thing in Creation which God hesitated to call "good" was when God separated the heavens from the Earth (Gen 1:6-8). God seems to have been trying to join them back together ever since.

Last month, Christians celebrated the Season of Creation and "the integral web of relationships that sustain the well-being of the Earth" - a fitting prayer for COP 26 which begins on 1st November. May this integral web be appreciated, realised and strengthened by world leaders who, together, have the power to stop much of the world dying of shame. In those 3.5 billion years, 99% of species have become extinct. Homo Sapiens is not immune. So we must stabilise the climate by reducing CO2 emissions.

The complexity of the task is awesome and perhaps I expect too much from COP26. It is about more than fossil fuels, world economies, technologies and "the science", important though these are. It needs a vision suggesting the meaning of the world and the place of humankind (and our fellow travellers) within it, appealing to intellect, emotion and spirit; in other words, a within as well as a without, a joining of creation and nature, heaven and Earth.

The presence of Pope Francis brings Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti to the table, reminding us that "In the Judaeo-Christian tradition, the word "creation" has a broader meaning than "nature", for it has to do with God's loving plan in which every creature has its own value and significance. Nature is usually seen as a system which can be studied, understood and controlled, whereas creation can only be understood as a gift…" (LS 76).

Climate change is certainly about carbon emissions, economic systems, the natural rhythms of the planet and so on. But it is also about greed, selfishness and indifference. "The science" can only help so far. Elie Wiesel considered the opposite of Faith to be indifference. I understand Faith here to mean "like the lion hunting for its prey" as defined by the Maasai elder in Vincent Donovan's "Rediscovering Christianity". There is a moral dimension which must be at the heart of this effort to turn things round, to repent, re-focus and repair. Failing to do it will place an even bigger burden on our children who will not understand our lack of Faith and commitment.

Each and all of us must discover within ourselves the gift of intentional creativity in response to the climate emergency; that is, to adapt, form new structures, generate new behaviour patterns, solve new problems, create new narratives of 'progress' and collectively to embed innovations into our cultural repertoires. "Our goal is to become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering and thus to discover what each of us can do about it" (LS 19).

Climate change was transformational in our human journey. DNA research suggests that megadroughts around 100,000 years ago may have bottled up early humans in Africa, making travel risky. A climate shift bringing wet periods probably helped propel the first migrations out of Africa. Climate change became a transformative tool for humans. In the best sense, may it prove to be again. Otherwise, the name we have given ourselves - "Sapiens" "Wise" - would be too ironic to bear.

NJPN will be gathering by Zoom on Saturday, 13th November - the day after COP26 - to reflect upon COP26 and its outcomes, and ask "So what must be done?" Please log on and join us : www.justice-and-peace.org.uk/

Paul is Chair of the National Justice and Peace Network (NJPN) and a member of the Justice and Peace Co-ordinating Council in Hexham & Newcastle diocese.