Lord Deben: There is a clear Gospel demand for climate action

James Somerville-Meikle
Mar 7th, 2024

Lord Deben

Source: Catholic Union

Former Chair of the Committee on Climate Change, Lord Deben, (John Selwyn Gummer, Baron Deben) has said that there is a clear Gospel imperative for looking after our natural environment and moving away from fossil fuels.

Speaking at the Catholic Union Ampleforth Lecture, Lord Deben said that "we are supposed to be stewards of what we have been given" and yet he claimed that Britain had seen the biggest decline in biodiversity of any country in the world.

The talk was organised in partnership between the Catholic Union, Ampleforth College, and the Ampleforth Society, and hosted in the school's performing arts centre.

Lord Deben, who previously served as Environment Secretary before being appointed a Conservative peer, praised the contribution of the Catholic Church to the discussion around climate change. He described Pope Francis's encyclical, Laudato si, as a "remarkable document."

He encouraged the audience of school pupils and guests to consider the individual actions they could take to reduce energy consumption, including only boiling as much water as they needed and turning the heating down.

In an election year, he also encouraged people to contact their MPs and parliamentary candidates to ask them to make action on climate change a priority. He stressed the urgency of this action, saying "one day the tipping point will come and we won't be able to recover it."

The lecture is the first in what is hoped will become an annual lecture at the Catholic independent school in North Yorkshire.

Details of Catholic Union future Catholic Union events can be found on their website.

Catholic Union Deputy Director, James Somerville-Meikle, commented: "It was a great joy to hear from Lord Deben on this important subject. His remarks were not only based on experience, but clearly grounded in his Catholic faith. It is a subject where the Church has much to offer. We are extremely grateful to Ampleforth College for hosting the event and to the Ampleforth Society for their support. Partnerships like this are so important to the work of the Catholic Union as we try to reach ever more people. Hopefully this talk will inspire more people to get involved and take action on climate change in their lives, in their local community, and with politicians."