Weekly Action - 13 December 2024 - Climate Storms
Take action to tackle climate change which is making extreme weather like Storm Darragh more regular and dangerous.
Climate storms
Last weekend much of the UK was battered by Storm Darragh. Winds of up to 96 miles per hour brought down trees and power lines, and led to flooding and property damage. It was the fourth serious storm to hit the UK since mid-October. Two people died in the storm and thousands of people were left without power. People like Gaby Hinsliff who recounted her experience in the Guardian, “After just 12 hours without power, we were cold, isolated and facing the fact that everyday life is far more precarious than it seems.” [1] The storm has prompted Emma Pinchbeck, the head of the UK’s Climate Change Committee, to warn that the country is seriously unprepared for the more intense storms now coming our way as a result of global climate change.[2]
More intense and regular storms are one of the key indicators of global climate change. In recent years the impacts of climate change around the world have also included heatwaves, droughts, floods, cyclones, wildfires, landslides, massive polar melting, the melting of the world’s glaciers, sea-level rise, the devastation of coral systems, mass food and fresh water shortages, ill health, huge negative economic impacts, conflicts over scarce resources, the creation of huge numbers of climate refugees, and much more. The last couple of years has seen a massive and tragic food crisis in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, record temperatures in the UK, and much of Europe, the US and the northern hemisphere, devastating floods in Pakistan, New Zealand, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and the UK, and much more, all as a result of global climate change. This is impacting millions of ordinary people. It is developing countries like Zimbabwe, DR Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Pakistan, whose greenhouse gas emissions are a fraction of those of more developed nations, that have done the least to cause climate change, but are being hit the hardest by it.
As Christians what should we do about it?
As Christians we are called to look after and care for God’s amazing creation, it belongs to him, not us, and he cares for it and loves it, as it says in the Psalms, “How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures … All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things” (Psalm 104: 24 – 28). We therefore need to urgently get out of fossil fuels, which are driving global climate change, and instead shift to 100% clean renewable energy, which does not lead to climate change, and is cheaper as well. Arise’s 4 Shifts Campaign calls for a rewiring of our global economy to be green and fair, so it still creates the jobs and wealth that lift people out of poverty, but does so without relying on fossil fuels and the overconsumption which is wrecking our planet.
Will you take action as part of Arise’s 4 Shifts campaign this week and call for an urgent shift to a clean energy economy?
Take Action
Speak out in advocacy
Email Ed Miliband MP, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, in your own words to ask the UK to play a leading role in dramatically scaling up momentum on climate action.
- Urge the UK government to call for a strengthening of the global Paris Agreement on climate change to shift to zero emissions and 100% clean renewable energy, and ban the use of fossil fuels in every nation by 2030.
- Urge the UK to pass national legislation to bring this into effect in the UK, and implement it in every sector (not just in energy generation, but in transport, buildings, industry etc.)
Email him at ed.miliband.mp@parliament.uk
Pray
Pray for people in the UK and around the world who are being impacted by climate change storms. Pray for energy to come back on, debris cleared, damage repaired and flood defences put in place. Pray for action from the UK government to rapidly shift the economy out of fossil fuels and into 100% clean renewable energy.
Give
Give to Christian organisations like Cafod, Christian Aid, Tearfund or World Vision who are supporting the poorest communities impacted by climate change around the world.
Practical Action
Install an energy monitor at home. Use it to help identify ways you can reduce your energy use and save carbon emissions.
Ethical Consumption
Do some research into converting your home from using gas for heating, hot water and cooking, to using a heat pump or clean renewable electricity. If you can afford it, put this into action and make that conversion.
Find out more
Latest news – Updates on previous campaigns and latest news from the Arise movement.
Join a local Arise group in your church or area – It’s great to take this action as individual Christians, but even better to come together with others to pray, discuss, worship, learn, have fun and take action together. Contact Arise if you are interested.
Arise Manifesto – Find out more about this week’s action in the Arise Manifesto, Arise’s big picture, researched, Biblical, holistic and practical vision for a better world.
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[1] Storm Darragh showed me how unprepared my family – and Britain – are for disaster, The Guardian, (10 Dec 2024), https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/10/storm-darragh-power-cuts-britain
[2] UK 'not ready' for extreme weather like Storm Darragh, BBC, (8 Dec 2024), https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgl9yk42rz7o