Weekly Action - 8 January 2024 - Climate Floods
Climate floods
Thousands of people have seen their homes flooded across the UK this week after intense rain. More than 1,800 properties have been flooded. By Sunday 7 January more than 192 flood warnings and 207 flood alerts were in place in England, with the risk of more to come. The rivers Trent, Severn and Thames have been particularly badly affected. In many areas it is the worst flooding since 2007. ITV News reports the story of one victim, Ivan Hofton, who has lived in his home since 1978 and been flooded six times previously. “I just cannot put it into words. I really cannot”, his nephew said. “It's just so heartbreaking. My uncle is going to lose everything. Everything in this kitchen will have to go. It's heartbreaking for a man of his age to go through this year after year.” [1]
More intense and regular rainfall leading to greater and greater flooding, is 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 year 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 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, as it says in the Psalms, “In his hands are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land” (Psalm 95: 4 – 5). 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 to help Ivan and millions of others like him, and call for an urgent shift to a clean energy economy?
Take Action
Speak out in advocacy
Email Claire Coutinho MP, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, in your own words to ask the UK to rapidly scale up 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 (energy, transport, buildings, industry etc.)
Email her at claire.coutinho.mp@parliament.uk
Pray
Pray for people in the UK and around the world who are being impacted by climate change floods. Pray for housing and shelter, that they will be rapidly back home or rehoused. Pray for flood protections to be 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.
Encourage us and others by letting us know what actions you have taken – message us at info@ariseuk.org, or via Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Find out more
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 in joining or starting a local Arise group in your church or area. If you are already in an Arise group, take this action to your wider church, and get them all to do it too.
Find out more about why the world needs 4 Shifts to transition to a green and fair global economy in Arise’s 4 Shifts Report, and how this forms part of God’s bigger vision for our world in the Arise Manifesto.
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[1] Flood damage is ‘heartbreaking’, say Gloucester’s evacuated residents, ITV News, (6 Jan 2024), https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2024-01-06/flood-damage-is-heartbreaking-say-gloucesters-evacuated-residents