Creation is a gift from God, and we are called to steward it

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Editor’s note: This year’s UN Climate Change Conference began Monday in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Faith leaders and faith groups have for decades been engaged with climate negotiations, calling for climate justice for the most vulnerable people, communities, and countries who are most impacted by the effects of climate change. Their calls come from both their moral and justice perspective as people of faith and also from their experience as actors in humanitarian response and transformative development.

While recognizing that all countries have been blessed with gifts from God, faith leaders understand even more the need to care for the Creation God made, and to safeguard the most vulnerable who have contributed the least to climate change yet face its worst impacts.

“God calls us to take good care of the divine gifts of land, water and other resources,” said Bishop Julio Murray, an Anglican from Panama. Murray serves as the Chair of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, and also as Moderator of the World Council of Churches’ Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development. “The biblical concept of Jubilee calls for rest of the land — for the liberation of land from exploitation, extraction and drilling — to allow regeneration and renewal of our only planetary home. We know that the clock is ticking on climate change. We need to put a stop to fossil fuel extraction and production if we are to prevent the worst consequences of climate change. This is why churches are supporting and calling for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty now.”

COP is a space and a process for parties to increase their ambition to combat climate change, to agree on the path forward to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C and to work together to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and to compensate for losses and damages due to climate change.  Faith actors attending COP are part of that work and bring their experience and perspective to the negotiations each year.

“Parties must respect the UN Agreements, and at the last COP, it was agreed that the world should transition away from fossil fuels,” said Mattias Söderberg, co-chair of the ACT Alliance Climate Justice Reference Group. “That means that there will be an end of the fossil fuel era, and all countries must therefore ensure that their development paths become green and sustainable.”

“I hope COP29 will send a strong message to all parties, to deliver strong and ambitious national climate plans,” said Julius Mbatia, ACT Alliance’s climate justice program manager. “These plans should guide their efforts to address mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage in the coming years.”

“Today we are living in a climate emergency and still COP29 acts like we have all the time in the world for the transition,” said Henrik Grape, coordinator of the World Council of Churches’ Working Group on Climate change and co-chair of the Interfaith Liaison Committee. “But we are in need for a transformation if we should avoid the most dangerous effects of climate change. And this transformation must start among the 10% richest [nations] of the world since they are responsible for 50% of the emissions.”

“Medicines are also a gift from God, when used in the right amounts, but too much of any medicine can be poison,” said Niko Humalisto, advocacy specialist with Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission. “Fossil fuels have wonderful uses, but too much use of them can be, and already is, deadly for too many people around the world.”

“According to Genesis 2:15, the Bible tells us that God placed people in the Garden of Eden to ‘take care of it,’ emphasizing a role as stewards rather than exploiters of the Earth,” said Romario Dohmann, a member of The Lutheran World Federation delegation, comprising representatives from the communion’s member churches. “This stewardship implies a duty to protect and care for Creation.”

“Furthermore, Psalm 24:1 reminds us that “the Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell in it.” This verse emphasizes that everything on Earth belongs to God, and as God’s stewards we are called to act with respect and responsibility towards all creation,” said Dohmann, who comes from the Evangelical Church in the River Plate.

“We are what we do and not just what we say,” said Anania J. Ndondole, the National Youth Chairperson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania and an LWF delegate to COP29. “Actions speak louder than words, and we need to take actions against fossil fuel extraction if we want to have a better world to live in. Acting in solidarity, collaboration and partnership, together we can achieve. We need to invest today to serve tomorrow by having friendly environmental solutions. For sustainable development, clean energy is the solution in the global south. Let’s take action now — louder.”

ACT Alliance, the World Council of Churches, and the Lutheran World Federation are all part of the Interfaith Liaison Committee to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. On Wednesday, the ILC released its Call to Action for COP29, in which they call for ambitious climate action including that “All countries must prioritize the urgent phase-out of fossil fuels, which are the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions, by eliminating subsidies and supporting a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, rejecting compromising or geoengineering solutions that prolong fossil fuel use.” ACT, LWF, and WCC are three of the almost 60 faith-based organizations who have signed the Call to Action. Read the full call here.

Read more from COP29 at Eco Justice Journey, the blog of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, here. The press release from the ACT Alliance and World Council of Churches initially appeared here.