Newsletter February 2014 Welcoming the climate change debate at General Synod Operation Noah was greatly encouraged by the Church of England General

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Newsletter February 2014

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Welcoming the climate change debate at General Synod

Operation Noah was greatly encouraged by the Church of England General Synod’s debate on climate change on 12th February 2014. The Synod voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion to ensure that investment policy is aligned with Church policies on climate change, and to establish a working group on the environment to monitor this and other environmental issues.

Dr Isabel Carter, Chair of Operation Noah, said, ‘The Church of England has taken the first step to re-engaging with the issue of climate change. This vote commits the Church to seriously consider how its investments reflect the urgency of climate change, including the option of disinvestment from fossil fuels.’

Canon Giles Goddard, who presented the motion from Southwark Diocese, said: 'This vote proves that there is a hunger for us to do more on climate change as a Church. But this is not the end, it's the beginning.'

Also at the Synod, board member Mark Letcher spoke at a fringe event on climate change, organised by Christian Aid. He said, ‘The record-breaking weather in the UK this winter, and statistics that show both the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events to be increasing, provides an opportunity for a step change in the debate on climate change. There is now recognition of the need for a fresh public conversation about climate change and the future habitability of our planet, and whether we want a future for our children which is cleaner, safer and healthier. There is a need for the government to be willing to take responsibility for change. The Church could help lead that conversation. The need for leadership has never been greater. We look forward to working with the C of E on this issue.’

You can hear the climate change debate at General Synod here and the background papers can be found here.

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Bright Now campaign toolkit

A set of campaign resources are now available to help supporters of the Bright Now campaign to raise awareness, build support and take forward action on fossil fuel disinvestment. These can be found in the resources section of the website along with links to other useful information and resources.

National petitions - there are now three online petitions: to the Church of England, the Church in Wales and the Methodist Church in Britain, calling for disinvestment from fossil fuels. This is a simple and immediate action that you can encourage others to take to help them engage with the issues.

Guidance for Methodists and Anglicans – these two short guides are for supporters hoping to raise the issue of disinvestment through official channels either of the Church of England or the Methodist Church. They provide information on how to put forward a Motion to the General Synod or to the Methodist Conference. Although the broader issue of climate change has just been debated in the Church of England, we hope that further motions and debates explicitly concerning fossil fuel disinvestment will follow. This will help to highlight the issue for those with responsibility for investment decisions and contributes to the public conversation about the urgency of tackling climate change.

Building support for disinvestment – useful ideas on how to raise awareness and build support to encourage action in your church community and local area.

PowerPoint presentation – a useful resource which may help when giving a talk in your church, PCC or District meeting or local event.

Science briefing – an outline of the basic science of human-induced climate change drawing upon the most up to date research, biblical references and reflections from a Christian perspective. It can be used to highlight the urgency of the need to act on climate change for those who may not have fully engaged with this issue.

Films – useful films on the disinvestment movement to screen at an event or meeting, including Christian speakers at the London Fossil Free Tour.

Newsletter article – for use in church publications to introduce the campaign.

Role play and Bible study – a thought-provoking role play for use with groups and biblical texts and teachings for further reflection.

Lobbying investment bodies – this resource will be available shortly.

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Hope for the Future campaign

Operation Noah supporters will need no reminders about the importance of grappling with the challenge of climate change. The Hope for the Future campaign offers another way of making the vital step of getting it onto the political agenda. It emerged out of a meeting of the seven Anglican Diocesan Environmental Officers of the Yorkshire and the North East in autumn 2013. This is how they are taking it forward:

Prayer To say that any campaign must be rooted in prayer is not just a cursory nod in God’s direction, but the recognition that we need to allow ourselves to be filled with a passionate love, not only of God, but also for God’s earth.

Practice There are many practical things we can do which will not of themselves save the planet, but function as acted prayers or sacraments of intent, giving greater authority to our message. This could be everything from conscientious re-cycling to careful home insulation; or to shopping locally and flying only when it is unavoidable. Such commitments are important but they are not enough.

Politics The time is ripe for us to urge our politicians and their parties to take climate change seriously, tell us how they intend to implement the policy embodied in the Climate Change Act and recommended by the Committee on Climate Change, and put that in their manifestos for the 2015 election.

Thousands of us need to write to our politicians. However, although individual letters are valuable, this campaign is recommending that church congregations organise Climate Write-ins for a more powerful impact. This would involve a presentation at a main service, writing lots of letters to MPs at or after the service, follow-up letters to the responses received from MPs, and, if possible, lobbying the MP in person.

A template letter and suggestions for how to organise a Climate Write-in are available on the Hope for the Future website. The campaign aims to get a minimum of 10 letters sent to the MP and the prospective parliamentary candidates in every constituency in the UK. The help of Operation Noah supporters is very welcomed and could be an action for Ambassadors to visit churches for the Climate Write-ins. For further information contact Michael Bayley on 0114 258 5248 or hopeftf@gmail.com.

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More Bright Now highlights

Board members and supporters have been busy engaging with the public debate on disinvestment. Board member Siobhan Grimes spoke at the Islington EcoHub event in January, which focused on the fossil free movement, and Sunniva Taylor spoke at the Student Christian Movement conference on ‘‘Peace, Power and Protest’’ in February. A meeting on climate change was held in the Bracknell Deanery of Oxford Diocese in January and David Atkinson and Mark Letcher spoke about the Bright Now campaign. Some of our Operation Noah Ambassadors have also been busy giving talks and raising awareness in their areas, including in Rugby, Coventry, Lancaster, Shropshire, Sheffield and Oxford.

Please let us know about any activity you are hoping to take forward so we can put you in touch with other active supporters in your area. We are particularly encouraging Methodist supporters to work on putting forward a motion for the Methodist Conference this summer. The timescale for doing this is fairly short because of the deadlines for submitting a motion from a local Circuit or District. Please see our guidance resource for Methodists to find out more.

Upcoming events

Saturday 1st March, Sustainable Communities: what has the church got to offer?
A conference to look at the role of the church as society seeks to address climate change, peak oil, food security, biodiversity loss and many other issues.

29th March from 8.30-9.30pm, Earth Hour
A symbolic power-down event around the world. See these resources for churches from Eco-Congregation Scotland.

31st March, Eco-Congregation Scotland’s annual gathering
Operation Noah will be providing a workshop session focused on fossil fuel disinvestment.

Saturday 7th June, Operation Noah supporter day and AGM
An advance date for your diary for Operation Noah’s annual supporter day and AGM. Further details to follow.

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Marking the Ash Wednesday Declaration

Ash Wednesday, on 5th March, marks two years since Operation Noah launched the Ash Wednesday Declaration calling on the Churches to engage seriously with climate change as a priority issue. Progress has been steadily building as the recent debate at General Synod reveals. As Lent approaches this is a good time to re-focus our intentions in response to climate change. Operation Noah has a Lent course available here for use with groups.

Alternative Energies

EU climate targets action week

On 20th to 21st March European leaders will be deciding new targets on carbon emissions for 2030 – the EU 2030 package. At the moment their ambitions are much lower than they should be. We are calling on supporters to help keep up the pressure on political leaders. These important decisions will have the potential to unlock renewable energy and green jobs over the next decade and will also influence and hopefully strengthen international climate negotiations at a global scale.

Please support this e-petition to David Cameron and Nick Clegg asking them to play a leading role in the EU negotiations and push for greater ambitions. It asks them to ensure that the new targets are in line with the EU's existing commitment to limit global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius.

Please donate to support our campaign work

We are very grateful for the support of donors to continue our work. You can set up a regular donation online or by standing order or give a one-off donation here.

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