Church and Society
Council |
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RESPONDING TO CLIMATE CHANGE
The Church of Scotland is concerned that climate change
poses a serious and immediate threat to people everywhere,
particularly to the poor of the earth; and that climate
change represents a failure in our stewardship of God's
creation. We accept the need to reduce the emissions
of greenhouse gases urgently to avoid dangerous and
irreversible climate change; and to promote a more equitable
and sustainable use of energy.
You can find out more about the council's involvement in the following issues on this page:
How to Measure Your Church's Carbon Footprint
Progress report: implementation of the 2009 General Assembly deliverance on carbon footprinting
Frequently Asked Questions about Climate Change
Climate Change - Spiritual Causes, Moral Consequences and Ethical Dilemmas (Christian Aid event)
Report from Windsor: Faith Groups and Climate Change
Creation in Crisis: A time for prayer and action
Climate Change Project
Resources about Climate Change
Responses to Government Consultations
Carbon Offsetting
Take Action: Tearfund Carbon Fast
Take Action: Climate Challenge Fund
Take Action: Christian Aid Campaign
Short Films: The Social Impact of Climate Change
Stop Climate Chaos
Links to more information
The Eco-Congregation Programme
Scottish Parliament Eco-Congregation Debate
How to Measure Your Church's Carbon Footprint
The purpose of this leaflet is to help you understand the background to the General Assembly deliverance on carbon footprinting; and to explain in three easy steps how you can start to measure and manage your church’s carbon footprint.
The word document has an embedded excel spreadsheet which you can copy and keep for your own records. Double click on the table in the leaflet to show the spreadsheet.
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Progress report: implementation of the 2009 General Assembly deliverance on carbon footprinting
37 presbyteries have responded to the instruction to measure
the carbon footprint of the chruch buildings.
22 presbyteries have provided a table of actual results.
Frequently Asked Questions about Climate Change
| Follow this link to the Eco-Congregation Scotland website to read Frequently Asked Questions: |
Frequently Asked Questions |
| Download these FAQs to print: |
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Report from Windsor: Faith Groups and Climate Change
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Adrian Shaw, the Church of Scotland’s Climate Change Officer, has written this report about the Celebration of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) and the United Nations |
| Development Programme (UNDP) held at Windsor in November 2009. |
| Download the report here: |
[.doc]
(238KB) |
[.rtf]
(47KB) |
[.txt]
(6.4KB) |
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Creation in Crisis: A time for prayer and action
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Churches Together in Britain and Ireland has put together a programme of resources to encourage and assist churches to observe a Time for Creation. These flexible free resources include 2 sets of sermon notes, action ideas, additional prayers, Bible study and discussion group ideas. |
A wide range of downloadable audio files are available which could be used in worship, personal study and group discussion.
Find out more and download the material from: Creation in Crisis Resources 2009
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Climate Change Project
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"When our land is submerging
slowly but visibly, any ideological debate on ecological
issues are only a luxury of the privileged communities" |
Rev Tafue Molu Lusama,
Pacific Eklasia Kelisiano,
Tuvalu
The General Assembly discussed climate change in May 2007 and agreed urgent action was needed to respond to climate change.
Three councils (Church and Society, World Mission and Mission and Discipleship) have joined together to establish a project: Responding to Climate Change. Adrian Shaw has been appointed Project Officer and will be working in the Church and Society Team to help councils respond to climate change and to support congregations around Scotland take action through the Eco-Congregation programme.
To contact Adrian :
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Resources about Climate Change
For more information about energy and fuels go to our Society, religion and technology page.
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Responses to Government Consultations
Download the Council's responses to Scottish Government's consultations
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Carbon Offsetting
As concern about climate change continues to grow so a number of responses have emerged to help address the challenge. Carbon offsetting is a technique that allows consumers to continue to buy goods and services that have a substantial 'carbon price tag' while seeking to reduce or mitigate the impact. The concept is controversial and has been subject to some criticism. This briefing paper looks at some of the issues and makes recommendations on the use of offsetting.
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Take Action: Tearfund Carbon Fast
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Follow this link to a 40 day programme of ideas to reduce your carbon - semon notes, study guides and a |
PowerPoint presentation are also included:
www.tearfund.org |
Take Action: Climate Challenge Fund
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| The Climate Challenge Fund has been introduced by the Scottish Government. Grants are available to empower communities to take action to reduce their carbon footprint and make a real difference to the local and national environment. For more information and how to apply go to: www.infoscotland.com |
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Take Action: Christian Aid Campaign
Short Films: The Social Impact of Climate Change
The World bank ran a micro documentary film contest. The films are 2-5 minutes long and highlight the social consequences of climate change. These are real life stories from around the world told by people whose everyday lives are affected by climate change. Follow this link to watch the films which are short listed for an award:
Climate Change films
Stop Climate Chaos
The Church of Scotland has signed up to the 'Stop Climate Chaos' campaign. It shares the campaign's aim to build irresistible public pressure on the UK Government to act at home and abroad to prevent global warming from exceeding the widely-accepted danger threshold of 2 degrees centigrade.
Mike Robinson, chairman of Stop Climate Change Scotland said,
'We are delighted to welcome the Church of Scotland as a member of the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland coalition. The support of the Kirk means that we now have more than 2 million members in Scotland, and the breadth of that support demonstrates clearly that climate change is something that must be tackled by each and everyone one of us. The time for action is now.'
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Further information
For further information about climate change follow these links:
Amber Links
BBC
Carbon Calculator
Energy Saving Trust
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Learning and Teaching Scotland
Met Office
Operation Noah
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The Eco-Congregation Programme
This programme provides advice and assistance to congregations
working on environmental issues.
| The initiative aims to
help local churches to link their Christian service
with caring for God's creation and the wider world.
It's co-ordinated jointly by Keep Scotland Beautiful
and the Church and Society Council on behalf of the Scottish churches. It is part of a wider scheme involving churches all over
Britain and Ireland. |
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Contact details
To find out more about the Eco-congregation
Programme and how to involve your church visit their website at www.ecocongregation.org/scotland
Please note these links will take you out of the Church
of Scotland website and open a new browser window.
You can also contact the programme via email here:
Or write to :
Church and Society Council
Church of Scotland
121 George Street
Edinburgh
EH2 4YN
Telephone: 0131 225 5722
Scottish Parliament Eco-Congregation Debate
On Wednesday 17 December there was a debate in the Scottish Parliament on the Eco-Congregation movement. Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, put down a motion for the debate celebrating the success of the Eco-Congregation movement in Scotland and highlighting the role that it can make in tackling climate change.
Follow this link to read the official report of the debate:
www.scottish.parliament.uk
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