Brian Golding – Sidmouth Parish Church and Sidmouth Science Festival
Climate Day will take place on Saturday, October 16 – Credit: Alex Walton
Following “Our Fragile Earth” event two years ago, the churches in Sidmouth have been working, like many others, to become more sustainable, but there is much still to do, writes Brian Golding on behalf of Sidmouth Parish Church and Sidmouth Science Festival.
As part of the science festival, on Saturday, October 16, Sidmouth Parish Church will host Sidmouth Climate Day: an opportunity for local sustainability organisations to showcase their work and for local people to learn about how “Net Zero” is going to be achieved in the Sid Valley.
We would like to extend an invitation to any local organisation or business that promotes a more sustainable Sid Valley to present what they are doing in the “Sustainability Marketplace” from 11am to 5pm in the church. If you would like to know more, please contact the organisers via the Sidmouth Science Festival “contact” webpage
In a few weeks time, heads of government from around the world will be meeting in Glasgow to decide how much to let the climate of the earth be changed by human activity.
Living on the coast, we who live in Sidmouth will ultimately be on the front line as the sea level continues to rise and rainstorms become ever heavier in a warming world.
The latest report of the IPCC unequivocally associates increasingly frequent weather-related disasters around the world with the warming climate produced by our burning of fossil fuels: in our homes, in our vehicles and in industry that makes the things we consume.
We can buy time, with better sea and river defences, and if the right decisions are taken in Glasgow, it may be enough for the future of Sidmouth, though not for millions of people in other countries who do not have our wealth to enable them to build flood walls.
Last week, the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion, representing more than 1.5 billion Christians worldwide, joined together to warn us of the consequences of failure to act, both individually and together. Recognising that the resources of the earth are only on loan to us to use during the time of our life on earth, they state: “Each of us individually must take responsibility for the ways we use resources… Together, as communities, churches, cities and nations we must change routes and discover new ways of working together to break down the traditional barriers between peoples, to stop competing for resources and to start collaborating… All of us – whoever and wherever we are – can play a part in changing our collective response to the unprecedented threat of climate change and environmental degradation.” The whole of their statement can be seen on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s website at https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org
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Alex Walton
Opinion
Stefan Drew – writes on behalf of Sid Valley Biodiversity Group
Adam Manning
Vince Hall