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Alex Holmes, a British photographer and writer, regularly volunteers in the refugee encampments in Calais. Here he provides his reflections following his latest, weeks-long stay at the Maria Skobtsova safe house, with time also spent visiting the BMX Eritrean camp.

Calais - A new field of boulders fills the canal side site near the city centre; a further deterrent to refugee encampment. Two kilometres away, work is completed on a three metre high fence enclosing BMX, the old Eritrean camp cleared by the authorities in November. The single set of gates into the site is securely locked. Close to BMX, the last section of a new cycle route is opened by Natacha Bouchart, the mayor of Calais. She apologies for the delay in its completion, for the ‘painful memories’ and the ‘traumas’ caused by ‘migrants’ and congratulates local residents on ‘their courage’. ‘Security’ and ‘tranquillity’ she assures them have been restored.

Mid-winter, the solstice just passed. Overhead a fresh crescent moon like a silver smile is flanked east and west by two celestial eyes, Venus and Saturn. The old stadium camp has been re-occupied. In the glare of the security lights, a collection of tents hug the high concrete wall. Four people are sitting around a smoking fire. One is a young Eritrean woman. She has a child they say. She lights the torch on her phone, opens a tent and pulls back layers of blankets. Two dark eyes sparkle in the soft darkness. She lifts the little bundle and returns to the fireside. Her baby, a little boy, is barely seven weeks old. His Eritrean name means ‘the gift of God’. Soon mother and son* are enveloped in acrid smoke from a burning trainer added to the fire. Normal she says. She mixes powdered milk with water from a plastic flagon and begins to feed her baby.

Despite the obliteration of BMX camp, food distribution continues in BMX parking. A mix of communities gather there. Eritreans and Ethiopians. Sudanese. A small group of Syrians newly arrived in Calais. We are famous for dancing says one of them. Music is playing and they dance. A crowd gathers around them and one by one the bystanders become participants. The year turns bringing bitter cold. There is snow on the ground. 6th January, the Epiphany, gifts given to the Christ Child. A small fire has been lit in the parking area to fend off the freeze as people wait for food but no food is delivered. The 7th is a repeat of the 6th. Eventually word gets through; people must go to a new location to get food. The new location is half an hour away.

5.00 pm. The dark azure sky morphs to gold on the western skyline. Another cold night ahead. The moon and Venus glitter through the cross hatch of bare branches above the small woodland encampment. Blankets are tied to the trees to break the wind. Fireside, bambino Omran, braces on his teeth, ever cheerful despite being beaten and having his phone stolen, kisses first the map of Eritrea on a borrowed phone, then Scotland. I love Scotland he says. My brother is there. He turns his attention to the coffee he’s making, his brew always ginger-laced. It will be sweet and will burn the throat. Nights are good says Amar. Fire, music, food, no police, no stress. Mihrban stirs his taita* mixture. First time I make taita in Calais he says. New faces around the fire. Shy Fessehaye has been travelling for ten years. Wafiq, his first day in Calais, shares photos. He is with friends in Eritrea, by the sea, a break from army conscription. In 2022 he was sent to fight in the war against Tigray in Ethiopia. He threw his gun away and left. We are all habesha, all one culture he says. I could not kill my brothers. To him the Calais cold is nothing. You want real cold?  Go to Belarus, it was negative 15. A broad contented smile widens across his firelit face. 

* They were given safe accommodation at Maria Skobtsova House https://www.refugeehousecalais.org/ 
*Taita, or injera, traditional Eritrean/Ethiopian flat bread.
 

A reflection on the recent closing Season of Creation event held by the Diocese of Aberdeen by Kenneth Sadler, who sits on the national commission of Justice & Peace Scotland

The feast of St Francis of Assisi falling on the October 4th meant it coincided with the final day of the ecumenical Season of Creation 2024. On that evening, at the Roman Catholic Church of St Francis of Assisi, Mannofield, Aberdeen, Catholics from Scotland’s most northerly diocese gathered to pray for the earth, our common home, hear the word of God, the Lord of Creation, and recommit to working for the good of Mother Earth in a spirit of Christian joy and hope.

The theme of this year’s Season of Creation was ‘To Hope and Act with Creation’, and this intention was reflected in the service, which was led by Bishop Hugh Gilbert OSB and brought my own contribution as Diocese of Aberdeen representative on the National Commission of Justice and Peace Scotland and coordinator of the St Mary’s Cathedral Justice and Peace group.

In welcoming all, I could only but acknowledge that it was a special grace to hold the service on the feast of St Francis of Assisi. One of the most universally loved of saints, he was a man with a great concern for God’s creation as well as for the poor and for the outcast. Indeed, a year previously, on the feast of St Francis in 2023, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, felt compelled to issue his apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum, in which he shared his deep concern about the lack of progress in addressing the climate crisis. Yet this sober realism from the Pope was not to generate feelings of futility or despair, but to function as a spur for further action.
The Prayer for Creation service was a powerful and moving liturgy of the word which included hymns, prayers, a penitential rite, intercessions, as well as scripture readings and a responsorial psalm. The Prayer for Creation was also blessed with the presence of choral director John Horton and members of the diocesan choir who ably led the singing.

The first reading was the well-known passage from St Paul’s letter to the Romans on creation waiting with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. The subsequent responsorial psalm had the whole earth singing to God with joy. The Gospel from Matthew described the tireless teaching, proclaiming, and healing action of Jesus and his compassion for the people, his flock. The passage ended with the Lord’s famous words contrasting the abundance of the harvest with the paucity of the labourers, exhorting his listeners and us to pray for labourers for the harvest.

Following the Gospel, Bishop Hugh delivered his homily – a striking exegesis of the New Testament first reading from Romans – with his characteristic insight and flashes of wit and humour. He observed that the ‘groaning’ that Paul speaks of can be positive, prayerful, and even a dynamic act expressing a profound hope for better things. If both creation and ‘we ourselves’ participate in this groaning, it shows that we should not dismiss creation as something dead or inert but take seriously our responsibility of loving stewardship. For Bishop Hugh, ‘groaning’ stands opposed to ‘moaning’ as the latter is not prayerful and encourages attitudes of negativity, hopelessness, and self-indulgence – things we must resist in the face of the climate crisis.

A striking feature of the prayer service came when everybody recited as one the Canticle of St Francis of Assisi (‘Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures’), making the great saint’s poetic words and deep love of created nature their own. Fittingly, this was followed by the renewal of an act of commitment to respect the earth, one another, and our fellow creatures.

Even though there were fewer attendees at this fourth Diocese of Aberdeen Prayer for Creation than in previous years, there was a tangible sense of unity and purpose at the event. The participants left Father Peter Barry’s hospitable and welcoming Mannofield church smiling and with a new spirit of hope.

The Emission Reduction Targets (Scotland) Bill is currently going through the Holyrood  Parliament - legislation necessitated by the fact previous set targets were not going to be met. It can be confusing to discern where the country finds itself in the drive for net zero and this guest blog from Andrew Tomlinson of Christian Aid - Justice and Peace Scotland's coalition partners in Stop Climate Chaos - offers a valuable overview.

Following announcements by the Scottish Government in the past few weeks, there is uncertainty about Scotland’s journey to net zero (the point where the greenhouse gas emissions being added to the atmosphere are balanced by those being removed), which is why we want you to engage your local politicians.

Why are Scotland’s domestic climate actions important?
Severe weather events continue to become more frequent due to climate change. People living in poverty have done the least to cause the problem but are paying the price and this is why Scotland’s journey to net zero is important. 

An example of this is in Bangladesh. Since August 2024, heavy rain and water release from upstream sources caused severe flooding in many districts, some areas got over 180mm of rain in just 3 days. An increasingly common occurrence due to climate change. Christian Aid has responded to the crisis by working with local partner Aid Comilla, a women-led organisation that aims to help 5,622 people (960 households) severely affected by the floods. The initiative included offering cash grants for various needs and provided hygiene and dignity kits.

The longer industrialised nations like Scotland continue to delay on climate, the more communities like Cumilla in Bangladesh will suffer the effects.

Scotland’s journey to net zero
Just over five years ago Scotland became one of the first industrialised nations to declare a climate emergency. In October of that same year the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, became law committing Scotland to ambitious and legally binding targets to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030, and by net zero by 2045. However, five years on Scotland has consistently missed its annual emissions reductions targets due to a lack of action to reduce emissions in key sectors such as heating, agriculture and transport.

Due to the targets being missed, the Scottish Government is in the regrettable position of having to change the law so that it doesn’t break it. 

In addition to this new bill, Shona Robison MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, recently announced spending cuts for within this budgetary year. This included cuts to money intended for active travel and nature restoration, and money from ScotWind ,which was earmarked for spending on the just transition to net zero, being used to cover budgetary shortfalls.  

The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government
More recently the Programme for Government, which sets out the government’s planned programme of activity for the coming year, continues to list tackling the climate crisis as one of its four priority areas and there is welcome mention of:
•    A Heat in Buildings Bill concerning the transition to low carbon heating
•    A Natural Environment Bill concerning nature recovery
•    The publication of the final version of the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan. 
•    The publication and implementation of detailed Just Transition Plans for the transport, agriculture and land use, and buildings sectors.
However, the detail of these policies will all be important in moving Scotland from words to action in our journey to net zero. Within Stop Climate Chaos Scotland Coalition, there remains concern that the Programme for Government doesn’t go far enough. You can read the statement from Stop Climate Chaos Scotland here. 

What needs to happen next in Scotland?
The key sectors where Scotland needs to show significant progress in reducing carbon emissions are housing, transport and agriculture. 
•    The Heat in Buildings Bill should be based on the proposals in the consultation which closed in March 2024 (see SCCS consultation response). To deliver significant benefits to household bills, health and emission reductions, there must be a swift passage of the Bill (no later than winter 2024), with clear and ambitious dates and targets, and a timetable for developing secondary regulations, with a commitment to stakeholder engagement.

•    The Natural Environment Bill needs to include statutory nature recovery targets, should enable better recognition of the need to restore nature. In particular, this should give greater incentive to measures to restore Scotland’s internationally important peatlands, to expand native woodlands, and to better manage our marine and coastal habitats. All these natural systems can contribute to reducing net emissions, as well as protecting communities and businesses from the impacts of climate change.  

•    The final version of the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan should have as a basis that there will be no new oil and gas licences and developments. This presumption should be accompanied by a clear plan to manage the wind down of the North Sea basin, which is already maturing, and deliver a just transition for affected workers and communities.

What about the UK Parliament? 
MPs and MSPs have different responsibilities in terms of nature and climate, so it is important, if possible, to engage with both. Our main asks for the UK Parliament at Westminster are: 
•    Significantly increasing funding (in the form of grants, not loans) to support climate vulnerable countries to adapt, mitigate and respond when climate disasters strike – this is in addition to existing UK aid.
•    Taxing the vast profits of fossil fuel companies to help provide this funding. 
•    Halting all new oil and gas developments in the UK, and investing in good quality, secure green jobs.

How can you get involved?
Engaging with an MSP or an MP can lead them to raise issues in their respective parliaments. They need to know constituents care about nature and climate. Here are some actions you can take: 
•    Write to one of your MSPs explaining: 
-    Your concern about the deprioritising of climate by the Scottish Government and the worldwide impact of this. 
-    Asking them to support the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. We know that we cannot safely use all the fossil fuels that are in known oil and gas fields. To prevent a race to the bottom there needs to be an international treaty to halt the expansion of fossil fuel extraction, manage an equitable phase-out of coal, oil and gas, and lay the foundations for a true just energy transition. Many parliamentarians around the world have signed the treaty, as have businesses and even city councils, such as Edinburgh City council, Christian Aid has too. 

Engage with the UK Parliament:
•    Meet your MP using our Breaking Bread resource, there is a crib sheet about our climate asks for MPs and a short video that you can watch.
•    Sign the Christian Aid open letter to David Lammy asking him to step up the UK Government’s climate action 
•    Read the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland manifesto of policies for more specific asks to make to both MPs and MSPs.
It would be helpful for us to know if you do contact an MP or MSP as this helps inform our advocacy work. We are happy to help or answer any questions you have. You can also contact us if you would like to be kept informed about actions to take. You can contact Lucy le Roux our Campaigns and Advocacy Coordinator at 0131 220 1254 or Lleroux@christian-aid.org 

Photos: 

1. Aid Comilla’s supported beneficiaries returning home after receiving multipurpose cash grants, hygiene kits, and dignity kits. These provisions help meet their immediate hygiene needs, address the special dignity needs of women and adolescents. Credit: Aid Comilla

2. Aid Comilla’s volunteer is conducting surveys in flood-affected, water-stagnant areas, this is to select people for flood relief. This flood in August 2024 was unprecedented and long-lasting. Credit: Aid Comilla