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A Scottish village has become plastic straw-free after a campaign by school pupils.
50 years ago, on Christmas Eve, 1967, Martin Luther King, in what was to be his last Christmas Eve sermon, preached on the links between care for the environment and social justice that are still so relevant today.
A Christmas Sermon on Peace
The Scottish Government's Draft Budget 2018-19 promises to double funding for cycling and walking.
Sustrans Scotland and SCCS have long championed significant increases in the Scottish active travel budget. Read what they have to say
The Climate Coalition have issued a new film: Sammy the Snowman
We mustn't let drinks cups, plastic cutlery, straws, plastic bottles, lids and stirrers replace sea life. They're used for a moment but last a lifetime in our oceans. Sign the petition here today.
During the season of Advent, we have the opportunity to deepen our own sense of love for the world. Protecting creation and vulnerable people is an important way to love.
You can help protect the Antarctic Ocean. Sign the petition
International Space Station Commander Randy Bresnik told Pope Francis his greatest joy working on the orbiting lab was being able to "see God's creation maybe a little bit from his perspective".
Watch the video
Read more
Operation Noah, an organisation providing a Christian response to the climate crisis, has issued its October Newsletter.
The Guardian reports that more than 40 Catholic institutions will make largest ever faith-based divestment, on the anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi.
Forests globally are so degraded that instead of absorbing emissions they now release more carbon annually than all the traffic in the US, say researchers.
Read the full article in the Guardian
September saw the start of the Season of Creation (also known as Creation Time or Creationtide), when Christians around the world are praying and caring for creation. The Season of Creation, which runs from 1 September to 4 October, is an opportunity to celebrate creation and contemplate our role in protecting it.
Operation Noah has produced a list of resources.
Pope Francis has urged us to care for Creation. As a small step, members of the Justice and Peace Commission are taking part in the great British Beach Clean. Please join them at Rhu on 17th September.
Details
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) welcomes the commitment to a bottle deposit return system made by Scottish Government.
MCS Statement
As Pope Francis said, “Creation is of the order of love.” We invite you to protect it.
The Global Catholic Climate Movement have produced new resources for use during the Season of Creation 1st September 2017 - 4th October 2017.
Pope Francis has encouraged everyone to take part in a Day of Prayer for Care of Creation on 1st September every year. Here is The Laudato Si litany prayer and also information on how to organise a prayer service.
Pope Francis recently declared September 1 as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. He said, “The annual World Day of prayer for the Care of Creation offers to individual believers and to the community a precious opportunity to renew our personal participation in this vocation as custodians of creation, raising to God our thanks for the marvellous works that He has entrusted to our care, invoking his help for the protection of creation and his mercy for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”
Further information and resources for marking this day can be found at Global Catholic Climate Movement
Rich countries like ours have grown wealthy through our use of cheap, fossil fuel energy. But in doing that, we’ve pushed the planet to the brink of irreversible climate change. Lobbying by big business, and an economic system that puts profit before people and the planet, are making the problem worse.
The Guardian reports on worrying new research showing behavioural evidence which suggests marine organisms are not just ingesting microplastics by accident but actively seeking them out as food.
Young Scottish people will get the opportunity to have their say on the future of Scotland’s environment by applying to join the Climate Challenge Fund panel.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, has released a message for World Tourism Day 2017, which will be held on 27 September. The theme chosen for this year is: 'Sustainable tourism: a tool for development'.
A new resource produced by Operation Noah, Divest your church, explains how your local church can divest from fossil fuels and reinvest for a brighter future, as well as supporting the campaign for the national Churches to divest.
Further information on the Bright Now website
The religious order, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, are at the centre of a dispute over the construction of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They are making a legal claim that building a pipeline on their land violates their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The case has garnered national and international attention.
Articles on this issue.
A new article in Independent Catholic News tells how Pope Francis has called the shortage of accessible clean water, a 'fundamental right'. Recalling that about two billion people in the world still have no access to it, he reflects that, "when it is not given the deserving attention, it turns into a source of illness and endangers millions of lives".
Futher information:
https://catholicclimatemovement.global/ http://seasonofcreation.org/
In celebration of the 2nd anniversary of Laudato Si’, GCCM launched a Laudato Si’ Pledge campaign to keep the Pontiff’s message alive and encourage mass Catholic action to address the climate crisis.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, has issued the full text of his statement to the United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of the 14th Sustainable Development Goal, which deals with Conserving and Sustainably Using the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources.
Please take a minute to sign this petition urging the Scottish Government to create a bottle deposit return scheme in Scotland to help deal with the plastic pollution problem.
Just released by the World Bank, a visual mapping of progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development goals which include: ending poverty, good health, access to education, sustainable cities. Each section highlights progress and challenges.
Access the Visual Map
It takes a wee while to load, so be patient.
Join us in a journey from Lent to #Mercy2Earth weekend (April 22-23) as we reflect and bring to life Pope Francis’ message Show Mercy to our Common Home.
Does your church have investments in fossil fuel companies? Ever thought about moving your money somewhere that builds the world you want to live in? A new resource produced by Operation Noah, Divest your church, explains how your local church can divest from fossil fuels and reinvest for a brighter future, as well as supporting the campaign for the national Churches to divest.
Further details
The NCR reports that Catholic organisations have objected to President Trump's latest executive order which will roll back environmental protections and impact the policy on climate change. Details here.
Those two themes, Earth and Mercy, are the essence of Pope Francis’ most important ecology statement of 2016, titled “Show Mercy to our Common Home”
Around the globe, millions of people, businesses, and landmarks set aside an hour to host events, switch off their lights, and make noise for climate change action. This year Earth Hour is at 8:30pm on 25 March 2017.
Liberia is home to a unique natural treasure: the incredibly biodiverse Upper Guinean Rainforest, home to a crucial population of critically endangered West African Chimpanzees. The country – which is still reeling from a civil war and the Ebola crisis – wants to fight poverty by exporting timber. But given the rampant corruption of Liberia's logging industry, this move could lead to uncontrolled destruction of rainforests.
Pope Francis met with a group representing indigenous peoples ahead of his Wednesday General Audience, speaking to them about the need to "reconcile the right to development, both social and cultural, with the protection of the particular characteristics of indigenous peoples and their territories"
Please sign the Petition to Donald Trump.
Ask him to protect our God given creation. Then, if you can, promote the petition: Petition Toolkit
The Eastern Orthodox Churches proclaimed 1 September as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in 1989. Since then, many otherChristian churches have taken up this initiative and the Day of Prayer has become a month-long “Season of Creation”.
The “Season of Creation” website aims to make materials produced by various churches on this theme easy to find and readily available.Local churches can enter their events onto a map online. Recent church statements on creation can be found on the website.
WWF’s Earth Hour is an annual global celebration where people switch off their lights for one hour to show they care about the future of our planet. This year’s celebrations will be on Saturday 19 March from 8.30pm to 9.30pm. To take part, all you need to do is sign up and switch off your lights for that one hour. It’s a symbolic and spectacular lights out display with a big message – we want to protect the future of our planet!
On April 17, the European Parliament will be voting on a proposal to “reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags”. EU citizens use more than 100 billion plastic bags a year. Perhaps they forgot their shopping bags at home – or they haven’t given any thought to the effects of the flood of plastic waste. Most people put plastic bags in the trash immediately, but even so, around eight billion are carelessly discarded in the EU every year, leaving them to litter the countryside and waters for centuries to come.
Stop Climate Chaos Scotland have joined forces with their sister organisation in England - Stop Climate Chaos - to ask people across the UK to write to David Cameron and Nick Clegg, calling for the UK to push for more climate ambition in Europe. On 22nd January, the EU published its 2030 climate and energy white paper. This sets out three targets for the EU to meet by 2030: one on greenhouse gas emissions; another on renewable energy; and one on energy efficiency.
The Environment Minister Owen Paterson is backing genetically modified food - neglecting evidence provided in the longest independent study on genetically modified (GM) corn feed to date. The ground-breaking 2012 study links GM and the use of pesticide Roundup to organ damage and increased risk of tumours. Previous studies have been carried out by companies such as Monsanto who themselves produce GM crops. War on Want has helped organise a speaker tour, giving you the opportunity to hear from the leading scientist who has provided independent evidence on the risks of GM food. We will have a series of events in Scotland, Wales and England during the GM Health Risk Week (2-8 September) where you'll hear a different perspective to what the media and the UK government are saying.
Record your video message to the Scottish Government! SCCS need your help in the final push on the climate action plan. Could you record a message to Scottish Government Ministers calling on them to listen to the concerns of the Scottish public on climate change? You’ll need to do this by Monday 10th June at the latest, ideally this week, before the final climate action plan is published.
Please join us on Thursday 25 October to lobby the Scottish Parliament. Four years ago, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and thousands of their supporters lobbied hard for strong legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland. To their delight, in 2009 the Scottish Parliament passed the world’s strongest climate legislation: The Scottish Climate Change Act. However, the Scottish Government has failed to meet it’s very first (and not particularly challenging) target to reduce emissions under the Act.
The announcement today of the Scottish Government's Climate Justice Fund was welcomed by the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland coalition. The new fund to help people living in some of the world's poorest countries affected by the changing climate, such as more frequent and severe droughts and floods, will be a good example to bring to the Rio+20 summit in June of how the rich world can can face up to its historic responsibility for climate change and its substantial negative impact on many of the world’s poorest people.
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In June this year, world leaders will come together in Rio de Janeiro, to plan how countries across the world can reduce poverty while ensuring a safer future for our planet. Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, climate change, environmental concerns and social justice have moved up the political agenda. We've seen huge achievements because people like you demanded action from our governments. But there's still a long way to go, so let’s make sure our MSPs stay focused on how we can create a sustainable country as part of a sustainable world. Join the Rio Connection, sign up to join an event near you and tell your MSP how much this matters to you.
Tar sands produce 3-5 times the carbon emissions associated with crude oil production, bad news for a low carbon economy. Yet the UK Government, under pressure from Canada which produces most of the world’s tar sands, is refusing to support an EU proposal that would effectively ban tar sands from European import. We still have a chance to reverse our government’s position before the vote on 23 February. Tell Norman Baker and Nick Clegg there is no place for dirty oil in a green European Union!