Archbishop: Don’t fret over climate
THEARCHBISHOP of Canterbury has urged people not to “despair” over climate change and said there are “real reasons to hope”.
The Most Rev Justin Welby used his new year’s message on BBC One to address the issue, following a year in which the UK hosted the UN’S climate summit in Glasgow.
“When it comes to climate change, it is tempting to despair,” Mrwelby said.
“But there are real reasons to hope. People of every background are campaigning and working for justice. Important steps were taken at the Cop26 summit. World leaders recognise the problem.”
Mr Welby had joined Pope
Francis and dozens of religious leaders in signing a joint appeal to governments to commit to ambitious targets at Cop26.
In a speech given in Rome ahead of the summit, Mr Welby said over the past 100 years humanity had “declared war” on creation and must repent by not only building a green economy but by bringing justice to the global south. “The world has just enough time to get this right,” he said.
He believed that potentially the most significant development from Cop26 was China and the US, the world’s biggest emitters of CO2, acting together.
In his new year message from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, south-west London, where he heard about solutions to protect endangered plants, Mr Welby said: “When we plant a seed, we don’t see the fruit immediately. But under the surface, God is working with what we have planted.
“This year, let’s keep planting those seeds – let’s keep moving forward in hope.”
‘There are real reasons to hope’