Chorlton Central Church

Climate Change matters to Christians because;

• we all live on the same planet, and God calls us to care for it
• the poor are likely to suffer the most from the effects of Climate Change
• the greater part of the problem arises from the lifestyles of the western nations

Climate Change results from injustices past and present, and will cause more injustices, particularly for those who cannot afford to protect themselves as

• sea levels rise worldwide, affecting coastal and island communities first
• storm intensities increase (... remember New Orleans ?)
• crops fail and famines follow in Africa and Asia

As Christians we are called by God to love our neighbour - and Jesus made it pretty clear that by 'neighbour' he means anyone who needs our help. On today's interconnected planet this can mean anyone in the world.

Although the UK only generates about 2% of the world Carbon Emissions, companies listed on the London Stock Exchange are responsible for between 12% and 15% of the world's Carbon Emissions.

Carbon Calculator
carbon calculator provided by and copyright Carbon Footprint Ltd and RADsite

To work out your own carbon footprint, to compare it with the national averages and target emissions, and to find out about Carbon Offsetting click on the Globe, right ...

Chorlton Central Church accepts no liability for the results of Carbon Footprint calculations and does not endorse carbon offsetting measures offered by Carbon Footprint Ltd.

Why should we do this ? Well for starters, look at the CO2 counter below.

world temperature image from www.freeimages.co.uk

Some scientists currently anticipate sea level rises of 'not more than 2 metres' by the end of the century. As if this were good. (Think about the effect a 2 metre sea level rise would have on your favourite beach). Then reflect that a lesser rise than this could put 18% of Bangladesh under salt water and create 35 million environmental refugees. And that is only if rainfall does not increase ...

'A severe flood in London could paralyse the central part of the London Underground, cause damage to fresh water and sewer systems and disrupt power, gas, telephone and vital data services.
Thousands of homes, shops, factories, businesses and buildings would be affected. It could take months to get London functioning again.
The financial cost of a major flood could be enormous, possibly topping £30,000Million without counting the cost in human suffering and potential loss of life.'

source: Environment Agency website

... and consider that the Thames Barrier is already barely adequate to protect London from flooding due to

• falling ground levels in the east of the UK
• rising sea levels, and
• the increasing frequency of severe storms

And closer to home ?

As a local church we have started to work out what we can and should do to reduce the impact of climate change.

We have started work on auditing our own environmental footprint and impacts using the Eco-congregation programme

As a Church wesupported the the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund. This was strongly rejected in the public referendum and although parts of the Metrolink extension are going ahead, the future of other parts of the initiative are uncertain.

As a Church we suported an on-line petition on the Government's Number 10 website to conserve the Guyana Rainforest

We have also registered as a Fair Trade Church

revised 6 February 2010