Evangelicals urge churches to watch Gore movie
-12/09/06
Evangelical aid agency Tearfu
Evangelicals urge churches to watch Gore movie
-12/09/06
Evangelical aid agency Tearfund is urging church-goers to watch Al Goreís film ëAn Inconvenient Truthí which goes on selected nationwide release from this Friday, September 15.
Andy Atkins, Tearfundís Advocacy Director, said: ìAs Christians, we can no longer ignore the implications of human-induced climate change. ëAn Inconvenient Truthí is a powerful and challenging film which highlights the climate chaos that is increasingly undermining the livelihoods and security of the poor people Tearfund works with. The damage that the Westís rabid consumerism is doing to the developing world is a justice issue that Christians must stand up and be counted on. Whether or not your political views are aligned with Al Goreís, he presents the science in an engaging way that everyone can understand. This is a vital issue that is going to affect us all. I would encourage everyone to watch the film, then join with Tearfund as we lobby the UK government and take action to cut down on our carbon emissions.î
In the film, former US Vice President Al Gore tours the world in a bid to alert people to the imminent dangers of irreversible climate change. According to the showís publicity material, ìHumanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world’s scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.î
Tearfund has long been campaigning on climate change and is stepping up its work with partners around the world to help them adapt. The agency is also part of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition which is planning a huge rally in Londonís Trafalgar Square next month.
Climate change is already affecting the worldís poorest people much more than those in the West. This makes farming harder because the seasons have changed beyond recognition says the aid agency. This means farmers no longer know when to plant and cannot rely on a harvest. Global temperatures rose by 0.6C during the 20th Century and as a direct result, those who are least able to cope are experiencing changing rainfall patterns and ever more extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. According to the World Health Organisation, 150,000 people die every year as a direct result of climate change and the vast majority of these are in the developing world.
The ëI Countí event precedes the next round of climate change negotiations. Tearfund is urging Christians to lobby the government in the lead up to the meeting of the UNís Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Partners (COP) in Nairobi.
The UK Government will be at the table, and Tearfund is calling for three things in the lead up to the COP.
The aid agency is urging that the Kyoto Protocol agreement on reducing carbon emissions, which ends in 2012, be renewed and improved. It is also asking the UK Government to use its influence to help poor communities adapt to climate change. The Least Developed Country Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund need more finance, say campaigners. In addition, the Programme of Work to help countries adapt to climate change agreed after the Montreal COP in 2005 must get more funding.
Tearfund is also lobbying for adaptation to climate change to be central to all future development work.
Evangelicals urge churches to watch Gore movie
-12/09/06
Evangelical aid agency Tearfund is urging church-goers to watch Al Goreís film ëAn Inconvenient Truthí which goes on selected nationwide release from this Friday, September 15.
Andy Atkins, Tearfundís Advocacy Director, said: ìAs Christians, we can no longer ignore the implications of human-induced climate change. ëAn Inconvenient Truthí is a powerful and challenging film which highlights the climate chaos that is increasingly undermining the livelihoods and security of the poor people Tearfund works with. The damage that the Westís rabid consumerism is doing to the developing world is a justice issue that Christians must stand up and be counted on. Whether or not your political views are aligned with Al Goreís, he presents the science in an engaging way that everyone can understand. This is a vital issue that is going to affect us all. I would encourage everyone to watch the film, then join with Tearfund as we lobby the UK government and take action to cut down on our carbon emissions.î
In the film, former US Vice President Al Gore tours the world in a bid to alert people to the imminent dangers of irreversible climate change. According to the showís publicity material, ìHumanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world’s scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.î
Tearfund has long been campaigning on climate change and is stepping up its work with partners around the world to help them adapt. The agency is also part of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition which is planning a huge rally in Londonís Trafalgar Square next month.
Climate change is already affecting the worldís poorest people much more than those in the West. This makes farming harder because the seasons have changed beyond recognition says the aid agency. This means farmers no longer know when to plant and cannot rely on a harvest. Global temperatures rose by 0.6C during the 20th Century and as a direct result, those who are least able to cope are experiencing changing rainfall patterns and ever more extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. According to the World Health Organisation, 150,000 people die every year as a direct result of climate change and the vast majority of these are in the developing world.
The ëI Countí event precedes the next round of climate change negotiations. Tearfund is urging Christians to lobby the government in the lead up to the meeting of the UNís Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Partners (COP) in Nairobi.
The UK Government will be at the table, and Tearfund is calling for three things in the lead up to the COP.
The aid agency is urging that the Kyoto Protocol agreement on reducing carbon emissions, which ends in 2012, be renewed and improved. It is also asking the UK Government to use its influence to help poor communities adapt to climate change. The Least Developed Country Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund need more finance, say campaigners. In addition, the Programme of Work to help countries adapt to climate change agreed after the Montreal COP in 2005 must get more funding.
Tearfund is also lobbying for adaptation to climate change to be central to all future development work.