Friends hold vigils for Loss and Action Day
‘The injustice is so stark: people are losing their homes and livelihoods, losing everything they know and love, because of a crisis caused by others.'
Quakers up and down the country are getting ready to hold vigils for the international Loss and Action Day – standing in solidarity with those living with the worst impacts of climate breakdown.
The witness planned by Meetings in Manchester, Lancaster, Totnes, Cardiff and Beccles calls on wealthy countries and fossil fuel corporations to pay up for the loss and damage they cause. The term ‘loss and damage’ refers to climate impacts including floods and sea-level rise as well as extreme weather events such as hurricanes.
Olivia Hanks, economics and sustainability programmes manager for Britain Yearly Meeting, told the Friend that it was great to see so many Friends taking up the issue (of loss and damage).
‘The injustice is so stark: people are losing their homes and livelihoods, losing everything they know and love, because of a crisis caused by others – with no compensation or redress. And at the same time, the fossil fuel companies responsible for climate breakdown continue to make vast profits.’
BYM said last year that the projected economic cost of loss and damage by 2030 is estimated to be between US$290 and $580 billion in developing countries alone.
Quaker vigils will start from 21 September in Lancaster to 28 September where Manchester Friends will gather and Cardiff Friends will assemble in witness outside Senedd Cymru. Meanwhile London Quakers will take part in a Walk of Witness on the Loss and Action Day on 22 September, walking from St John’s Church, Waterloo, to Parliament Square. Along the way, they will stop close to Shell’s headquarters to bear silent witness to the destruction being caused by Shell and other fossil fuel companies. The walk is organised by the Make Polluters Pay coalition.
Olivia Hanks added: ‘There are lots of conversations going on among British Friends about justice, historical responsibility and how to make reparation for harm done, and the need for reparations for climate breakdown is very much part of that picture.
‘By taking part in Loss and Damage Action Day, we hope to get lots more people talking about this, and start a national conversation about who should be paying the bill for climate breakdown. Anyone can take action, whether it’s by holding a vigil or a discussion event, writing to your MP or just using social media to talk about the need for a loss and damage fund.’
The day will also be marked by other groups, including Go Dharmic, where people from a variety of faith backgrounds will do a one-day fast. Meanwhile, local Global Justice Now groups are organising action in Edinburgh, Reading, Rotherham and Nottingham. Green Christian will start Loss and Action Day with a short contemplative prayer session on zoom at 8am.
BYM is working with many other organisations on this campaign, in particular Christian Aid, Faith for the Climate, Stamp Out Poverty and Global Justice Now.
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