Moving on from Copenhagen
Gerald Conyngham looks at the way forward for work on climate change
How should we respond as Quakers to the Copenhagen summit? After the build up to the Copenhagen conference, people are sifting through the embers to see what went wrong. Ed Miliband, secretary of state for energy and climate change, blames China for not setting its own targets for emission reduction and preventing others from doing so. Journalist George Monbiot blames the USA for offering only a four per cent reduction on 1990 levels, and trying to stitch up a deal behind the back of the UN. Social commentator Naomi Klein argues that no deal is better than a poor one, which would then be difficult to change. Climate change activists say that until we change the existing unjust political and economic systems, this kind of conference will never come up with effective solutions.
However one positive aspect of the conference was the way the developing countries, especially the African bloc, found a new strength and made it clear they were not going to be dictated to by the West, unlike other international conferences.
Here are three suggestions for what our next steps should be:
One is to continue to get our own house in order and in particular to develop our own seven year plan as other faith groups are doing, following the Windsor conference. This will mean bringing together all the different Quaker initiatives in a much more co-ordinated way than has been the case to date. Trustees have a key role here.
Secondly to join forces with other groups through coalitions such as Stop Climate Chaos, which organised the Wave demonstration in December, and to press with them for a just and effective international agreement.
Thirdly, given this is an international issue, to unite with our fellow Quakers overseas through the Friends World Committee for Consultation, who are developing a Global Change Consultation that includes climate change.
I believe that if we work together, we can develop a programme that has a strong spiritual foundation, is rooted in our Testimonies and accords with our Quaker principles of being patterns and examples, and speaking truth to power.
