CARING for the environment is “an essential part of following Jesus”, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have said in a new teaching document.
Hope for All Creation: A theological response to the environmental crisis was produced by the Church of England’s Faith and Order Commission on behalf of the House of Bishops. It presents action on climate change as integral to Christian discipleship and evangelism.
In a joint foreword, the Archbishops write: “To care for creation in partnership with others, to show solidarity with the vulnerable, to be prophetic in speech and action on these issues — locally, nationally, and globally — is to live out this faith and hope. It is an essential part of following Jesus and sharing the Gospel today.”
In the document, climate change is framed as not only a political or environmental issue, but as a theological and moral one. It states: “Sin is always understood in terms of a rupture between humanity and God. But it must also be understood in terms of a rupture between humanity and the Earth.”
Human impacts on the earth are disrupting planetary conditions, the document says. “On the most recent assessment of our impact, relative to the safe boundaries for life, we have exceeded seven out of nine of these boundaries, with devastating consequences around the globe.”
The boundaries were first suggested by the environmental scientist Johan Rockström, with his colleagues at the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, in 2009.
The two activities produced by humanity that remain within safe limits are atmospheric aerosol loading, which is the change in microscopic particles in the atmosphere that affects the climate, and stratospheric ozone depletion, which allows more UV radiation to reach the earth’s surface, the paper says.
The seven conditions that exceed the boundaries are climate change, novel entities (the introduction of synthetic chemicals, plastics and radioactive materials), biosphere integrity, land-system change, freshwater change, biogeographical flows, and ocean acidification.
The paper describes the planetary conditions as “significant and unpredictable changes that will likely prove inhospitable to human society as we now understand it”. Without any intervention, the earth’s temperature will continue to rise, bringing risks of species loss, and adverse affects on human health and food production, it warns, and the poor are most likely to suffer from climate change.
“We need to know what limits to further disruption we must respect to ensure sustainable conditions for life far into the future”, the paper says.
It suggests that “buying material goods beyond basic needs becomes central to personal identity and social life” and that this has fuelled “excessive consumption of the Earth’s resources”.
The paper emphasises that the “pursuit of profit and growth has become an end in itself” and suggests that this economic ideology is in addition to “the desire for an ever more comfortable lifestyle, which has become almost non-negotiable for many of us”.
Changing consumption habits will be difficult, it suggests, owing to the patterns of production and the marketing that shapes them, which feeds into “an overarching economic and financial model”. Political interventions are needed “to enable the flourishing of an alternative economy on a national and global scale”.
The document also states that Genesis 1:28 has been misinterpreted and that the verse “has sometimes been used to justify a dominion theology, which interprets humanity’s role as having the right to control, manage or exploit the Earth and its creatures”. It would be “better understood” when viewed as promoting human responsibility to nurture the world.
“Christians are called to respond to our current ecological situation in a profound conversion of our lives and imaginations, to repair our broken relationships with our fellow creatures, and to anticipate the joyful coming of God’s kingdom on Earth,” the document says.
The paper acknowledges the severity of the “planetary crisis”, but also encourages hope and action. “We may have hope because this broken planet is and remains God’s creation. On that basis we may have confidence to take responsibility and act,” it says.
“We may recognise in the human damage to this planet the same powers of sin and evil at work which took Jesus to the cross. And we may recognise that the good news of God’s victory over those powers is also the basis for our faith today that God will not forsake his suffering creation.”
The document calls for both individual behaviour change and wider structural and political action. “As Christians, we should not underestimate the evangelistic, missional, social, and political impact we can have as we respond to God’s call to act at this time of climate and ecological crisis.”
Hope for All Creation was among the General Synod papers published on Thursday of last week. The Synod will be invited to consider the document on 12 July in York, when members will also receive an update from the Church’s Net Zero carbon programme.
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