Sheffield Diocesan Environmental Group

“It seems the moment to look for a new level of public seriousness about environmental issues”
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

Sheffield Diocesan Environmental Group exists to encourage Churches and individual Christians across the diocese of Sheffield to care for the Environment that God has entrusted to us.

Our aim is that the Diocese of Sheffield should be seen as a key partner in protecting and sustaining the environment by the other environmental organizations in the region.

We will achieve this by supporting churches and individuals in reflecting on God’s purpose for Creation and taking life-changing action which will improve our stewardship of the environment.

We have regular meetings to organize activities and enjoy fellowship. Would you like to be part of the group? Contact Mike Gilbert to find out more Telephone 0114 281 9360 or email mike@thegilberts.f9.co.uk

NEWS

Climate Change, Energy and Politics of the Future.
– The Plan 2050 Lectures: A Report.

Professor Lord Giddens, a Labour peer and former Director of the London school of Economics, gave the third and final lecture at Sheffield Cathedral in the series Climate Change, Energy and the Politics of the Future to an attentive audience of over 200 last Wednesday evening.

In the first lecture on 6 October Dr Alison Cooke who chaired the UK 2050 Energy Plan working party of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, not an organisation given to flights of fancy, said that a zero or very low carbon energy supply was technically feasible by 2050 given the political will.

In the second on 21 October Ann Pettifor, co-founder of the Jubilee 2000 Debt campaign, gave powerful reasons why the government should not cut public expenditure which would only deepen the depression but should spend wisely to build a low carbon economy.  One comment heard after the lecture: ”Why can’t she become Chancellor of the Exchequer?”

Lord Giddens rounded this off by advocating an attitude of ‘utopian realism’ saying that we cannot scare people into the ways of living that are needed to counter climate change. As he said  “Martin Luther King did not stir people to action by proclaiming, ‘I have a nightmare!’”.  The life style changes required would be demanding but would make life better.

The lectures were inspired by the Plan 2050 campaign which is demanding an energy policy that adds up and is asking our politicians to give us the numbers.  The Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Steven Croft, said:  “Many people are asking what they can do about climate change.  Plan 2050 gives us a way of taking clear, precise, well targeted action.”  (Plan 2050 details at www.omegaclimate.wordpress.com/ )

The Wave Express 5.12.09 – come together to stop Climate change.

On 5 December 2009, ahead of the crucial UN climate summit in Copenhagen, a human wave of tens of thousands of people will flow into London in support for a safe climate future for all.  This is a hugely important moment for us to demonstrate our support for a just deal in Copenhagen for all the worlds poor. For more information follow this link