Cassocks flow as a delegation of climate-concerned clergy cycle to 10 Downing Street. Picture: Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund
Climate-concerned clergy got on their bikes to deliver 10,000 signatures collected by Tearfund calling for tougher UK government action on carbon emissions.
The church leaders came from across England as part of the Stop Climate Chaos Campaign.
The petition from Tearfund supporters was handed into 10 Downing Street calling for a Climate Change Bill that is tough enough to deliver for poor people.
Ben Niblett, Tearfund’s Campaigns Manager, said, `That means a target of an 80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050, including the UK’s share of the international aviation and shipping industries.'
Rev Michael Perry, Vicar of Queen Camel Parish in Somerset, whose church won a Green Church Award last year, said, `As Christians we need to live in harmony with creation. Climate change is going to profoundly affect our society and we need to be aware of just how profoundly it will affect us.'
Graham Dodds, Minister of Hare Hills Lane Baptist Church, Leeds, said, `Climate change causes the poorest people to suffer and the longer we wait the more suffering there will be.'
With just under a week to go until the G8 Summit in Japan, where climate change and food shortages will be discussed, the church leaders called on the Government to pave the way for other nations to get tougher on carbon cuts.
The delegation hands the petition calling for a tougher climate change bill into Downing Street. Picture: Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund