Anglican Primates discuss climate change

Primates of the Anglican Church discussed the impacts and response to climate change at their recent Primates’ Meeting. Archbishops shared about the devastating impacts of hurricanes in the Caribbean, floods in Asia and Pacific islands disappearing under rising sea levels.

Here are some interesting quotes from the Archbishops.

The Archbishop of Southern Africa, Thabo Makgoba said, we need to 

“make the linkage between social justice and climate justice.” 

And “What I hope will come from this meeting is a commitment by each primate to pray for social justice issues but to look at those with the eyes of saying the climate, the environment, the earth where they are happening, ought to be cared for,”

Archbishop George Takeli, the Primate of Melanesia, said, “Our stories are making the world become a very small world - that we are part of each other."

"..what I begin to sense from the Primates’ Meeting is that all of us are moving towards creating a strong network to work together between the primates, addressing the issues of climate change and other issues together.”

For a number of years aid agencies have been calling for churches to connect the dots over climate change. Our lifestyle has fuelled the rise in greenhouse gases that is leading to a changing climate that now impacts the poorest worldwide. Dramatic changes are needed to convert the world economy to one based on low-carbon energy. Church leaders should be leading the way in a call for change and a compassionate response to social justice.

It will be interesting to hear how the Church of Ireland responds to this primates’ meeting.

For more details of the Primate meeting see Anglican Church news.