Anglican Primates' Statement on Climate Change

Last week the primates (senior bishops such as chief archbishops or our presiding bishop) from most of the provinces of the Anglican Communion met in Dublin. Primates’ meetings are an opportunity for these leaders to meet in order to pray, think, and talk together about various issues. Climate change was one of the discussion topics for this meeting.

At the end of the meeting, the primates issued a statement on climate change . The document includes this paragraph:

We encourage all Anglicans to recognise that global climatic change is real and that we are contributing to the despoiling of creation. We underline the increasing urgency of this as we see the impact of climate change in our provinces, especially in the Pacific region.

Among my prayers of gratitude this chilly last day of January is thanksgiving that this group of leaders from around the world named climate change, acknowledged our role in it, and noted that the impacts of climate change are already evident some places, especially in the Pacific region.

It’s difficult for people from some of the places affected, such as small island nations, to be heard by the rest of the world. When the church hears the cry for help from people who are easily overlooked, we are truly following Christ, who noticed, healed, and fed people who were poor or outcast, and who instructed his disciples to do the same.