The Diocese of Grahamstown agreed and passed a resolution on their 67th Synod to make a priority of care for creation .
This Diocese, believes that God’s creation is holy, that we are called to protect the earth now and for the future, and that climate change disproportionately affects the world’s poorest.
This Synod therefore resolved to
1. Write an open letter to government in which we:
- Urge our government to continue to restrict industrial carbon emissions to the levels agreed to at the COP 21 meeting held in Parish last year;
- Support the World Bank’s call for the ending of fossil fuel subsidies and redirect those resources into renewable energy;
- Call on the government to leave fossil energy resources , such as oil, gas, and coal in the ground;
- Strongly protest against any form of fracking for oil or gas in order to protect the purity of our water aquifers;
- Urge the government to remain transparent about its plans for energy, mining, and industrial development, always ensuring that licences to build are only given after the correct environmental impact studies are completed.
2. Form a Diocesan Department for the Environment to:
- Study and adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework fully
- Investigate how we may raise awareness in all our parishes (including food, water and energy)
- Encourage projects in all parishes which teach parishioners and the community how to collect and preserve water, grow food, and generally reduce our carbon footprint
- Invite all parishioners to join the international initiatives encouraging Christians to pray and fast for climate justice
- Investigate the need for disaster Management programmes at Diocesan and Parish levels.
In the essence of protecting the integrity of God’s creation and hearing earth’s cry, Grahamstown as a diocese has now joined hands with other stewards in combating climate change and other relating issues.