Scottish & Global Perspectives

by | Oct 14, 2008 | Social Justice

John Ferguson (SEPA) shared some thoughts in one of the afternoon plenary sessions on Saturday.

  • The earth as the womb of God (this was quoted from earlier in the day – can’t remember who said it initially).
  • Adaptation should build resilience.

Addressing the causes:

  1. Sustainable consumption & production.
    • EU SCP action plan
    • The story of stuff
    • We need to consume less!
  2. Energy
    • Decarbonise energy eg renewables & cleaner technologies
    • Reduced energy use
  3. Waste less
    • 4R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, recover
    • Zero waste goal
    • The landfill vs incineration debate
  4. Food waste
    • £420 per annul per family wasted = taking 1 in 5 cars off the road.
    • www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
  5. Develop new solutions to how we live (environmental technology sector)
    • www.transitiontowns.org
    • www.sustainablecities.org
    • Space-based solar reflectors?!
  6. Innovate!

Why & How (Not) To Care For The Climate

by | Oct 14, 2008 | Social Justice

Michael Northcott, from the University of Edinburgh, gave the third plenary talk on Saturday at the climate change conference.

  • Fossil fuels are a subterreanian forest.
  • Capitalism is run on underground stored carbon. Burning it threatens the 10k years of climate stability in which civilizations have endured.
  • Deforestation is responsible for more than 20% of annual carbon emissions.
  • Inequity is the central ethical feature of climate change.
  • The earth system makes neighbours of the rich & the poor.
  • Neighbours have moral duties of care & love but distance diminishes the sense of duty.
  • How do we get over the distance? “We believe in the communion of saints” Duties across time & space.
  • The atmosphere is a common realm. Commons are traditionally managed by communities.
  • Neoliberalism is the current regnant business & economic ideology.
  • It sustains the idea that there are only two devices – states or markets – for managing collective goods.
  • Climate change is about the strong oppressing the weak.
  • Money is a construct which emerges out of human & ecological relationships. It gives dominion over people.
  • Real wealth is relational.
  • We need monetary accounts that reflect real-world events.
  • Forest people look on carbon trading as another attempt at colonial landgrabbing.

Food & Climate Change

by | Oct 14, 2008 | Social Justice

At the Climate Change conference on Saturday, I went to a morning workshop run by Daniel Gotts (Edinburgh Slow Food movement) and Pete Ritchie (a local organic farmer).

  • Organic farming is about looking after the soil.
  • We’ve lost the connection between the harvest and the food on our plates.
  • Need to differentiate between nutritional & non-nutritional food.
  • A VAT style tax on junk food?
  • Water & health are widely recognized as public goods, yet food – which is essetial for life – is not.
  • Negative impact of CAP – overstocking.
  • Need an increased food conciousness.
  • Are we talking about tweaks to the current system, or a new system?
  • We don’t always necessarily have the right to eat whatever we want, whenever we want.

Creation Care: Theology & Practice

by | Oct 11, 2008 | Social Justice

Elaine Storkey, President of Tearfund, shared in the second plenary session on Saturday morning.

  • Why is theology interested in climate change? Good theology must be lived.
  • We need to look at the broad sweep of theology, not just pick & choose the parts we like.
  • Theology of God as creator: God’s delight in the world. It remains his world. (Gen 1, Jer 10, Psa 24)
  • The intimacy of God & creation – Psa 50. God has ownership, not us.
  • All created life is integrated, forms a whole.
  • Adam/adamah – solidarity, intrinsically interconnected.
  • A misunderstanding of sin – it’s lost it’s meaning, people only see it as a sex issue.
  • Sin: failure to love.
  • Theology of neighbour love: provisions of the Torah, parable of the good Samaritan, feeding the five thousand, etc.
  • 15,000 die daily from water related diseases.
  • Estimated that by 2010 50 million people could be climate refugees.
  • God’s requirement for justice: Isaiah 58.
  • What can we do?
    • Prioritize relationships over things.
    • Reduce overconsumption & waste.
    • Think, work & produce more locally.
    • Sabbath & Jubilee implications for rest; importance of rootedness, etc.