Like many Christians, I have been trying to balance the challenges of daily life with attempts to respond faithfully to the climate crisis. This has often felt like a struggle. In particular, for me, accessibility challenges and lack of options makes using public transport tricky. The cost of living crisis means that finding extra cash to install a heat pump or add solar panels is out of the question. And yet, those who feel this tension likely have the smallest carbon footprints. So how might we campaign for environmental justice in a way that also secures a fairer future for all?
In Isaiah 55, there is a wonderful description of trees clapping their hands, of mountains bursting into song, of plants and geological features leading humans into joy and peace. When looking for environmental solutions it is important that we consider the intrinsic value of plants, of landscapes and of non-human animals. Doing so will also lead us into joy and peace, pointing us to the intersectionality of climate justice.
Rather than striving to have the ‘greenest’ personal ethics – a competition that those with the most choices and chances in life will always win – we desperately need a multi-layered approach to climate justice that doesn’t cost the earth. That is why we would like you to ask your local MP to commit to cut bills, back UK jobs, and secure a greener, fairer future for all – not only for those who can afford it.
My colleague Steve points out:
“To date much of the UK’s carbon reduction has been met in electricity generation, pursuing a switch renewable energy. Going forward reduction will need to concentrate on other sectors.” – Steve Hucklesby
To speak to your MP about this ask, you could ask them:
- What the government will do to ensure that lower income households can benefit from renewal energy and better insulation.
- How the government will enable a just transition; prioritising lower income households and those with lived experience of poverty alongside those working in the oil and gas industries.
- What the Government will do to support national food production and to enable farmers to introduce farming practices that will lower the carbon intensity of food production.
- How the government will create new jobs in sustainable industries.
- How they will ensure that Great British Rail will provide accessible and sustainable public transport for all.
Local authorities have work to do in this area too. You could ask your local authority representative
- What plans they have for achieving net zero through reduce emissions from transport and housing. What are the constraints that prevent faster action and how can these be resolved?
- What plans are in place to reduce emissions from public transport and car use to contribute to local net zero targets.
- What planning measures they have in place to ensure that all new housing development maximises the potential of air source heat pumps and other forms of renewable energy.
When speaking with your local authority, focussing on what national constraints are effecting their plans and actions will give you even more to speak about with your MP! Local and national politics are connected, and your local authority representatives and MPs want to hear your views.
We ‘will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.’ – Isaiah 55:12 Let’s ask our MPs to cut bills, back UK jobs, and secure a greener, fairer future for all as a hopeful action through which we demonstrate our commitment to the whole world’s joy.