FossilFreeUMC

In our last Fossil Free UMC post, Fossil Fuels and Climate: Counting the Cost, we acknowledged the dilemma of trying to strategize about how best to address the climate crisis: “The world cannot keep burning fossil fuels at the current rate if we hope to limit planetary heating, yet the global system within which we live perpetuates the burning of fossil fuels… Our goal at Fossil Free UMC is to take action that could impact this overall conundrum: to raise awareness of the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels and to withdraw our moral endorsement and our money from the fossil fuel industry. This would also join us with the many other organizations (including faith groups) that have divested and the global climate justice movement that is working so hard for a phase out of fossil fuels. It is a way to affirm that we are with them in calling for ‘system change not climate change.’”

In response to a call from the World Council of Churches, Fossil Free UMC will discuss endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty at our next meeting. The treaty has been endorsed by a global network of governments, civil society organizations, academics, scientists, youth activists, health professionals, faith institutions, Indigenous peoples and others who are serious about  a phaseout of fossil fuels. By endorsing this treaty, we are being true to our mission “to raise awareness of the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels,” to “withdraw our moral endorsement…from the fossil fuel industry,” and join us in solidarity with the global climate justice movement.

The World Council of Churches is cosponsoring a webinar on September 10 for faith leaders, government officials and climate advocates as part of this year’s Season of Creation, which begins on September 1^st, on the Feast of Creation, and ends October 4th, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, who has been called the patron saint of the environmental movement. Find out more about the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty here. Sign onto this letter as a faith leader to encourage people to endorse the treaty here.  Tune into the webinar here.

This is just one action that the World Council of Churches has taken urging action to phase out fossil fuels as a response to climate change. Their initiative, “Climate-Responsible Finance: A Moral Imperative towards Children,” links the impacts of climate change on the world’s children with the strategy of engagement with banks that are invested in fossil fuels. It is a call to churches and church members to take responsibility for the fossil fuels emissions produced through our banking and investment practices. This campaign is an example of a broader conversation taking place globally about intergenerational justice, not just to protect the children of the future but to address the impacts of climate change on children now.  

Keep the faith. We United Methodists who yearn for the healing of the earth are not alone. So many people yearn and pray and are working on this movement to transition to a clean energy future. Let’s help keep alive this global movement to phase out fossil fuels for the sake of the children and youth, future generations, and all that we love of God’s good creation.

See the World Council of Churches article about their Season of Creation focus on the Non-Proliferation Treaty in UM Insight