September saw the start of the Season of Creation (also known as Creation Time or Creationtide), when Christians around the world are praying and caring for creation. The Season of Creation, which runs from 1 September to 4 October, is an opportunity to celebrate creation and contemplate our role in protecting it.

Operation Noah has produced a list of resources.   

Pope Francis has urged us to care for  Creation. As a small step, members of the Justice and Peace Commission are taking part in the great British Beach Clean. Please join them at Rhu on 17th September.

Details   

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) welcomes the commitment to a bottle deposit return system made by Scottish Government. 

MCS Statement   

As Pope Francis said, “Creation is of the order of love.”  We invite you to protect it.

The Global Catholic Climate Movement have produced new resources for use during the Season of Creation 1st September 2017 - 4th October 2017.   Read More...

Pope Francis has encouraged everyone to take part in a Day of Prayer for Care of Creation on 1st September every year.  Here is The Laudato Si litany prayer and also information on how to organise a prayer service.

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Pope Francis recently declared September 1 as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. He said,  “The annual World Day of prayer for the Care of Creation offers to individual believers and to the community a precious opportunity to renew our personal participation in this vocation as custodians of creation, raising to God our thanks for the marvellous works that He has entrusted to our care, invoking his help for the protection of creation and his mercy for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”

Further information and resources for marking this day can be found at Global Catholic Climate Movement   

Rich countries like ours have grown wealthy through our use of cheap, fossil fuel energy. But in doing that, we’ve pushed the planet to the brink of irreversible climate change. Lobbying by big business, and an economic system that puts profit before people and the planet, are making the problem worse.   Read More...

The Guardian reports on worrying new research showing behavioural evidence which suggests marine organisms are not just ingesting microplastics by accident but actively seeking them out as food.   Read More...

Young Scottish people will get the opportunity to have their say on the future of Scotland’s environment by applying to join the Climate Challenge Fund panel.   Read More...

Cardinal Peter Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, has released a message for World Tourism Day 2017, which will be held on 27 September. The theme chosen for this year is: 'Sustainable tourism: a tool for development'.   Read More...

How to divest your church from fossil fuels.

 

A new resource produced by Operation Noah, Divest your church, explains how your local church can divest from fossil fuels and reinvest for a brighter future, as well as supporting the campaign for the national Churches to divest.

Further information on the Bright Now website   

The religious order, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, are at the centre of a dispute over the construction of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They are making a legal claim that building a pipeline on their land violates their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The case has garnered national and international attention.

Articles on this issue.   

A new article in Independent Catholic News tells how Pope Francis has called the shortage of accessible clean water, a 'fundamental right'. Recalling that about two billion people in the world still have no access to it, he reflects that, "when it is not given the deserving attention, it turns into a source of illness and endangers millions of lives".

Futher information:

https://catholicclimatemovement.global/
http://seasonofcreation.org/   

In celebration of the 2nd anniversary of Laudato Si’, GCCM launched a Laudato Si’ Pledge campaign to keep the Pontiff’s message alive and encourage mass Catholic action to address the climate crisis.   Read More...

Cardinal Peter Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, has issued the full text of his statement to the United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of the 14th Sustainable Development Goal, which deals with Conserving and Sustainably Using the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources.
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Please take a minute to sign this petition urging the Scottish Government to create a bottle deposit return scheme in Scotland to help deal with the plastic pollution problem.   Read More...

Just released by the World Bank, a visual mapping of progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development goals which include: ending poverty, good health, access to education, sustainable cities. Each section highlights progress and challenges.

Access the Visual Map

It takes a wee while to load, so be patient.
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Join us in a journey from Lent to #Mercy2Earth weekend (April 22-23) as we reflect and bring to life Pope Francis’ message Show Mercy to our Common Home.   Read More...

Does your church have investments in fossil fuel companies? Ever thought about moving your money somewhere that builds the world you want to live in? A new resource produced by Operation Noah, Divest your church, explains how your local church can divest from fossil fuels and reinvest for a brighter future, as well as supporting the campaign for the national Churches to divest.

Further details

     

The NCR reports that Catholic organisations have objected to President Trump's latest executive order which will roll back environmental protections and impact the policy on climate change. Details here. 

    

Those two themes, Earth and Mercy, are the essence of Pope Francis’ most important ecology statement of 2016, titled “Show Mercy to our Common Home”   Read More...

An hour long event

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Liberia is home to a unique natural treasure: the incredibly biodiverse Upper Guinean Rainforest, home to a crucial population of critically endangered West African Chimpanzees. The country – which is still reeling from a civil war and the Ebola crisis – wants to fight poverty by exporting timber. But given the rampant corruption of Liberia's logging industry, this move could lead to uncontrolled destruction of rainforests.   Read More...

Pope Francis met with a group representing indigenous peoples ahead of his Wednesday General Audience, speaking to them about the need to "reconcile the right to development, both social and cultural, with the protection of the particular characteristics of indigenous peoples and their territories"

Details   

Sign the Petition to Donald Trump

Please sign the Petition to Donald Trump.

Ask him to protect our God given creation. Then, if you can, promote the petition:
Petition Toolkit   

The Eastern Orthodox Churches proclaimed 1 September as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in 1989. Since then, many otherChristian churches have taken up this initiative and the Day of Prayer has become a month-long “Season of Creation”.

The “Season of Creation” website aims to make materials produced by various churches on this theme easy to find and readily available.Local churches can enter their events onto a map online. Recent church statements on creation can be found on the website.    

A personal view from Marian Pallister, Justice & Peace Commissioner for the Diocese of Argyll & the Isles.
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Forest fires are raging in an indigenous territory on the edge of the Brazilian Amazon, threatening to wipe out uncontacted members of the Awá tribe. Forest fires started by loggers destroyed over 50 per cent of the forest cover in the territory in late 2015. The Environment Ministry has stated that the situation is “even worse this year.” (Ekklesia)   Read More...

Ten simple ideas for reducing your energy usage and the impact it has on our world from Eco Congregation Scotland.   Read More...

Join people from across Scotland in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh to tell MSPs why you want them to turn Scotland’s climate ambition into climate action.   Read More...

Friends of the Earth email action
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The Mentawai Islands of Indonesia are small slices of paradise in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Sumatra. Their lush rainforests are home to several primate species found nowhere else in the world. The indigenous people of Mentawai have maintained their ancestral culture and their deep, spiritual relationship to the forest at its heart.   Read More...

Global Catholic Climate Movement
Nearly one year ago, Pope Francis released his historic encyclical Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home. The encyclical issued an unprecedented call to “address every person living on this planet” about the climate and environmental crisis. This transformative and historic document was to influence the Paris Agreement and our Catholic community's engagement with the ecological issue.   Read More...

Tribal communities who have seen their ancestral homelands turned into tiger reserves are being illegally evicted in the name of "conservation."  It's destroying them. It's also doing nothing to help save the tiger.   Read More...

With their signatures of the landmark Paris climate accord, “governments made a covenant with the future,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the end of a United Nations ceremony that saw the largest single-day turn-out for such an event, and which puts the world on a path towards low-carbon growth and a more sustainable future. (Ekklesia)   Read More...

Ethical Consumer has joined forces with the Rainforest Foundation in a ground-breaking collaboration to respond to the threat now facing the Congo rainforest. Their research is now powering the campaign to encourage consumers to buy the best rated products, forcing companies to use more sustainably sourced palm oil.   Read More...

WWF’s Earth Hour is an annual global celebration where people switch off their lights for one hour to show they care about the future of our planet.  This year’s celebrations will be on Saturday 19 March from 8.30pm to 9.30pm. To take part, all you need to do is sign up and switch off your lights for that one hour.  It’s a symbolic and spectacular lights out display with a big message – we want to protect the future of our planet!   Read More...

Please ask your MP to sign this EDM
That this House condemns serious and systematic human rights violations resulting from natural resource extraction operations around the world, as highlighted recently in a conference organised by the Latin American Mining Monitoring Programme; recognises that mining, oil and gas extraction projects are often a source of considerable conflict, threatening indigenous and other communities living on the land; believes that women from affected communities are at particular risk from irresponsible mining practices, as they can face dispossession, displacement and sexual and gender-based violence   Read More...

Tell party leaders to turn climate ambition into climate action
2016 is election year here in Scotland. After last year’s climate agreement in Paris, what matters now, across the world, is what actually happens as a result of politicians’ climate promises.  Ahead of Scottish Parliamentary election in May 2016, tell Scotland's parties what matters to you.   Read More...

Polluting plastic could be in the toothpaste you innocently brushed your teeth with this morning. It could be heading from your drain, into our oceans, as we speak. But it doesn’t have to be like this. President Obama’s just banned these tiny bits of plastic - called 'microbeads' - after thousands of Americans spoke out. If we turn up the heat on David Cameron while this issue is in the public eye, we can force him to do the same in the UK.   Read More...

Pax Christi International statement on COP21
The Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM), of which Pax Christi International is a member, has collected more than 800.000 signatures on its Catholic Climate Petition, to be delivered on 28 November to world leaders attending COP21. The petition, inspired by the words of Pope Francis in Laudato Si’, urges leaders to drastically cut carbon emissions.   Read More...

Why the Paris climate talks m atter
Stop Climate Chaos Scotland have produced a small briefing on why the climate talks matter, and what they want political leaders in Paris and in Scotland to do, it is available on their website.   Read More...

Saturday 28th November 2015, gather at 12 noon at the Meadows (near Middle-Meadows Walk), Edinburgh
Join the worldwide movement marching for a better future.  Over the weekend of 28th and 29th November, people across the world will march for climate action: from Melbourne to Tokyo and from Mumbai to Buenos Aires.   Read More...

Please sign the petition
A 500 year old forest is being clear cut to make way for Olympic ski facilities that will be used for a three day competition!  Olympic organisers in South Korea are tearing down forest, with trees half a millennia old, to make room for new ski facilities. The International Olympic Committee has mandated these games as "Green Olympics", let's hold them to it and save the ancient forest. (Avaaz)   Read More...

Building on his recent encyclical, Pope Francis has instituted an annual Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in conjunction with the Orthodox Church, which already celebrates the day. Here is Pope Francis' letter to the Cardinals responsible for coordinating the Day.   Read More...

Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.   Read More...

Email Action
Nicaragua is planning a new canal for container ships and oil tankers. While the project is economically important for China – the apparent driving force behind the canal – it would mean clear-cutting rainforests, mass resettlement and the destruction of Lake Nicaragua’s ecosystem.   Read More...

Pope Francis' Encyclical on Climate Change
In Laudato Si: On care for our common home, Pope Francis calls on all people of goodwill to care for the world’s poorest people, for future generations and for the earth, our common home. He has called us to act and to care for the world’s poorest people. Please sign via SCIAF the climate petition today.   Read More...

Pope Francis has endorsed a Catholic petition calling for bold climate action after meeting with the newly created Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) on 13 May 2015. The Pope's move is another sign that he intends to lead Catholics into an active response on climate change, says the Franciscan Action Network. (Ekklesia)   Read More...

Come along to Scottish Parliament to celebrate all that we love that is affected by climate change.  Together we will call on the First Minister for action in this important year.  It's time to Show the Love.  Come along on Wednesday 27th May from 12-2pm (or from 12.30-1.30 if your time is limited!).   Read More...

Email the First Minister today
For the love of country walks and Scotland's beautiful seasons. For the love of the food on our plates. For the love of our global neighbours. For the love of the Arctic and the Great Barrier Reef. For the love of all the things we care about, we're taking action on climate change, and we’re not alone.   Read More...

Eco-congregation Scotland have been busy pulling together some brilliant resources which congregations can use on Sunday February 15th to guide them in worship.   Read More...

Vast swathes of Peruvian rainforest are being cleared for plantations
How can the environment minister of Peru preside over the current UN Climate Summit in Lima while actively promoting rampant deforestation in his own country? Help us call him out on his hypocrisy! Please sign the petition and share it far and wide!   Read More...

Stop Climate Chaos Scotland's new campaign
Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, in collaboration with its sister organisations, the Climate Coalition and Stop Climate Chaos Wales, are focusing on things that people care about that will be affected by climate change. And yes, you’re right, climate change could affect pretty much everything, and that’s what they want to highlight   Read More...

Announcements made today demonstrate that the Scottish Government is serious about getting Scotland back on track to fulfil the promises set out in the Climate Change Act. Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS) made the comment on the day the latest climate emissions figures were released which showed for a third successive year the Scottish Government has failed to meet the targets set out in the Act.   Read More...

Email Action
Procter & Gamble (P&G) is the corporation behind brands such as Mr. Clean, Head & Shoulders, Gillette and Oil of Olay. It has pledged to use only deforestation-free palm oil – as of 2020. Please tell P&G that 2020 is too late – the remaining rainforest will be gone by then!   Read More...

On April 17, the European Parliament will be voting on a proposal to “reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags”. EU citizens use more than 100 billion plastic bags a year. Perhaps they forgot their shopping bags at home – or they haven’t given any thought to the effects of the flood of plastic waste. Most people put plastic bags in the trash immediately, but even so, around eight billion are carelessly discarded in the EU every year, leaving them to litter the countryside and waters for centuries to come.   Read More...

Charities in Scotland say a new UN report on the impacts of climate change underlines the urgent need and moral responsibility for Scotland to meet its greenhouse gas emissions targets. On Monday 31 March scientists from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change outlined a stark assessment of the impact global warming will have on the planet and on humans, especially those already living in poverty.   Read More...

In the UK alone we consume three times our fair share of the planet’s resources. The World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour is the single, largest, symbolic mass participation event in the world inspiring a global community of millions of people in 7,001 cities and towns across 152 countries and territories to switch lights off for an hour as a show of concern for the environment. It invites us to think of positive ways to reduce our carbon footprint.   Read More...

Stop Climate Chaos Scotland have joined forces with their sister organisation in England - Stop Climate Chaos - to ask people across the UK to write to David Cameron and Nick Clegg, calling for the UK to push for more climate ambition in Europe.  On 22nd January, the EU published its 2030 climate and energy white paper.  This sets out three targets for the EU to meet by 2030: one on greenhouse gas emissions; another on renewable energy; and one on energy efficiency.    Read More...

Stop Climate Chaos Scotland has launched a new email action which asks people across Scotland to write to their MSPs about low carbon transport. They are calling on the Scottish Government to double the budget set aside for cycling and walking. John Swinney already announced an increase in funding for cycling earlier this month, but this needs to go much further. Take action here The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, published its fifth report on the physical science of climate change.   Read More...

The Anglo-French company Perenco operates oil wells in the Laguna del Tigre National Park in Guatemala, the largest wetland in Central America. Local people are being deprived of rights as basic as the right to education, the right to health, or access to title to the land they live on.
Instead of guaranteeing human rights for residents of this area, the Guatemalan government has created an army battalion, financed in part by oil exploitation, to intimidate and forcibly displace groups they consider “troublesome” for the development of the region. Local communities in Petén need our support so that violence against them ends and their rights are respected:

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The Environment Minister Owen Paterson is backing genetically modified food - neglecting evidence provided in the longest independent study on genetically modified (GM) corn feed to date.  The ground-breaking 2012 study links GM and the use of pesticide Roundup to organ damage and increased risk of tumours. Previous studies have been carried out by companies such as Monsanto who themselves produce GM crops. War on Want has helped organise a speaker tour, giving you the opportunity to hear from the leading scientist who has provided independent evidence on the risks of GM food.  We will have a series of events in Scotland, Wales and England during the GM Health Risk Week (2-8 September) where you'll hear a different perspective to what the media and the UK government are saying.

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Responding the news that the 2011 emission target was missed, Dr Sam Gardner of coalition Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS) said: "Today's news of a second missed target is very disappointing. We recognise that this is due in part to complicated changes on how we count our emissions, but the headline of another missed target strongly underlines the need for a much tougher climate action plan, expected out later this month,  that will drive down emissions year on year and give confidence that future targets can be met.  “With increasingly tougher targets in the future, Ministers must up their game if Scotland is to deliver on climate justice and is to reap the rewards of the transition to a low carbon future." (07 June 2013)
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Environmentalists from Cambodia and Australia need our help: A hydropower dam to be built in the Cardamom Mountains would spell the end of the area’s precious rainforest. Thousands of hectares of rainforest would be flooded. The Areng Valley is the habitat of many endangered species and home to the indigenous Khmer Daeum people. The Cambodian government is set to award the contract to a Chinese company. The good news: The contracts have not yet been signed – the project can still be stopped! Please support the petition to Guodian Corporation, the Chinese power company slated to build and operate the dam, and to the Cambodian government.
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Record your video message to the Scottish Government! SCCS need your help in the final push on the climate action plan.  Could you record a message to Scottish Government Ministers calling on them to listen to the concerns of the Scottish public on climate change? You’ll need to do this by Monday 10th June at the latest, ideally this week, before the final climate action plan is published.

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Palm oil is a major threat to the rainforests. The latest case: In Borneo, several starving orangutans have been rescued after their forest homes were clear-cut for a palm oil plantation. The rainforest was bulldozed by BGA, a member of the RSPO – the organization issuing the label for sustainable palm oil. Sign the petition to call for a stop to rainforest destruction and palm oil imports – and please also spread the word:   Read More...

Switch Off Your Lights for the Future of Our Planet
WWF’s Earth Hour is a unique annual phenomenon that focuses the world’s attention on our amazing planet, and how we need to protect it. At 8.30pm on 23 March hundreds of millions of people will turn off their lights for one hour, on the same night, all across the world in a huge, symbolic show of support. For 2013 as we all switch off our lights, we want the focus to be on the kind of energy we use. Because to create a better future for our planet we need to move away from dirty fossil fuels and onto clean green renewable energy which works with the awesome power of nature, not against it.
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On the 29th January, the Scottish Government published its revised plans on climate change.  Stop Climate Chaos Scotland is deeply concerned about the plans, which do not represent a credible package of measures to help Scotland reduce emissions and meet the targets set under the Scottish Climate Change Act. Now is a crucial time for MSPs to hear more from their constituents as the plans are being scrutinised, and may be improved, by Parliament.  Could you visit your MSP in your constituency - or write them a letter on this subject - in the next three weeks?    Read More...