Advent at Home with the Eco-Chaplain

By Charity ManagerDecember 15, 2021Advent, Advent after COP, COP26

Join us for a evening sharing and reflecting on this year’s unique Advent after COP26 “Home by another Way”, looking forward to Christmas and the year ahead with our Eco-Chaplain Rev David Coleman.

Please bring your own optional mince pies and suitable refreshments!

Monday 15th December 2021
7.30pm–9.00pm

Please register for a Zoom meeting link:

1.5 Degrees Celsius: A Reality Check

By Charity ManagerNovember 5, 2021CoP26COP26

The UN published this chart on 4 November for delegates to Cop26. It includes all the latest data from countries around the world on their plans to limit the emission of greenhouse gases in what are known as ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ or NDCs for short. This goes to the heart of the Cop process and is the mechanism that lies behind the headlines.

The NDCs were introduced at Cop21 in Paris in 2015 requiring governments to set out every five years the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that they are prepared to commit to. All signatories to the Paris agreement submitted their first NDCs five years ago and most but not all have now submitted new and revised NDCs summarised in this chart. There is some increase in ambition, but the chart shows just how far we are from the 1.5 degrees Celsius target.

If we want to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, we should be following the pale blue track towards the bottom of the chart. The reality is that present commitments are in the red band at the top of the chart resulting in warming of well over 2 degrees Celsius. Current national commitments will stabilise emissions and maybe result in a small reduction but nothing like what is needed.

There is a second issue of whether the plans are credible and whether they can be implemented. The UK has an ambitious target of a 78% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on 1990 levels by 2035. However, the UK Climate Change Committee has pointed out that this requires radical action every year from now until 2035, for example by replacing all gas fired central heating in homes across the UK with new low carbon technology such as heat pumps. Unfortunately, there is not much sign of such radical action yet.

The announcements made this week on limiting methane emissions and an end to coal mining are more encouraging but are not yet global in reach. So, as ever progress at the Cop is slow and painstaking.

Praying for COP 26 and beyond

By Judith MacleodNovember 4, 2021COP26

As Scotland welcomes the world to COP26, hear how you can get involved – and look forward to Net Zero carbon and a Just, Green Future.

Join us for an hour of encouragement and prayer during the first week of COP26 and the actions we might take to show our care for creation thereafter.

We have been meeting on the first Thursday of every month over the past year.

Thursday 4th of November 2021 at 4pm

Please fill in the form below to register for the event and receive the link to attend.

COP26: First Impressions

By Charity ManagerNovember 2, 20212 commentsCoP26COP26, Pilgrimage

The road to Cop26 has been long and hard for some and not just metaphorically.

Pilgrims from Sweden and Germany started walking in August arriving in North Shields by ferry three weeks ago.

I met them and joined them for the last few rain soaked miles into Glasgow on Friday 29 October arriving for a memorable service of welcome and blessing in Glasgow Cathedral.

Walking with them for just a few days was a remarkable experience both to witness their commitment and to see how warmly they were greeted along the way.

In schools and churches and in towns and country children and adults responded with kindness and generosity and with a genuine sense of awe at their undertaking. It was the best kind of human endeavour.

Media coverage of their arrival in Glasgow was positive and the short final walk on Saturday from Glasgow Green to George Square well reported.

On the whole reporting of other walks, marches and protests has also been positive.

Greta Thunberg was seen with a group of admiring young people in a park in Govan, Greenpeace faced down a reluctant Clyde Port Authority by sailing up the Clyde uninvited and a picturesque small shoal of mermaids washed up outside the Scottish Events Centre, where the Cop is being held, to publicise Marine Rebellion.

Inside it’s a different story.

Visiting the ‘blue zone’ at the Cop yesterday where delegates and diplomats gather was like going into a huge corporate trade fair with governments from around the world vying with each other to present themselves and their carbon cutting credentials in the best possible light.

There is a lot of commercial sponsorship and a great deal of media and communications expertise on display. It’s all very shiny and bright but it does not feel good.

There is not the same sense of conviction or clarity as among the protesters or pilgrims outside.

I know there are great number of very good people doing their best on the government delegations (we have met some of them in recent months) but there is always a sense that most governments cannot commit to the changes that are needed and always have one foot on the brake, thinking of business interests, political popularity at home or national advantage.

The media reporting also carries a sense of scepticism: are governments and political leaders really committed to change, are their commitments credible and will they be put into effect?

It’s early days and the pattern of negotiations is not yet clear. But for now the protesters and the pilgrims have my vote.