Torching the Amazon

Few of us will have escaped the media scenes of fiery devastation in the Amazon over the past few weeks.  It is a man-made disaster with global effects – and causes.

Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, wants to open up the Amazon for ‘development’.  He is doing so by gutting the key Brazilian environmental protection agencies and rendering them powerless to enforce laws which had been successful in dramatically reducing Amazon deforestation over the last decade.  He has also accused Brazil’s environmentalists and indigenous organisations of holding the country’s prosperity back.

In this newly permissive political context, big logging and ranching interests feel free to saw away at the remaining rainforest at a ferocious rate, invade indigenous people’s territories and even massacre unarmed villagers, with near total impunity.  So far this year, more than 80,000 forest fires have been recorded in Brazil, half in the Amazon, far more than the total for all 2018, and the burning season has another two months to go. Several environmentalists and indigenous leaders have been assassinated.

Not only is this forest destruction terrible for Brazilian people and wildlife, but it will accelerate global heating through a ... Read more...

Climate Justice Summit 2019

Climate change is a justice issue. Those who have the least economic and political power, and the least responsibility for the changing climate, are affected the most. The UN warns that one climate crisis disaster is happening every week and that developing countries must prepare now for profound impact. Students across the globe are striking to demand climate action from their governments.

Many churches originally signed up to the Eco Church programme as a response to one of the most critical issues of our time. That’s why A Rocha UK, in partnership with the Amos Trust, is organising a major conference on climate justice, ‘Once in a Lifetime’, from 23–24 September at St Paul’s Church in Cambridge.

The two-day summit will explore how churches and Christians can play a greater role in addressing climate change with justice, to accelerate a ‘just transition’ to a low-carbon world. A Rocha UK CEO, Andy Atkins, who founded Tearfund’s programme on Climate Change and Development, will be speaking on a Just Transition and Helen Stephens, A Rocha UK’s Church Relations Manager, will be encouraging participants to get involved in the Eco Church community, and will look at the role ... Read more...