The Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops in America
Global Climate Change: A Moral and Spiritual Challenge
May 25, 2007
[abridged]
The Church has always known that human beings are dependent upon the grace of God through the world to nurture and sustain society. While God is the Source of all that we have, we humans share a responsibility to care for His creation and offer it back to Him in thanksgiving.... “Thine own of thine own, we offer unto thee, in behalf of all and for all.”
The action of returning creation back to God in gratitude summarizes the commands that God gave humanity in Genesis. These commandments guide us into the spiritual and material goods that we need....
In our day, society has failed to remember these holy mandates.... As a people, we have forgotten God and our mandated responsibilities.... Instead of receiving the gifts of God as He would bestow them, we heedlessly take from the earth and waste its resources.... The pollution and degradation of the world is directly related to the pollution and the degradation of our hearts.
Faithful to the responsibility that we have been given, it is prudent to listen to the world’s scientific leaders as they describe changes in the world’s climate, changes that are already being experienced by people throughout the world. In Alaska, the average temperature has risen by 7º, causing glaciers to retreat.... In Florida, Hawaii and the islands of the Caribbean, coral reefs are dying. In ocean waters... higher temperatures result in lower concentrations of plankton, reducing a food source for fish and birds, and ultimately, for humans. Across the west, a modest increase in temperature has contributed to a six-fold increase in forest fires.... Previously distant diseases, such as West Nile virus and dengue fever, are appearing as a direct result of rising temperatures.
These are signs of a changing climate. While the world’s climate has also undergone changes in past centuries, three considerations make the current changes unprecedented:
— The rapid extent of temperature increase is historically unparalleled.
— The human role in changing the climate is unique today.
— The impact that climate change will exert upon society is great and diverse, including conditions which disrupt the lives and livelihoods of people on an unprecedented scale.
These changes are the result of increases of “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere. These are produced by the burning of gasoline, coal and other fossil fuels. Among the consequences, the atmosphere and the oceans are warming; wind and rainfall patterns are changing; sea levels are rising. Forces of climate change also increase the acidity of the oceans; raise the ferocity of storms...; cause droughts and heat waves to become more intense; and, they disrupt normal agriculture. The conditions we observe now are only the early alterations to our climate. Larger and more disruptive changes will result unless we reduce the forces causing climate change.
It should be clear that immediate measures must be taken.... If we fail to act now, the changes already underway will intensify and create catastrophic conditions. A contributing cause of these changes is a lifestyle that contains unintended... destructive side effects. It may be that no person intends to harm the environment, but excessive use of fossil fuels is destroying the life of creation.... As Church leaders, it is our responsibility to speak to this condition as it represents a grave moral and spiritual problem.
Therefore, we wish to emphasize the seriousness and the urgency of the situation. To persist in a path of excess and waste, at the expense of our neighbors and beyond the capability of the planet to support the lifestyle responsible for these changes, is not only folly; it jeopardizes the survival of God’s creation.... Not only is [this] sinful; it is no less than suicidal.
But there is hope. Society can alter its behavior and avoid the more serious consequences of climate change. In order to make the required changes, we are called to pray for a change in our personal attitudes and habits, in spite of any inconvenience. The issue is not merely our response to climate change, but our failure to obey God. We must live in a manner that is consistent with what we believe. At minimum, this means caring about the effect of our lives upon our neighbors, respecting the natural environment, and demonstrating a willingness to live within the means of our planet. Such a change will invariably require reduction in our consumption of fossil fuels as well as acceptance of alternative energy sources such as solar or wind power, and other methods that minimize our impact upon the world. We can do these things, but it will require intentional effort.
We must learn all that we can about climate change. We must set an example in the way that we live, informing others about this threat. We must discuss this with fellow parishioners and we must raise the issue before public officials. Each of us can do something.
At every Divine Liturgy, we pray for seasonable weather. Let us enter into this prayer and amend our lives... If we can do this, God willing, we may live and flourish. This is not optional.... The Scriptures tell us if we destroy the earth, God will destroy us (see Rev. 11:18).
Let us all recall the commands of God regarding our use of the earth. And let us responsibly discern the right, holy and proper way to live in this time of change and challenge.
Highlights
We are all personally responsible to identify and adopt appropriate moral and ethical approaches to the changing conditions of the world.
Immediate measures must be taken to reduce the impact of these changes to the world's climate.
If we fail to act now, the changes that are already underway will intensify and create catastrophic conditions.
We wish to emphasize the seriousness and the urgency of the situation. To persist in a path of excess and waste, at the expense of our neighbors and beyond the capability of the planet to support the lifestyle directly responsible for these changes, is not only folly; it jeopardizes the survival of God’s creation.... In the end, not only is it sinful; it is no less than suicidal.
...we are called to pray first and foremost for a change in our personal attitudes and habits, in spite of any accompanying inconvenience.
