Posted on: March 7, 2017 4:04 PM

The start of Lent saw the beginning of a new international campaign – Renew Our World – in which tens of thousands of Christians from six countries will join together in prayer and action to try to tackle climate change.

Renew Our World is campaigning for clean renewable energy and sustainable agriculture for the world’s poorest communities. Christians are being urged to join in prayer to help the world’s poorest people to flourish. This long-term campaign aims to mobilise and inspire churches around the world to beat hunger, poverty and injustice, starting with climate change. The campaign is taking place in the UK, USA, Australia, Zambia, Peru and Nigeria.

Renew Our World is being launched by The Anglican Alliance, Tearfund, Micah Global, TEAR Australia, Micah Zambia, EU-CORD, Peace and Hope International (Paz y Esperanza) & CAFOD. It is asking governments to make firm plans to keep their promises made in the Paris Climate Agreement, and to invest in clean energy and sustainable agriculture.

Revd Andrew Bowerman, Co-Executive Director of the Anglican Alliance, said, “The Renew Our World campaign will work alongside the Anglican Communion’s global goal to see resilient communities flourishing in harmony with creation across the globe. We are deeply committed to serving with others in the Communion and beyond to enable this to become a reality. ”

Tearfund’s Director of Advocacy, Paul Cook, adds, “The Renew Our World campaign will put pressure on governments around the world to deliver on promises made in the Paris Agreement. Part of that agreement is to see energy renewed with clean power, agriculture transformed using climate-friendly techniques and food renewed by taking action on waste.”

The Paris Agreement sets out a global action plan to start putting the world on course to address dangerous climate change. Through the Renew our World campaign, Christians will be praying that the 195 countries who signed up to the agreement will limit global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees as possible and that greenhouse gas emissions will be eliminated.

Archbishop Albert Chama, Primate of the Province of Central Africa and Chair of the Anglican Alliance, recently pleaded with his fellow Central Africa leaders to take the lead on environmental issues and make the province green and clean. As bishops they were requested to take a leading role in their respective dioceses.

Archbishop Chama emphasised the importance of the environment in the every day lives of humans and other animals and he asked church members to take care of the trees and do the same in their respective homes.

“This is our generation’s choice,” said the Right Reverend Nicholas Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury, and the Church of England’s lead bishop on climate change. “We can beat hunger and poverty and to do that we need to beat climate change. Previous generations didn’t know about climate change; for later generations it will be too late. This is our generation’s challenge. We need to rise to it. As followers of Jesus we already know we need to love our neighbours and care for creation. Lent is a good time to remember the spiritual and physical limits of consumerism.”