03 June 2017 David Adams

Updated 10am, 3rd June, 2017

with RNS

Christian advocates for action on climate change in the US and around the world have reacted with dismay to US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change accord.

The decision, which Mr Trump said honours an election commitment and would support US industry and jobs, means the US joins Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries not taking part in the landmark agreement which was signed in 2015. Under the deal, countries agreed to set their own benchmarks with the overall aim of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below two degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels.

In a joint statement issued on Friday, the World Council of Churches, ACT Alliance and Lutheran World Federation expressed their disappoinment at the development, saying that the implementation of the Paris agreement "is the only way for the human family to turn away from the threat of global warming".

"As global temperatures continue to rise, severe floods, droughts and superstorms are becoming more and more commonplace," the statement said. "It is the most vulnerable people who are hit first. The poorest countries will be hit twice more: first by unwillingness to curb US carbon emissions, and then by a planned decrease in climate finance to support people in adapting to the impacts of climate change and towards a transition to clean energy for poor countries."

Rudelmar Bueno De Faria, general secretary of the ACT Alliance, added that the decision "flies in the face of ethics and Christian values" while Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, described it as a "tragedy". "This is a decision that is not morally sustainable - and not economically sustainable either," he said. "The struggle for climate justice has to continue."

Prior to the decision being announced, Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, director of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences, told the Italian daily La Repubblica: “If Donald Trump really decides to pull the US out of the Paris accord it will be a disaster for everyone.”

In the UK, the Church of England labelled the decision "extreme carelessness" with the Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, saying he was "very disturbed" by the move. "How can President Trump look in the eye the people most affected, including the world's poorest in the places most affected by climate change now, and those affected by increasingly frequent extreme weather in parts of the USA? The leader of what used to be called 'the new world' is trapped in old world thought and action."

Earlier in the US, Patrick Carolan, executive director of the Franciscan Action Network, said that when large countries like the US "deny the reality of the climate crisis and pull out of commitments holding us accountable for doing our part to curb global temperature rise, we are turning our backs on the poor and vulnerable, which goes directly against our Franciscan-Christian values".

Tomás Insua, executive director of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, said Mr Trump's action was a "backward and immoral action". "Catholics are saddened and outraged that Trump is not listening to Pope Francis after their meeting last week. Still, the world will continue to accelerate climate action, despite the White House’s retrograde stance.”

Kyle Meyaard-Schaap, national organiser and spokesperson for the Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, said the group will "continue to take hopeful action to address climate change and to love our neighbors both here and around the world". "As we do, we reject your disdain for the well-being of those suffering from the impacts of a changing climate. We bear witness to your moral failure, and we will not forget it."

Asma Lateef, director of the Bread for the World Institute, said the decision would "increase global hunger". “Climate change is already a significant cause of hunger around the world. Because of droughts, floods, and unpredictable weather patterns, farmers in developing countries are no longer able to grow food in places they have been farming for generations. Many are having to leave their communities in search of food or income elsewhere.”

The organisation said that with the US being the world’s second-largest emitter of climate change-causing greenhouse gasses, reneging on its commitments, would likely see global temperatures "rise much faster than they would have otherwise". "The impact of climate change includes crop failures and the loss of grazing lands, soil degradation, the spread of mosquito-borne disease, and the destruction of fisheries. Climate change is a factor in today’s famine and near famine conditions in four countries in Africa and the Middle East."

Meanwhile, in Australia, the National Council of Churches called on Prime Minister Turnbull to show leadership in commitment to the global climate agreement despite "the short-sightedness of the US President".

Bishop Philip Huggins, president of the NCCA, said the deal "is bigger than just one country, one person or a handful of climate sceptics". "It is about the urgent survival of humanity, the ability for all children to be able to born into and live in a world with clean air and clean water."

Bishop Huggins said people in Pacific nations like Tuvalu and the Carteret Islands were "already feeling pressure to flee their country because of a rise in sea level" while in Australia, "our unprecedented heat waves are having serious consequences for our land, livestock, vegetation and homes".

“This climate deal, signed by 195 countries is about action and trust that our leaders understand that there is no second chance at this," he said. “Global warming is real, and it will have devastating effects on us in our lifetime. Prime Minister Turnbull should lead in protecting this planet for our children and for their children, regardless of the short sightedness of the US President or climate sceptics."