Our faith-inspired work is organized around the four areas of connection, education, advocacy and action.
Here we are thinking about advocacy through petitions, phone calls, letters, visits, boycotts, marches, protests and so on.
In each monthly issue of our newsletter, we list some advocacy resources.
WHy Climate Justice?
As we take climate action, we must act in solidarity with those most impacted. Rising global temperatures will affect every place on Earth, but the poorest regions will suffer the most severe effects. Most accumulated greenhouse gas emissions have come from industrialized nations, especially the United States, while poor nations with minimal historic emissions lack the resources to respond to disasters caused by rising temperatures, rising seas, and extreme weather. It is also important to recognize that without systemic change, significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will be impossible. Path-breaking action points to systemic change, and this cannot be done by isolated individuals or churches. Progress toward a sustainable future must include more than individual actions, or actions by an individual church. With every action we take, we must see ourselves as part of a global movement for climate justice, led by those most deeply affected.
Resources & Opportunities
We maintain a list of advocacy resources covering how to be an advocate and where to find out about the work of other climate justice and environmental action groups; and as we become aware of advocacy projects of other UM, ecumenical or non-profit groups, we share these opportunities in the news section of this site.
Divestment
The science is clear: to stabilize the climate and prevent runaway climate change, we must phase out fossil fuels. Divesting involves shifting investments away from polluting coal, oil, and gas and instead investing in just and sustainable forms of renewable power. We have been advocating for our California-Nevada United Methodist Conference money to be divested from fossil fuels. Go to the divestment page to learn about why divestment is an important tool to fight climate change.
Our task force has joined with the Palestine Task Force to endorse the Chevron Boycott and we invite you to join us. See this news report on the conference website.
Other Newsletters
Many other UM and ecumenical groups that do climate justice work also have newsletters that you can subscribe to from their websites for their latest advocacy opportunities.