with Rev Dr Chris Walker
Care for Creation
I have always appreciated the natural environment. This only increased when I became a surfer and skier. A big part of the enjoyment of these sports is the setting – the ocean and its waves and the mountains with its snowy landscape. It amazes me that not everyone does appreciate nature. After all we in fact are part of nature and depend on it for our lives and well-being. As a Christian I have a particular approach to the natural environment.
The science is clear about global warming and climate change. It has been so for decades now. Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” (2006) brought this home to the general public. Insurance companies have factored in the implications for insurance claims for some time. The deniers or those who minimize the effects of climate change do us all a disservice. Yet my own Australian government wants a gas led economic recovery from COVID-19 instead of recognising that we need to transition now to renewable forms of energy. School students recently had protests across Australia and especially on social media with the slogan “Fund our future not gas.” The Uniting Church was on side with this campaign. The federal government ignored their voices.
The Morison government claimed to be focusing on jobs in its recent budget. Yet renewable sources of energy will provide many more jobs than gas or coal. The federal government took no notice of the Climate Council which has clear evidence of the jobs different industries provide. Australia will miss out on an opportunity to be a leader in renewable sources of energy if assistance is given to gas in preference to renewables. Fossil fuel industries are not the future and will make it harder to reduce emissions. Australia may not be a big player when it comes to the nations of the world but per capita we are terrible. We have a responsibility to reduce emissions in order to avoid catastrophic global warming. China is seeking to change and set targets in a way that Australia is unwilling to. It is even suspicious who Morrison and company listen to and why. They seem to have a bias towards the fossil fuel industry that is not based on what is best for the country but what will benefit those who support them politically.
Conservative right-wing media have long been climate change deniers and have claimed that scientists are divided when they are not. Rupert Murdock’s media empire in Australia, the UK and the USA have been leading voices doing this. Finally, even one of his own sons, James Murdoch, has criticized his powerful father for his stance and the position of his media against climate change. In a rare interview several years ago, in a recent three-part BBC television documentary on Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch expressed standard right-wing ideas – that climate change has always happened and humanity does not make much of a contribution to global warming. He was even willing to say that if sea levels rise, we might lose some islands such as the Maldives but so be it.
I was horrified. Ocean levels are rising and Pacific nations are suffering the effects now. I have been to the Maldives on a surfing holiday and it is a very appealing area. Any surfer who has been there would not want to lose the Maldives let alone the people who live there. The same goes for Pacific nations who are already experiencing more frequent and stronger cyclones. We in Australia have had the worst bush fire season on record last summer and California and other states in the USA have had their worst bush fire season also. It is not just distant islands that are being impacted by climate change and global warming but nations such as Australia and the USA. Yet governments in these nations are refusing to admit the seriousness of the problem and take real action to remedy the situation.
Farmers used to readily clear land of trees in order to have fields to grow crops. Many now recognize the value of leaving some trees or replanting trees in some areas as being beneficial. They also know the importance of water and many are concerned at gas mining that might take place near their properties, or even be forced on them, that could lead to contaminating the ground water. Indigenous people are opposed to new gas mining in places such as around Narrabri as they want to preserve the land, the water and their sacred sites. Yet approval has been given despite a huge campaign by many different people not wanting gas mining in the area. It is disappointing that the state and federal governments are so weak in relation to environmental policy.
I am not against economic development but I do want economic development that is environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. The future I desire for my grandchildren and great grandchildren is one in which koalas and other endangered species still exist. I would like to have islands with people able to live as they want and for tourists to enjoy also.
As a Christian I have a particular view of the natural environment. It is not simply a resource for humans to exploit as Western nations in particular have done for the past two hundred years with an increasing impact due to technological developments. The natural environment is God’s creation given by God. It is not given only to humans but to all creatures. Yet humans have a special place and therefore responsibility in relation to creation. Human capacity, given by God, has been developed such that we can now impact our world like never before even to the point of climate change leading to global warming. Yes, there have been changes in the world’s climate over long periods but nothing like the rapid change happening now which human activity is causing. We can take responsibility and reverse this. I believe God is calling us to do so.
Chris Walker
Chris is currently serving the Assembly of the Uniting Church as the National Consultant for Theology and Discipleship.
He has served in a range of positions and places in the Uniting Church including local church ministry in three congregations in NSW, as a regional education and mission officer, and consultant for evangelism and discipleship, in Queensland, as principal of Parkin-Wesley College in SA, and as a mission resource officer for Parramatta-Nepean Presbytery.
He has a passion for theology, mission and discipleship. His interest in writing has resulted in various publications including five books, most recently Peace Like A Diamond: facets of peace (Spectrum, 2009) and Living Life to the Full: Spirituality for today’s baby boomers (Openbook, 2005).