In 2006 the LCA joined other religious bodies in Australia in developing ‘A Common Belief: Australia's Religions United on Climate’. At the time LCA pastor Fred Veerhuis stated, ‘The church recognises that the possibility of unchecked climate change causing irreparable damage to our planet and placing the survival of human life on earth at risk makes the issue of climate change one of the most important moral issues facing humanity’.

In 2009 the World Bank symposium in France reported on how urban communities across the globe were addressing climate change, the most urgent issue that humanity currently faces. Most apparent was that the poor and the weak are the ones who will suffer the most as their capacity to adapt is much less. The human suffering related to climate change is just emerging: Bangladeshis living on the deltas are being forced to migrate to the cities inland; Somalis are suffering the worst drought in 60 years and refugee camps in Kenya are now the size of cities; Queenslanders have lost loved ones and livelihoods in the floods. In Matthew 25 Jesus urges us to care for the least among us. We are quick to set up appeals in response to climate-related crises, but are we doing enough to address the human contributions to the causes of climate change?

You can read the full story in the September 2011 edition, available from LCA Subscriptions. Full columns become available online three years after publication date.