Where did “common but differentiated responsibilities” come from?

The second in a series of posts on common but differentiated responsibilities. You can read the first here. Concerns about the effect that greenhouse gases were having on the climate led the UN General Assembly to endorse the creation of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change in 1988. It published its first report in 1990 which concluded that: emissions resulting from human activities are substantially … Continue reading Where did “common but differentiated responsibilities” come from?

What on earth are “common but differentiated responsibilities”?

The first of series of posts exploring the concept of common but differentiated responsibilities. “Common but differentiated responsibilities”, often abbreviated as CBDR (or even CBDRRC for “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”) , is a phrase that was embedded in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which was launched at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Article 3 … Continue reading What on earth are “common but differentiated responsibilities”?

God of truth and God of justice

Very few hymns have been written specifically about climate change and those that have tend to focus on how we have damaged the environment. This hymn aims to correct this imbalance by presenting climate justice as the central issue. It acknowledges that the power imbalances are at the heart of the climate crisis and calls Christians to oppose these. The suggested tune is a Welsh … Continue reading God of truth and God of justice

Singing our vision

This hymn is more about the wider ecological emergency than it is about the specifics of climate change but still feels at home within this collection. Few people will appreciate the differences between the songs of different birds, and this may offer an opportunity to play some recordings to introduce the hymn to the congregation and explore this aspect of biodiversity. The bird names are … Continue reading Singing our vision

Like a butterfly

As this blog-site demonstrates I am fascinated by the use of the butterfly as a Christian symbol. Although a search of “butterfly as Christian symbol” will find several sites making claims that this is part of Christain tradition, I’ve yet to see one that cites a convincing example. Anyway, even if the Buttefly hasn’t been used in this context before, I firmly believe it should … Continue reading Like a butterfly