A church-backed campaign on climate change has challenged the United Kingdom government to state its policy for future negotiations on global warming while also welcoming the agreement reached at the United Nations' conference in Montreal.
The November 29 to December 9 talks in Montreal aimed to start discussions on a long-term strategy to safeguard climatic stability after the expiry in 2012 of current commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon dioxide and other atmospheric gases that many scientists believe cause global warming.
"Time is running out to 'cut the carbon' and turn the conference's hopes into reality," said the Rev. David Pickering, moderator of the campaign called Operation Noah. "We in the West have to accept the lion's share of cuts, including in our homes and churches."
The U.N. meeting agreed to launch formal, though non-binding, talks on targets to be set from 2012, as well as a further round of targets for nations already in the December 1997 pact agreed to in Kyoto, Japan.
Pickering challenged the British government to declare what position it will take in future negotiations. "Operation Noah supporters want them to get global emissions cut to a safe level in a way that is fair for all the world's people," he said.
Operation Noah is a joint project of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) and the Christian Ecology Link, which campaigns for a more environmentally-friendly church. CTBI is an umbrella organization bringing together Roman Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Reformed and Pentecostal traditions.
Web sites: www.christian-ecology.org.uk/noah; www.ctbi.org.uk
