Part 1: An Overview

Climate change is a global problem, but one which affects us unequally. For example, those who live in the industrialised global north have contributed disproportionately to the problem, whereas the residents of the global south are far more likely to suffer the harmful consequences of climate change. Therefore, for Christians, concerned with issues of inequality and social justice, climate change has to be high on our agenda. In this talk Dr Ruth Valerio takes the fact of climate change as a given. The scientific evidence for rising global temperatures as a result of human activities is now overwhelming. She shows that with this now near-universal acceptance of the facts how the language of climate change has shifted from global warming to climate change and more recently embraces the term ‘climate emergency’. Although not stated in the talk some authors place this emergency as soon as the mid 2030’s. Ruth Valerio reflects on the fact that during her career, over a period of about 30 years, extreme climate events originally made as predictions are now being reported in the news as regular events.

The talk is in two parts. First, Dr Valerio explores how climate change affects the natural environment around us and how that impacts our communities; along with this analysis she provides a Christian theological underpinning for why climate change especially matters to Christians. In the second part of the talk Dr Valerio explores what must we do to combat the impacts of climate change.

Dr Ruth Valerio is Global Advocacy and Influencing Director for the Christian charity Tearfund. Before Tearfund, she was Churches and Theology Director for the Christian charity (A Rocha) that works for the protection and restoration of the natural world, and she spearheaded their Ecochurch project. She has a theology degree from Cambridge and a doctorate from Kings College London, holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Winchester and Chichester and is currently Canon Theologian at Rochester Cathedral. Ruth is also the author of several books mentioned at the end of her talk.