We are witnessing extreme weather conditions globally. From wildfires to horrendous floods and heatwaves, many have faced devastation from extreme weather events this year as a result of climate change. This decade we have observed record levels of CO2 in the atmosphere due to human impact – levels which haven’t been exceeded for around 4 million years, according to the BBC.

We begin the season of Creationtide today.  We have shared this year updates and articles so far this year on Eco-initiatives in the diocese, and on the G7 Summit in Cornwall in June.  There is now heightened attention on the Environment in the lead-up to the Conference of the Parties (COP-26) which will meet in Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November. You can read about environmental projects across the Diocese such as Palermo’s City Forest and Reducing Plastic Waste here.

Pan-diocesan event: Caring for our Climate

Following on from our 2020 Creationtide service, planning is currently underway for our next Eco-centred pan-diocesan event on 29 October timed immediately ahead of COP-26.  Young people will play a big part in this event with participants from across the diocese, and the event will also feature the Sing to G7 choir who sang to G7 at the Summit in June 2021.  We will include a virtual tour around the Diocese looking at some of the creative eco-projects and initiatives our chaplaincies are doing to promote care for our climate. We will also update on the European Green Deal, and how we can contribute to its agenda to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050. 

Eco-Church

In 2018, we began to encourage chaplaincies to embrace ARocha’s ‘eco-church’ auditing scheme, so that all of our church communities can work towards a more eco-friendly place in the world – aiming to be an ‘Eco-diocese’.   Chaplaincies in the diocese can find out more about this from our Diocesan Environment Officer, Elizabeth Bussmann at bemdeo@gmail.com.

Getting inspired ...

As Creationtide gets underway this year, we are are delighted to share this project by a campaign by an organisation on the island of Gozo.  Embarking on a mission to collect 3,000 plastic bottles, the community on the Maltese island have been raising awareness of our plastic usage by creating an art installation of the Messiah.  As part of the Cast-Out Campaign, people in Gozo have recycled their plastic bottles at community collection points. They are participating in clean ups to tidy local landscapes by gathering littered bottles which can be repurposed into art.

It is hoped the sculpture will become a go-to tourist attraction, encouraging onlookers to protect the planet while demonstrating the scale of our plastic consumption. The community effort needed to source materials essential to build this art helps to reduce littered landscapes whilst promoting recycling and eco-citizenship.

Photo: The Cast-Out Project

Save the date: 29 October!

Look out on the website, E-news and our social media for more on our pan-diocesan event “Caring for our Climate” on 29 October at 17:15 CET, 16:15 BST. 

The event will be livestreamed on Diocesan YouTube with a link on our Facebook page.

In the meantime, please save the date!