On Sunday, October 17, more than 110 faith communities spanning every Australian state and territory will hold events and display large banners calling on the prime minister to “Protect Creation” and take “Bold climate action by 2030, starting now.” Organisers say only an ambitious near-term goal would make a 2050 target meaningful.
This will be followed early on Monday morning, October 18, by multi-faith vigils outside the offices of Members of Parliament, including that of the prime minister.
The events are intended to send a message to Scott Morrison that diverse faith communities want him to take strong climate policies to the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow.
While the Government remains divided over whether to set a target of net zero emissions by 2050 faith communities have united to say that it is the much nearer date of 2030 that really matters.
Those MPs targeted are mostly Government MPs, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Cronulla, Barnaby Joyce in Tamworth, Warren Entsch in Cairns and Steve Irons in Perth.
The events and vigils have been coordinated by the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) as part of GreenFaith International. Both senior and grassroots faithful from diverse religious traditions – Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Pentecostal, Anglican, Catholic, Quaker and more – will be involved and available for comment.
Similar multi-faith actions are being taken in hundreds of locations around the world, from New York to Nairobi, Lilongwe in Malawi to London, some with corporate targets such as BlackRock and some challenging deforestation.
Sydney-based actions on October 17 will include events at:
- Emanual Synagogue, Woollahra
- Sydney Zen Centre, Annandale
- St Mary’s Catholic Church, North Sydney
- St Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Paramatta
Ven. Bhante Sujato, Director SuttaCentral, will be the spokesperson at the vigil at Scott Morrison’s office in Cronulla.
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For details of times across time zones, see the map of local events.
