This article is sponsored by Uniting, the Board of the NSW and ACT Synod of the Uniting Church responsible for the work of community services, chaplaincy and social justice advocacy. www.uniting.org
Uniting and our wider church took to the streets for climate action on September 20, with more than a thousand of our churchgoers and staff joining more than 300,000 people across Australia and over six million worldwide.
Prompted by appeals from younger Australians, people of all ages and backgrounds joined together to call on governments for stronger, more decisive climate action.
Uniting Church President Dr Deidre Palmer said, “We’re thankful and inspired by the younger generation for their leadership, courage and mobilisation of this unprecedented call to action.”
In NSW and the ACT, around 400 Uniting Church members and over 100 Uniting staff fronted at rallies. In Sydney, hundreds of staff and congregants walked from Pitt St Uniting, led by drummers from Leichhardt Uniting Church. They were astonished to find themselves among an estimated 80,000 gathered at the Sydney Domain.
This event is seen by Uniting as another step towards securing much stronger commitments from developed nations like Australia to address the crisis. Climate action is a high priority campaign of the Uniting Advocacy team, and the Uniting Church Synod of NSW-ACT has resolved to develop a Synod-wide climate strategy to reduce carbon emissions across all parts of the church, and also to advocate for more decisive action by governments to reduce Australia’s emissions.
More than 300,000 Australians have signed a parliamentary petition to declare a climate emergency and take real action. The record number of signatures means Parliament must debate it. We look forward to hearing the debate!
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For more information contact Uniting Earth Advocate Jessica Morthorpe at jmorthorpe@uniting.org
