February 2, 2007

The World Council of Churches (WCC) programme on climate change and water has welcomed a report released today by the UN climate panel. The fourth major report in 20 years from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presents the overwhelming scientific consensus on greenhouse gas emissions.

It is "very likely," the report says, that emissions from fossil fuels and other human activities are the main causes of climate change. In IPCC terminology, "very likely" indicates at least 90 percent probability, and is the strongest link to human activities made by the panel since it was set up in 1988. The report also reminds us that correcting the damage already occasioned will take many centuries.

For Rev. Dr Martin Robra, responsible for the WCC's work on climate change, the global debate over human impact on the environment must now shift from denial and delays to responsibility and remedies – that are well within humanity's grasp.

Alarming scenarios concerning the consequences of climate change for people, plants and animals, the WCC says, should compel everybody to do their utmost to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to support those already affected by storms, droughts, floods and rising sea levels.

The Council is calling a rapidly growing number of people in its constituency who are taking action on climate change to consult and use the information published in the IPCC report.

Its own work on climate change began in 1990, drawing the attention of churches and the wider public to the threat to future life of climate change, as well as to its actual impact today, especially on poor and vulnerable communities.

More information on the WCC work on climate change: http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/ecearth-climatechange.html.

IPCC report: http://www.ipcc.ch/.

World Council of Churches