Friday Night

Climate Change and the Church

Following the sixth form day, the liveit! main event kicked off with a presentation by Mary Colwell, a producer with the BBC's natural history unit.

Mary used short film clips to illustrate her presentation. She said that people all over the world were beginning to notice the effects of climate change but that "noticing is one thing, acting is another".

Mary called for inspirational church leadership on the topic, who "could offer a strong moral voice," and gave the example of the Dalai Lama who spoke out against the use of rare animal skins in Tibetan culture with immediate and dramatic effects.

Despite the fact we're travelling along "a 12 lane motorway which ends in a brick wall," Mary asked us to take the "road less travelled". It might not be comfortable, she said, but it exists. "The journey can only happen if it's positive," she added, and we needed to "have a dream - Martin Luther didn't say, 'I have a nightmare'".

"Just do it," she said, encouraging us to be "sinful heroes" working for the "global Common Good". "We need to act as a generation," she said, "to do the right thing".

After Mary spoke, Christine Allen, Director of Catholic Development Agency Progressio, chaired a Climate Change debate. Questions included favourite climate change Bible verses, comments on population, and the urgent need to do nothing since by doing nothing we could reconnect to the natural world and stop the damaging effects of our lifestyles.