European bishops have called on politicians to anchor their climate change policies in ethical thinking.
Launching the report, A Christian View on Climate Change recently, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Communities (COMECE) said that climate change policies must be based on “inter-generational justice and solidarity towards countries of the South”. It also urges Christians to show an example by adopting lifestyles based on moderation.
“It must be recognised that the fight against climate change is first of all a problem of public ethos,” the report states. “It will be hard to solve without challenging certain ways of organising society, without questioning the ways we live together and the value system of civil society. In order to convince citizens to fundamentally change their way of thinking and living, political leaders should turn to profound ethical reflection and debate.”
The authors of the report call on the European Union to take up the leadership, and to raise its voice, for the developing countries and for future generations who bear, or will bear, the highest burden of climate change. They underline the fact that the EU bears a special responsibility for combating climate change, in view of its technological and financial means and its experience with co-operative action.
The report recalls that climate change is but one symptom of an unsustainable way of life, modes of production and patterns of consumption that have evolved in the industrialised world but which are not sustainable in future. It calls on citizens to question their own lifestyles and to base them much more on cultural and relational, rather than material, goods. Lifestyles should be based on voluntary ‘moderation’, a central virtue that should be understood as having the aim, not of diminishing, but rather of supporting a higher quality of life and a greater reason to rejoice.
In order to contribute to the debate on Climate Change, the COMECE Bishops have decided to set up an ad hoc working group on “EU Climate Change Policies and Christian Lifestyle”. For further info see www.comece.org.