Prayer Guide
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1 vv16-17
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Saturday 1st February
Join with many other Christians from around the world with the monthly Pray and Fast for the Climate Movement on the first of each month. Prayer points for this month will be on their website.
Merciful God, we believe that you uphold and sustain all that you have made, while also lovingly giving us the freedom to live in relationship with the rest of creation. We ask your forgiveness for the ways we have abused that freedom, through what we have done and what we have left undone. We bring our lament and our longing for a renewed earth to you now:
(Christian Climate Action’s prayer for climate grief).
https://prayandfastfortheclimate.org.uk/resources/
Sunday 2nd February
Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
In the face of climate breakdown,
Extreme weather, rising seas and rising temperatures,
We humble ourselves before you
And confess, announce and proclaim your love,
And ask that we would enact, embody and execute your kingdom. A kingdom of Justice.
A kingdom of Love.
A kingdom of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Jon Swales. Taken from prayer 13 Fast fashion and finance
https://greenchristian.org.uk/lament-hope-40-prayers-for-the-climate-and-ecological-emergency/
Monday 3rd February
Tonight at 7 pm there is an online book launch, with Deborah Tomkins and Weatherglass Books. Deborah is a Trustee of Green Christian and former Co-Chair. In 2024, Deborah’s novella Aerth was joint winner of Weatherglass Books’ Inaugural Novella Prize, judged by multiple award-winning literary novelist Ali Smith. Aerth was published on 25 January 2025. In this online event, Green Christian welcomes Neil Griffiths (publisher, Weatherglass Books) and Deborah, who will talk about the book and answer audience questions. Informed by Deborah’s Christian faith, Aerth is a story about migration, climate, conspiracy theories and interplanetary homelessness. Free event, but register for the zoom link,
https://greenchristian.org.uk/gc-campaigns/green-christian-workshops/
Tuesday 4th February
Droughts spanning multiple years have become drier, hotter and more frequent over the past 40 years, according to new research. Yanine Quiroz goes on to write: the study, published in Science, finds that the global land surface affected by these extreme events has expanded at a rate of nearly 50,000 square kilometres (km2) per year in the past four decades – an area larger than Switzerland each year. The authors identify multi-year droughts – which can last from years to decades – that occurred around the world between 1980 and 2018. They find that multi-year droughts can cause significant declines in vegetation in ecosystems such as grasslands. These impacts can also translate into severe impacts for humans, including water scarcity.
Wednesday 5th February
Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced that it will step in to provide finance to the UN’s climate change body after President Donald Trump withdrew the USA from the Paris Agreement, halting its financial contributions, writes Sidhi Mittal… The US provides approximately 22% of the UNFCCC secretariat’s budget, with the body’s operating costs projected at $96.5m for 2024-2025. In addition to providing financial support, billionaire Michael Bloomberg confirmed that he will also uphold the USA’s reporting obligations under the Paris Agreement by tracking and reporting the nation’s non-federal climate commitments. This marks the second time Bloomberg has stepped in to take responsibility for the USA’s financial and reporting commitments to the UNFCCC, following the Trump administration’s first withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in 2017.
https://www.edie.net/bloomberg-commits-to-funding-un-climate-change-body-after-trump-withdrawal/
Thursday 6th February
Another online event tonight at 7, this one is co-hosted by Operation Noah, Christian Climate Action, Green Christian and Uplift. Come and hear how we can have our say in the government consultation on new drilling. Let’s end new fossil fuels in the UK! Free, but register to get the link
https://greenchristian.org.uk/gc-campaigns/green-christian-workshops/
Friday 7th February
The Government has [in late January] confirmed that the long-awaited Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will launch in October 2027, writes Matt Mace. The DRS gives consumers a financial incentive to return empty plastic or metal containers, such as 150ml to three-litre single-use drinks containers, to collection points to improve recycling rates…A DRS is used in more than 50 countries worldwide, and the average return rate in Europe is 90%… The former Conservative Government confirmed back in April 2024 that the DRS would launch in 2027, a delay on the original plan to roll out the scheme in 2025… [G]lass bottles will not be included in England and Northern Ireland’s DRS. The decision mirrors the approach of the previous Tory-led UK Government and contrasts with plans from the Welsh and Scottish Governments, both of which include glass in their DRS proposals. Green groups have criticised the exclusion… A DRS was first promised back in 2018 through the Resources and Waste Strategy.
https://www.edie.net/government-confirms-deposit-return-scheme-will-launch-in-october-2027/
Saturday 8th February
Inconsistent government and corporate climate strategies may see poorer regions [of South Africa] left behind in the transition away from polluting industries to green jobs, according to new research. Kim Harrisberg continues: wealthier cities like Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg, have more advanced plans to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts than less affluent regions, said the analysis of more than 50 government and corporate entities by South African non-profit SouthSouthNorth (SSN). “If poorer provinces are left behind, the socio-economic divide will widen, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups such as miners, informal workers and women,” said Samson Mbewe, an SSN project lead. The northeastern province of Mpumalanga, for example, is the heartland of South Africa’s coal production. The closure of coal plants there could lead to sharp rises in unemployment if new green jobs do not fill the void, Mbewe said.
Sunday 9th February
We renounce the unholy trinity of Unrestrained Capitalism, Consumerism and Individualism. Which ransacks and pillages
The world that you made.
We weep and wail for what we have done.
Remove from us our idolatrous hearts, which have been seduced and, at times, overwhelmed by these hostile forces.
Jon Swales. Taken from prayer 13 Fast fashion and finance
https://greenchristian.org.uk/lament-hope-40-prayers-for-the-climate-and-ecological-emergency/
Monday 10th February
Illegal wildlife trade in threatened and protected species and their parts is occurring in plain sight online in Vietnam, according to a recent assessment by monitoring watchdog TRAFFIC. Carolyn Cown writes, items openly advertised for sale online in the country included products made from rhinos, tigers, elephants, pangolins and multiple other species protected by international and national wildlife laws, the study found. The rise of the online wildlife trade is a menace globally: The enhanced anonymity, ease of online transactions and range of evasive tactics deployed by online traffickers typically hampers investigation and prosecution efforts. The report authors call on social media and e-commerce platforms to help curb the trade by improving their practices and collaborating closely with authorities to clamp down on illegal traders.
Tuesday 11th February
The insurance industry’s continued support for fossil fuel production is a major issue. It means insurers are now directly contributing to the economic and social harm caused by climate change. This is affecting people and businesses, with rising insurance premiums and some activities becoming uninsurable. Lloyd’s of London, a major player in fossil fuel insurance, has notably backtracked on its commitment to climate action and over 90 per cent of the underwriting agents it manages fail to meet fundamental environmental and social standards. [A] briefing [from Green Alliance] makes the case for policy makers to put greater pressure on the government, Lloyd’s and its regulators, to develop proper transition plans, integrate sustainability into insurance regulation and develop business models based around avoiding environmental and social harm, and supporting clean industries and sustainable business.
Wednesday 12th February
Tonight is an online workshop at 7pm, on the Coat of Hopes, with Barbara Keal. The Coat of Hopes is a patchwork pilgrim coat, on an ongoing walk through Britain. Made, worn and walked by many hundreds of people during and since the pilgrimage on which it was created – from the south coast of England to the gates of COP 26, the UN climate summit, in Glasgow autumn 2021. The Coat is made up of pieces of blanket into which people have worked their griefs, remembrances, prayers and hopes for the place they call home. Free workshop, but register for the zoom link.
https://greenchristian.org.uk/gc-campaigns/green-christian-workshops/
Thursday 13th February
President Donald Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” call for a resurgence in United States oil production will be frustrated by the reluctance of Wall Street to approve another frenzy, according to shale bosses, reported the Financial Times. Cristen Hemingway Jaynes continues: U.S. oil and gas output during Trump’s second term will increase by less than 1.3 million barrels of oil a day, Wood Mackenzie and Rystad Energy said, well below the nearly two barrels a day rise under Joe Biden. “The incentive, if you will, to just drill, baby, drill… I just don’t believe that companies are going to do that,” said Wil VanLoh, chief executive of Quantum Energy Partners, one of the largest investors in shale, as the Financial Times reported. “Wall Street will dictate here — and you know what? They don’t have a political agenda. They have a financial agenda… They have zero incentive to basically tell the management teams running these businesses to go and drill more wells,” VanLoh said.
https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-oil-production-wall-street.html
Friday 14th February
Last week, several prominent scientific organizations confirmed what had been predicted for months: 2024 was the hottest year on record. This sparked renewed calls for countries to rein in emissions of greenhouse gases, which superheat the planet and drive the climate crisis. Amid those pleas, experts urged nations not to forget about one often-overlooked gas: nitrous oxide. The compound warms the planet hundreds of times faster than carbon dioxide and, at the same time, destroys the stratospheric ozone layer, the barrier which protects the planet from harmful solar radiation. “Nitrous oxide is not as well known by the public as some other greenhouse gases, but it can be a remarkably destructive substance,” says Martina Otto, Head of Secretariat of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, which is convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “The good news is that with strong policymaking and international cooperation, it is possible to slow emissions of this super pollutant – and save millions of lives around the world.”…Nitrous oxide is part of the nitrogen cycle. It occurs naturally in soil and water when bacteria break down nitrogen through processes called nitrification and denitrification. It is also common byproduct of agriculture.
Saturday 15th February
The UK’s right-leaning newspapers have unleashed a huge wave of editorials attacking energy secretary Ed Miliband since last year’s general election, Carbon Brief analysis reveals. In the first half of 2024, newspapers published 16 editorials – articles that are considered the newspaper’s formal “voice” – attacking Miliband. In the second half of the year, since Labour’s election win, this increased to 45 – roughly two every week. Right-leaning outlets such as the Sun and the Daily Mail repeatedly called Miliband an “eco-zealot”, a “madman” and a “hysterical eco-obsessive”, due to his support for net-zero policies. More broadly, there were 368 editorials published in UK newspapers last year that were about climate change and energy. This is the second-highest annual tally recorded by Carbon Brief’s long-running project, which tracks UK newspaper editorials back to 2011. In 2024, unprecedented numbers of these editorials opposed climate action in general, as well as renewable energy, specifically.
Sunday 16th February
We repent of banking practices and investments that are not in line with justice.
Give us wisdom in where we bank,
Give us the courage to speak out against financial institutions which sponsor oppression and injustice. We repent of our collaboration and cooperation with a fast-fashion industry that requires the constant updating of our wardrobes in unsustainable ways. Give us wisdom in when and where to buy our clothes.
Give us the courage to present ourselves, our bodies and our fashion choices, as a living sacrifice that does not sacrifice the wellbeing of the world’s most vulnerable.
Jon Swales. Taken from prayer 13 Fast fashion and finance
https://greenchristian.org.uk/lament-hope-40-prayers-for-the-climate-and-ecological-emergency/
Monday 17th February
COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev attended the World Economic Forum in Davos [in January] where governments, international organisations, the private sector and civil society come together. At the summit, the Presidency discussed the key outcomes of COP29 and how to implement the historic commitments made in Baku. He also took the opportunity to remind all key stakeholders of the critical role they must play in tackling climate change and delivering the $1.3 trillion target set out in the Baku Finance Goal through the Baku to Belem Roadmap. During the World Economic Forum, Mr Babayev attended important engagements to ensure stakeholders turn commitments from COP29 into action.
Tuesday 18th February
Researchers, along with Indigenous Awajún community members have described 27 new-to-science species including a squirrel representing an entirely new genus, a semiaquatic mouse with webbed toes, a spiny mouse, short-tailed fruit bat, three new amphibians, eight new fish, a land-walking swamp eel, 10 new butterflies, and two new dung beetles. Liz Kimbrough continues ; the 38-day expedition in Peru’s Alto Mayo region used traditional survey methods and modern technology to document more than 2,000 species in an area home to many people. The partnership highlighted how Indigenous knowledge complemented scientific research, with Awajún community members helping locate rare species while learning scientific methods, though many “discoveries” were species their people had known about for generations. The Alto Mayo region faces significant deforestation pressure from farming expansion, prompting Conservation International to pursue various protection strategies including ecological restoration zones and sustainable enterprises like agroforestry.
Wednesday 19th February
In one of the more remarkable marches of human progress, Bangladesh has reached the point of near-universal electricity access for its citizens, writes Andy Corbley. Coupled with the rapid electrification has been one of the greatest single declines in the poverty rate of a nation ever seen, falling from 44.2% in 1991 to 18.7% in 2022. In 1991, only 14% of the nation had access to electricity. By 2021, 99% had access. Granted, half of these households are considered according to Our World in Data to have lower tier access, which accounts for home lighting and charging mobile phones at least 4 hours a day, but the other half are considered as having higher tier access, defined as the added capacity to power high-load appliances (such as fridges) for more than eight hours a day.
Thursday 20th February
Climate activists are celebrating after Aberystwyth University has committed to ending its recruitment ties with fossil fuel and mining companies, writes Brendan Montague. The university states that it will “no longer collaborate or hold relationships” with fossil fuel, mining or tobacco companies in an updated Ethical Careers Policy published on its website. Josie Mizen, co-director for climate justice at People & Planet said: “We’re delighted to see Aberystwyth committing to cutting fossil fuel and mining companies out of its careers and recruitment activities.”
https://theecologist.org/2025/jan/24/university-bans-fossil-fuel-recruiters
Friday 21st February
Former Business and Energy Secretary Alok Sharma, who also steered the UK’s hosting of the COP26 climate summit, has been chosen to chair the Transition Finance Council, writes Sarah George. Launched late last year, the Transition Finance Council will support the UK in becoming a leading global market for transition finance – that is, financing which facilitates the shift to a low-carbon economy. “To support growth and meet national and corporate climate goals, it is absolutely vital to grow the transition finance market,” said Lord Sharma. “I look forward to working with colleagues on the Transition Finance Council to help develop the UK into the preeminent global hub for transition finance.” A former MP and now a member of the House of Lords, Lord Sharma held senior Ministerial positions between 2019 and 2022 in International Development, Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Cabinet Office. In this latter role, Lord Sharma presided over the UN’s annual climate summit in 2021, COP21, which was hosted by the UK in Glasgow.
https://www.edie.net/alok-sharma-chosen-to-chair-uks-transition-finance-council/
Saturday 22nd February
According to a new research model, adding iron to fish farms could capture at least 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, in aquaculture-intensive countries, writes Emma Bryce. This could be enough to offset most of the carbon impact of aquaculture operations, which contribute between 5 and 7% of the global emissions linked to agriculture and livestock farming each year. Ironically, part of this solution lies in another polluting problem that fish farms create: mounting quantities of hydrogen sulfide [sic]. This is a toxic gas byproduct that builds up when microbes in low-oxygen environments like ocean sediments feast on organic matter. Industrial fish farms provide this in abundance, via fish feces and excess feed that sink to the bottom of the enclosure. Even at low levels, the hydrogen sulfide gas that the feasting microbes produce can cause massive fish mortality on farms, and trigger ripple effects in the wider lake and ocean ecosystems where fish farms reside. But as the researchers explain in their new Nature Food study, iron ore reacts naturally with hydrogen sulfide gas to form iron sulfide, and this mineral can then be sequestered in the sediments beneath a fish farm, from where it can’t poison fish. Crucially for this study, increased iron sulfide in an environment can also increase the water’s alkalinity. And, more alkaline waters are able to absorb more CO2, and convert it into stable forms.
Sunday 23rd February
We repent of our collusion with consumerism.
In our frailty and sin we have been those who have found our identity in what we purchase. We want more and more. We are never satisfied. Take from us this unholy desire.
Give us the wisdom to see our money and our purchases as an opportunity to align ourselves with your kingdom and values.
Holy Trinity of Love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, In the face of climate breakdown We worship you.
Jon Swales. Taken from prayer 13 Fast fashion and finance
https://greenchristian.org.uk/lament-hope-40-prayers-for-the-climate-and-ecological-emergency/
Monday 24th February
The UK government is set to back plans for a third runway at Heathrow, the country’s busiest airport, and to expand two other airports near London: Gatwick and Luton, writes Richard Sulley. The move is designed to support the government’s “mission” to grow the economy. Air transport is notoriously hard to decarbonise. Unlike the energy system, or even road transport, there is no renewable alternative to switch to immediately. If electric or hydrogen planes become reality, it won’t be for many years yet. Therefore it’s not clear this airport expansion can fit within the UK’s legal and arguably moral requirement to cut emissions and remain within its carbon budget. It certainly goes against what the government’s official advisory body the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) recommends. The CCC’s 2023 report to parliament stated that: “No airport expansions should proceed until a UK-wide capacity management framework is in place to annually assess and, if required, control sector GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions and non-CO₂ effects.”
Tuesday 25th February
The UN Biodiversity Conference COP16, suspended [last October] in Cali, Colombia, will reconvene from 25-27 February, 2025 in Rome, Italy, at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Parties will seek consensus on Cali’s important unfinished business, including:
- a new Resource Mobilization Strategy aimed at securing $200 billion annually by 2030 from all sources for biodiversity initiatives and reducing harmful incentives by at least $500 billion per year by 2030.
- Finalizing tools for Parties to measure progress against the monitoring framework for the 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).
https://www.cbd.int/article/reconvene-cop16-rome-2024
Wednesday 26th February
Before COP 16 was suspended due to lack of quorum [in Cali], the conference achieved groundbreaking agreements on global biodiversity protections and implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Governments agreed to establish the pioneering “Cali Fund,” for industries such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and agriculture—those benefiting from Digital Sequence Information (DSI) on genetic resources—to share benefits with developing countries, indigenous peoples, and local communities. Under the guidelines, large companies and other entities commercially benefiting from DSI are expected to contribute to the Fund based on a percentage of profits or revenues. COP 16 also endorsed measures to enhance the contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities to the three objectives of the Convention and KMGBF implementation.
https://www.cbd.int/article/reconvene-cop16-rome-2024
Thursday 27th February
Over the past decade, coal power use in the European Union (EU) has fallen by 61%, according to Carbon Brief analysis of new figures from energy analysts Ember. Molly Lempriere continues: solar power output in the EU more than tripled between 2014 and 2024, the report shows, with last year seeing coal generation overtaken for the first time. Meanwhile, wind generation has more than doubled over the same period. Wind and solar growth over the past decade pushed EU fossil-fuel generation in 2024 to its lowest level in 40 years, despite the long-term decline of nuclear power. The increase in wind and solar generation in the EU also helped avoid €59bn in fossil-fuel imports over the past five years, Ember says.
Friday 28th February
The two European countries with the most forested land — Sweden and Finland — are not making enough effort to protect their old-growth and primary forests, according to a new report released by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on Thursday. Cristen Hemingway Jaynes writes: the report, Primary and Old-Growth Forests at Risk in Finland and Sweden, said the two northern European countries are putting these unique ecosystems at risk while falling short of pledges made under the European Union’s Green Deal and Biodiversity Strategy. “Publicly available evidence shows both Finland and Sweden are deviating from EU policies,” said forest expert Mai Suiminen with WWF Finland, in a press release from WWF. “This cannot continue if we are serious about tackling the climate and biodiversity crises.” The objective of the EU Green Deal is to strictly protect old-growth and primary forests in Europe. However, the Swedish and Finnish governments are exploiting loopholes and allowing logging in forests that must be safeguarded. Every year, thousands of acres of forests that have high conservation value are cut down, despite being essential for biodiversity, climate stability and long-term ecological health.
Sources:
Text and links compiled by Emma King. Links accessed January 28th 2025.
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