Churches urge polluters to repent

The churches want motorists to change their behaviour

By environment correspondent Alex Kirby in The Hague

The World Council of Churches has said the destruction of the global atmosphere is a "sin against God".

The WCC, based in the Swiss city of Geneva, made the claim in a statement to the UN climate change conference here.

Countries with high emissions need a conversion of the heart and demonstrably new behaviour before they seek forgiveness

World Council of Churches

The statement called for repentance from those responsible. And it said every person should have an equal right to emit the greenhouse gases many scientists say are adding to the climate's natural instability.

The statement accepted that human activities were damaging the climate, and blamed the developed world for global warming, which one churchman described as "fundamentally a religious issue".

"The wealthier countries with high per capita emissions levels have precipitated the climate change crisis," the statement said. "They have the moral responsibility to substantially reduce their own emissions."

In a clear reference to the approach adopted by the US and several other developed countries, the WCC said that wealthy polluting countries should not be allowed to buy their way out of the problem by paying for projects in other countries.

Equal rights

The statement called for "an equitable allocation of emissions rights," which would mean all countries accepted limits that gave everyone in the world an equal level of allowable pollution.

Developing countries are seen as hardest hit by climate change

The statement ended: "The destruction of the global atmosphere is a sin against God. True forgiveness is available from God, but only after true repentance by the sinner. True repentance requires a conversion of the heart and a transformation of behaviour.

"Countries with high emissions need a conversion of the heart and demonstrably new behaviour before they seek forgiveness."

The WCC official who made the statement to the conference, the Revd Dr Angelique Walker-Smith, is herself a US citizen. She told BBC News Online that sin against the climate involved both countries and individuals.

But, asked if low petrol prices were by this definition a sin, she replied: "I think that would be a matter of discussion".

Appeal to Clinton

In a related move, the heads of 28 Protestant and Orthodox Christian denominations in the US have written to President Clinton, urging him to complete the negotiations for a strong Kyoto Protocol, the international climate treaty.

The letter says it is a matter of justice.

"Climate change affects not only justice for future generations, but justice in the present. It is the least developed nations, which make a much smaller contribution to the problem, that are already suffering the effects of climate change and will be most severely impacted in the future.

"The US has a unique responsibility to address the problem of climate change without delay."

At a news briefing at the climate conference, the Revd Richard Killmer, of the US National Council of Churches of Christ, said: "We urge President Clinton to come here to The Hague this week to ensure there'll be a strong protocol."