An action carried out by Christian Climate Action members, which highlights the need to think about how the climate and ecological emergency is impacting on future generations, has been headlined in the Church Times today.

Across the country Christian Climate Action members put up posters in bus stops on top of the advertising that was already there. Posters have also appeared on noticeboards and in windows. As the photos below show, an image of a school nativity play is accompanied by the words “A Child is Born. What kind of future do we want for our children?” The poster urges the reader to act now in the face of the Climate Emergency, including discussing the emergency with wider family over Christmas.

The Revd Hilary Bond, Pioneer Priest for the parish of Wareham, in Salisbury diocese, said: “At Christmas, we marvel at the idea of God becoming a vulnerable child among us…The poster campaign should serve to remind us that we cannot stand back and watch vulnerable children across our world suffer because of the climate emergency…”

The effects of climate change and ecological destruction are already being felt the world over, from small island states in the Pacific that are losing their territories to sea-level rise, areas in Africa and Asia that are subject to increasingly severe storms, flooding and droughts, to the more well-publicised wildfires in Australia and California. This year, record temperatures and fires have been experienced in the Arctic and the world’s ice sheets continue to melt. Scientists cannot predict exactly how climate change will play out, but there is a worrying consensus that effects that have been predicted for some time are occurring much more rapidly than expected. The outlook, even within the next 30 – 50 years is extremely worrying, making the call to consider our children’s futures painfully relevant.