WelCom May 2019:
Catherine Gibbs
Catherine Gibbs, Martin Manning, Barbara Donaldson – the three speakers for the series.
Young people are providing a wake-up call for all of us on climate change, Professor Martin Manning told the first of three gatherings at St Theresa’s Church in Plimmerton on Thursday 7 March.
Speaking as part of the parish community’s Stronger Together Lenten study series, Professor Manning used a range of evidence to demonstrate how increasing carbon dioxide means global temperatures are increasing with extreme consequences.
He pointed out that as stewards of the Earth, we human beings are able to change this more than we understand. Knowing this, will require collective responses to cope with the enormous effects of a changing climate that our world is already experiencing. The challenge Professor Manning set was how to deal with a dynamic world that requires us to change even faster than scientists can predict.
Because ‘our grandchildren’ will have to live with what we leave for them, Professor Manning concluded by making several recommendations:
- the urgency of taking steps NOW, rather than later, by recognising ‘my carbon footprint’ and trying to reduce it;
- by making a plan and timetable for an electric car and/or solar electricity; and
- by community groups working together to identify the vulnerable and share the risks that are inevitably coming.
Group discussion following Professor Martin Manning’s presentation. Photos: Margaret Jorgensen
This Lenten series was designed to bring together the local Christian community to locate solutions rooted in our shared values and teachings. Facilitator Dr David Keane outlined the vision that greater awareness will bring about an attitudinal change, resulting in effective action. The second and third talks on 14 March and 21 March examined the encyclical Laudato Si’, and to find ways to undertake action within the local context.
You can read the Lenten series’ presentations on St Theresa’s parish website at: www.plimmertoncatholic.org.nz