Declaration about climate change and the environment

The 2008 General Assembly made this declaration about climate change and the environment:

Climate change, with its life-threatening consequences, raises theological, economic, political and ethical issues. It reflects the distortion of relationships between God, human kind, and creation. The Bible teaches the wholeness of creation: Life is created sustained and made whole by the power of Christ and God’s Holy Spirit (Genesis 1, Romans 8, John 1). God creates human beings out of the dust of the earth (Genesis 2). Sin breaks relationships among human kind and with the created Order (Genesis 3 and 4, Jeremiah 14, Hosea 4:1-3). Bearing the marks of human sin, ‘creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God’ (Romans 8:19). God provided all creatures with the conditions to live life as it is meant to be, in a specific
relation towards one another. Part of the Christian call to discipleship is for the Shalom and restoration of creation through Jesus Christ.

In accordance with this commitment:

  • We commit ourselves in Christ to care for God’s creation.
  • We recognise that we have lost a right relationship with creation through sinful actions and economic systems that encourage unsustainable use of resources.
  • We commit ourselves to help reduce the threat of climate change through actions in our own lives speaking prophetically to Governments and industries and standing in solidarity with those most affected by climate change.

About the Declaration

This Declaration was the work of the Presbyterian Church Ecological Task Group, which the Council of Assembly established in November 2006. The ecologically focused task group, under the direction of the Assembly Executive Secretary, investigated and developed a Biblical response to the deepening ecological problems threatening our earth and our communities. The group sought to provide congregations with practical guidelines, examine ways by which our Church may help reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, and develop a Declaration of the Care of Creation.

In October 2008, the Declaration developed by the group was taken to General Assembly 2008 where it was accepted, and the Ecological task group was thanked for their work and the group was discharged.