The Bishop of Dudley, in the diocese of Worcester, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, is a member of the Church of England’s Environment Working Group. Here he explains why he is supporting the pilgramage to Paris ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

As an ecologist - I studied Ecological Science at university  - I take an interest in the evidence about climate change.  Overwhelmingly it shows that we are seeing major climatic effects from increased carbon in the atmosphere and these effects will increase unless something major is done.  Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si wrote, ‘A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system’.  I hope that his important contribution to the current debate will make more people wake up.

Many have already.  They see daily the devastating effects of climate change in terms of increased sea levels, major weather events, flooding and drought. A defence strategist told me recently about the impact that climate change is having, and he predicted will increasingly have, in fostering future wars and world tensions.  The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, picked this up as a theme in his speech during the debate about the environment at the General Synod in July, saying, ‘Climate change is both a driver of conflict and a victim of conflict’.  No wonder the military are taking it seriously.

Earlier this year I was at a meeting with other new bishops from across the Anglican Communion in Canterbury.  Most days I went for a walk in the company of one of the bishops and many spoke about the direct effects of climate change on the places where they live.  A bishop from the Solomon Islands spoke of the rising sea level that has made the soil of some of the low lying atolls so salty that people have had to leave their homes and move to other islands resulting in community tensions.  A bishop from Myanmar spoke about the increasing flooding and the detrimental effect on peoples’ health, homes and livelihoods.  I was struck by how their ministry daily lived out one of the five marks of mission of the Anglican Communion that says we are ‘to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth’.

As a Christian, I believe we must engage fully with the scientific evidence about climate change. We have a duty to work for the common good, not only of those already affected by climate change but for the well being of future generations. The earth is a gift from God and we are entrusted with its stewardship.  This demands of us to keep asking how we might live more Jesus-simplified ways of treading gently on the earth - ‘for in him all things in heaven and earth were created’ (Colossians 1.16a)

The challenge is that this can’t be lived out in isolation.  Climate change knows no international borders.  It has already arrived.  Across the globe, climate change is having a disproportionate impact on the world’s poorest people, who are not the major polluters of the atmosphere with carbon.  We should not tolerate that the suffering and death of others is inevitable and acceptable.

I will be joining part of the Pilgrimage to Paris for the start of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21).  In a small way, I want to be in solidarity with others so that the leaders of the nations will act now for the benefit of all of our futures.

As we walk in the company of others we tell stories and hear them.  We discuss and learn, and we hear the noise, as well as the silence, of creation as well.

At this time we are on a vital journey for the whole world. The General Synod has overwhelmingly backed calls for urgent action to tackle climate change. Churches have an admirable history of campaigning and this is our new moral challenge. The voice of the poorest and all of us who want to protect our planet for our children’s children to flourish, needs to be heard by the leaders of the world so that they will make the prophetic step change that is needed in Paris.

You can follow Bishop Usher and the Pilgrimage to Paris on their Twitter accounts; or search for the hashtag #pilgrimage2paris.