 Climate Change Action
On 7th October Swindon Quakers and members of Swindon Climate Action Network met with Swindon South MP, Sir Robert Buckland, to make the case for a stronger government response to the Climate Emergency. Quakers are especially concerned with Climate Justice and the need to set up a global Loss and Damage fund for the many countries badly affected by climate change. Countries such as Pakistan and Somalia have done little to create the Climate Emergency, but are amongst the worst affected. We also referenced the June report of the House of Commons Committee on Climate Change, to highlight the areas where the UK government plans to reach net zero by 2050 are weakest (energy efficiency of buildings, agriculture and the environment, cutting emissions from carbon intensive industries such as steel and cement manufacture). We noted the injustice in the way that climate change will disproportionately affect young people. Our current addiction to fossil fuels risks making the planet they will inherit a hostile place. The next day a group of us went up to London to express our support for Just Stop Oil protesters. Quakers are using a variety of approaches to pressure our government to take action to cut carbon emissions and keep global warming within the 1.5 degree target. Some of us feel impelled to engage in non-violent civil disobedience to draw attention to the urgency of the climate crisis. The House of Lords has pointed out that 1/3 of the cuts in UK carbon emissions will require lifestyle changes by us. Quakers in Britain are working towards this. We have a historic commitment to living simply and in 2011 made a corporate commitment to becoming a low-carbon, sustainable community. In Swindon, we have insulated our Meeting House and installed solar panels; many of us have reduced meat-eating or are vegetarian; we car-share, cycle and use public transport; we recycle where we can - but there is a way to go, and we can encourage each other as we seek new ways to tread more lightly on our planet. Caption: Quakers supporting Just Stop Oil protesters in Whitehall We’re facing a climate and ecological emergency.
What can we do? The breakdown of the climate is destroying our world. It will destroy countless species, the food and water supplies we rely on, the places we love, our communities and our futures. It will lead to war, migration, starvation for billions: the biggest disaster in human history. You can take action to protect everything that is sacred. Come and hear how. Our Responsibilities as Christians at This Time Wednesday 14th Sept 2022 at 7.00pm Swindon Friends Meeting House, 79 Eastcott Hill, SN1 1JF. More information and booking at: https://bit.ly/3p5YjTS The Friends Meeting House was opened to the public on 11th September as part of the Heritage Open Days scheme. Visitors were shown around the historic meeting room, dating from 1901, and saw an exhibition of the history of the building and the life of Swindon Quakers.  On 15th September 5 Swindon Quakers joined in the Merchants of Death Walking Tour in London, stopping at 3 arms supplier offices in protest at their trade. The arms trade "operates according to its own rules, largely unscrutinised, bringing enormous benefits to the chosen few, and suffering and immiseration to millions. The trade corrodes our democracies, weakens already fragile states and often undermines the very national security it purports to strengthen." – Andrew Feinstein,The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade. It was a moving witness to our Peace Testimony.  Swindon Quakers took part in Eastcott Window Wanderland in March 2021. Our windows, once again, had an environmental theme. Thanks to Steve Russell for the pictures below.
Swindon Quakers took part in Eastcott Window Wanderland on 28th February - 2nd March 2020. Our windows had an environmental theme. Thanks to Vernon Griffiths for the picture below.  The DSEI (Defence and Security Equipment International) Arms Fair is the largest arms fair in the world, and it happens in London in the second week in September, every 2 years. Opposition to this event is co-ordinated by Stop the Arms Fair https://www.stopthearmsfair.org.uk/ a network of groups and individuals campaigning to put a stop to arms fairs in the UK. A group of Quakers in Swindon plan to attend the 'No Faith in War Day' on Tuesday 3rd of September. As part of our preparations, Quakers around the UK, including Swindon Meeting, have been making 'mini-banners' which will be joined into a big tapestry to be used both on the day and afterwards, around London to highlight DSEI and the impact of the international arms trade. Mini-banners made by Swindon Meeting are pictured below.  And it was very nice to see this one also used as an illustration on an article about the resistance to the arms fair, on the Quaker website. https://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/moved-by-faith-to-stop-the-global-arms-fair  On Sunday 3rd November we will hold our Alternative Remembrance Service at 10.30 a.m. in place of our usual Meeting for Worship. We will commemorate the victims of war, those who minister to them and all peacemakers in an hour's quiet music and readings, wrapped in silence. Tea and time to chat afterwards. All welcome.  |
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