Clearly, Pope Francis’ encyclical and visit to the US is timed to coincide with the 2015 UN Climate Talks in Paris. As people of faith, Interfaith Power & Light communities from across the United States brought to the table examples of what is possible by taking the Paris Pledge. Signers will strive for a 50% carbon emission reduction by 2030 and will set a goal of being carbon neutral by 2050. Interfaith Power & Light would like to see global nations commit to these levels. Therefore as a community, we must practice what we preach. IPL’s Rev. Sally Bingham hand-delivered a LONG list of congregations and individuals (to UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon in Paris), who are willing to commit to the same carbon reductions we are asking nations to make. It’s a moral imperative to respond to global warming, and we need to work together in the upcoming years to make bigger change happen. We know it’s possible, because so many congregations have already reached the 2030 Paris Pledge carbon reduction goals, and some are even completely carbon neutral. Visit our coolcongregations.org website to learn how they did it. We can continue to make the commitment in our communities to show by example we can work together to combat global climate change.
UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon has called on government and civil society leaders to bring bold initiatives and proposals to drastically lower climate emissions, saying, “I challenge you to bring to the Summit bold pledges. Innovate, scale up, cooperate, and deliver concrete action that will close the emissions gap and put us on track for an ambitious legal agreement.” The Paris Pledge was announced by IPL’s Rev. Bingham in response to this challenge on Earth Day 2015.
Take the Paris Pledge today, whether you’re an individual or representing a congregation.