Summary of Climate Change References in Creation Care Documents

Summary of Climate Change
References in Creation Care Documents

This document is a collection of references to climate change in formal WEA creation documents, those documents being the Declaration on Creation Care Stewardship and Climate Change (2009), Cape Town Commitment (2011), and the Creation Care Call to Action (2012).

Declaration on Creation Stewardship and Climate Change (2009)

This document directly addresses climate change from an evangelical creation care perspective. The entire declaration, therefore, should be included on this list, and not just excerpts. To review the document go to this webpage.

Cape Town Commitment (2011)

Preamble: The Realities of Change

Almost everything about the way we live, think and relate to one another is changing at an accelerating pace. For good or ill, we feel the impact of globalization, of the digital revolution, and of the changing balance of economic and political power in the world. Some things we face cause us grief and anxiety – global poverty, war, ethnic conflict, disease, the ecological crisis and climate change. But one great change in our world is a cause for rejoicing – and that is the growth of the global Church of Christ.

Part IIB
For the World We Serve: The Cape Town Call to Action

Building the Peace of Christ in Our Divided and Broken World

5. Christ's Peace for His Suffering Creation. Our biblical mandate in relation to God's creation is provided in The Cape Town Confession of Faith section 7(A). All human beings are to be stewards of the rich abundance of God's good creation. We are authorized to exercise godly dominion in using it for the sake of human welfare and needs, for example in farming, fishing, mining, energy generation, engineering, construction, trade, medicine. As we do so, we are also commanded to care for the earth and all its creatures, because the earth belongs to God, not to us. We do this for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Creator, Owner, Sustainer, Redeemer and Heir of all creation.

We lament over the widespread abuse and destruction of the earth's resources, including its biodiversity. Probably the most serious and urgent challenge faced by the physical world now is the threat of climate change. This will disproportionately affect those in poorer countries, for it is there that climate extremes will be most severe and where there is little capability to adapt to them. World poverty and climate change need to be addressed together and with equal urgency.

We encourage Christians worldwide to:

1. A. Adopt lifestyles that renounce habits of consumption that are destructive or polluting;
2. B. Exert legitimate means to persuade governments to put moral imperatives above political expediency on issues of environmental destruction and potential climate change;
3. C. Recognize and encourage the missional calling both of (i) Christians who engage in the proper use of the earth's resources for human need and welfare through agriculture, industry and medicine, and (ii) Christians who engage in the protection and restoration of the earth's habitats and species through conservation and advocacy. Both share the same goal for both serve the same Creator, Provider and Redeemer.

Creation Care & The Call to Action (2012)

Preamble to the Call to Action:

We are faced with a crisis that is pressing, urgent, and that must be resolved in our generation. Many of the world's poorest people, ecosystems, and species of flora and fauna are being devastated by violence against the environment in multiple ways, of which global climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, water stress, and pollution are but a part. We can no longer afford complacency and endless debate. Love for God, our neighbors and the wider creation, as well as our passion for justice, compel us to "urgent and prophetic ecological responsibility" (Cape Town Commitment: I.7.A.)

Point six from the Call to Action:

Radical action to confront climate change. Affirming the Cape Town Commitment's declaration of the "serious and urgent challenge of climate change" which will "disproportionately affect those in poorer countries", (Cape Town Commitment: II.B.5), we call for action in radically reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilient communities. We understand these actions to be an application of the command to deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow Christ.