Zoe Dixon examines what our responsibility is as Christians

Zoe Dixon

In September 2004 Tony Blair described climate change as 'a challenge so far-reaching in its impact and irreversible in its destructive power, that it alters radically human existence'. Next month sees the arrival of the long-anticipated Copenhagen climate summit. Delegations from 192 countries will gather together for two weeks in Denmark's capital to try to agree upon a global treaty for tackling climate change.

Climate change is a hot topic and the phrase conjures up different meaning for different people. This week The Times published a poll that revealed that only 41% of people 'accept as an established scientific fact that global warming is taking place and is largely man-made'. The poll also showed that 15% of people believe that the world is not warming up, and 8% think that climate change is really just environmentalist propaganda. It seems staggering that almost one in ten people do not believe global warming is happening given the huge body of concrete scientific evidence and the homogenous view presented by the scientific community - a consensus of 2,000 UN climate scientists said climate change was not just "unequivocal", but most of it was man-made.

The science behind climate change is really quite simple. In his book 'An Inconvenient Truth' Al Gore aptly describes how the earth's atmosphere is so thin that it is easy to change its composition substantially. The western world's legacy of heedlessly burning fossil fuels coupled with the developing world's record of deforestation has together produced unprecedented levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. This in turn has led to a thickening of the earth's band of greenhouse gases causing more heat to be trapped inside the atmosphere, resulting in the slow heating of the earth's atmosphere. This has been manifested in the melting of the ice caps, and the re-writing of the record books; in 2007 the Met Office announced that 11 of the last 13 years have been the warmest on record.

The situation is desperate, the conversation has moved on and much of the general population has apparently been left behind. Climate change is no longer confined to the laboratories and universities of the developed world, but is being felt by the towns and cities of the developing world. The last few decades have seen a significant increase in droughts, floods, heatwaves, fires, hurricanes and cyclones, all thought to be a symptoms of a warmer planet. In 2007 a heatwave hit Europe, killing an estimated 30,000 people and bringing the problem of climate change closer to home.

The current UK targets for reducing our carbon emissions are 34% by the year 2020 and 80% by 2050. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers this week said that reaching those targets was a physical impossibility. This is compounded by the despondency felt by many about the chance of achieving a global climate deal in Copenhagen next month.

The situation looks dire. As Christians how should we respond this this approaching apocalypse? The Bible is, I believe, clear on many issues related to this topic. The first is that God is passionate about his creation. In Genesis we are told that God looked at creation and said that it was good. It is our responsibility to steward the land, to work it and make it prosper. As Christians we need to try and live sustainably, not being hoodwinked into living consumerist lifestyles which constantly crave more at the expense of the planet.

Climate change has now become a social justice issue. The greed of the developed world is being felt by the underdeveloped world. The Bible is continually mandating followers of Christ to clothe the naked, to protect the vulnerable and to feed the poor. We know that the God we serve is loving and merciful and just, and as his ambassadors to the world we must carry on this practice. There are examples of wonderful charities, many of them Christian, which are doing wonderful work to try to negate and halt the effects of climate change.

The third principle which we need to remember is that God is in control. The situation is not hopeless, God can and will make all things new. Redemption of creation will be achieved when God's kingdom is fully established and it is our job to work towards that.

As we look to the 7th December and the talks in Copenhagen, I believe that we should be praying for our leaders that they make wise decisions; decisions that will not neglect the poor, or be constrained by financial difficulties. 192 delegations agreeing on a treaty seems impossible, but we know that we call upon a God who is able to do all things.