Helping us to care for creation

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”.

That old Truth sits heavily when I turn on the news or open a newspaper and hear more about the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, or depleting fish stocks within the North Sea. Sometimes, within the church, we are tempted to speak in simplistic terms about creation as a gift from God, cherished and enjoyed, a gift that shows us something of the creator, enriching our understanding of God and ourselves. All this is true and yet I can’t help feeling that this understanding doesn’t quite capture our relationship with creation in its entirety, or our duty to the global neighbours we share it with and the ones we have borrowed it from.

So how does this relate to the European Union an institution whose critics would describe as an economic union with a bureaucratic soul? Can care for creation have anything to do with the EU?

The answer is simple and it resonates in a vision that goes beyond national silos, in a recognition that we are all connected and that that needs to be reflected in how we act both locally and nationally. Fish don’t follow frontiers, habitats exist beyond borders, we all breathe the same air and climate change cannot be solved in isolation. Some of the issues the world faces today are issues that impact all of us and correspondingly if we are to make a difference, if we are to effectively care for creation, we must do so together, encouraging one another on and holding one another to account.

Over the last 30 years the EU has been one of the main drivers behind UK (and Scottish) environmental legislation, transforming the situation in a range of areas such as water quality, waste management, air quality, environmental impact assessments and wildlife and habitat conservation. Most recently at COP21 the EU negotiated as a block of 28 states and going forward it will have an important role in ensuring member states implement the Paris Agreement. The EU has itself made a commitment to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases across the EU by 40%, from 1990 levels, by 2030.

In each of these areas, and many others, the EU has set new standards encouraging its member states to strive for better in terms of environmental care. Within the UK a number of recent events have raised concerns about our commitment to a low carbon economy. Incentives to promote solar power, fuel-efficient vehicles and onshore wind power have all been removed, while government support for the continued development of fracking seems to have increased. The EU itself may not be perfect, but there is something to be said for remaining part of a broader network of countries that share a wider concern. This not only keeps us accountable when the temptation is to veer away from the difficult challenges that need to be faced, but it also holds the potential to empower us as a country to look beyond our own national self-interest and aspire for more.

While there is much to be explored, debated and discussed in the run-up to the referendum, we must not lose sight of what the EU has already achieved in this vital area and we must not ignore the possibility of what might be achieved by 28 countries working together to care for creation, to strive for better.

About the author

Sally Foster-Fulton is the Convener of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council and is the Associate Minister at Dunblane Cathedral. Sally is originally from South Carolina, and studied divinity at Columbia Seminary in Decatur, Georgia and Trinity College Glasgow. She was ordained into her first charge as minister of Camelon Irving Parish Church in Falkirk. Sally is an ACT Alliance Climate Change Ambassador and has written books of prayers and reflection for Holy Week and Advent published by Wild Goose Publications. She is a regular contributor to Scottish television and radio broadcast