In August an old plastic bottle was found washed up on Great Yarmouth beach. A symbol of the mountains of plastic waste we produce.
Also, a product that shows our dependence on hydrocarbons – coal, oil and gas - in so much of our lives.
The bottle was filled with seawater and then began a journey across Norfolk, carried by a whole host of people in a relay heading towards COP26 in Glasgow.
Passed from person to person, younger and older, each of whom believe that this moment, in fact these next two weeks, are of absolute crucial importance for the future of our planet.
At King’s Lynn the battered bottle of water was passed to those walking the next stage of the journey before it finally met up with the main relay that left Cornwall at the end of the G7 summit in June.
Organised by the Young Christian Climate Network, the relay will arrive in Glasgow today and I look forward to meeting those involved this weekend. I doubt, though, that I’ll be tempted to take a sip of the Yarmouth seawater in the bottle!
Young people are acutely aware of the climate and biodiversity emergency that is already present. They see its impact on their future. They are being prophetic. Warning. Despairing. Lamenting. Protesting. Urging. If only we all had ears to hear.
Our eyes should at least be seeing. The impact of climate change is frequently in the news. Extreme weather events – heavy rainfall, drought, heatwaves, tropical storms – are becoming more unpredictable, intense and frequent.
Climate change knows no international borders yet it is frequently the poorest nations, who have not been pumping carbon into the atmosphere, who are impacted the most and are the least able to adapt.
It is said that we are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation who can do anything about it.
Earlier this month I was at an event in the Vatican where Pope Francis had called together the leaders of the world’s faith communities. Their shared ‘appeal’, on behalf of perhaps 80 per cent of the world’s population, called for urgent action to be taken – both by individuals and nations.
There is no time to lose.
Recently I was speaking with a bishop from the Solomon Islands who was talking about the rise in sea level and how many of the islands are no longer inhabitable because the water in wells has become salinated. He reported how this has led to migration and the inevitable tensions between communities.
Climate change is already exacerbating conflict dynamics and will make our world less stable.
Without ambitious action at COP26, UNHCR estimates that climate-related disasters could double the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance to over 200 million each year by 2050.
I will be taking to Glasgow a call to the world’s leaders to be more than ambitious. We need to do more. Do so more quickly. More generously. And more together.
There will be many challenges in the coming fortnight and much posturing. We have strength when we come together, weakness when we go alone.
At this point in the year within the life of the Church we spend a lot of time remembering. All Souls, All Saints and Remembrance Sunday all help us to look back, remembering those who have died.
It’s also a time of remembering, and putting back together, so as to enable us to see ahead. I urgently hope that you and I, together with the leaders of the world, will commit to living with a lighter touch on this, our single island planet home.
Then we can remember it. Seek the mending and healing of this precious God-given and God-blessed world. Then others after us will be able to share in life in all its fullness.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here