Resource
Climate justice: a Quaker view leaflet
A leaflet about the links between Quaker beliefs and climate justice. View online or download.
Our Current Campaigns
Make Polluters Pay
While we must do all we can to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt our societies to cope with global heating, major climate disasters are already happening, and more will follow.
Funding is needed to support countries suffering climate-related 'loss and damage'. Instead, oil and gas companies receive tax breaks, fossil-fuel-dependent companies such as airlines receive bailouts, and the true cost of pollution is not paid by those who cause it. This all keeps us dependent on fossil fuel extraction.
We support action and advocacy highlighting the climate breakdown-induced loss and damage that communities around the world are already experiencing, as well as the urgent need for financing to support these communities.
We are working with faith groups and NGOs to call on the UK government to support efforts to identify new sources of finance for loss and damage, as part of the Make Polluters Pay campaign calling for a loss and damage fund paid for by the biggest polluters. We also work with the Climate Justice Coalition (formerly known as the COP26 Coalition), the Faith for the Climate network and the Make COP Count group.
Read more about our work on Make Polluters Pay.
Insure Our Future
In our global economic system, a small number of people profit from our continued dependency on fossil fuel extraction and consumption. To resource this dependency, people are displaced from their lands and ecosystems are destroyed. Communities in Africa, South America, Asia and the Pacific, as well as indigenous peoples in North America, bear the brunt.
Our response to the climate crisis must recognise the extractive and ecocidal underpinnings of British colonial history and our neocolonial present.
Quakers in Britain are calling on UK financial institutions to stop supporting the fossil fuel industry and instead support a just transition through renewable energy. Insurance, in particular, is often a bottleneck for new fossil fuel projects and so could have a powerful impact on the end of the fossil fuel era and the shift to renewables.
We are asking insurers to stop offering insurance to new coal, oil and gas projects, particularly those with poor implications for human rights such as the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.
Read more about our work on Insure Our Future.
Get involved!
These are global problems. They are daunting. But by building relationships and projects at a local level, we can be part of a strong network that connects with other strong networks around the world. This way, we can support each other and make concerted efforts to create deep and lasting international change.
Take time to explore faith and climate justice
If you're looking to deepen your understanding of climate justice and how it connects to Quaker faith, you might find our 'Exploring Faith and Climate Justice' booklets useful. This series of six booklets is packed with information, links to resources, and reflection questions. They can be followed individually or with a discussion group.
The booklets are designed to support Quakers to develop a thorough understanding of climate justice, including the historical context, practical examples, and how a justice-based approach differs from other approaches to climate action.
Find out more and access the booklets on our Exploring Faith and Climate Justice page. For more climate justice resources, take a look at our Quaker directory of 50 climate justice resources (PDF).
Sign up to hear from Quakers in Britain
Sign up to the Faith in Action newsletter for the latest news and opportunities to get involved with Quakers in Britain climate action. You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram, and connect with other Quakers on the Quaker Space Facebook group.
Build the alternative
Many Quakers work to make their lives low-carbon and sustainable, and support their local communities to do the same. Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre is where Quakers can find the educational resources that support a shift to sustainable living. Visit Woodbrooke's website for more information.
Quakers are also engaged in exploring what an economy based on Quaker testimonies – and not dependent on fossil fuels – would look like.
This connects with our work on economic justice.