Preparing for COP21

The 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21), the annual meeting of countries to discuss climate change issues, will be held in Paris beginning Nov. 30, 2015.  In preparation for these negotiations, President Obama rejected TransCanada's permit request to build a tarsands pipeline through the Great Plains.  The President said in part,

"America is now a global leader when it comes to taking serious action to fight climate change. Frankly, approving this project would have undercut that global leadership and that is the biggest risk that we face. Not acting.
Today, we're continuing to lead by example, because ultimately, if we're gonna prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we're gonna have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them and release more dangerous pollution into the sky.
As long as I'm president of the United States, America's gonna hold ourselves to the same high standards to which we hold the rest of the world.
And three weeks from now, I look forward to joining my fellow world leaders in Paris, where we've got to come together around an ambitious framework to protect the one planet that we've got while we still can."

The full transcript as well as a video of the President's announcement is available here.

Is stewardship of God's Creation part of your church's mission?  If so, how is your church living out that mission?  Here in Omaha, First UMC hosts a composting program and takes part in a community Vigil for the Planet that meets the first Thursday of the month.  COP21 is definitely on our radar.  We are praying for the delegates and hope this meeting leads to meaningful commitments to reduce greenhouse gases.