Photo credit: Interfaith and Climate Change website - see https://interfaith-climate.com/?p=5904

On the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement, and ahead of COP30 in Brazil, the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP/RfP) Japan Committee and the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC), supported by Religions for Peace Australia, gathered at today’s “Climate Crisis Learning Forum 2025 – Religious Gathering toward COP30,” issue this joint statement.

Please find here the full statement as a PDF with logos.

Source: "Everything you need to know about Australia's 2035 Climate Target", Climate Council

Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, the Most Reverend Jeremy Greaves, has called for greater moral courage from the government in response to its 2035 climate target announced today. 

Speaking on behalf of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) he said the new emissions reduction target of 62 to 70% by 2035 falls short of what’s needed when questions of fairness with the developing world are properly considered.

“This falls well short of what scientists have told us is needed to avoid the worst. While it’s true that this target is consistent with the level of emissions reduction the world as a whole needs to make, it completely fails to address major questions of fairness. It is widely accepted internationally that countries like Australia with high emissions and advanced economies need to set targets above the global average so that developing nations aren’t overburdened in the transition.”

Dated 24 July, 2025

The following is a statement from Rev James Bhagwan, General Secretary, Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC), in response to the historic advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. 

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the rivers.” – Psalm 24 : 1‑2

In the early stages of the war in Gaza, the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) management committee came to the view that our organisation should focus our limited resources on our mandate, which is spiritually-inspired climate action. That said, we were responding individually to the crisis, independently of ARRCC.

Now however, as a faith-based organisation, the sheer scale and intensity of human suffering in Gaza means we can no longer remain silent. 

 Hamilton Uniting congregation

Dated 5 May 2025    

Taking in what happened at the Federal Election is going to take a while. The headline, of course, is that we averted a major backward step on climate progress. Not long ago that was a real possibility. Not now! Let’s take some time to celebrate. 

It’s a great relief to have a Government elected that fundamentally believes in taking action on climate change. There was a mix of issues on the table but energy policy was prominent, so it can reasonably be said that Australian voters were mostly unimpressed with nuclear energy and voted for a future based on renewables, EV’s, batteries and other sustainable technologies. 

ARRCC supporters can be proud of our significant contribution to the climate movement’s collective determined effort to create this outcome. Hundreds of ARRCC people were involved.

That we take a stand on the climate as people of faith adds weight to our messaging - our basic motivation is not ideological but to create a better society, one organised around values of compassion, fairness, simple lifestyles and responsible care for the earth. Collectively we stand against greed and for a safe, flourishing future for all.

ARRCC has trusted partners in the climate movement and one of these is the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF). The following background is quoted directly from ACF:

ACF's election scorecard is designed to help voters understand how well the climate and nature policies of political parties and candidates align with ACF’s national agenda. We have assessed the main parties (Labor, Liberal/National Coalition, Greens), incumbent independent MPs in the House of Representatives and independent candidates in electorates with high numbers of ACF supporters.

Download your copy of the scorecard here.

The peak body for Catholic Religious Orders, Catholic Religious Australia, has published a clear clarion call before the 2025 federal election on issues to do with climate and the environment.

Grounded in Catholic social teaching, the prophetic statement reads, "Care for the natural world, our ‘common home,’ is a central moral concern of the Catholic Church, and Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) is a strong advocate for environmental and climate justice. 2024 was the hottest year on record globally, and the first calendar year where the average global temperature exceeded 1.5°C above its pre-industrial level."

The statement challenges our nation to wind back coal and gas exports, stop subsidising fossil fuels and deliver meaningful Climate Finance to climate vulnerable countries like the low-lying island nations of the Pacific. It also issues a strong warning against nuclear energy.

Download the statement, with graphic design.

Innumerable teachings in all the faith traditions call people of faith to care for those who are suffering most, to seek the truth, and to be responsible citizens, caring for the earth so that we can hand it more-or-less intact to our children and their children.

Looking around at our world today, it's easy to see that the way people vote can make a huge material difference. 

To live out our values authentically, we must seek out reliable sources of information and be informed. The Climate Council is made up of experts who are not about making profits but who make reliable assessments of policies and their impacts on the climate. ARRCC believes we are sharing sound assessments with you, our readers.

Download the above scorecard here.

We as faith communities are concerned about the possible effect on the right to protest of efforts to protect worshippers from harassment in their regular place of worship. 

We agree that people who are going into or out of a place of worship, or who are worshipping inside, should be able to do so safely, free of harassment, intimidation and violence. Acts of violence against places of worship or multicultural communities are abhorrent and should be treated with the utmost seriousness. However, instances of violence, harassment or intimidation in the vicinity of religious institutions are already covered by existing legislation, including prohibitions on intimidating individuals in the Crimes Act and inciting hatred against individuals based on their religion in the Anti-Discrimination Act. 

What just happened in Azerbaijan? An awful lot, and most of it bad. Here is the short version, from the organisers of the Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty.

The UN climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, concluded after two weeks of intense negotiations focused on setting a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) to ensure wealthy countries provide adequate financial support for developing countries' mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage efforts.

However, developing nations left frustrated, as the process fell short of their $1 trillion USD grant-based climate finance target. Instead, the text only proposed the paltry amount of $300 billion p.a. by 2035, including loans, despite the recognition of the need for grants. This accounts for only 30% of the bare minimum resources demanded by developing nations and owed to them by the developed world (because of ecological debt), and is to have a significant decrease by 2035 due to inflation.