Choose Life was the simple message of the Archbishop of Canterbury when he was interviewed on the Today Programme. (2:13:30)
We all need to make an active choice if this world is going to survive the climate crisis. The Archbishop stressed that we all need to change the way we live, that we need businesses to change the way they measure profit, and that we need governments to act. The climate crisis is an existential threat and we all need to change for the sake of our children and our children’s children.
The Archbishop was then challenged about his own lifestyle and the actions of the church.
The most interesting exchange was on the investment policies of the Church of England. He was asked if the enormous investment funds of the Church had divested from carbon extracting companies – oil, gas and coal – giving the Archbishop the opportunity to explain the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI).
TPI was established in 2017 as a joint initiative between the Church of England National Investing Bodies (Church of England Pensions Board, the Church Commissioners and CBF Funds) and the Environment Agency Pension Fund. It brings together huge investment funds and serious academic institutes to seek to force real change from polluting industries.
Where corporations resist change there will be divestment. Archbishop Justin was clear that there was no investment in coal, but other fossil fuel corporations can, and must, transition for a world that can be carbon neutral. When pressed the Archbishop set a timescale of 15 to 20 years.
TPI offers a way not just to green over polluting corporations, but to monitor in real time progress made on the journey to carbon zero.
Some will argue for immediate divestment but Archbishop Justin calls for engagement. The progress being made by all the corporations is being monitored and it is not their promises they are measured by, but their progress. Divestment will come if progress is not seen.
The Archbishop finished his interview with a call to Choose Life and specifically called on:
- Individuals to make sacrificial change
- Companies to forgo near term profits for greater long-term success
- Governments to make policies that the right things are done
He said that without a strong moral centre for the way we live, for business and for politics we will head for extinction not life.