Corrymeela Community Update

Glenise Morgan sent ECI this update: The Corrymeela Climate Justice Group meets regularly to discuss issues relating to climate change, the environment and their impact on social justice. A brief update is submitted monthly to the Corrymeela Community Newsletter. Below are details of some of our recent activities. We see tackling the challenge of Climate Change as a key channel for engagement and reconciliation in our local and global community.

A number of us took part in June in “The Time is Now” Climate Coalition UK campaign, where people were asked nationwide to “meet up” with their constituency MP via Zoom. We were to emphasise the need to promote green initiatives in the context of our economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic, seeking an undertaking that the MP would contact the Prime Minister on this matter. Over 260 MPs attended “meetings” and in N Ireland, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson wrote to the PM and received a detailed response from the Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth. The Minister says that the Government is putting “a green recovery at the heart of its response to COVID-19″ through further investment in low carbon infrastructure. The UK is hosting the COP26 global climate summit in November 2021 and the Minister says “they are determined to use this platform to raise global climate ambitions to achieve the transformational change required by the Paris Agreement.” A number of specific measures and funding commitments were outlined, and our group intend to keep up momentum by following up, with our elected representatives, what progress is being made on the proposed actions.

A number of us attended the Eco-Congregation Ireland’s Zoom conference “Planetary Emergency: How to have Hope” in October. We were very impressed with the speakers and subsequently invited Prof John Barry, Queen’s University, to give a Zoom presentation to the wider Corrymeela membership. This was equally stimulating and Prof Barry was very generous with his time in answering questions. We all remember his slogan: “Educate, agitate, organise”! We hope to have more such events. This talk, like those at the Eco-Congregation Ireland conference, was recorded and is available to anyone interested. The theme at Corrymeela’s October Community Weekend, attended, via Zoom, by some 100 people, including the Dublin cell group, was: reviewing Corrymeela’s values with a view to producing a new Strategy Plan. Our group took this opportunity to emphasise the importance of prioritising Care for Creation and Climate Justice. Following the feedback, the senior team will identify priority issues in January with the aim of publishing the Strategic Plan around Easter. We would welcome feedback/comments from any Eco-Congregation Ireland members and if anyone would like more information on any of the above, please let us know ([email protected]).