2021 series:

• The Paris Agreement and 1.5 Degrees Celsius
• Wise Stewardship of Land
• Climate Migration Abroad and At Home
• The Energy Transition
• Solving the Climate Crisis: Policies for a Green Recovery

2019 series:

• Introduction to the Series
• Carbon Tax
• Just Transitions
• Trade Deals
• Government Infrastructure
• Clean Water
• Renewable Energy
• Environmental Racism

Environmental Justice

The Episcopal Church is committed to advocating for and supporting legislation and other public policies that directly address climate change’s impacts on environmental justice communities. The Church supports investing in low-income and historically marginalized communities and opposes the disproportionate harm to them. Our General Convention affirms that no community, especially communities living in poverty, those who live closest to the land in subsistence cultures, and members of marginalized ethnic groups, should bear a the heaviest burden of environmental pollution or degradation. The Church supports a just energy transition which includes job transitions and protecting vulnerable communities from rising energy costs. 

Biodiversity

Caring for creation means caring for other species and recognizing their role in a healthy and flourishing ecosystem. The Episcopal Church has historically supported policies like the Endangered Species Act as a part of this call. Biodiversity loss is a major component of our changing climate, and we advocate for its protection. Nature-based solutions help to reduce our carbon emissions, improve biodiversity, protect and maintain clean water, land, and air, and help local communities both nationally and internationally. 

Together with The Episcopal Church’s Representative to the United Nations, we advocate on the international level at the UN to address climate change. We participate in the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the Conference of Parties, or CoP, an annual intergovernmental meeting focused on global dialogue and action on climate issues.

Episcopal Church Resources

The Episcopal Church and COP27 Webpage

The Green Climate Fund (GCF)

The GCF supports climate change mitigation and adaptation activities in regions of the world severely impacted by climate change. The United States has pledged 3 billion to the GCF, and the Episcopal Church advocates to the U.S. Congress to fully appropriate this funding. 

Letter to Loss and Damage Fund Board Members – 4/30/2024

Climate Resiliency and Disaster Preparedness

In the U.S. and internationally natural disasters are becoming more severe, and communities, especially those that are marginalized or impoverished, face significant barriers to recovery. We advocate for federal programs that help communities prepare for and recover from natural disasters such as flooding, wind, and forest fires.

Episcopal Church Resources

Arctic Refuge

For thousands of years, the Gwich’in, an Indigenous people, many of whom are Episcopalian, have had deep connections to the land that is known today as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Gwich’in nation’s historic cultural and religious traditions designate a specific area of their land as “the sacred place where life begins.” The Episcopal Church has long stood by the Gwich’in, defending their right to existence and sustainability as this sacred land is under threat from oil exploration in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Episcopal Church Resources

“The Lord Will Provide”: The History and Role of Episcopalian Christianity in Nets’aii Gwich’in Social Development – Arctic Village, Alaska

The Episcopal Church Statement on the Arctic Refuge (September 2023)

The Episcopal Church Condemns the Oil & Gas Lease Sale in the Arctic Refuge (January 2021)

Sign-on letter

Faith leader letter to President-Elect Biden and Congress regarding lease sale (1/5/21)