Archbishop Rowan talks to Christian Aid

Bareheaded despite the cold, Archbishop Rowan Williams spoke to Christian Aid before the start of the 100,000-strong march in Copenhagen on Saturday.

Asked why he thought it was important for him to be there, the Archbishop said: "It's important for faith communities to be visible. It's important for the leaders of communities to be visible. And I hope that some things that the communities of faith across the world, especially the Christian churches, are saying will really help to give some leverage in this situation."

He summed up the theological basis for campaigning on climate change like this: "Firstly the world isn't ours. The world is something we're part of, we don't own it, and God has given us responsibilites in the world for care and nurture of the actual material world we're in, and of one another. Second, it's about justice. Climate change weighs most heavily on those least powerful, least advantaged in the world. There's a clear imperative there."

In his sermon the next day at the international ecumenical service in Copenhagen Cathedral Archbishop Rowan contrasted paralysing fear with liberating love, taking as his text "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4.18). The full text of his sermon is available at www.archbishopofcanterbury.org

It was all stirring stuff. And as the conference enters the all-important second week, we can only pray that the negotiators will take heed of the Archbishop's twofold message: "First, don't be afraid, but ask how the policies you follow and the lifestyle you take for granted look in the light of the command to love the world you inhabit ... And second, don't separate this from the question of how we learn to trust one another within a world of limited resources. In such a world there can be no trust without justice, without the assurance of knowing that my neighbour is there for me when I face insecurity or risk." Amen to that.