Summary of the address given by Bishop James Jones at the UKELA Conference gala dinner

摘要

The Bishop introduced his address with a number of anecdotes about Liverpool, the Cathedrals and his own work on the environment. He warned that anybody speaking about the environment risked the charge of hypocrisy. There is no human activity that is environmentally neutral.The challenge lies in ensuring that the human impact is sustainable.The antidote is to keep ourselves conscious of the relationship between humanity and nature of which we are a part. The Bishop spoke of young people's consciousness of the environmental crisis that is looming. Engaging with thousands of 16-18 year olds in school over a short period he found that the vast majority were both worried about the future of the planet and determined that we should take remedial action. He showed how one school in particular, the Academy of St Francis of Assisi, which studies the environment as its specialism, had transformed the life chances of its pupils, drawn from the inner city, by raising its achievement from 27 per cent GCSE passes to over 90 per cent in 8 years. Quoting the African proverb 'We have borrowed the present from our children' he added that young people were aware of the fragility of the ecosystem and of this organism called Earth of which humanity is a part.