Who Controls the World’s Climate? God, Nature or People?

I shall be delivering the newly inaugurated Derek Burke Memorial Science and Faith Lecture on Monday 14th October at 7pm in Norwich Cathedral. Entry is free and no need to register.

Over the centuries, the vagaries of weather and climate have been explained by a wide range of cosmologies, religious beliefs, political ideologies and scientific paradigms. Today, as morally-accountable human actors, our weather is, in some way, the consequence of our own actions. To understand the cultural politics of climate-change, we need to take account of the diversity of religious, historical and cultural traditions around the world. We also need to reconcile the different economic and social interests of rich and poor communities.

This is why the proposed solutions to the “climate crisis” are charged with ethical implications. Who should decide which solutions and which technologies are appropriate? Is it the responsibility of rich countries or rich people to take the lead? Is it the task of national governments or ordinary citizens, technological engineers or social entrepreneurs, religious leaders or cultural celebrities? Each of these groups has a distinctive viewpoint and each has a distinctive role to play.