Bishop Mark Strange, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, was a guest on the ‘Sunday’ programme on BBC Radio 4, where he discussed the Glasgow Multifaith Declaration.

Faith leaders across the UK have united ahead of COP26, the climate change conference in Glasgow next month, in a move they hope will raise a new generation of advocates for climate justice.

The Declaration calls on faith communities to make transformational change in their lives for the sake of the planet, and to speak truth to political leaders.

The Scottish Episcopal Church is one of the signatories to the Declaration, which was featured in the lead item on the ‘Sunday’ programme.

“The basis of the Declaration is that it’s not good enough to ask other people to make changes in their lives,” Bishop Mark told presenter William Crawley. “It’s not good enough simply to be saying to politicians, to governments, to institutions: ‘You’ve got to do this otherwise the planet is in danger.’ It has to start with each of us, actually having the commitment to not only do things for ourselves but to have the courage to speak about that to others.

“Part of this Declaration is that we will hold each other accountable for what we are doing. There is a sense that if we don’t make those changes, if we don’t work hard to indicate why we need to make those changes, if we simply ask someone else to do it, that’s never going to work. It has to be each of us, looking at our own life. What can we renew, rather than just buy? What can we do without, rather than having too much? What changes can we make?”

The full interview can be found here.