Following on from Dave Criddle’s sermon exploring the topic of creation care on 1 August 2021, the post below sets out a selection of books and films suggested by Gold Hill member, Dr James Robey.  They provide a range of insights into sustainability and the climate crisis that humanity faces.  James leads the sustainability agenda for an international IT Services company and also lectures on sustainability at a number of universities.

There is plenty of materials available which discuss the environmental crisis that the planet is facing, and in particular how the ways that people act affect the wider world around us. We have pulled together some resources which we think are helpful to better understand the issues and how we might live in line with stewardship principles.

Useful Resources

Below are a selection of resources which will provide you with a better understand of the current situation, and how we might respond.

TO WATCH:

  • Breaking Boundaries – David Attenborough and scientist Johan Rockstrom examine the Earth’s biodiversity collapse and how this crisis can still be averted.
  • The Story of Stuff – Useful videos and resources explaining, informing and providing tools to help make a difference.
  • The Age of Stupid – a thought-provoking film set in 2055 in a world ravaged by climate change.
  • The problem with plastic – and how science can solve it – Liz Bonnin examines the issue of plastics in the ocean.
  • An Inconvenient Truth and An Inconvenient Sequel – a documentary film featuring Al Gore, laying out some of the situation and calling us to act.

TO READ:

  • No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference, by Greta Thunberg – a call to action
  • Our Final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency, by Mark Lynas – unpacks the implications of global heating from one degree above pre-industrial levels to six degrees
  • How Bad Are Bananas? The carbon footprint of everything, by Mike Berners-Lee – understand the carbon impact almost everything
  • How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, by Bill Gates – a plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe.
  • Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist, by Kate Raworth – reimaging the economic system
  • Hope in Hell: A decade to confront the climate emergency, by Jonathan Porritt – a clarion call to action, and action now on climate change
  • The Radical Disciple, by John Stott (the chapter on Creation Care)
  • Christianity, Climate Change and Sustainable Living, by Nick Spencer & Robert White
  • Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, by Ronal Sider

HELPFUL WEBSITES:

What can I do?

As well as the resources above, this document provides a range of different ideas and suggestions for things most of us could do to reduce our own personal environmental impact. They come in four sections: HOME, HABITS, FOOD and TRAVEL. Take a look and consider what changes you might be able to make.

You can download the PDF resource by clicking here.