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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the environmentalist and theologian Dr Ruth Valerio

Good morning.

Today sees the launch of the latest report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (known as the IPCC): the world’s leading authority on climate science.

Since its inception in 1988, the IPCC has issued a series of comprehensive reports; this latest update reminds us of the consequences of our rapidly changing climate, for the communities least responsible for this crisis. The UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, has described the report as ‘Code Red for humanity’.

Through my work for a Christian relief and development charity, I hear how the climate crisis is devastating the lives of people living in poverty through increasing droughts and floods, hunger, wildfires and loss of homes. In Zimbabwe, the impact of extreme weather is ruining harvests, meaning many parents are finding it difficult to send their children to school. Years of drought also bring about increased rates of child marriage in the country, as desperate families seek ways to make a little income and have one fewer mouth to feed. And the wider natural world is suffering too, with species pushed to the brink of extinction as stable ecosystems collapse.

This is a hard message for us to hear as we start the day, but we are not helpless; we can respond and it is right that we bring these issues to God in prayer.

God who made and loves this world, we pray today that our governments and business leaders would act urgently to avert a climate catastrophe and that you would show each of us what we can do to respond.

Amen.