It was a powerful, uplifting experience to join with some 100,000 people in London on Earth Day, which is an annual invitation to protect and celebrate the incredible biodiversity of our planet.
The day has increasingly become about finding collective, creative solutions to the ecological crisis, particularly when those in power seem so absent from those solutions.
The obvious link between Earth Day and our work at JRS is that climate disaster is going to cause unprecedented displacement globally. Our international mission of accompaniment, service and advocacy for refugee friends will play a vital role for years to come.
But charitable responses will not be enough.
We need to respond to displacement with compassionate policies, a just division of responsibility, and practical solutions. Not media-driven hysteria and a ‘crisis’ orchestrated by inadequate, cruel policies.
We also need to fight.
Defending our natural world is intrinsically linked to upholding the rights and humanity of our international brothers and sisters. Because the climate crisis is based on existing systems of oppression and inequality. By tackling these at the root, we can start to imagine a vision of a future which we ALL need.
So, after a weekend full of bright and beautiful celebrations in London, I urge you to continue taking action.
Please stand in solidarity with refugees and migrants. Uphold their humanity and offer them welcome in your communities. Show kindness, seek volunteering opportunities or offer financial support so that people can live in dignity.
I truly believe that hosting refugees is one of the most POWERFUL forms of resistance to the hostile environment. Hosting provides welcome and sanctuary to people who have had so much stripped of them because of our systems of oppression.
If you’d like to find out more, head to our hosting page here: https://www.jrsuk.net/at-home-hosting-scheme/
Or join us at our upcoming information event at Farm Street Church on May 30th, 7pm.
