Thousands of bells in churches around the world rang out 350 times on Dec. 13, 2009 to call for action on climate change.
December 13 marked the height of UN negotiations at the climate change conference in Copenhagen, and corresponded with an ecumenical service at the Church of Our Lady, a Lutheran cathedral in the Danish capital.
“The pealing of bells has always served a dual purpose — to ring out with beauty but also with warning,” said Rev. Dr. Andrew Johnston, minister at St. Andrew’s, Ottawa, one of the participating churches. “This is an issue that the whole world community needs to work on together.”
According to the World Council of Churches, bells rang 350 times to represent 350 parts per million, the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide emissions according to many experts. Carbon dioxide levels currently hover around 390 ppm.
The WCC expressed disappointment in the wake of the Copenhagen summit, lamenting a lack of transparency during the negotiations leading up to the Copenhagen Accord, and suggested the agreement would do too little to stem carbon dioxide emissions.
In a news release, the group called on industrialized countries to create “clear reduction targets” aimed at reducing emissions by 40 per cent by 2020, and an annual US$150 billion to help vulnerable developing countries as they try to adapt.
