Jewish leaders join other faiths urging Government action on climate change

Jewish leaders are among those urging the Government to use its influence to secure a new legally-binding global deal on climate change.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Senior Reform Rabbi Laura Janner Klausner have joined Muslim and Sikh communities and the Church of England in signing a declaration calling for urgent action.

The move comes in the months before key United Nations talks in Paris in December which aim to secure a new international agreement on tackling rising global temperatures, as the pressure is ramped up on governments to act.

In the new Lambeth Declaration, faith leaders pledge to fast and pray for success of the negotiations, and urge their communities to recognise the urgent need to make the move to a low carbon economy.

It follows the original declaration hosted by the then Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and other faith leaders in 2009 ahead of the Copenhagen climate summit. The declaration says: “As leaders of the faith communities we recognise the urgent need for action on climate change.”