As they sat, they prayed and sang hymns of gratitude for creation. Outside the branch, another group of about 20 protesters, including more Anglicans, held up banners and signs and handed out leaflets explaining the action. The people had been trained in non-violent direct action to ensure that the demonstration was peaceful.

RBC’s $42 billion (U.S.) investments included being the leading financier of Tar Sands developments in 2022. Why is that important? In January, Nature Briefing reported research showing that “Canada’s oil-producing tar sands generate as much pollution-causing emissions as all of the country’s other human-generated sources combined… Actual emissions were up to 64 times greater than reported by industry.” RBC also invests in fracking, Arctic and Amazonian exploration and pipelines crossing First Nations lands.

But Faith and Climate Action sees RBC’s investments as going beyond the economics, science and Indigenous rights issues, as important as they are. In our baptismal covenant, Anglicans vow that we will “strive to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation and respect, sustain and renew the life of the earth.” Other faiths have similar statements of belief in the sacred relationship between the Creator and creation. The collective view is that investing in climate-damaging fossil fuels is a moral matter. Paraphrasing Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si, every investment is a moral decision.

The demonstration did not happen without preamble. The group had tried to engage executives of the bank in discussion about its fossil fuel investment policies in late 2023. It first sent an email to John Stackhouse, RBC’s senior vice president who is identified as having a special involvement in environmental issues for the bank, then followed up with a letter that read, in part:

“We urge RBC to:

1. publicly commit to immediately end your support for all new fossil fuel projects, including exploration, extraction, transportation and power;
2. publish a robust plan for phasing out your support for all existing fossil fuel projects and companies on a timetable consistent with what is necessary to meet the Paris targets;
3. ensure that you do not lend to companies that operate in Indigenous territories without free and informed prior consent.

“We are wondering: why does RBC continue to finance new and existing fossil fuel projects at unmatched levels when doing so poses a threat to the survival of our children and grandchildren? We would like to meet with you in person at your earliest convenience to hear your response to this question.

“The United Nations Secretary General and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have made it clear that greenhouse gas emissions from existing and planned fossil fuel infrastructure will push global heating beyond 1.5 degrees, and that no more fossil fuel sources can be opened if the world is to avoid catastrophic heating.

“However, according to the most recent Banking on Climate Chaos report, RBC was the world’s  biggest fossil fuel financier in 2022, providing over $42 billion (U.S.) in funding to fossil fuel companies (with over $250 billion U.S. in financing since 2016). Meanwhile, we will continue to mobilize members of our own and other faith communities to take action to resist the continued financing of climate polluting fossil fuel projects which put our collective survival at risk.”

The letter was signed by five individuals with their faith group identified, stating that “faith organizations listed are for identification purposes only” not as official endorsement by the different denominations. I signed the letter, identifying myself as an Anglican deacon.

Despite these requests, we received neither a meeting nor even an acknowledgement. The demonstration and sit-in was the first step of a follow-up to the non-response. The group regards the protests as a campaign, not an event. Other actions will follow until the bank responds.

Each of us protestors in the bank that morning was ticketed for trespass and fined $65. A number of us have asked to appear in court to fight the fine on the basis of our moral obligation to creation and our Creator.

RBC is only the worst of the major Canadian chartered banks investing in climate-wrecking pollution, not the only one. This campaign intends to tackle the worst offender first.

The post Every investment is a moral decision appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.

David Miller, Toronto’s former mayor and author of Solved: How the World’s Great Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis, discussed the themes of his book with more than 100 participants in a Zoom meeting in May. St. Aidan, Toronto’s eco-spirituality committee and Beach United Church’s environmental action program co-sponsored the meeting. 

The core idea of Solved, in Mr. Miller’s words, is that “by replicating the best and most effective ideas already implemented … we can make a significant leap forward in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and put the world on a path to 1.5 degrees. The ideas discussed in this book have all been implemented somewhere.”

Allan Baker from Beach United moderated the evening and introduced Mr. Miller, who began by saying, “We’re in a crisis. We need to act. Extreme events are already occurring. Some predictions say 100 million people will be on the move because of drought and lack of food if we don’t act.”

He then noted that more than half of the world’s population now lives in cities. This percentage will grow to two thirds by 2050, making cities the focus of needed changes. He gave examples of cities that have used different financial and regulatory tools to address climate change in four main areas: electrical generation; transportation; building, heating and cooling; and waste management.

The Rev. Canon Lucy Reid, incumbent at St. Aidan’s, and Grace Rockett, a parishioner and a member of the Toronto Climate Action Network, interviewed Mr. Miller on his work. 

Canon Reid asked about the affordability of some of Mr. Miller’s proposals, to which he responded that the cost of doing nothing is higher. He elaborated by talking about Shenzhen, China, which bought 16,000 electric buses and created the world’s largest electric-bus manufacturing facility. The benefits are not just cleaner air but jobs and better health.

Ms. Rockett asked him about his reference to the “15-minute city.” Mr. Miller credited Jane Jacobs, the urban theorist and environmentalist, with the idea of using cities’ powers to build neighbourhoods where people can live, work, recreate and go to school or church within an easy 15-minute walk. 

After the Q&A time, the Rev. Karen Dale from Beach United reflected on eco-spirituality as a form of justice. “Climate action is a justice issue that requires cooperation based on our relational, interconnected lives, the way we live with one another and with creation,” she said. “If we link the issue of climate action to those who need to be lifted up, and if we care for one another, we will change the way we live with the whole planet.” 

As the discussion had focused on the role of cities in addressing climate change, the organizers had invited Brad Bradford, the area’s city councillor and a member of both the city’s budget committee and the Toronto Transit Commission board, to comment on Mr. Miller’s ideas. He said he’d been a fan of the former mayor since he’d been studying urban planning in graduate school and Mr. Miller had visited. He also said he had taken notes and would be looking at how to implement them.

Mr. Miller answered a few questions from the chat. One of the first had to do with priorities. Mr. Miller said that if the city required the 1,000 inefficient apartment towers in Toronto to get exterior cladding, it would reduce emissions by 45 per cent. “We’ve got to move beyond voluntary programs,” he said.

As I wrapped up the evening, I noted that Mr. Miller had agreed to speak without any fee but had said that we could, if we wished, contribute an honorarium to the Mrs. Joan H. Miller Scholarship Fund. The fund, named for Mr. Miller’s mother and administered by the Toronto Foundation, supports people seeking a second chance to return to school. The two churches made a contribution.  

The immediate reaction to the evening was positive, judging from the emails, text messages and coffee-hour chat the following Sunday.

The post Former Toronto mayor shares ideas on climate action appeared first on The Toronto Anglican.