The historic barn at Stonehill House was a fitting place to watch a historic speech on the moral imperative of Climate Change, by the feisty Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres. 
She talked about love – for ourselves, each other, and the planet, as being an essential component of the solution to the problem of climate change.
In her incredibly optimistic speech, she said, “The scientific data on climate change is overwhelming. Fortunately, there are many, many citizens from all walks of life who have realized that we are at the fork in the road. They are helping to avoid the path of high risk and steer us toward the path of stability and prosperity. ” She detailed “an intricate web of finance, technology and policy solutions” which already exist. But time is short: leadership is required from individuals and from faith-based organizations, North and South, East and West in order to build the courage, the confidence, the political space and the urgency for accelerated action.
In her speech, which you can read in full here, and watch here, she gave us “a little menu of choices” for actions we can all commit to take today:
Eliminate food waste and eat less meat or go vegetarian.
Walk, bike or use public transport.
Replace inefficient lighting and/or install a solar panel.
Request carbon neutral goods and ask for labeling.
Support renewable energy projects in your community.
Tell your MP or your local council leaders you want a strong international agreement in Paris and more action at home.
Ask your pension fund managers how they are addressing stranded assets.
Ask your churches and religious institutions to align their financial assets with their spiritual assets.
And if prayer or meditation is your contribution, join a new movement called Ourvoices.net, which aims to trigger reflection across faiths everywhere.
And she finished with the ringing challenge, “Gathered here today let us renew our determination to tackle the daunting but solvable challenge of climate change….Let’s just blooming well get on with it!”
After watching the other speakers and the questions from the floor, we brainstormed which of her “little menu” we would choose. Some wanted to buy shares in oil companies and go to share meetings;but we finally decided that our first step will be encouraging ourselves to eat less meat by publishing a delicious vegetarian or vegan recipe on this website every month. Watch the “Food” section of this website for the first recipe!