This is a text-only version of an article first published on Friday, 19 December 2014. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
By now we are well familiar with measures to cut harmful emissions and to invest in renewables as the chief means of combating potentially catastrophic climate change.
And while there is a responsibility on all of us to reduce our own carbon footprint and to do what we can to influence government policy, it is hard to escape the feeling that the main action is out of our hands. A conference to be held in Oxford at the end of February aims to address climate change from a different angle.
"The cost of life on earth: companies, climate change and your money" will look at how our personal choices about spending and investing money can impact on climate change and how we can engage with companies through dialogue and shareholder action. The tone of the contributions is upbeat and practical, with a wide choice of workshops to meet different interests.
For those in a position to make or influence investments, there is an emphasis on positive investmentoptions and how to construct an ethical investment portfolio.
Workshops on shareholder action will build on the experience of the conference organisers, the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR), who have a great track record in holding major companies to account.
And the recent impetus in this diocese towards disinvestment from fossil fuels will be reflected in a consideration of issues related to alternative energysources. ECCR is a church-based investor coalition and there is a theological thread running throughout the conference, which is to be chaired by Bishop Michael Doe.
A different faith perspective will be offered in a session on Sharia compliance and its relationship to investment. The conference begins on the evening of Friday 27 February with a dinner at St Hugh's College, Oxford with two keynote speakers Sir Mark Moody Stuart, author of Responsible Leadership: Lessons From theFront Line of Sustainability and Ethics and Tessa Tennant, founder of Our Voices, which is mobilising faith communities around climate change.
It continues on Saturday 28 February at Wesley Memorial Methodist Church with workshops and a panel of speakers including Paul Valentin (International Director at Christian Aid) and Barbara Hayes (former chair of ECCR Oxford). The cost of the conference plus dinner is £30 (£20 student); Saturday only: £20 (£15 student).
For further details email: eccroxfordgroup@hotmail. com or book tickets online .