On the opening day of the COP28 summit in Dubai, the twin parishes of Bishop Eton and St Mary’s in south Liverpool came together to stage a BBC Question Time-style event titled ‘Climate Crisis: What Can I Do?’.

Organiser Tim Walsh from the parishes’ LiveSimply team assembled a discussion panel featuring the MP for Wavertree, Paula Barker; the leader of Liverpool City Council, Liam Robinson; and local Calderstones councillor Liz Makinson.

Presenting the Catholic perspective were the Liverpool co-ordinator of CAFOD, Ged Edwards, and Deacon Paul Rooney, who is both a lecturer at Liverpool Hope University and leader of the archdiocesan environmental strategy.

Also on the top table, acting as chair, was Bill Chambers, the Pro-Vice Chancellor Emeritus of Liverpool Hope. Fifty parishioners attended the event at St Mary’s church hall and contributed to 90 minutes of lively debate.

Barker was asked about the priority of climate change for Westminster and Robinson about the big things that the city and region are doing to tackle climate change.

Makinson, meanwhile, talked about local priorities, and this led to a discussion on matters such as the roles of schools and 20mph speed limits in residential areas. The impact of climate change on the global south – an issue of great interest to CAFOD – was also discussed, while Deacon Paul was asked to reflect on Pope Francis’ impact on the international debate as well as how this is affecting local actions in parishes in the archdiocese.

The subsequent questions from the floor were wide-ranging, covering the ethics of direct action, the effectiveness of petitions to influence political leaders, economic opportunities resulting from climate change, and the contributions of parishes to reducing climate change.

The evening ended with everybody present invited to pledge one thing they would change in their own lives to improve the planet.

Picture Credit: Alex Monkhouse.