Growing up, the only messaging I heard about the environment was that fossil fuels were ruining it and that we needed to fix it. It is no surprise then that the issue weighs heavily on my generation in particular. A recent YouGov survey found that one in three people aged 16-24 were “Very Worried” about Climate Change and that 20% of the same age group would be willing to have less children than they would like to address the issue. [1] People are understandably worried about the future of our planet especially because “there is no Planet B”.
As Christians we have a particular mandate to care for our planet: we are to love God and to love our neighbours (Mark 12:29-31). The Scriptures tells us that God has set us apart from the rest of His creatures, appointed us to bear His image (Gen 1:27) and entrusted us to care for His creation (Gen 2:15). This is a creation that belongs to Him alone (Ps 24:1, Gen 1) and we show our love for God by fulfilling the role He has given us in stewarding it well.
Furthermore, to care for the planet is to love our neighbours. Climate change but more generally environmental damage, caused by misuse and exploitation of resources, disproportionately affects poorer communities who are often more reliant on agriculture and more dependable seasons, are more exposed to pollution, and are less likely to be able to prepare for severe weather events. [2] Caring for our planet is to care for others living here too, working to improve and to protect their lives.
When thinking of what jobs I wanted then as a final year geology student, I, and most of my classmates steered clear of the traditional oil and gas route and instead opted for a career in environmental consultancy.
Environmental consultancy
Environmental consultants provide advice to their clients about the management of environmental issues, aiming to reduce the detrimental impact of current and historic activities on the environment. It’s an important job and a sector full of people with good intentions. Your average environmental consultant wants to make the world a better place by using their environmental degree and passions to make positive environmental impacts to our Earth and the people who live on it.
However, this passion has often been overridden by the need to make a profit, seemingly at any cost. We deal with clients who want the necessary environmental legislation boxes ticked and as cheaply as possible. On top of that, legislation and guidance is typically vague and really only covers the bare minimum. The result is action that typically lacks any true positive outcome for the environment.
One good example of the current situation was highlighted in a BBC Panorama episode which showed how water and sewage companies were able to downgrade pollution incidents through loopholes, signed off by the Environment Agency. [3] Downgraded incidents are not published and in one example, United Utilities were rewarded £5.1m for good performance despite wrongly downgrading 60 pollution incidents. Similarly, on a smaller scale, we often find ourselves on the wrong side of the local community who oppose building work. “Tell them you’re an ecologist” seems to be the standard industry response in interacting with the public while on-site.
It can make our job frustrating and leaves people feeling hopeless. I have worked in my job for less than six months and have already heard colleagues and old coursemates say something along the lines of “You come into this job to make the environment better, and end up making it worse!”.
Another thing Environmental Consultants struggle with are the dreaded timesheets, imperative in the company making a profit. Every minute of every day is billed to a client resulting in either overcharging in downtimes, stretching out work for days, or undercharging by essentially working for free.
The Christian response
As a member of the Science Network, I have been encouraged to think about how Christians should respond to ethical challenges at work and I think that the first thing a Christian in any line of work should do is to acknowledge the mess.
We know that the entry of sin into the world has caused damage and we see that so plainly in the way that humanity’s relationship with work and the environment has been skewed. Since the fall nothing is easy, and like Adam our relationship with work and the Earth will be one of ‘painful toil’ (Gen 3:17). Any job we do will be frustrating at times and we won’t always get everything right - but from the mess comes the hope of the gospel. God promises to restore the Earth back to its original goodness and with that restore our relationships with each other, with work and with Him. This hope of fulfilling and useful work is something we can share with our co-workers, (remember 1 Pet. 3:15), who can often see their jobs as futile or even pointless.
Integrity is also a great way of showing our non-Christian co-workers the real impact that following Jesus has on our lives. Christians in every line of work are called to live with integrity and to live honourably (Prov 11:30). In environmental consultancy that can look like filling in a timesheet truthfully, doing every job to the best of our ability and being honest with each other and our clients. Integrity also looks like sticking to our principles. We should speak up when we witness dishonest work or bad company cultures but also be on our guard against lazily slipping into the same practices.
The area where this is perhaps the hardest is to stand against clients - especially at a junior stage when you don’t have much autonomy. In these situations we can draw on the wisdom that comes from God, knowing that He has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us and that He is ultimately sovereign over the world. And, as we grow closer to Christ, knowing His word better for ourselves, our thinking and therefore decisions will be better aligned to His.
But it’s not all bad news and frustration! I studied geology because I loved the intricacies of our planet and now I get to study it everyday. Despite our broken relationship with creation God has still given us scientists, in particular, the privilege of enjoying it and the responsibility of caring for it. And as environmental consultants, God, in his grace, has given us the knowledge, ability and skill to care for the earth and for the communities around us too. I pray that my colleagues would know what a gift that is!
References
[1] https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/f8u8jctgnu/WoodlandTrust_ClimateChange_230210_w.pdf
[2] https://www.worldvision.org.uk/about/blogs/climate-change-poverty/.
