It is very easy to accumulate stuff. To buy things. Maybe we are sort of encouraged and enticed to keep acquiring objects. And yet we see the mountain of waste pile up and we hear of the challenge of accessing more and more natural resources for the sake of the economy.

Does it have to be like this?

“Christian spirituality proposes an alternative understanding of the quality of life, and encourages a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment free of the obsession with consumption. We need to take up an ancient lesson, found in different religious traditions and also in the Bible. It is the conviction that “less is more”. A constant flood of new consumer goods can baffle the heart and prevent us from cherishing each thing and each moment. To be serenely present to each reality, however small it may be, opens us to much greater horizons of understanding and personal fulfilment. Christian spirituality proposes a growth marked by moderation and the capacity to be happy with little. It is a return to that simplicity which allows us to stop and appreciate the small things, to be grateful for the opportunities which life affords us, to be spiritually detached from what we possess, and not to succumb to sadness for what we lack. This implies avoiding the dynamic of dominion and the mere accumulation of pleasures.”

Laudato Si’, 222.

This week at COP28 we’ve seen some hope and we’ve also seen some business as usual. It’s easy to hold on to the idea that it will all get fixed and we don’t need to change. In the UK we’re being told that our emissions have dropped by 48% since 1990. There’s a false sense of security into feeling that we’re already halfway to solving climate change. Here are the official figures for the UK consumption emissions over the period 1996 to 2020:

What this dataset shows is that over the period 1996 to 2019 (excluding the COVID-19 affected year of 2020), greenhouse gas emissions from UK produced goods and services have decreased by 43%, emissions from household heating have decreased by 26%, but emissions from UK transport have increased by 11%, and emissions embedded in imported goods and services have increased by 15%. The overall picture in consumption terms is of a decrease of 18%. In fact the data exist back to 1990 and UK consumption emissions have reduced from 912 MtCO₂e in 1990 to 670 MtCO₂e in 2019 [1], a reduction of 27%. The reduction is good, but we certainly aren’t half-way there yet.

The greenhouse gas emissions from imported goods and services is up and now accounts for 45% of our carbon footprint. Our purchases may have contributed to more emissions in another country. The need for reducing the mountain of purchases we make has arrived.

Pope Francis’ address to COP28 encourages us to “join in embracing an alternative vision” where we are “promoting sound lifestyles, since all are responsible and the contribution of each is fundamental.” Laudate Deum puts it like this: “the need to realize that there are no lasting changes without cultural changes, without a maturing of lifestyles and convictions within societies, and there are no cultural changes without personal changes” (Laudate Deum, 70).

Perhaps “Do I Really Need It?” might help us in our own personal journey of ecological conversion.

[1] “Measuring UK greenhouse gas emissions: Summary of the three measures of UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: territorial, residence and footprint”, Office for National Statistics, December 2023, available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/methodologies/measuringukgreenhousegasemissions.