A Rocha volunteer a ‘Climate Champion’ - A Rocha InternationalA Rocha International

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A Rocha volunteer a ‘Climate Champion’

Former A Rocha Peru volunteer, Rachel Lamb, was honoured with 11 other faith leaders as Climate ‘Champions of Change’ at the White House in July. Under Rachel’s leadership, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action (YECA) has developed a successful Climate Leadership Fellows programme at college campuses throughout the USA and in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rachel (second from right) on a panel with some of the other recipients, answering questions about how faith motivates them to mobilize their communities. Photo: White House

We asked Rachel about her involvement in the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference, and she wrote, ‘This year is going to be particularly important for climate action as YECA gears up to engage our political leaders around COP21 in Paris and the Presidential election in the USA. My generation has never experienced a month in which the average surface temperature of the Earth was below average. Therefore as temperatures continue to climb and the impacts continue to worsen for many of our neighbors least able to adapt, we are looking for bold leadership from policymakers. I am glad we will be able to join other Christian leaders on the ground in Paris and show that action on climate is an expression of our Christian commitment to love, life, and justice.’

And her time with A Rocha? ‘As an undergraduate at Wheaton College, Illinois, I quickly became involved in the A Rocha student chapter. After I joined Wheaton’s Human Needs and Global Resources programme, I jumped at the chance of partnering with A Rocha Peru for a five-month internship in 2011 and during my time in Lima, I was able to develop an integrative conservation strategy for A Rocha’s work in the lomas ecosystem, which wrestled with both the human and environmental needs. I learned so much from A Rocha Peru.’

Small image: Rachel outside the White House in July. (Laura S. Meitzner Yoder)