THE Bishop of Salisbury has helped present a collection of climate justice petitions to President François Hollande.

The Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam was among 20 international faith leaders in Paris last week to meet the French president at the Élysée Palace.

The petitions were signed by 1,833,973 people calling for a fair, ambitious and binding deal at the UN’s COP 21 climate summit.

The Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, the Church of England’s lead Bishop for the environment, said: "People of all faiths urge all parties to agree on a Paris deal applicable to all.

"Following the acts of terrorism in this city we want the world to act together, in care of our common home.

"For it to be ambitious, the agreement must include a long-term goal drastically cutting the world’s carbon footprint and making the transition to clean energy

"It must also have a tool to review and increase countries’ contributions, to review and increase ambitions as gaps arise. When they go home, governments must actually start to deliver a low-carbon future.

"The message is simple – this is about our common home and we need to act together. This is not the end. This is the beginning of the journey and now we have to work hard in order to make this deal effective."

A number of Christian climate pilgrims walked from London to Paris and from across Europe to lobby the summit.

This included two pilgrims from the Diocese of Salisbury. These were Harry Reddick from Holy Trinity, Weymouth and Elizabeth Perry from Middle Woodford.

They were represented by Judith Tooth, who attends St Henry Morse Catholic Church in Diss, Norfolk.

She said: "I think from what the President said, he seemed moved by the efforts that we as pilgrims had gone to. Knowing that what we did has reached his ears and hopefully moved his heart, I feel very pleased.”

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