Sandpoint resident observing climate talks in Paris

Sandpoint resident Gary Payton is at the Paris climate talks as an observer for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

He spent 24 years as an intelligence officer for the U.S. Air Force, specializing in information about the strength of the Russian military, and later worked for the Presbyterian Church on peace and justice issues. However, “the most important work of my life is my current engagement on behalf of creation and the onrush of climate change,” Payton, a 65-year-old environmental activist, said in an email interview from Paris.

Below is a condensed version of the interview.

S-R: What are you doing at the talks?

Payton: I’m one of four Presbyterians accredited by the U.N. as “observers.” I am not sitting in on the formal negotiations. I am attending multiple sessions called “side events,” organized as part of the overall COP21 (Conference of Parties).

S-R: What is the Presbyterian Church’s stance on climate change?

Payton: The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has decades of strong policies on a host of environmental issues. It supports comprehensive, mandatory and aggressive emission reductions that aim to limit the increase in Earth’s temperature to 2 degrees Celsius or less from pre-industrial levels.

S-R: What do you hope to accomplish from being at the talks in person?

Payton: I hope to share the passion of COP21, the urgency of the issue, with those who read what I write and listen when I speak. (I’m blogging and I have public presentations planned for January.) Climate change is now, and as citizens we are obliged to find our own ways to act.

S-R: Describe an interesting person you’ve meet.

Payton: Chris McGinnis is the chair of Scotland’s Youth Climate Group, a group dedicated to “engaging, educating and empowering future leaders to take action on climate change.” Chris and his group challenge us that the threat is now – not 2020, or 2025, or 2050. And, given that it is a today issue, the world needs to be nurturing young leaders who will face/manage climate change solutions in just a few years.

Chris biked 1,000 kilometers to Paris. Hundreds of other “pilgrims” demonstrated their commitment to COP21 by biking or walking across the continent to get here.

S-R: Given the events of recent weeks, what is it like to be in Paris now? What is security like?

Payton: On the streets of Paris, life continues. Traffic rumbles. People bustle. It feels “normal” by major world city standards. In many metro and train stations, police and military presence is marked. It is not uncommon to see dozens of armed security with eyes out scanning the passing crowds. And, at the UN COP21 site the armed security is multitiered and very visible.

S-R: Why is climate change an issue for people of faith?

Payton: People of faith believe that humans have been given responsibilities by God to nurture the Earth, “to be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the Earth.” (Genesis 1: The Message) We have been charged to love one another. And, climate change disproportionately affects those least able to cope.

S-R: Why should ordinary citizens get involved?

Payton: The science is settled. The climate crisis is now. It will get worse. We are all complicit. Bringing about change at a global level begins with each of us changing how we live, how we consume and how we love.