BBC Radio 4 2015-12-14

In the coming week we will put the final touches to our preparations for Christmas. One part of that Christmas story is the exchanging of gifts emulating God’s gift to humanity through the birth of Jesus as Saviour. Ideally we will have already thought about what presents to get for those around us, but as we know choosing a fitting gift for someone else is not always easy. Will they like it or use it or will it even live up to the marketing promise? In essence it is not really about the tangible gift. It is about the sentiment, the thought, commitment and the feeling behind it.

In a sense, and as we are hearing in all the media coverage, we have all received a significant early Christmas gift from the Paris summit on climate change which concluded this past weekend. For many years now global society has tried to reach a comprehensive agreement about the best way to tackle the worsening condition of the planet. The talks in Koyoto set targets for the Developed World which broadly failed. And then the attempt to find a comprehensive agreement in Copenhagen also failed. Over the years opposing arguments have been discussed, the science and costs examined in detail and the morality of the case explored for those alive today and those yet to be born. But consensus evaded our global society.

Agreement could not be reached based on a solidarity between those who have already developed and those in the process of developing their economies and societies. The developing world saw it as a case of the Developed World asking them to do as I say not as I do. And in a sense they were right. The Paris summit managed to break that logjam through solidarity. For that reason the financial deal achieved at the weekend will provide 100 billion dollars each year to help spur innovation and development.

Just as at Christmas time, it is not really the tangible gift that is necessarily the most important – rather it simply conveys something deeper – a commitment and a thought. A gift is an expression of how we feel and so must be in unison with our actions otherwise it loses meaning. So too with the agreement in Paris.

I see it as a gift to the world, to grandchildren and generations yet to be born. It is a gift that the world needs right now which shows that comprehensive co-operation on global challenges whether they be posed by the environment, poverty or terror is possible. But to have true meaning, that gift to the world needs to be consistently lived up to and acted on even when it costs and is difficult. That’s the real meaning of a Christmas gift.