13,589,257

That's how many people had signed the Avaaz petition to world leaders gathered in Copenhagen when I last checked their website earlier this evening. I'm not sure whether that gets them a world record for the largest petition ever but I do know its a lot of people - more than voted for the X-Factor winner! But that's just as it should be, after all the future of our planet is slightly more important that Joe McElderry's singing career.

The petition says, "We call on each of you to make the necessary concessions to meet your historic responsibilities in this crisis. Rich countries must offer fair funding, and all countries must set ambitious targets on emissions. Do not leave Copenhagen without a fair, ambitious and binding deal that keeps the world safe from catastrophic global warming of 2 degrees."

When I logged on to sign I was struck by the single word 'concessions'. In fact it almost stopped me signing. My struggle with the c-word is that it implies that I have a right to burn as much fossil fuel as I like and fill the sky with CO2 but, 'as a concession' to some suffering people in Bangladesh or somewhere I will make a generous gesture and reduce my emissions a little. But this is not about generosity, its about responsibility, and for Christians its about stewardship. However, I'm not naive enough not to realise that the world of politics, especially international politics, is all about concessions and compromises. So for the sake of a result I was prepared to ask our leaders for concessions ... but in my heart I really hope we might see a little more responsibility and even stewarship of God's wonderful creation.