Climate Change And Ecumenical Collaboration

Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace Conference on Climate Change and Development Rome, Italy – 26th -27th April 2007

"Climate Change and Ecumenical Collaboration”

Lic. Elias Crisostomo Abramides Climate Change Programme World Council of Churches

Introduction

“God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good…” Genesis 1:31

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” Col 1:15f.

The Holy Scriptures affirm that God the Almighty, “Creator of all things visible and invisible", is the maker of all life, which is his free gift of grace.

Since a long time ago, people of faith have tried to understand how to interpret the Genesis references to human beings as having “dominion” over that good and perfect Creation of God. Recognising the central position of humans within creation, we have to understand that “dominion” does not mean to act as the owners with unlimited right and uncompromising authority to possess Creation.

Much on the contrary, we are expected to act with responsibility in caring for it and loving it. We have the obligation, and at the same time the privilege, to care for the whole of Creation. This has become a shared conviction by many Christians and churches around world.

We are members of one earth community, one human family sharing our existence with all the other living creatures that are also part of creation. Life in all its forms is a grace, a precious gift given to us by the Creator, and our most sacred custody. Therefore it deserves our respect, our devotion, our reverence and care. Interest of the WCC and its Member Churches in Climate Change

The World Council of Churches - WCC - is a fellowship of Christian Churches founded in 1948. It is built on the bases of encounter, dialogue and collaboration. It has its secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. At present, it is composed by 347 Churches covering over 120 countries of the world.

We are frequently asked: "Why the WCC and its Member Churches are interested in the theme of the environment and especially in climate change?"

Climate change is seen as a threat to God's creation, occasioned by the emission of anthropogenic polluting gases that are introduced into the atmosphere. The pollution of the atmosphere and consequently its warming at a global scale, and finally the climate change associated to it, are one of the greatest risks challenging the existence and continuity of life on earth.

It is for the universal scope -or "catholicity"- of the climate change issue that the WCC and its Member Churches are concerned and involved in its study and in common advocacy and action addressing the causes and consequences. This has been the main reason for our presence in different international meetings and in the yearly Sessions of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, but also for working with church related development agencies on adaptation measures by vulnerable communities.

For the churches, the threat of climate change is a deeply spiritual issue, rooted in the Holy Scriptures. We believe that the solutions to the problem will not only be of a political, technological and economic nature. We believe that ethics and religion will necessarily become essential components on which the solutions will be based.

As Christians but also as inhabitants of this planet and members of one human family, we need to recognise and to face that our spiritual crisis has originated the endangerment of all forms of life on planet earth, not only for the present but also for the future generations.

We need to recognise and accept the intimate ethical and deeply religious implications of climate change. It is a matter of justice, it is a matter of equity, and it is a matter of love: love for God the Almighty, love for the neighbour, love for creation.

2 We shall be able to find the way to solve the threat of climate change only by starting with a profound act of contrition: a truthful and sincere repentance or metanoia.

In Jesus Christ, God has acted to save his creation. Through Jesus Christ, the first born of the new creation, God has renewed and continues to renew humanity.

The WCC Working Group on Climate Change

The WCC’s involvement in issues related to climate phenomena began in 1988 when its former Sub-Unit on Church and Society co-sponsored a consultation with the participation of Churches, environmental groups, scientists and politicians in Switzerland.

Later on, the WCC Climate Change Programme was carried forward by the WCC Working Group on Climate Change. This ad hoc group was founded in 1992 during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) that met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June of that year.

Since then, the WCC Working Group on Climate Change meets once a year either in specifically programmed meetings or at the occasion of the yearly sessions of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCCC). After the enforcement of the Kyoto Protocol in 2005, the Conference of the Parties meets simultaneously with the Meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the Protocol.

Its members represent an ample diversity of Churches, environmental groups and development agencies. They come from practically all the regions of the world: Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and the Pacific, forming an ecumenical network that organises workshops, participates in consultations, and attends international meetings.

This very early involvement, accompaniment and monitoring of international processes related to climate change was once more reaffirmed and encouraged by Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, General Secretary of the WCC, on occasion of the WCC 9th Assembly gathered during February 2006 at Porto Alegre, Brazil when he expressed:

3 “Climate change is, arguably, the most severe threat confronting humanity today. This is not an issue for the future: severe consequences are already being experienced by millions of people. We can prevent catastrophic climate change - at least, we know enough to reduce the degree of human-induced climate change – if we find effective ways of combining the voice of the churches with others who can make a difference. We must call on all Christian churches to speak to the world with one voice on addressing the threat of climate change.”

The WCC and the International Negotiations

The main interest of the WCC during international negotiations, in particular during the sessions of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, is to be the voice calling the negotiators attention on issues of ethics, equity and justice. Without these fundamental concepts no durable and sustainable agreements will be achieved.

The actual levels of destructive over-consumption we find in the developed countries of the economic North are being introduced into the societies of developing countries through the expansion of the global economy – often referred to as globalisation. Exacerbated economic growth and over- consumption constitute an increasing menace for the environment and consequently for sustainable development. For some to maintain and for others to reach those levels of consumption, the earth's natural resources are being depleted at a much higher speed.

The unsustainable consumption patterns of minorities are a cause for increased poverty of majorities. The gap between the rich and the poor becomes wider every day, giving more and more to whom already have in excess, and giving less and less to people who can barely survive. Poverty and environmental destruction are the other side of the excessive wealth enjoyed by a few.

Degradation of both the human being and the human spirit must be brought to an end. Caring for life on Earth is a spiritual commitment. Human beings and all the other species that share this planet have the right to life unthreatened by human greed and destructiveness

Viable and sustainable alternatives to the prevailing economic model ought to be found. Time has come for humanity to put aside self-centred interests, reflect carefully and act with responsibility on issues that affect humankind as a whole.

4 The financial help for technology transfer and adaptation to climate change is absolutely necessary in the process to attain a just, equitable, and sustainable development for the poorest countries and their inhabitants.

As Churches, we insist that individuals, but also countries in international relations, should never leave aside the golden rule: treat your neighbour as you want your neighbour to treat you. In this golden rule there is implicit the culture of justice and equity, the culture of ethics and solidarity, the culture of love and respect for one another, conforming altogether the culture of Peace.

From the Holy Scriptures, we read what Prophet Micah has told us:

"What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8).

And we must remember what our Lord Jesus Christ said (Matthew 5:5): "Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised”!

Climate Change and Ecumenical Collaboration

Climate change has been a matter of profound interest and preoccupation for the WCC and its member churches, trying always to work in ecumenical partnership. The voice of the WCC as well as statements of world Church leaders have been heard within the ecumenical movement. There are also many signs that they are indeed very welcomed and seriously taken into account by the civil society.

Climate change challenges the global ecumenical movement to become even more explicit about our own vision of the ‘oikoumene’, the entire inhabited earth as God’s common household.

When we search for inspiration for the ecumenical movement, we remember the message of H.A.H. Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I. On September 1st 1989, he issued an "Encyclical Letter on the Environment" establishing the first day of September of every year as the "Day for the Protection of the Environment", “when prayers and supplications should be offered for all Creation and for the reparation of the impairment caused to the natural environment.” 1

Equally inspiring is the message of H.H. Pope John Paul II for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, January 1st 1990.

5 “…. When the ecological crisis is set within the broader context of the search for peace within society, we can understand better the importance of giving attention to what the earth and its atmosphere are telling us: namely, that there is an order in the universe which must be respected, and that the human person, endowed with the capability of choosing freely, has a grave responsibility to preserve this order for the well-being of future generations. I wish to repeat that the ecological crisis is a moral issue.” 2

We are working for many years now in building an extensive network, in strengthening co-operation and in supporting broader ecumenical collaboration. Several ecumenical consultations and conferences were called by the WCC that had produced concrete policy guidelines and study papers for the Churches.

Translated in many languages, the 1993 study paper “Accelerated Climate Change – Sign of Peril, Test of Faith”3 was widely distributed to the Churches. It constituted the basic definition of the climate change phenomenon with theological and ethical imperatives to meet its challenges.

It was followed in 1996 by a second document, “Climate Change and the Quest for Sustainable Societies”.4 This document updated scientific research and the direction to develop clearly sustainable societies based on just, ethical and equitable principles

In early 1997 in association with the Bad Boll Evangelical Academy the study paper on “Mobility: Perspectives for Ecologically Sustainable Means of Transportation”5 addressed the highly complex world problem of mobility, offering criteria to create public opinion trying to find new viable solutions to the problem of modern means of transportation.

Towards the end of the same year, the words expressed by H.A.H. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I clearly affirmed that the aggression at to God’s Creation was a sin:

“... to commit a crime against the natural world, is a sin. For humans to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God's creation; for humans to degrade the integrity of Earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the Earth of its natural forests, or destroying its wetlands; for humans to injure other humans with disease; for humans to contaminate the Earth's waters, its land, its air, and its life with poisonous substances: these are sins.”6

6 In 2000 a justice statement regarding climate change titled “The Earth’s Atmosphere – Responsible caring and Equitable Sharing for a Global Commons”7, was completed and presented during the Sixth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP6 The Hague). It was very welcomed by the participants and encouraged the ecumenical efforts in trying to cope the impact of climate change.

The IPCC Third Assessment Report mobilized the WCC, ecumenical, development and relief agencies by late 2001, to undertake a study centred on the issue of solidarity. This originated an ecumenical consultation that resulted in the report “Solidarity with Victims of Climate Change”8 and an additional ecumenical statement calling for action to spiritually support the struggle against the impact of the growing frequency of natural catastrophes and the increasing number of victims caused by climate change.

Deeply preoccupied by actions to be taken after the first Commitment Period 2008 – 2012, as indicated by the Kyoto Protocol, the Churches met to analyze the post-Kyoto situation. The result was the publication of an important discussion paper: “Moving Beyond Kyoto with Equity, Justice and Solidarity”.9

To this respect, very important have been the work and contributions of the Church of Sweden, the United Church of Canada and of the Church of England (the Anglican Communion), just to name some of the strongest voices from the wider Protestant family. Due to the close relation between climate change and the issue of water, during the WCC 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre, full support was given to the initiative of creating the Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) that started working in collaboration with the WCC Working Group on Climate Change.

There are many other ecumenical examples of the collaboration of Churches at national, regional and international levels. In brief I could mention some examples that will illustrate this collaboration.

The Latin America Council of Churches - CLAI - is working with other groups of the civil society, on the “Environmental Citizenship Project” that includes the development of faith-based curricula on environmental concerns for use in seminaries and in local parishes on issues such as climate change, water, desertification, etc.

The All Africa Conference of Churches - AACC - has been a partner with the WCC in workshops and consultations, which have been focused on the development of local communities through the implementation of theoretical

7 and practical assistance, and on the links between climate change and water issues.

The Pacific Conference of Churches – PCC - and the WCC Pacific Office are active in helping churches throughout the island states in the Pacific Ocean, to address the serious threats that climate change poses to their societies. In 2004 two consultations on climate change were co-sponsored by the WCC and the PCC in Tarawa, capital of the Republic of Kiribati. The first one was oriented to young participants, while the second one including representatives of the Member Churches of PCC, produced the “Otin Taai Declaration”.10 “Otin Taai” in the language of Kiribati, means sunrise, a sign of hope, of light emerging from darkness, thus bringing hope to populations menaced by the sea level increase due to climate change.

The Christian Conference of Asia - CCA – is a regional ecumenical organisation that has old links with the WCC. Its climate change programme has developed its own series of consultations and workshops as well as practical assistance in cases of emergency situations due to climate change.

In India, the WCC has supported LAYA, a Development NGO and its associated Network called the Indian Network on Ethics and Climate Change (INECC). Christian organisations are members of INECC as well as Faith Communities based in different cities of India. The environmental and development organisations engage mainstream specialists in different areas of the various regions of the country, conducting workshops, offering practical and educational assistance to Adivasi villagers, offering assistance in case of emergency situations, and conducting programmes on climate change, development, water, agriculture, etc.

The European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) is the chief instrument of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) to address our relationship to nature and the environment from the perspective of Christian theology and Christian way of life. Its Working Group on Climate Change has developed a comprehensive and active programme, conducting seminars, consultations, etc. ECEN meets periodically in Assemblies.

A time of broader ecumenical collaboration has come and initiatives like this one taken by the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace goes in that direction, that is shared with grateful interest by all the parties involved.

8 The Signs of the Times

We wish to refer to the Gospel of Apostle Mathew (16:1-3):

1) Some Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2) But Jesus answered: “When the sun is setting, you say: ‘We are going to have fine weather, because the sky is read’. 3) And early in the morning you say: ‘It is going to rain because the sky is read and dark’. You can predict the weather by looking in the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs concerning these times!”

Present times seem to be discouraging: they are times of woe, of materialism and consumerism. The subjugation and destruction of the natural environment caused by human activities is having extremely dangerous consequences for the survival of the oikoumene.

The over consumption and endless energy needs of affluent societies, that could even engage humanity in horrific confrontations, are causing enormous damage to human beings and to nature. It is unjust for some to enjoy a quality of life that is far beyond the possibilities of others.

In particular when peoples of the South, being unable to obtain their basic sustenance, will suffer the worst impact occasioned by the energy-intensive way of life of peoples of the North.

Significant and consistent scientific evidence has been elaborated since the first symptoms of climate change were observed. Recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned us again, of the gloomy threat facing the earth as a whole.

We have to confront a severe environmental crisis. Climate change is provoking a series of often deadly effects:

- more frequent and destructive hurricanes, - altered rainfall patterns that produce dreadful droughts or torrential floods, - melting glaciers, - cataclysmic sea level rise that might alter sea coasts and submerge small island states, - spread of diseases, - as well as the extinction of all many species.

9 Not less distressing is the serious threat that climate change poses for millions of persons that could give origin to a new category of refugees: “Climatic Refugees”. This will suppose an enormous test for societies to deal with, on one hand for the displaced and on the other hand for the ones that might give shelter and protection to the former.

In sum: The indifference and lack of solidarity and love of the most powerful is disturbing the harmony, the natural equilibrium and the beauty of the world created, offered, and granted by God.

Conclusion

For us as Christians it is imperative to react to deceptive mechanisms that are proposed as solutions to climate change and energy problems, but are using means that are neither just nor equitable. Many of such proposals are based only on economic and technological grounds that will lead to further impairment of the inhabited world. Means must be informed by the ends that are to be achieved. They need to be expressions of equity, comradeship, justice, and of the harmonic integration of the human being, men and women, into their natural environment.

We are convinced that other paths exist and must be followed and strongly believe that an ascetic dimension must be taken into consideration. Reduce and restrain consumerism and energy demand, adopting a sincere self-control to allow an equitable development for all, while maintaining the ecological integrity of the biosphere.

I would like to share with you a few paragraphs of the statement that we, the WCC Working Group on Climate Change, produced and delivered to the Plenary of the High Level Segment of the UNFCCC in Nairobi, Kenya, 11 in November 2006:

1. Listen to the scientists and the cry of the Earth and address the reality of climate change with the extreme urgency that it demands.

2. Governments of the rich industrialised nations must keep the promise that they made in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The world is rapidly approaching the point of “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” The rich nations bear the primary responsibility for causing climate change and must adopt strategies to drastically reduce their emissions.

10 3. The Kyoto Protocol must be fully implemented by all those who ratified it and industrialised nations that did not ratify must meet targets at least as strict as those included in the Protocol. The emissions of some industrialised countries have risen rather than fallen since the 1990 baseline year. This means even greater reductions are required than the Kyoto Protocol targets and reinforces the urgency that actual reductions start now. We dare not wait.

4. The rich industrialised nations use far more than their fair share of the atmospheric global commons. They must pay that ecological debt to other peoples by fully compensating them for the costs of adaptation to climate change.

5. Drastic emission reductions by the rich are required to ensure that the legitimate development needs of the world’s poor can be met

6. All countries must agree to and participate in a climate policy framework for post-2012 that ensures equitable development for all while maintaining greenhouse gas concentrations within limits that keep a warming of the global mean temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.

Despite the apparently negative signs of the times, we still are at a point where the human race is able to make a decision that could, even now, save God's creation from the otherwise inevitable desecration caused by human induced climate change. Following that light of optimism is that we are gathered today in Rome under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace of the Roman Catholic Church.

We are sharing the enriching perceptions of our diversity, a symbol of Christian Hope for the future, and a testimony of our ceaseless will of preserving the purity, the perfection and the beauty of the natural environment - the good Creation of God - and most important, the will of preserving Life, the most precious gift that was given to us by God.

Buenos Aires, Argentina April 2007

11 References

1 H.A.H Patriarch Dimitrios I. “Encyclical Letter on the Environment" September 1st, 1989. Phanar

2 H.H. Pope John Paul II – “Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace” January 1st, 1990. Vatican

3 World Council of Churches - “Accelerated Climate Change – Sing of Peril, Test of Faith – A study paper”. 1993. Driebergen, The Netherlands – Kerk en Wereld and the Council of Churches in Zeeland

4 World Council of Churches - “Climate Change and the Quest for Sustainable Societies – Reflections on a WCC Study Project”. 1996. Driebergen, The Netherlands – Kerk en Wereld

5 Bad Boll Evangelical Academy. World Council of Churches. “Mobility: Perspectives for Ecologically Sustainable Means of Transportation” A Study for the WCC Member Churches. 1997. Bad Boll Evangelical Academy

6 H.A.H. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. “Address at the Environmental Symposium”. 1997. Santa Barbara, USA

7 World Council of Churches.” The Earth’s Atmosphere – Responsible caring and Equitable Sharing for a Global Commons – A Justice Statement regarding Climate Change from the WCC for COP6 The Hague”. 2000. Saskatoon, Canada.

8 World Council of Churches. “Solidarity with Victims of Climate Change. With the inclusion of an Ecumenical Statement for COP8 Delhi”. 2002. Geneva, Switzerland.

9 World Council of Churches. “Moving Beyond Kyoto with Equity, Justice and Solidarity” – A Discussion Paper from the World Council of Churches – for COP10 Buenos Aires. 2002. Woudschouten, The Netherlands – Kerkinactie – Protestant Church of The Netherlands

10 Otin Taai Declaration. A statement and recommendations from the Pacific churches’ consultation on climate change. 2004. Tarawa, Kiribati

11 A Statement from the World Council of Churches (WCC) to the High-Level Ministerial Segment of the UN Climate Conference in Nairobi (COP12/MOP2). 2006. Nairobi, Kenya