General News and Announcements

September 14, 2009

"The earth and all of its inhabitants are currently facing an unprecedented ecological crisis, bringing us to the brink of mass suffering and destruction for many."

On September 22, 2009, the United Nations Secretary General is convening a Summit on Climate Change in New York. Using the following prayer as that meeting approaches is one way you can be part of the extensive global church movement calling on governments to act to reduce the threat of global warming. We uphold before God the work of governments, officials, and civil society.

To learn more about how to be further involved in ending global warming, visit the Kyotoplus Take Action.*

Prayer

Creator and creating God,
In the wonder of your world we experience your providential care for the planet and its people.
We offer you our thanks and praise.
Creator and creating God,
in the exploitation of your world we recognize our human-centredness and greed.
We confess our sin before you.
We acknowledge our need for each other as part of your global family from North and South
And so we pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Accept our confession O God and offer us your forgiveness
Empowering us to transform our lives as individuals, churches and nations,
Proclaiming your love for the earth and its people,
Enacting the principle of "Jubilee" in our relationships with one another and the earth,
Repaying our ecological debts in ways in ways that affirm your justice and shalom.
Amen.

From the World Council of Churches Statement on Eco-justice and Ecological Debt

The central committee of the World Council of Churches released a statement* in September 2009 that addressed the following issues:

• How churches have been part of ecological destruction through their own consumption patterns and through perpetuating a theology of human rule over the earth.
• "Ecological debt" as damage caused over time to ecosystems, places, and peoples through production and consumption patterns; and the exploitation of ecosystems at the expense of the equitable rights of other countries, communities, or individuals.
• The disproportionate debt owed by industrialized countries in the North to countries of the South on account of historical and current resource plundering, environmental degradation, and the appropriation of common ecological space to dump greenhouse gases and toxic emissions.
• The primary responsibility of industrialized countries of the North for climate change, and the greater suffering caused to the South in the form of displacement of peoples, the loss of sources of livelihood, food insecurity, reduced access to water, and forced migration.

The World Council of Churches calls upon member churches to urge Northern governments, institutions and corporations to take initiatives to drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions within and beyond the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

It urges member churches to call their governments to adopt a fair and binding deal in Copenhagen in December 2009, based on climate justice principles, which include bringing carbon dioxide emissions to less than 350 ppm, and effective support to vulnerable communities to adapt to the consequences of climate change through adaptation funds and technology transfer.