United against climate change
Source: Norwegian Church Aid - Norway
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
The churches and church-based organisations of Africa have jointly urged the international community to focus on the effects of climate
change in Africa ahead of next week's UN Convention on Climate Change in Nairobi.
The churches and organisations, including Norwegian Church Aid Eastern Africa, are united through the Caritas-AACC Ecumenical Platform with the intention of facilitating the participation of Christians at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 12th Conference of Parties (COP12) that will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 6th – 17th November 2006.
In two statements issued on 2nd November to Convention delegates and non-participating churches respectively, the Ecumenical Platform states:
"Climate change is a reality. This has been confirmed by scientists, as well as communities that daily bear the effects of climate change. The countries of tropical Africa are slowly but surely being starved of water. Rains are now shorter, unpredictable, and often more intense.
This has had dire consequences for communities in tropical Africa whose survival depends on rain-fed subsistence farming and livestock keeping. At least 600 million people on the African continent alone survive by growing crops or rearing livestock. They are fighting a losing battle against climate change."
"The tragic truth is that communities in tropical Africa are all suffering increasingly volatile weather conditions due to a phenomenon that is not of their making. Climate change is largely caused by industrialised countries that have over-polluted the atmosphere during their process of industrialisation. Poor communities are suffering the consequences of climate change, even though they have not polluted the skies with greenhouse gases."
The Ecumenical Platform urges delegates to agree that rich countries must proportionately compensate poor countries for the damage they have sustained through climate change caused by rich countries' carbon emissions; that efforts are made to distribute total global carbon emissions equally among rich and poor countries alike; and this process must begin with a dramatic reduction in industrialised nations' carbon emissions.
Churches are strongly encouraged to join environmental action networks, speak out against carbon emissions, share information with congregations and pray for communities affected by climate change.
Caritas is an international confederation of Catholic agencies and the All Africa Council of Churches (AACC) is the umbrella organisations for Protestants in Africa.
Download the Caritas-AACC statement to the delegates here.
Download the Caritas-AACC statement to the churches here.
For more information, contact:
The churches and organisations, including Norwegian Church Aid Eastern Africa, are united through the Caritas-AACC Ecumenical Platform with the intention of facilitating the participation of Christians at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 12th Conference of Parties (COP12) that will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 6th – 17th November 2006.
In two statements issued on 2nd November to Convention delegates and non-participating churches respectively, the Ecumenical Platform states:
"Climate change is a reality. This has been confirmed by scientists, as well as communities that daily bear the effects of climate change. The countries of tropical Africa are slowly but surely being starved of water. Rains are now shorter, unpredictable, and often more intense.
This has had dire consequences for communities in tropical Africa whose survival depends on rain-fed subsistence farming and livestock keeping. At least 600 million people on the African continent alone survive by growing crops or rearing livestock. They are fighting a losing battle against climate change."
"The tragic truth is that communities in tropical Africa are all suffering increasingly volatile weather conditions due to a phenomenon that is not of their making. Climate change is largely caused by industrialised countries that have over-polluted the atmosphere during their process of industrialisation. Poor communities are suffering the consequences of climate change, even though they have not polluted the skies with greenhouse gases."
The Ecumenical Platform urges delegates to agree that rich countries must proportionately compensate poor countries for the damage they have sustained through climate change caused by rich countries' carbon emissions; that efforts are made to distribute total global carbon emissions equally among rich and poor countries alike; and this process must begin with a dramatic reduction in industrialised nations' carbon emissions.
Churches are strongly encouraged to join environmental action networks, speak out against carbon emissions, share information with congregations and pray for communities affected by climate change.
Caritas is an international confederation of Catholic agencies and the All Africa Council of Churches (AACC) is the umbrella organisations for Protestants in Africa.
Download the Caritas-AACC statement to the delegates here.
Download the Caritas-AACC statement to the churches here.
For more information, contact:
- Odd H. Evjen, Regional Representative for Norwegian Church Aid in Eastern Africa, tel.: (+254) 733 609 936
- Prof. Jesse Mugambi, WCC Working Group on Climate Change: jmugambi@iconnect.co.ke jmugambi@iconnect.co.ke , tel.: (+254) 722 753 227
- Isaiah Kipyegon, Regional Communications and Advocacy Coordinator, Norwegian Church Aid: isaiah@ncakenya.orgisaiah@ncakenya.org , tel.: (+254) 204 452 465/6/7
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
