By AVA TURNQUEST
Tribune Chief Reporter
aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
CATHOLIC bishops from around the region have joined the movement to circumvent climate change and urged its membership to advocate for a universal climate agreement.
In a declaration written earlier this month, the clergymen committed to public education campaigns, programme development and collaboration with the government, private sector and civil society in a bid to prioritise the issue on the national agenda in their respective countries.
The Archdiocese of Nassau, headed by Archbishop Patrick Pinder, is a signatory to the document.
The statement supports the government’s position that those responsible for climate change have a greater responsibility to assist vulnerable nations in adapting and managing loss and sharing technology.
The declaration from the Bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference comes ahead of a major encyclical by Pope Francis, which is expected to be released today. This will be Pope Francis’s first encyclical.
“We want to accompany the political process and seek dialogue to bring the voices of the poor and most vulnerable to the table of decision-makers.
“We are convinced that everyone has a capacity to contribute to overcome climate change and to choose sustainable lifestyles,” the declaration said.
“Everyone is affected but it is the poor who feel it the most. This is because the poor have the fewest resources with which to absorb these events and adjust. It is they who feel it when left homeless by a storm, or when crops fail, or when disease strikes.
“Following the gospel option for the poor, we have consistently worked closely with the most vulnerable communities and the excluded and as such are closely attuned to how the problem of climate change is affecting them. Our message to political leaders and all people of goodwill is rooted in the experience and suffering of these poor communities.”
The Church’s position on climate change is a bid to underscore the significance of the upcoming United Nation’s conference on Climate Change in December. The 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be held in Paris, France.
The bishops implored that action on the issue must not be motivated solely by technical or economic concerns but also from social and moral dimensions.
The declaration implored all “people of goodwill” to advocate for: the limitation of warming relative to pre-industrial levels “in order to protect frontline communities suffering from the impacts of climate change, especially high risk island and coastal communities such as the Caribbean; to build new models of development and lifestyles which are both climate compatible and bring people out of poverty.”
It continued: “Central to this is the significant reduction in fossil fuel emissions and the promotion of renewable energy with sustainable access for all. This requires serious efforts at diversification of economies.”
“There must be clear guidelines on how countries, especially the poorest, least developed and most vulnerable nations, will meet the predictable additional finance commitments and establish robust and transparent accounting methodologies.”
The declaration called for “concrete decisions” to overcome the challenge, and guidelines for a sustainable future, to be taken at the international forum.
“We wish you to be a part of an international conversation,” the declaration read, “and to join the efforts of the Holy Father and world leaders as they work towards signing the new and necessary universal climate agreement. We, your bishops, urge you to take action on the urgent and damaging situation of global climate change.”
It continued: “This crisis is primarily a spiritual crisis with significant moral implications. Its implications will affect future generations. We owe it to ourselves and those who will come after us to act now. We have a responsibility to educate ourselves, to consciously choose to live responsibly to the environment and the common good.”
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID