EU goes backwards!

One year ago at Bali the EU was the proactive part of the UNFCCC negotiations. Promoting cuts between 25 - 40 % in 2020. Those were the days! Now EU seems to take five steps backwards. 20% and no trigger to 30% in case of a global treaty. And free emission rights, no funds for developing countries from emission trade! CDM projects instead of doing domestic actions! And some try to say that this is a step forward! 2009 seems to be a heavy year for those who wants to see a fair and necesary treaty signed in Copenhagen.
Now lets use the Uppsala Manifesto and put it on the EU goverments tables as well as on the table in the White House. Time to change!

The Manifesto is signed

Friday night the manifesto was signed. The 28 hours of cermonies seminars and meetings was a great experience for everyone there.
There is a real and honest will among religions to come together to overcome the climate change challenge. At least I got the impression from the summit. Hopefully, when looking back, this could be one of the first step to an interfaith cooperation that will have a real impact on fighting climate change.
There is hope for the future!

The day of the Interfaith Summit!

The picture shows the group that one year ago started the process that ended up to become the Interfaith Climate Summit Manifesto, Hope for the Future.

Today there will be around 1000 people in Uppsala, Sweden to take part in the Interfaith Climate Summit. A vast program with all kinds of inputs on the theme of climate change and faiths is at hand.
The Climate Interfaith Manifesto will be signed this afternoon and hopefully this Manifesto can serve as a tool for the climate change discussions inside faith traditions as well as a message to the political processes under the UNFCCC agenda.
Looking forward to moderate two sessions tomorrow with some of the signatories. One session have a European perspective. What can the different faith traditions in Europe bring to the climate change agenda. I am looking forward to hear the opinions of Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp a long time enthusiast on interfaith dialogue and ecology , the professor from Lampeter, Wales, Mawil Izzi Dien who know so much about Islam and Ecology and also a warm friend of interfaith dialogue and my good friend Dr Peter Pavlovic from Conference of European Churches that for a long time has worked on the Environmental Agenda in the European context.
What are their visions for Europe from the faith perspectives related to climate change.
I also do look forward to hear four examples of best practises. Dr Charles Reed from Church of England, Mr Roman Juriga from Czech Republic and Rev Dan Melander from Ethic and Energy, Sweden and Rev Sally Bingham from Interfaith Power and Light, US. It is really encouraging to know that different examples from faith communities do something that is hands on.

Next Friday - the Manifesto will be signed !

Friday 28th November different faith traditions of the earth will be represented in Uppsala,Sweden and a climate change manifesto will be signed. Hopefully this Manifesto can serve as a tool for faith traditions around the world to take a more active part in the real Change that the world need to get out of the fossil age! And the Manifesto could also be a message to the negotiators from all the nation of the world that we want to see brave actions in Poznan and all the way to Copenhagen, so that there will be a treaty that lower the emissions and also give the possibility to development in the developing countries.
It is time for the interfaith movemnet to come up with their own "Yes we can" moment. We need to be aware of the threat of climate change to especially the poor of the world but we also need the joy and hope as a driving force for change. Faith traditions of the world can equip the world with that; With hope for the future!

The Pacific is still there but time is running fast

Fei Tevi from the pacific are looking for the action from the churches to react but mostly to act when it comes to climate change and the results for the fluent continent.
Adaptation for the people of Kiribati and other islands in the Pacific, seems to be becoming a fish, and that evolution is not done in a decade. The question of resettlement is a fact now. Where can you go when the erosion of the coasts is rapidly changing the conditions? And what would you say if the place where you lived for generations and the ground where your ancestors is buried is threatened to be under the surface of the ocean? And the irony of the situation is that the people of the Pacific have not been the one that caused by the climatic changes. But for us in other parts of the world we must listen and act. The Pacific is the climate change "Canary in the mine" They are still singing but they are singing out a warning, and we better listen

The Swedish Archbishop gears up for the Interfaith Climate Summit"

Some days ago Archbishop Anders Wejryd wrote an article in one of the major newspaper in Sweden on climate change. There he gives his view on the climate change policies in Sweden. His bottom line is that Sweden must mitigate their own domestic emissions of greenhouse gases with 40% by 2020. To say that other countries emit a lot more and that the Swedish part of the world emissions are so small is no way of showing responsibility in the international discussion.
He refers to the upcoming Interfaith Climate Summit that will take place in Uppsala,Sweden 28- 29 November where persons from different faith traditions will come together to sign a manifesto on climate change.

Archbishop ends the article by saying that
"Climate change demands wise, considered and common measures. Especially in we in our westerns societies have to go through drastic changes in the next decades. Spiritual leaders are ready to come together and show the way to create hope and positive models for every day life. Now it is up to the political leadership to do the same."

Now, lets hope that the Interfaith Climate Summit brings the manifesto to the political scene and back to the faith traditions of the world. Everybody have to act and do it now.
In this time when the Climate Sceptics are more loud and the financial crisis are taking over the discussion we have to keep the climate focus. We can not afford to ignore the crisis and we have to understand that it is time for real change, and that the sceptics are slowing us down.

Faith communities in Barents Region on Climate Change

Last week faith communities from the Barents region came together in Oulo, Finland, and the theme where climate change. The Arctic region will face the impact of climate change in many ways. What will happen if the natural resources like oil can be exploited if the ice cap will melt around the pole? What will happen to communities if the maritime traffic will expand due to ice free summers? Can den Sami people still hold reindeer's? And will the interests in natural resources from different nations create a more tensed relation between the Arctic states?
The faith communities expressed their concern and hopefully they could respond to the urgency of the situation.
Read the statement here

Poverty and climate

Climate Change is also about poverty. If we can not curb the emission in time (and the window to act is open just for about 7 -8 years from now)we will face more poverty around the world due to changed climate. Today bloggers around the world will bring the subject of poverty to their blogs.
From a faith perspective we must always have the most vulnerable of the world in focus. The most vulnerable to climate change are the poor. Just look what happened in New Orleans, a town in the rich world. Those that suffered most were those who did not have the financial resources or insurances.This is the fact all over the world. Poor people will be the first victims when harvests will not be as it used to be, when water resources will not be there, when flooding s will sweep away their hoses.
Climate change is not just another Green Issue! It is a moral obligation to the people of the world to change. If we should make poverty history we also need to make the fossil society history.

Why doesn´t the world respond to the climate challenge as quick as it did to the financial crisis?

The last weeks have been focused on solving the financial crisis of the world. The activities on the stock markets and from governments of the world have been more than high! Iceland seems to have lost more or less half of their bank assets in a week! Now everybody can support the will to save and secure the financial system. Why is the sluggish way of dealing with climate change? The crisis of climate change is as urgent as the financial crisis!
Maybe people think of climate change as a green issue that we can deal with when the financial problems are solved. But the economics of climate change is already sorted out by Sir Nic Stern! And he also underlined the urgency to act.

I quote from the last ECEN (European Christian Environmental Network) working group on climate change

1) The need of political leadership to avoid the tipping points.

Climate change is not only about individual lifestyles. We need global agreements with targets that bring the emission of green house gases down.

We strongly support the action the European Union is taking to tackle climate change and, as a European network, urge the European Union to take brave leadership in the coming process under UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) with the next two COP’s (Conference of the Parties) in Poznan and Copenhagen in focus.

The seriousness of the situation and the message from the scientific community says that big cuts of emission are now necessary.

In reality this means that we would like to see EU/European countries work for;

· a 30 – 40 % cut of emissions for industrial countries to 2020 without use of flexible mechanisms, i.e. buying credits from developing countries

· binding commitments to use a minimum of 30% of the revenues from emissions auctioning to support developing countries to adopt robust adaptation and mitigation programmes.

· 80 -90 % cuts of emissions to 2050

· a fair and effective global climate treaty to be decided at COP 15 in Copenhagen

If the world can act in a week to save the financial systems then it is possible to act to save the climate in a much faster way then what we can see now!

Erosion in Alaska - also a consequence of Climate Change

This video is shot this summer over from late June to late July. It is clear that the erosion is just another effect of the climate change we live in these days!

Greenhouse Development Rights

Today Stockholm Environment Institute presents new figures on their idea of distributing the efforts to cut the emissions of Greenhouse Gases in a more equitable way.
The results is a big challenge to everybody on the earth. Forget the talk of EU 20 % cuts and if a global agreement will come, 30%,to 2020 as a success. The developed countries needs to do MORE than 100%!And that means definitely more than 30 % to 2020!
How can the emissions cut be more then 100%? Because the developed world have to do more than only domestic cuts! So if you thought that you could buy your part of emissions from somewhere else and go on with the same amount of emission, forget it!
Executive Director of SEI Johan Rockström says

"- Taking drastic action is not a choice; it is a necessity. The planet will not remain within safe thresholds without emission cuts of more than 100% in developed countries. These cuts should address domestic and international emissions, as well as the emissions from our consumption of products produced abroad."

Now if someone thought of this as bad news I am not sure that is right. This is a way of locking up the negotiations of UNFCCC. Every country have a responsibility to cut emissions but as it has been said for sometimes, shared but differentiated.

China, India, Brazil, South Africa, etc, everyone will have to do their homework, but the largest part will be done by the industrialized countries like the US and EU.

Sivan Kartha, the author behind the GDR:s says “- The bottom line is that the current climate negotiations will not succeed until they address the fundamental challenge of human development for the poorest people on the planet”

Now, this is the real challenge of climate change!

Climate change is also a European issue! Faith people of Europe; Wake up!

After returning from the ECEN assembly in Truggio outside Milan the European Environment Agency publish a report on the impacts of climate change to the European continent. The message is clear! Climate change will change the preconditions in Europe! And this is the time to act and that the emissions cut have to be essential!
This is not the first time it is said! We have heard this again and again. There seems to be something missing.

The missing piece must be the will to change, you might even call it the heart the drives you to action.
ECEN members better use the big words to their church structures when they return to the different European churches and more or less scream in their leaders ears; For Gods sake and for humans sake; We need to change and leave this fossil state of mind. Come on lets go on the renewable path!

Countdown to CO2penhagen

Final document from the ECEN assembly

After a day of hard working and some compromises the final document from the ECEN assembly is at hand.
To the institutions it says
"EU commitments must not be achieved through offsetting: significant cuts of greenhouse gas emissions have to be achieved through efforts here and now."
I hope that the churches really work for a pressure on the policy-makers to keep the pressure up! Look further at the ECEN website

The hard work of drafting papers

Saturday at ECEN assembly and all the delegates are more or less involved in the outcomes of the working groups and the appeal to the churches to act on climate change!
Some may say just papers and words! Where is the real action to the real challenge? Ok, that may be true, but don´t forget that words may make a difference between action and no action! If the word is like the so called good prophets of the old testament, inaction resulted in severe problems!
We are facing the same problem with those who neglect the urgency of climate change!
So hopefully good words from the ECEN assembly can get the churches to for Gods sake get their act together!

A silent ECEN assembly talks

Today the ECEN assembly gathered behind the cathedral in Milano for one hour of silence as a non violent action to get the attention of the Milanese inhabitants. All of this delegates standing in silence for an hour made some people to stop and hopefully to think.
Definitely there was a sharp contrast to the ongoing fashion week with the jet set of the consumption generation visiting the town! The gap between the rich and poor is clear on a day like this.And between those most affected by climate change and those who have influence the climate there is also a gap. But the difference is that when it come to richness there is winners and losers, when it comes to climate change there are just losers! Even if some will loose before others.
Time to close the gap! Time for a change, just for a change

Edman challenges the ECEN assembly to contribute with hope and action!

Stefan Edman, the Swedish biologist and writer gave a lecture at the ECEN assembly in Milano on Thursday. He wanted the churches to be contribute to the mitigation of Greenhouse Gases by get the attention of the wonder of being, to be a place for reconciliation, to be prophetic and cry out about the injustice of the climate change and to be a home for the hope of the possibility of another world.
I can only agree! The added value of faith communities must be on an ethical and mostly on a spiritual base! Let´s hope that faith communities of the world pick up this challenge.

Panel on churches contributions to the climate change agenda

The panel with representation from orthodox, reformed, roman-catholic, evangelical and an ethical perspective were all on the way to say that churches have something to bring into the climate change debate. But what?

European Catholic Bishops Conference have done a three pages document on climate change that will be published in October. Carl Golser say that it is not enough, even on individual level we have to act.
Otto Schaefer from reformed tradition says we need to educate pastors.
Dimitri Oikonomos , Orthodox means that churches can not serve as a vehicle to other forces. Churches must stand on their own ground.
Alfredo Abreu evangelical from Portugal want to see the churches working together with other organisations that want to move to a more sustainable direction. He also shared the experience of meeting the environmental minister from Brasil who said to him; - If you can make a lifestyle change in 1 percent of the population we will have a revolution in this country! Alfredo goes on "We have to draw from our conviction a change in small things. We have to do hands on work!"
Michael Slaby from Earth charter reminded us of the richness in different faith traditions to bring into the climate change debate!

The question from the floor is if the panel members are really aware of the urgency of the situation and I must agree! It is not enough to just sit on the side saying that God is a wonderful creator, and that we can look at how we use buildings.
We need very radical steps and the contribution of the churches must be to act in the debate with the poor people of the world in their focus. This is not an environmental issue, it is the key question to what future we will meet in just some decades and the urgency calls us as churches to speak out for a more equitable world.

At least Dimitri Oikonomos said that we need a new way of thinking, and that is maybe the churches can contribute to give space for new way of thinking.

ECEN Assembly alive!

Today ECEN Assembly embarked on the Climate Change discussion. Co Chair of the IPCC Jean Pascal Ypersele started the day with a very engaged introduction on were the scientist are now. There is absolutely no hesitation that we are affecting the climate with the emissions of greenhouse gases! To hear mr Ypersele was encouraging because he was very clear of the development agenda and the social repercussion of mitigating GHG. But the message was clear! Urgency to act now and to make considerable cuts now is what the new results of science tells us.
If I understood this right that means the 20 - 30 % that is EU:s position now is not just sufficient.

The Start of the Blame Game!

Just some months before Poznan meeting and a little more then a year before Copenhagen and hopefully a new treaty the tactics have started. Or you can call it a blame game! The Swedish minister of environment declared that developing countries with fast growing economies must do essential contributions when it comes to mitigation of greenhouse gases. Of course there are some truth in that but this does not mean that industrial countries can be passive. And if you look at per capita emissions there are no developing country that reach levels of industrial countries!

There is nothing good in this way of pointing fingers and say that others should do! If there is no solution to the question of burden sharing before Copenhagen we risk a situation of a locked up negotiations!

The idea in Greenhouse development Rights ( originating from Stockholm Environmental Institute and Christian Aid and others) can serve as a tool to lock this up.
In short it says that there is a threshold for doing mitigations. In a country like US 95 % of the population comes over that threshold but in China about 25%.
I hope that this can give some stimulation to new way of thinking and stop the blame game

Will EU take the lead in Poznan or will they wait for others to act? And what about Copenhagen 2009??

After spending 24 hours in Brussels listening to people inside the EU system I am concerned! What happened to the active EU at Bali saying 25 – 40 % reductions in industrialised countries?

Now it sounds like they will be satisfied with 20 % and maybe 30% reductions, but that will be tough anyway. And that is not just the domestic responsibilities. In this 20 – 30% they will count JI/CDM as being more cost effective than doing it as a “home work”.

It sounds to me like they don’t want to change or wait a little bit longer.
It is a moral obligation to act first domestic and also help developing countries to make a leap over the fossil period.

EU must act proactive. This is an opportunity seldom given to change. This is the chance of a lifetime to start the walk on the road of sustainability. And those who will be first will also be those who will have the technique to offer.
Come on EU and member states! Leave the fossil thinking behind. Think outside the box! The people of Europe doesn´t need to consume all the energy they do. We want to live more simple and not depend on insecure energy sources that being used as a political force. We want a mix of different energies that is renewable cause we know that we only have one earth.

European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) - assembly on the real challenge of climate change

Later in September (24 - 28 September) ECEN will have their 7th assembly outside Milan in Italy. The theme of Assembly is The True Challenge of Climate Change. In the invitation you can read "The question not only concerns proper action but equally the link to theology as the foundation of the action. The intensifying awareness that churches and religions have the potential for a genuine contribution to the climate change debate will be at the centre of attention of the Assembly"

I hope that this Assembly will empower churches of Europe to be more active in climate change discussions. Climate Change is not only about who is going to pay. Since the situation is urgent we are more challenged then we ever been. The question of what a good life is, the question of justice, is at stake and we need to address them from a faith perspective.

Some might ask if this is really something for the Churches act upon? The answer is; Yes because this is about how we live together on this earth and how we share the gifts of creation. A silent church in these matters will not follow their assignment of being church.

I will come back to report on this Assembly when I will be at the assembly.

Australian Faith Communities does it !

Earlier in August an open letter from Australian religious leaders was published. They urge the Australian government to strong commitment to address the causes and consequences of climate change.
The list of signatories are impressive.
But also the short text of the letter is valuable because first ,it stresses the fact the most vulnerable to climate change must be in focus and second, that the religious leaders commit themselves to act.

They also call upon the Australian government to act both to mitigate their own emissions but also to support the adaptation to climate change in the Pacific Islands.

This is really needed! The Pacific Islands is somehow like the Canary in the coal mine. They are the first to be hit by climate change. And if the canary in the coal mile stops singing people know that they are in danger. The people of the pacific are still singing but they are singing out a warning; Time to act!

Obama talks Faith and Climate

Senator Obama working hard on his way to become the next president of USA. Interesting to see that he will take one hour to talk about how his faith influenced his “commitment to protect the planet” I hope that this is not just another step to catch votes. Let’s see after the election, if he is elected, if he can tackle this question again. And not only on the personal level! How will different faith communities contribute to change. The word that he built his campaign on. The world needs USA to take brave steps together with other rich countries of the world to curb the emissions soon. In his website he asks us to believe in change. Maybe we also need some faith, hope and love for the change to another way of living.

Churches responds to the Climate Challenge.

No one can ignore the fact that Climate Change is going to have a huge impact on everyone on this planet. It is not just about sea level rise or warmer weather. The largest impact is on the social level. Who will have access to water when climate change will affect water supplies? Where can people settle down to make a new start when the harvest were th


ey lived doesn’t feed them anymore or when their small island in the pacific is conquered by salt water? Who will get help from the diseases spread over larger areas when insects will spread wider due to a change of climate?

For a long time World Council of Churches (WCC) have had Climate Change on their agenda. WCC have produced different material, being present at the different meetings under UNFCCC and saying again and again that those who are most vulnerable to climate change are the poor.

It is not possible to be church and at the same time ignore the poor. Therefore I think Climate Change must be on every Church agenda. Since Climate Change very often relates to our way of living and the choice we make in our everyday life.

And there are signs of hope.

For example. There is a statement from concerned Bishops at the Lambeth Conference August 2008 on Climate Change and the urgency to act now. Both on political level and on the personal behavior.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has done their policy work on Climate change. Church of Sweden have their position on Climate Change and development were they want to see considerable cuts of emissions from developed countries combined with new resources for adaption and technology transfers.

The churches in the Netherlands have a good and comprehensive work on Climate Change. The Roman Catholic Church have made statements on Climate Change and the need for a change of lifestyle to curb the emissions of greenhouse gases as soon as possible. I could go on with many more examples.

I hope that this is a start of something more. Because the real challenge of climate change is more than an environmental question. The core of the Climate Change issue is about how to share this planet in a fair and sustainable way. All of these faith communities declare that life and the earth is a gift. And this gift must be shared with righteousness among the living creatures of the world. Climate Change is not only a green issue. It is a question of equity and sharing. It is a moral and existential issue. We need new technology, political leadership but also values and a change of mentality to succeed to get the emissions down. So faith communities of the world - it is time to respond to the challenge now!

Uppsala Interfaith Climate Summit

The Archbishop of Church of Sweden has invited around 35 persons from different faith traditions to a meeting in Uppsala 28 - 29 November on Climate Change. At this summit there will be a manifesto signed by people from many different faith traditions from all over the world with a message to the world that climate change must be taken seriously not only from a political view but also from a spiritual and ethical horizon. And that the world must come together and act now to change the human way of living to a more sustainable way.
This is a unique moment! Different faith traditions come together to contribute to the solution of the biggest problem that we have ever faced.
I hope that this can be a sign of hope and that faith traditions of the world will wake up and come together in a new and fruitful way.

This blog is dedicated to Climate Change and Faithbased work on the question. I will comment on different happenings in the climate change debate from a faith perspective.
The simple reason is that everybody has to contribute to meet the greatest challenge of humankind ever. Religions and faith is not only about the transcendency! Most religions of the world cares about what is happening in our world, and many faith traditions have a strong path of justice and equity. We need justice and equity to share our planet in a sustainable way and we all need to contribute to a new way of liviing. A way that takes care of all humans and the earth that is our home and feeds us every day