Faith communities in Cancun - does it matter

The UNFCCC meeting in Cancun is running on overtime and every delegate seems to to their best to avoid a failure like we seen in Copenhagen.

Also the WCC have as the last of everyone in plenum made its statement. But does it matter if the faith communities is present or not? Do they add anything more than just another voice that we can hear from other environmentalist or social justice groups.

Actually I think it matters.
A document on why churches are present in Cancun from the group that attended the Cancun meeting was delivered and it ends like this

The holistic approach to climate change that churches proclaim also includes the spiritual dimension which must not be overlooked or ignored in the deliberations over political and economic interests. The hosting of ecumenical or interfaith celebrations during the COPs, as well as other explicit expressions like demonstrations and messages from local congregations and communities, stress the particular contribution that faith based groups and organizations can and must bring to the debate. It is our hope that the ethical and spiritual considerations will be taken seriously in the follow-up deliberations after COP 16.

There is, therefore, a moral obligation for the churches and faith communities to participate in the negotiations of the international community in Cancun and in the future. Their contribution is twofold: to urge the world to act for a more just and equitable world and and the same time, rooted in their spiritual teachings, convey a message of hope to the whole world.

That is a good reason why.

Cancun - last hours

Cancun meeting is in the last 24 hours now. All the states are doing their statements and the buzzwords changes all the time. Japan needs to be talked into that they stay in the Kyoto protocol. And what about historical emissions? In the LCA document or not?

Anyway the hope is that Cancun delivers a kind of road map, even though that word relates to Bali meeting 2007.

The world need to step every step, even if it is small, to reduce the climate impact.

The hope is still there but it needs to be fed by states and organisations that take the lead and act for a low carbon tomorrow.

Yes we CanCun! Maybe...

Now I have arrived in Cancun for the COP 16. It is the forth time that I am at a COP.

The mood could be marked as low expectations but with some hope.

There is no real spirit of "Yes, we can!" It is more like: "Well, maybe we can, if somebody else start".

But still. I miss the references to moral obligations to act. I miss the justice perspective that points out the need and rights for the developing regions of the world to develop and leapfrog the fossil driven development.

So lets see what happens during the last days.

Cancun - hopes and fears

Even though the expectations of the upcoming negotiations of UNFCCC at COP16 are low there are some hopes and some fears.

The hope is that at least the promised money for quick-start funds for adaptation will be raised and that it will be additional to other development aid money. One of the few positive things in Copenhagen was the promises from US and other to deliver this money for development.

The other positive thing with Cancun is the low expectations! In Copenhagen everybody raised their expectations for some years, and that seemed to lock the processes. This time with a post-Copenhagen depression over the las year no one expect anything to come out of the meeting. This might be a good ground for a good grounding work for the next meeting in Durban, South Africa 2011. At least EU seems to have gone back to keep and prolong the Kyoto protocol so that there will be some kind of legally binding treaty to hold on to.

The fears? Well, it must be that the parties just don´t see the urgency anymore and dig the trenches even deeper and pointing at the other telling the to act and escalate the blame-game. And the result will be a much more insecure, unequal and unjust world and unsustainable in every aspect.

Statement from Budapest

The conference in Budapest on Poverty Wealth and Ecology is over and the statement is published on the internet.

The call is a good call that I think underline some of the more important perspectives. The call to EU institutions is for example;

· Climate justice, and therefore both social and ecological values, should be a central goal of policy-making. In industrialised countries economic growth should no longer be seen as an aim in itself.

· European countries and the EU should politically and financially support green growth in developing countries in order to allow for the development of renewable energy.

· Tax systems must be reformed in order to be at the service of just, participatory and sustainable societies and communities, as well as to promote justice on the global scale.

· Prices on goods and services should reflect true social and ecological costs and benefits.

· Coal-fired power stations and nuclear power stations should be replaced by renewable energy as soon as possible, richer European countries should support poorer ones in so doing.

· A redistribution of wealth and income as a key element of environmentally sustainable societies is necessary.

· The redistribution of wealth and sharing of technology between rich countries and poor countries affected by climate change are crucial elements of climate justice and have to go along with additional support for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

· The EU should commit itself to more ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets regardless of policies of other large economies.

· The market sphere needs to be informed and limited by the public sphere and the real “core economy” – namely our ability to care, teach, learn, empathise and live in solidarity.

· People living in poverty and social exclusion, including marginalised migrants, shall participate in the definition, design and implementation of all measures which affect them according to the principle “Nothing about us without us is for us”.

And the call to the churches are

· be prepared to use their influence and positions to take a firm stand and to take a risk where necessary when it comes to conflicts following God’s preferential option for the poor.

· make use of the WCC statement on Eco-Justice and Ecological Debt in their approach to governments and in their relationship with official institutions, companies and church members.

· acknowledge the close link between the fight against poverty and the struggle for climate justice in their strategic and practical approaches.

· reflect on the impact of their policies as well as the lifestyles of their members on both the climate and on vulnerable and poor peoplw

· be pioneers and examples on the way to sufficiency by implementing practical programmes on reducing CO2 emissions, e.g. environmental certificates for parishes, increasing the knowledge and solidarity as well as exemplifying different sets of values and fulfillment as alternatives to consumerism and striving for life according to the “principle of enough”.

I think there are some real good and interesting standpoints in this that should make churches more wiling to act. Because that is what we need now.

The full statement can be find at http://www.ceceurope.org/news-and-media/news/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=230&tx_ttnews[backPid]=17&cHash=5917295165

Today is the third day of the meeting in Budapest about Poverty Wealth and Ecology. People from Europe and all other continents to discuss how the three different subjects are related and what churches should and could do about it.

Obviously there is a clear linkage between them. The change of the climate is a result of the way the world produces wealth and the results of a climate change is to often strikes the poor people most and first.

So we are in a world were we got to change. And if we will not change the the climate will beyond what we can handle. And that is the about the only thing we don´t want to change.

But we need to change our way of thinking of what is growth. We need better instruments to say what is wealth. To just measure it only with "money" is not enough. Money is just an instrument to create the prerequisites for our way of living together and it is important but not enough to describe what makes a good life.

We are looking after it in Budapest but we still haven´t found what we looking for.

Cap and Trade - no more in the US!

The website BusinessesGreen.com writes "Business seem to have called time on the US's only national carbon trading market, blaming an absence of legislation as emissions-trading laws remain mired in Congress.The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) operates a cap-and-trade scheme which, since its launch in 2003, has attracted major players such as Ford, Bank of America, IBM and Intel.Members made a voluntary but legally binding commitment to meet greenhouse gas emissionreduction targets either by cutting emissions or by buying emissions permits sold by members.The scheme relied on the government setting mandatory caps on emissions – legislation that has not emerged after the Democrats abandoned plans for cap-and-trade legislation over the summer. Republican gains in today's mid-term election would likely push the possibility of legislation even further off the agenda."

There are a huge criticism against the cap and trade system saying that this will not speed up the lowering of greenhouse gas emissions. This system is used inside the EU but it has not really done that much to emission targets. The financial crisis did a much better work in this aspect. At least Cap and Trade can be one way to get business into the work but the resistance against any climate legislation in the USA seems to killed the voluntary CO2 market. And if the Republican get a lot stronger today the climate policies seems to come a lot more far away in the coming two years. This is not a good day for all of us struggling to change the view on a sustainable world and a more just world in the coming years. But still ; We can Hope and we can act....

Payroll skeptics!

The Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-E), a network of NGOs, has issued a report accusing major European companies of donating funds disproportionately to candidates in the US Senate election who are known for their denial of climate change.

Among the donors are chemical manufacturers Bayer and BASF, oil company BP, energy provider GDF/Suez and steelmaker ArcelorMittal.

According to publicly available figures, the eight companies examined by CAN gave a total of $306,100 (219,400 euros) to Senate candidates, of which 78 percent went either to known climate change deniers or to senators who voted against the Obama administration's cap-and-trade legislation, seen by activists as a major contribution to the fight against climate change.

This is the news from Climate Action Network (the quotation is from the website of Deutsche Welle.

I can respect people who can be skeptic to science and want to try the scientific statements in a search for truth. That is the method of all good science. Hypothesis are right until they are proven wrong. But to keep a point of view with reasons that is more about what we want the world to be are not especially smart or honest. It would of course be much more convenient if you just could go on with business as usual but this not make the lie a truth.

Now it is even worse when you get paid to be skeptic when you have influences on the political decision making. This seem to be the case and that those who kept USA from taking steps to a more progressive climate policy and to take steps forward in the international climate policy discussion where getting the big bucks from big industry. It is a shame. And it seems like the elections i USA coming weeks will slow down the climate process in one of the most important countries of the world. And it will be done with money from the business world. Why cant they see that the future needs another way of thinking!

But we have to trust the word; The truth shall set you free.

Not to brilliant, mr President!

(Reuters) - Climate change is not a threat and the consequences of global warming will not be catastrophic, the President of the Czech Republic said on Tuesday.

Vaclav Klaus is a vocal sceptic on the topic of global warming. He published a book in 2007 in which he said global warming had turned into a new religion, an ideology that threatens to undermine freedom and the world's economic and social order.

"Global warming in the last 150 years was modest and future warming and its consequences will not be dangerous or catastrophic. It doesn't look like a threat we should respond to," he told a lecture in London on Tuesday.

Now, this is not so clever Mr President! You act more or less like the good prophets of the time of the old testament. They said everything is fine. Don´t change anything. But those prophets were never remembered. They were just there to make the world easier and smooth for those with power.

No mr President this is not a new religion, but you seems to keep up with the old religion that have devastated the planet for the last centuries; the cult of mammon. I think you better come to your senses and understand that climate-research of today gives us information that we have to respond to. And then we need to get "religious" in that sense that we have to act for the most vulnerable. Just as the old testament prophets said in the old testament.

EU takes one step forward - and a bit closer to were they been!

Good news are not so frequent when it comes to climate change negotiations. But today we have one.
EU was very proactive in 2007 during the UNFCCC negotiations at Bali but one year later they were very defensive and withdraw their ambitions.
Today the good news is that EU is going to Cancun for the COP16 negotiations with the ambitions to prolong the Kyoto protocol.
In these days after the breakdown i Copenhagen this is good news.
The problem is that the world need to do much more than what was in the Kyoto protocol. And that has been known since the Kyoto protocol was formulated in the nineties.
But in these days we have to celebrate everything that is not a step backwards. Even a step back to original ambitions is a good step.
Now, let´s hope that EU raises their bid in Cancun and go for a 30% cut of emissions to 2020 to challenge the other nations in Cancun.

Climate change in the arctic - a risk for geopolitical conflicts

Climate change is not only about environment. It is about food, water, equity and lifestyles. All issues that I have tried to address on this blog.
But the implications of climate change is also about peace.
Due to change in the climatic systems we will probably see a diminishing ice shed of the Arctic. This is highlighted in an article in the Guardian today. That will lead to possibilities to get natural resources that has not been in reach for the different states before. So the tensions between Russia, USA Canada Norway and others will be a new problem that we already can see some signs on.
So if you want to create peace - save the climate and let the natural resources, especially the oil, be untouched for some more years. Go for renewable energy and act for peace.

101010 - a mustard grain

Yesterday the 101010 campaign took place. A global work party for action to lower the emissions of greenhouse gases.
Many churches around the world joined the party and thousands and thousands events around the world occurred.
This is great! And even if this was not a headline on the news in northern Europe it was at least a great step for all those that participated. Even if the decision-makers of the world did not act in Copenhagen and seems very sleepy for the Cancun meeting later this year things like 101010 raise the awareness in the context were it happens.
If Jesus referred to the mustard grain as a picture for how the good things grow. From small things big things come.
I hope that 101010 is a mustard grain that, together with other actions will grow and we will create another world, a sustainable and just world. And we will do it together. One humanity and one world.

The free riders!

The climate discussion seems to be stuck in a discussion about who is supposed to act and do something. Every nation is pointing the finger on the other nation saying- You should act! China should act because you are the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. China say that US and Europe should act because the historical emissions of the world comes from those countries. Small countries like Sweden say that other countries should act because the emissions from Sweden is only0.2% of the world emissions so what happens in Sweden is absolutely of no interest of the world.
And so does the discussions proceed and we are stuck with a bunch of states starting a blame game and looking for a free ride. A free ride that means that everybody else should start and I myself can go on as usual.
Why is it impossible to think of a broader "we"? We are together on this planet and the time to act is running out. If we don´t act as a "we" now there will be only a free ride to a much more complicated world to handle for the future generations.
Where are the faith communities of the world that have a more inclusive perspective and a more long-term vision of the world and life? Time to speak out and together say; We are on this trip together and we must act together, all humankind.

African Earthkeepers

M.L. Daneel wrote some years ago about African Earth-keepers and about interfaith actions in Zimbabwe to keep people and earth together and used sustainable. I was very moved some years ago when I got to see a short film on how they managed to get people of different African initiated churches and traditional religions representatives to have a service together with sacramental parts side by side and then together planting new trees. The idea was that trees planted under these circumstances were much more looked after then traditional aid tree planting or so to say"secular planting".
Now I wonder if this is still happening in Zimbabwe? We need much more of tree planting in sub-Saharan Africa. For many reasons. To keep the earth from erosion, to keep the water in the earth, to catch CO2 from the atmosphere and some more reasons.
(If anyone knows about this project, please comment.)

The Good News

Today on Swedish broadcast there was a part of a programme that highlighted the possibilities to sequestrate CO2 from bio-energy and in that way use energy in a way that it takes the carbon out of the atmosphere. It is more than carbon neutral. It is carbon negative.
Another small scale alternative that is very interesting is the charcoal stove that reduce the impact of deforestation related to use wood for cooking, improve health for women and children in poor districts of the world, captures coal out of the atmosphere and fertilize the earth.
I guess that we need all this good alternative to start the transformation from a fossil based society to a more just and sustainable world.
In the perspective of the poor and vulnerable, that should always be the perspective of faith communities, this is good news and we need to tell the decision makers that there are possibilities to change and the time is now!

Climate is a small issue in Swedish elections

Coming Sunday the Swedish election for a new parliament will take place.
Unfortunately Climate Change is not a big issue. The discussions about climate is mostly about what to do in Sweden. Railways or taxes, windmills or nuclear. But the moral view and the global consequences of climate change is not on the table at all.
It is remarkable to see that one year ago everyone interpreted every small shift in the weather as a result of climate change and was pointing to UNFCCC meeting in Copenhagen. Today with on of the largest weather related catastrophes ever in Pakistan with millions of people affected and the heatwave and wildfires in Russia last months no one relates to this as what will be more common in the future due to climate change.
The Swedish government are just bragging about that they have the best climate policy in the world. Something that is not true.
The rich countries of the world have the obligation to start the exodus of the fossil based society, not to say that developing countries should do something first. Those who have build their prosperity on fossils should also take responsibility to at the same time change to renewable energy on a large scale and at the same time help developing countries to take a leapfrog over the fossils. But I can´t hear anything in that direction in the political debate today. I guess we need a shift of mindset. Act locally and think globally!

Pilgrimage with good outcome

The pilgrimage with European Catholic Bishops ended in Maria Zell in Austria today. In a good, serious and open way the days have been filled with sharing, discussion and a will to act and participate in a change to another way of care for creation. I just give you some points from the message that I hope will be published soon

• The need for education and action /ecomanagement. I am very glad to see the positive standpoints to actions among churches in the environmental field. It was often pointed out among the pilgrims the importance to act on every level.
• The solidarity with the poor. The perspective of the poor has always been one of the pillars of a good grounded climate change work in faith communities. I was very glad to find this perspective in the document. This statement can be a good platform for coming activities.
• The ecojustice aspect When it comes to climate change it is more than clear that the most vulnerable to climate induced catastrophes are to a large extent those who contributed less. We will need a way to develop this subject on a broad ecumenical bases and this message gives good incentives for a further dialogue.
• The inclusion of future generations The concept of sustainable development is pivotal for a good environmental work. One part of the definition of sustainable development is the intergenerational perspective. This combined with the of solidarity with the poor and a justice perspective makes this message as a good message on the importance to work on all aspects of the concept of Sustainable Development.
• Referring to the Sibiu agreement on Creation time It is also very satisfying and encouraging to see the reference to Sibiu and the endorsement of Creation Time. This has been one of the more spread parts of ECEN activities so it is very pleasing to see the affirmation of Creation Time.
• Stressing the importance of ecumenical praying and services There was an ecumenical service in the cathedral of St Pölten. Good to see the need for more ecumenism in this issue

CCEE on a Pilgrimage

CCEE, the European Catholic Bishops conference is on a pilgrimage from Eztragon in Hungary to Maria Zell in Austria. I am attending the the pilgrimage as one of two invited guests from ECEN network.
Yesterday we was on an excursion to a bio diesel factory in Komarom on the border between Hungary and Slovakia.
It is really encouraging to witness the rising interest to act and to think over the issues that relates to the on a broad level to sustainable development. The bio diesel plant was an example that we can do a lot with the technique we have and recycle what we used in a much more efficient and sustainable way.
But if you think that bio diesel is the solution that will replace oil it is not an option. The option now is to start thinking in a different way. We have to think of a future with less use and more efficient use of energy, energy coming from all kinds of renewable sources, not only one or two. This thinking projects another way of living. A much better "another way of living" and if churches should do anything it must be to give visions of how we can live a good life together on this earth. I hope that this pilgrimage will inspire the catholic bishops to come up with a multitude of visions of a new sustainable life for all of the creation

Same arguments 30 years later.

I found this strip inside my old No Nukes record from 1979. It was made as a response to the Harrisburg nuclear power plant collapse. If you click at the picture you will see a larger picture and you will recognise the arguments. Solar will not work. Today they say the same but maybe it is broadened to "- Renewables wont work!"
I´m getting tired and fed up on that the same argument is still around.
One thing is much more clear today; Fossils will not work and nuclear is no good option and brings along so much more problems.
But the big guys will try to bring on more coal,oil and nukes! But we will resist and say there is another way that is more sustainable, fair and better for the global world then this old time solution to a problem of today!

Bonn negotiations - maybe the first positive step since Copen - (or Broken-) hagen

Some small signs of hope comes from the negotiations under UNFCCC meeting in Bonn last weeks. Even though nearly anything that contains at least a willing to change from the stubborn path to look at the counter parts failures instead of a constructive will to action might in these days be a positive sign.
Yves de Boer,the Executive Secretary of UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). did at least formulated a glimpse of hope when he said,
"A big step forward is now possible at Cancun, in the form of a full package of operational measures that will allow countries to take faster, stronger action across all areas of climate change, "
But still, the rich countries of the world are trying to go point the fingers on other countries to act first and to wait before they act themselves. Why is it so hard to understand that if the rich countries, those with capacity, would start the leap from fossils to renewable´s the rest of the world?

There must be som fun also...

Assemblies must also have some fun and festivities. So the last night of the assembly some folk music from the region on the border of Chezc republic and Slovakia played some nice tunes. I think I got at least some of the text..tralalal, tralala....

ECEN Climate and food!

The ECEN Assembly are soon to be ended. The last night is a night of compiling statements. So in this hours we try to get all opinions into one sheet. Now, that is no easy job.
Statements are good but even better is what happening as a result of the words.
A good illustration of what we discussing is the weather outside. The picture shows some kids in the river in a small river outside Prague. This is not usual to have this high temperature at this time of the year and some weeks before the heavy rain "attacked" this area. It is not a proof of climate change but a hint of what we will see happening more often in the future.
But as always, the most vulnerable will be those with least capacity to cope. In short; the poor people were ever they live. And what will happen to the food production in the future? Not only in sub Saharan Africa but what will happen in central part of Europe? There will be problems even there. And what do we do to mild the effects and cut the emissions that creates the problems? It is more then urgent to walk the talk

A burning heart!

The ECEN assembly goes on and today was the day for working groups and excursions.
Climate Change is still an extremely important issue and I see new ways of connecting the European work with the African work.
This picture is from a place that once was a monastery and the a prison for the Gulags, Which is the acronym for The Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies (Russian: Главное Управление Исправительно-Трудовых Лагерей и колоний; Glavnoye Upravlyeniye Ispravityel'no-Trudovih Lagyeryey i koloniy)
But they kept the paintings in the ceiling and there is a burning heart.
We need more of the burning heart to change and keep the climate inside the sustainable level.

Exchange - the meaning of meeting

Why meeting in real life when we have the internet? There is one good reason, at least, and that is the sharing of experience. Of course, the inputs by experts are interesting and sometimes challenging but that can all be found at the internet.
The most valuable moment are when we meet over a cup of coffee in between all the power-points and figures and facts. Like on this picture. Maybe the UNFCCC should put in some more coffee breaks to get a bit happier and the outcomes could be a bit more positive

ECEN Assembly in Prague

After the collapse of COP 15 in Copenhagen this blog also collapsed. But now it is time to rise again and start the work and pick up the pieces and get back on the track again.

European Christian Environmental Network is gathering again to an Assembly. The theme is Climate Change and food.

In some of the lovely surroundings of Prague in a weather that is more like being in the tropics we are discussing the relation between food and climate change.

The short truth is that there is no quick fix. But there are still hope and ways to go.

As a good sign the food at the assembly is vegetarian and if you must have meat you have to tell it. Bon apetit